Ed and I collected 25 gallons of sap yesterday evening and tonight we had 27 gallons more! I cooked non-stop all day, setting the kitchen timer so I wouldn't have any more Oooopsie's!!! It looks like we will be cooking all weekend just to catch up!

Here is a photo of our back pasture. The maple trees that we have tapped are on both sides of the open field. So...we carry the buckets! And it is a long way to the top, where I am standing to take this photo.

I've just went out and taken the syrup off of the stove to cool a bit before bringing it in the house. It is pretty well concentrated, so I think I will finish it on the kitchen stove tomorrow, while Ed starts cooking down some more out in the garage.

To do this right, we need a bigger evaporator. Then we could cook a lot of sap at one time and not have to spend so much time at it, but...we do with, what we got, right? (Terrible way to fracture the King's English)!

I took a curry comb and a hoof pick with me and went out and cleaned the mud off of the horses in between carrying buckets. They all three crowded around, 'do me! do me! my turn! hey, she cut in line! Well, they all had a turn, and thoroughly enjoyed the attention.