Gorgeous day with sun and warm breezes! We believe it hit 53 today! The only down side of tonight was a creaking, groan of limbs hanging precariously above your head as you walk through the woods on this windy evening.

Cody grabbed Chuck (who showed up EARLY) and Brad and had them help him gather the south path a little early so they could get a fire started. Chuck rode in Walle and dumped buckets! (The administration fears he may ask for a raise, although we've already decided he can have a % more than what he makes now.) He told Bob the woods "is a real mess" with all the downed trees, however Bob just laughed and retorted "he should have seen it before we cleaned up!":)

He noticed that the buckets get heavier as you go. Called the "sap" principle of physics. Brad and Grandpa Dale emptied buckets on the latter half of the trip! We have no idea what Brad is doing in the lower picture!

Muff, Bob, Dale, Gerri, Ted, Adam, & Dave joined in to help finish the middle and east ends. Some buckets were 90% full, some only 4 inches.

The lane is a mess for gathering day # 2! We enjoyed the recent grocery market run on asparagus for supper! Thank you Aunt Dorothy for the crock pot of soup that warmed nicely on the steamer.

The niter (substance that is filtered out that is comprised of sugar, minerals, and a lot of etc) is almost black. Bob says this is very unusual early in the season. He spoke with Brian tonight , who agrees the sap has a different flavor right now.

Taps dripping late tonight, might get to do this again tomorrow.

Total Sap: 390 (+ Sandhill 14) gallons
Total Syrup today: 9 gallons
Total Sap to date: 700 _+ 18 Sandhill
Total Syrup to date: 11 gallons

Mar 10

Mar 11

Mar 8