Pulled all our taps and buckets today.  We might have gotten a few more runs over the next couple of days, but we've made plenty of syrup and the fuel supply is getting low!  We are finding that this oil fired evaporator guzzles fuel like crazy, so may look into alternatives for another year.  We have a little more sap in the evaporator ready to "finish off" and we will be done except for flushing the lines and cleaning up the pans.  It's been fun, but I can't say I'm sad to see the end in sight!  Looks like we will have about 23 gallons.

Hope everyone had a nice Easter.  Wish we could have gotten home to Vermont, but the sugaring season just ran too late this year. 

The last few days have been sad ones for us.  Our sweet Amish friend, Lizzie, passed away on Thursday from cancer.  She left behind a wonderful husband and seven children.  We went to Lancaster County on Saturday for the funeral.  This was our first time at an Amish funeral, which was very different from our English world.  For anyone who isn't familiar with the Amish culture, they call everyone English if they are not Amish.

The funeral was 2 hours long and all in High German, so we understood very little; however, we were welcomed with open arms by the Amish community there - almost 400 people attending the service. The funeral was held in the family's home. 

One thing we found interesting was that as the buggies arrived each one had a number written on it in chalk and then the same number written on a tag that was attached to the bridle of the horse - so when the funeral was over it was easy to get the horses out of the field and match them to the correct buggy.  This numbering system also was the order in which the buggies proceeded to the cemetery.

The burial is very different from ours.  All the mourners at the cemetery stand by while the plain wood casket is lowered into the ground and the young men of the Amish community fill in the grave.  Then there was another 45 minute graveside service.

One thing happened at the cemetery that I found very upsetting.  Two tour busses came by and stopped just outside the cemetery fence so the passengers could gawk at the graveside service.  I can't think of anything more disrespectful, insensitive or offensive.  I wish I could remember the name of the bus comany - I would give them a piece of my mind.  They treat the Amish like a tourist attraction.

Lizzie - we will all miss you.

On a happier note, we collected 200 gallons of sap yesterday - the first run in over a week - so maybe the weather will finally start to cooperate!  Here's a couple of pictures I took while we were gathering.

Old Method vs. New Method !!

 

Hope there's something in there!

 

Well - there goes a drip anyway!

 

 

Another snow storm and now freezing rain on top of it - ugh.  No sap running and it looks more like January. Hurry up Spring!  These pictures are from a couple of years ago, but maybe they will remind us of what Spring looks like!

HAPPY ST. PATTY'S DAY EVERYBODY!

We boiled sap again today - another half gallon done.  The sap didn't run yesterday afternoon or today, so we are caught up until the next warm day.  Back to work tomorrow!!

We're boiling - about 8 gallons finished so far!

Annie and I had a wonderful time at the quilt auction this last weekend down in Lancaster County,  The weather was beautiful, which meant a huge crowd and high prices, but it was nice just to see all the awesome hand work.

These pictures are some of my favorites along with Saturday night's sunset!
 

 



 

Well, we finished tapping trees this weekend except for a few trees we will put buckets on in the next day or two - now if the weather would just cooperate so that sap will run - brrrrr, it is so cold and windy here right now - feels like January, not March! 

Can't wait for this weekend - my friend Annie and I are going to Lancaster County (Amish country) for 3 days for the spring quilt auction. They will auction off about 600 quilts in one day as a fund raiser for the local fire company. It is absolutely amazing. I'm ready for a "girls weekend out" - we shop all the fabric shops and local farmers markets on Friday, preview the quilts on Friday night and then spend all day Saturday at the auction.