Val's SS journal- Fair food! Yea!

valmom said:
I am ready for the first harvest of the year- I got my maples tapped yesterday while I had time to do it! I only have 6 taps and buckets but today I am going to head out to see if anyone has anymore for sale- I bought these used from Agway a few years ago. New ones are really pricey, but we don't want to use the new plastic bag things they have, and we don't want plastic tubing, either. I'd like to do 10 trees this year.

The slogging through waist deep snow pack was a challenge, but I got the trail broken to the maples without anything broken on me in spite of not remembering where the stone wall was and falling over it, and tripping over many limbs and stump pieces under the snow. It didn't occur to me until I fell and had a hard time getting up in the deep snow that it might be hazardous and I should wait until someone else was home or had my cell phone with me! But, the job is done for the moment. Now we only need temps above freezing! Someday it is liable to happen.
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First, :frow :) Sorry I missed your journal! I just read the last page or so, will go back and catch up in a bit :)

Second, the cell was probably better at home. I keep mine in my pants pocket, which means it would have been full of snow and useless (I ruined a phone this way :D ) Glad your only minor damaged :D How did the destress and decompress in october go? I've had to do that already too, but i got rid of alot of stuff :D
 
I guess I really only post in my journal about once a season!

The October decompress solidified in my mind that I just couldn't work full time at my job anymore without a coronary. So, now that my SO has a pretty solid job that she is likely to stay with for awhile, I went down to 32 hours a week in January. We had a per diem pharmacist who we were using with such regularity that the boss went to the powers that be and got a permanent 32 hour position (theoretically for her). I talked to her about swapping her 32 hours for my 40, and she went for it. Yea! So, I now work 64 hours every 2 weeks (some long days, some short days- everything from 8 hours to 11 hours to 4 hours, but it all adds up over the course of the 2 week pay period). Except for now when the other pharmacist is on vaca and next week the boss is on vaca. I am up to 83 hours for 2 weeks right now. And I am stressed and aggravated again. A stretch of 6 days in a row coming up starting tomorrow, and those 11 hour days are a real drag.

And, to add to my aggravation, I can't get the car out of the driveway because of the ice. It is sanded and wood ashed and I still can't get anything going. If I could have gotten out I would have gone straight to the dealer and traded it in on a 4wd something even though I only have 2 more months until it is paid off!
 
:frow

Can you take some pictures of your sugaring process. I would love to see them.

Sorry about all of the ice.

Good to hear about your job. Sounds a bit easier.

g
 
Woo hoo! I have a gallon and a half of sap form today! :celebrate It is on the stove as we speak- the first and sweetest sign of spring. My day has all of a sudden improved. I was just out to water the horses and close up the chickens and just on the off chance, I hiked to the trees and checked- every tree had a nice sap run! Like 6 or 8 inches in each bucket! I'm so excited- and I still have a little over 2 quarts left from last year (OK, we obviously don't use that much :P). Now I have to find an empty canning jar for tonight's haul. We may get more tomorrow- it is supposed to be warm for one more day.

I don't really have pictures- I will take the camera out this weekend after work and take some pictures of our trees.
 
If you need anyone to sample the finished product, LMK. I'd be more than happy to oblige. :D
 
We have our first finished quart plus (really don't know how much "plus" since my SO and in-laws ate it on pancakes while I was at work, but there is a quart left). Unfortunately the temps are back down to teens and single digits. Someday it will warm up and the trees can keep the sap run going!

I'll have to keep maple syrup in mind for our home made swap! For whatever reason, I don't think of it as something I "make".
 
valmom said:
We have our first finished quart plus (really don't know how much "plus" since my SO and in-laws ate it on pancakes while I was at work, but there is a quart left). Unfortunately the temps are back down to teens and single digits. Someday it will warm up and the trees can keep the sap run going!

I'll have to keep maple syrup in mind for our home made swap! For whatever reason, I don't think of it as something I "make".
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:) we have homemade asian pear jam and bbq sauce we can trade :D
 
I made pear jam one year- it didn't have a lot of flavor except sweet. The BBQ sauce, now... :D
 
valmom said:
I made pear jam one year- it didn't have a lot of flavor except sweet. The BBQ sauce, now... :D
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yes, but this is asian pear jam made with asian pears. kind tastes like homemade applesauce :)
 
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