Making Pure Maple Syrup

 

What on earth is that?

Pure maple syrup, that's what!

Our son's farm in Salisbury, PA is in the heart of maple syrup country. 

We are surrounded by farms who tap the trees with blue lines that run from tree to tree, but so far, Kevin and Katie are still doing it the old-fashioned way with sap buckets. This is just a couple of the many trees he tapped.

The first week of March, Kevin was collecting the sap from the buckets every day and then pouring them into a large pan over a fire. 

Then we fed the fire every few minutes to keep the syrup boiling. 

It's a looonnnng process!

The boiling syrup creates a constant steam. Country roads are dotted with sugar camps, and the rising smoke from the fire and steam from the syrup are dead giveaways to their locations.

You have to keep a constant eye on how much sap is in the pan. It will burn easily if it gets too low. But it can be difficult to see the sap through the steam! 

Momentarily, the air will shift, and you can once again see it boiling underneath the steam. 

The sap starts out looking like water, but by the time it's close to finished, it takes on the beautiful amber hues we know as syrup, and the sweet smell fills the air.

After several days of collecting sap from the trees and boiling it down, they ended up with 7 gallons of pure maple syrup for their own use. They aren't selling it commercially at this point. That would involve big (expensive!) changes to their operation. For now, they just enjoy making it the same way generations of folks did before them. 

And now, pass the pancakes! 

The Best Easter Egg Hunt

 Somehow, I missed blogging the whole month of March and most of February. Oops! Hopefully, I get a chance to circle back to that.

We've had a nice Easter weekend. Since discovering one of our favorite state parks, we have a new tradition that is so much fun: the Easter Egg Hunt at New Germany State Park just outside Grantsville, MD. 

They hide 5000 eggs on 10 miles of trails. So much fun seeing so many families out on the trails, carrying bags or baskets, hunting for the eggs. 

Our first year. We found out the hard way that it pays to get there early. We walked. And walked. And walked. Where were the eggs? We quickly realized that the eggs closest to the lake house get picked up first. Folks are very friendly and helpful on the trails, and many told us to that there were lots of eggs still on the higher trails. So up the hills we climbed, and sure enough. the eggs were still plentiful there. The kids loved it! We all looked forward to going again the next year. 

Unfortunately, the Easter Egg hunt turned out to be the same day as the first day of fishing, so John opted for fishing. But Grace didn't let that stop her, she found the eggs all on her own! With a little help from Mimi and Pappy. 

And the next year? Same!

But this year John decided to join us again. (though they did go fishing in the afternoon)

That Easter Bunny sure got tricky this year! In the past, the eggs were always right along the trail, within a couple feet. This year, most of the eggs we found were 10 feet or so off the trail, and extremely well hidden. Maybe TOO well hidden. 

It took a lot of hiking, but we finally found the 25-egg limit. And then we found more that we picked up and moved closer to the trail, because there were still lots of families coming through, and it can be frustrating to walk and walk and walk and not find any, especially for the younger kids. 

Several rangers help hide the eggs, along with some volunteers. We suspect that some of the volunteers may have gotten carried away this time. But nonetheless, we had a great time and look forward to going again next year. I bet once our grandkids outgrow wanting to hunt them, they will be happy to volunteer to help hide them for others to enjoy. I'm not sure if they had more fun this year finding eggs, or re-hiding some for others to find. 

As for the rest of the weekend, we spent some time helping Kevin and Katie with spring greenhouse and planting related chores and had a fun Easter meal with them on Saturday evening. 

Sunday morning, we attended both a sunrise and regular church service, where we once again were reminded of the sacrifice and love that Jesus has for us. So much more than we deserve! 

We chatted with Jessica on the phone, and she mentioned a movie she and Brian had gone to and really enjoyed. The last couple of years, George and I have spent Easter afternoon exploring the Laurel Highlands, but the beautiful summer like weather we had yesterday turned into a cold and rainy day today. So, we decided to spend it in comfy theater seats instead. 

Song Sung Blue on Christmas Day. Project Hail Mary on Easter Day. 

We seldom go to the movies, then 2 within a few months. On holidays.

Who have we become? Ha!