18 days and counting

Eighteen days until what? The spring equinox of course! Which doesn't mean that the weather is going to instantly change . . . but there is hope! Just starting out, March on the farm is pretty desolate looking. If you look at the grass long enough, you might see some green, but that's if you look really hard.

As you  can see everything is pretty well brown. Whether if its dead, dormant, or muddy. There's a good chance that it is some shade of brown.

At least the sunshine does a good job of counteracting all the browness though, and highlighting the beautiful pale blue late winter sky.

As you can see, the calves were not content to munch their morning hay while I toured the barnyard, but felt pulled to follow me as I walked the fence edge catching the sunlight at different angles. They do this when I gather sap too, or just walk the fence line with Ryan to check for any damage that needs fixing. Whether we want to be or not, we are part of their "herd." Except we're special because we bring the food.

I am excitedly down to 4 empty sap storage buckets this morning. The sap kettle has been going pretty much non-stop for the last going on 3 days, except for the few hours we sleep each night. The results so far is 4 pints (1/2 gallon) of medium amber syrup.

(And yes it is as good as it looks . . . I did a little taste test before I canned it.)  Hopefully I'll get a couple of more jars from what's in the kettle right now. And then maybe a few days respite from boiling before the next run hits.


Sally the cat has a request. If you have seen her friend Henry, please tell him she would like him to come home.  After being by herself for a whole day while he is out on a tomcat hiatus, she is bored. And must resort to doing silly things like attacking the bottom of the tent flap.