Shut It Down

 The Maple trees are starting to bud so it's time to shut down the Sugar Bush for the year.

I loaded everything into the back of the truck along with some fire wood.  Winter's not over yet.  They're predicting 4+ inches of wet snow for the weekend.

 I had a few leftovers.

One last gleaming fire.

MARCH MADNESS CONTINUES.

I hit the stream the other morning on my way to school. 

 Eagar to learn....

 Relaxing down at the Mill with Brother Sun and Sister Moon

 and friends.

 Gathering the last sap of the season for me and my helper, Clayton before he makes the move back to New York

 Another nice day

 And sunny.

The work continues late into the evening.

OUT TO LUNCH.

 First stop.  The Shoe Box in Black Earth.

 Next it was off to Bruce and Company.  The guy who helped us out really knew his stuff.  Years ago Seed Savers had a store in Madison.  Now, Bruce and Co offers the biggest selection of Seed Saver seeds outside of Decorah.  We talked about cutting back this year but when we hit the register,  I guess not.  

 Drinks?  Don't mind if I do.  Susie had an Alicia Maria and I had a Breakfast Stout. For lunch.

 Awesome bowls of Bibimbap with a fried egg on top.

 We both know what we like and ate every last bit.  We always talk about what we get the next time we go to Graze but I think we'll end up getting the same dang thing.  Because it's so good!

AS THE SAP DRIPS THE TIME SLIPS #DANIKA

Saturday was a work day.  Gathering wood and boiling sap down.  Jim Goldy 3, Jace and Josh all stopped by to keep Ace, Maxine and I company and sip a little sap.  By the time I put in the last of the sap around 8:00 pm Saturday night I had over 30 gallons in my 15 gallon pan.

 What a beautiful weekend for a few visitors down in the sugar bush

 Once Susie put out the word that she was making snacks for Sunday, Jace, Jim and Mike made it back down

 Ann and the Girls came over from across the river to make plans with Susie for their next East coast adventure and Jen and James stopped by on their way to Andrew to snack on some of Susie's sugar twists.

 Jace kept things prim and proper as he sipped a backwoods cocktail.  Hard cider, ginger beer, bourbon and of course a splash of maple syrup. 

 Mary and Clayton were down for their spring elixir. 

 This batch couldn't have worked out any better.

We finished it up down in the timber.  Low and slow.

 By Monday, Susie had thing all bottled up.  All in all just over a gallon of fresh syrup.

Things have changed a bit since the weekend.  No school on Monday and a late start today.  After a couple inches of snow and Ice...   Hopefully this little blast of cold will get the sap running for next weekend.

TURN AROUND DON'T DROWN!

Turn around don't drown!

 When the streams are running too high to fish it's time to do a little shed hunting 

So why not go with the odds.  Take a look around they can go anywhere and they do.

Where are the antlers likely to be?  How about where the deer are. 

Ok, find a deer path and keep following it until you hit an area where the deer go. 

 Where they bed down or where they feed.  So where they feed.  Bean and corn fields.   A guy can cover a lot of  ground with good eyes or binocular. 

Either side of the fence line the sheds will go flying as a buck jumps a fence or creeps between the barbs.

Where will they bed down... a sunny hillside in the timber or set aside.  The does tend to hang together and the bucks tend to bed down on their own. 

It's A Start.

Saturday  my helpers and I took the first load of supplies down\

 to the sugar bush for the 2018 season

 Ace and Maxine kept an eye on the drills until it was time to use them

 On average it takes about 30 cranks of the old hand crank drill per tap.

 Jerry my new sugar bush cat climbed up to get a better look.

 You've got to take a break every now and then and just enjoy where you are.

It's a start.

A FOOT OF SNOW... LET'S GO!

 With great powder conditions, both dogs and Susie and I were ready to hit the snow. 

 After receiving close to a foot of snow over the three day period from Friday to Sunday.  We took full advantage of the sunshine and no winds. 

 While Susie stuck to the edge of the hayfield.  The dogs and I hit the timber to check out the sugar bush.

Ace's scars are healing and he's been full of energy.

 Susie has been out skiing five times so far in 2018.

And I got this guy out on skies for the first time in 30+ years.

He seemed to like it!

There was work to be done. 

The best laid plans, have their ups and downs.

Along with Jace stopping by to see what Susie was baking, we also had a couple of other visitors .