Strange Weather, and the Beginning of Maple Season

January is done and over (and February half way there) and speaking of January.. it was one of the mildest we've had to date!! So mild in fact that the unthinkable happened.

Josiah tapped our Maple Trees the last few days of January! This (as far as I know) has never happened before here in Michigan! 

Josiah was a little nervous about starting so early, in case of a long run.. but he didn't want to miss out on this first bit.

So off he went through the fast melting snow with his stack of buckets.

Mr. Precision himself had his clipboard with him. This time he not only is recording each tree's sugar content but also the volume of sap they produce! Details, details! :)

Dad and I (oh, and Sadie) went along with him when he started tapping the hill and swamp trees. We helped him with hammering in the taps, setting the buckets, and writing down stats. 

"Drip... Drip... Drip..."  On those warmer sunny days we had early in February the buckets filled up rather fast!

After a great run over a couple days, Josiah knew he had to get his Sugar Shack up quick. And I am SO kicking myself that I didn't take the time to take photos of this in progress..

Josiah did an incredible job as always with limited supplies. This is a temporary structure. Well a permanent temporary one. What I mean to say is, he is planning on building a bigger more wind proof and well, "real" Sugar Shack in the near future but on this site. 

Now from the last 2 pictures you might be thinking.. "Wow! How does Josiah fit in there!? It looks kind of short!"

Well fit he does! Quite nicely! You see, using Faith's little blue Tractor, he dug into our hill at the top of the bowl, where it starts sloping down toward the bog.  

Setting up the insides! 

This is one of our biggest Maples out back. It has a beautiful branch spread. Three buckets on this one!!

For a wind break, Josiah stapled clear plastic feed bags all around the structure.  

Here's the side view =, going down the hill. 

And the front all finished, with a door, complete with a country latch. :) 

This current Temporary Sugar Shack is 10x10. But as you can kind of see in this photo, the area is much larger, and Josiah is planning the final project to be somewhere around 20x15! He also is planning on leaving the tree stump, and making a table!! Josiah, never ceases to amaze me with his creativity and talent!

With 34 trees tapped, a total of 65 taps, combined with the good stretch of warm weather, he was able to start boiling in the sugar shack right away.  In all, he collected 90 gallons of sap which boiled down to more than two gallons of syrup. (yum!)  Some of the syrup was made into maple sugar, which is a very interesting process. I am unaware of the currant happenings on the farm (though I do know it's been too cold for the trees to run the last week plus, but might get there this coming week) because I am not at home! But that's another story all in itself.

~Chs

Our Grown up Guy

Last Saturday was the 21st Birthday of Josiah Thomas Sauve! The youngest in the family is all grown up!

At 6 foot 7, he definitely is the tallest in the house, and has so many talents and interests: Farming, woodcraft, species of plants, American history, science, the list goes on and on. 

Currently he is working on clearing our property line and planning on building a board walk of some sort, to be able access our back woods for Maple Season and beyond. He is one hard worker!

 Due to schedules, we ended up having his birthday dinner on Friday. The main highlights were having our very own Ham from our healthily raised pigs, and cheese made from Miss Rosie's milk this summer, and ripened to the perfect sharp cheddar flavor! 

One of Josiah's long held traditions is going for a walk on his birthday. One of his stipulations is it has to be a walk on water (it's a long story.. ask him) and the other thing he tries is finding a place we haven't been before!  

This year it was the Murphy Lake State Game area. New one to us!  

One terrific unexpected discovery on our walk was a hill covered with wintergreen berries! It's that time of year, but I don't think we've ever found them so thick!  

Made it to the lake! 

 Once you brushed off the snow... it was quite slippery and made for lots of fun!

 Squishy's little legs got tired on the hike (though he is quite the trooper and loves walking and hiking!) But there was no shortage of people to carry him! ;)

The landscape around was breathtaking! Lots of Birch Trees and some magnificent Pines as well! 

Squishy's favorite though wasn't one of his Aunts, but rather Sadie Rose (he loves "doggies," it was actually his first word) who came with us. She loves going on walks, and we generally let her just run free, but we met up with an Ice fisher so the leash went on.. thus the look of shame on her face. :) 

We returned home invigorated by our walk in the fresh air, and hungry enough to eat wood!  

 Ok, not really. Josiah's cake this year was a snowy log ready to be split, for our ax man! :)

It was a tasty little log. 

We had some extra visitors in the afternoon. Aunt Carmen, Uncle Tim, and their 3 grandchildren stopped by. Rufus was very happy to get out and say Hi! 

This year though.. one walk wasn't enough for Josiah. It just happened that the full moon fell on his birthday and it was relatively clear, so he wanted to go on a "midnight" walk (it wasn't quite that late.. but close).

We went to the Wadhams to Avoca trail, and got to walk across this magnificent trestle bridge!

The moon truly was marvelous! And it was amazing how bright everything was. 

We made it home right at midnight, finishing off a wonderful day celebrating an incredibly young man!

Here's to an exciting and full year ahead for him!

~Chs

Romping Rufus

This is Rufus. Our very cute little Jersey Steer. Also known as "Baby Boy Cow"... (Don't ask..)

Due to unforeseen circumstances, Rufus recently has had to live by himself, so every once awhile we take him out for a run! 

 Look at his cute curly little head!! 

Cow tongue! 

Run Rufus Run!!! :)

~Chs

The Opening of 2016

2016. It's gonna take a little bit of time to get used to that number. We opened it with anticipation, planning, a relaxed day, some fun traditions, family, and a few friends.

Kitten the epitome of relaxed elegance. 

Currant Buns for breakfast.. not much in the world can beat warm soft, melt in your mouth currant buns, covered and soaked with plenty of butter!!

This is what happens when your brother gets tired of you trying out your new lens on him while he's setting out the food. Cracker portrait anyone?? :)

My Ducky board "Cheese and Quackers" comes out once a year..

The scrumptious spread. 

For us?? All three of the animals were very excited to get to be inside around all the food that might be dropped. :) Our three ladies: Miss Shine, her Royal Highness Pumpkin Spice Lottie (aka Kitten), and the best dog ever, Sadie Rose!

It was so wonderful to have Aunt Carmen and Uncle Tim join us for our annual New Years day celebrations for the first time!!

We actually had quite a full house that day! Grace came up with a friend, Josh and Theresa and Gabe came over, and a couple other friends as well!

Good conversations and great food. What more could you ask for!

Oh..a dog to pet. That's what! :)

Later on in the afternoon we went outside and on a walk. "Squishy" was quite the adventurer! So much fun!

 We even visited the pigs, and with some help from friends, moved them to a new section. 

This little guy was such a great sport! And wanted to hike with us all the way to the back! We all came back re-energized, cold and ready for Hot Chocolate, Hot Cider, and more snacks!!

Mr. Reiche stayed later and enjoyed showing us photos from his recent Alaska adventure and teaching us a new game. 

All in all, it was a great day and a wonderful start to the new year! May each consecutive day be more and more to God's glory!

~Chs