Maple Sugaring in March

I always think of pure maple syrup as liquid gold--nothing else in the world tastes like it, and it's expensive!

This is how I like to think of gathering maple sap.  See the bucket hanging on the maple tree?  That's how maple sugaring used to be done.  The farmer would have to empty the buckets full of sap into containers on a giant sled pulled by horses.  Then the sap would be brought to the sugar house and boiled over a wood fire until most of the water had evaporated to make maple syrup. Nowadays plastic tubing is connected to the tree taps and runs from several trees into large plastic 55-gallon drums--more efficient but definitely not as picturesque!  In late winter as you drive along country roads in New England, you'll often see this transparent green tubing hanging from the trees.

In March we visited Lamothe's Sugar House in nearby Burlington to watch maple syrup being made. Mr. Lamothe runs a pretty sophisticated operation--he uses a reverse osmosis system to extract about 90% of the water from the sap and then boils the remaining liquid in an oil-fired evaporator to make his maple syrup.

I have photos to share from the sugar house but for the past couple of days, Blogger has been having difficulty accessing my photo files--when these problems with Blogger have happened in the past, they seem to get fixed in a week or so.  I'll try again in a few days.

Celebrating Mother's Day

Looking back over the past 3 months, it's hard to decide what to post first--should I go all the way back to February where I left off when I started my temp job?  Or should I work my way back from the present?  I think I'll start with the weekend of May 11th and 12th...

With Saturday's showers, Malima and I spent the afternoon at the New Britain Museum of American Art which had a special Toulouse-Lautrec exhibit on loan. I like this museum because it is small enough to view everything in just a few hours. The men opted to stay home so we toured the museum at our own leisurely pace. We all went to dinner to celebrate Ross's recent birthday and Mother's Day at the Pond House Café.  We'll have to go back to Elizabeth Park in June when the roses are in bloom--it's spectacular!

It wouldn't be Mother's Day without our traditional minigolf game at Farmington Miniature Golf!

Sunday's weather was sunny and cool, but it was a beautiful day to be outside. Notice the fantastic necklace I'm wearing--Ross and Malima made it for me along with a matching bracelet! (The bracelet  is a little harder to see on my wrist below my watch.)  I get lots of compliments whenever I wear them, and of course I tell everyone the story behind them.

We followed golfing with ice cream in the minigolf's snack bar--another tradition!  Actually, we had lunch before golf at the snack bar too.  It was a fun weekend for me!

I'm Baaack!

This is where I've been for the past three months:

Yes, subbing for another school counselor on maternity leave at yet another high school...

 

The people I worked with in the Guidance Department were just wonderful to me--so warm and welcoming that I truly was sorry to leave when my 12 weeks were over.  I had a nice office with a big window, and as usual I brought some things from home to make the space feel a little like my own place.  It's always tricky since I have to keep everything that belongs to the counselor who's on leave, and she had lots of personal stuff on display.

 

There was a lovely built-in bookcase along the left wall as you walked in the door, and I rearranged some things so that I could add two photos and my grad school diploma on the top shelf.

I have lots to blog about to catch up on the last 3 months.  Between working long hours and a long commute, something had to give!  Please check back soon--I plan to post more regularly now that I'm back at home.