The beginning of boiling on Friday morning

March 30, 2013 - Saturday morning
33 degrees/calm/rain
Pentoga Road

It's mostly pictures this morning. After hauling sap all day yesterday and boiling, I was a bit tired last night and overslept this morning... by about two hours.



The sap ran well and it was almost sundown before I dumped my last five gallon bucket. Storage is becoming an issue. I thought I had a large tank purchased, but the seller has never called. If the sap ran all night, I'll have to drive into town and purchase another garbage can or two for storage.



The first gallon of syrup should be ready for filtering today. After that, it will set overnight for any remaining sentiment to fall to the bottom, then will be reheated and canned.

The pans are progressive with the third (the darkest) the "finishing" pan. Progression is from left to right: 1, 2, 4 and 3.

It's to rain all day today then we're to have almost a week of cold temperatures. That will give me a chance to catch up and refine and tweak the operation.

Today's the Milligan Family Easter dinner. If the sap didn't run during the night, I should be able to attend. If it did... well, all I can say is that a man's work is never done.

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

I discovered how to pop wheelies when starting too quickly with four five gallon buckets full of sap on the back.

March 29, 2013 – Good Friday

12 degrees/clear/calm

Pentoga Road

With the lengthening of days, it appears I’m back into an early-morning state when my eyes pop open around 4 AM and the next hour is spent thinking of the day gone by as well as the next twenty-four hours. It’s during those times that I mentally design a new work shop, build a greenhouse, tap maple trees, work up fire wood, design or plant gardens, and contemplate any other chore (imagined or necessary) my mind might formulate.

It's looking like maple syrup time in the North Woods. After a winter of inactivity, the Man Truck is once again being pushed into service to haul sap.

There in the dark, snuggled next to Sargie, I say my pillow prayers. Previously, I prayed the last thing at night, but it seems that the act of falling off to sleep took precedence over God. I felt guilty the next morning after realizing I fell asleep in the middle of a sentence while talking to God and found myself hoping He gave brownie points for good, if sleepy, intentions.

So this morning with thoughts pondered, plans laid, and prayers said, I got out of bed and prepared for what lay ahead. Today I start to boil.

Thursday dawned clear and very cold, eleven degrees when I stepped out of the house. I headed to the South Woods and by mid-morning, had tapped another fifty trees. Originally I thought I’d gather from an even two hundred, but thankfully, good sense drifted into the mostly empty space between my ears and I settled for one hundred, sixty-five trees. That’s enough to keep any person and a part time helper, who also doubles as an optician, busy.

While drilling holes yesterday, it dawned on me there’s a serious problem. I have the eagerness of a twelve-year-old, my mind thinks I’m still twenty-five, and the body is reminding me that I’m a grandpa, an elder, and that it’s been ridden hard and put away wet more than once in years past. I wish the mind and body would communicate more often. It would make my life a lot easier.

Sargie needed to go to town and run a few errands. I declined to go, telling her there weren’t enough hours in the day to complete everything that needed to be done.

I tackled the boiler and attempted to make it level from side to side and front to back. It wasn’t going to happen the way I’d originally put it together. In the end, over three hours were spent taking it apart and turning the thing 90 degrees. I’m quite satisfied and am glad I made the change.

It was time for our first sap collection. The next two hours were spent gathering thirty-two gallons of sweet, clear, water. I expect twice that amount today as the temperatures are forecast to reach into the upper forties with plenty of sunshine.

The day ended with us pulling two lawn chairs from storage in the barn and sitting outside in the sun, enjoying its warmth in anticipation of the coming summer months. Sargie read the daily paper, I was content to sip a glass of water and smoke a cigar. As Dad used to say, “We were in high cotton.”

Sargie’s back to work today and I’ll be boiling or gathering. The snow that has fallen off the roof onto the back deck is melting and seeping into the basement. It’s not a leak; merely a seep and happens yearly. I’ll shovel it away from the house sometime today. There’s no lack of activities on the horizon. I guess it’s true. A man’s work is never done.

So are the tales from Pentoga Road…

Jimmy, serving in his role as Supervisor of Quality Control, making sure I do everything right.

March 28, 2013 – Thursday

10 degrees/clear/calm/cold

Pentoga Road

I had several pictures to include with today's entry, but when I went to retrieve them, they'd disappeared! No doubt they'll show up at a later date mysteriously buried in some obscure file hidden deep within the bowels of the harddrive. Meanwhile...

These are the days that make a maple producer’s heart sing. Cold nights and warm days equal huge amounts of sap traveling up and down the tree in preparation for spring. These days of huge temperature swings allow us to borrow a bit of sap, enough to make maple syrup.

That’s the romantic side of sugaring. Wednesday was spent on the not-so-romantic chore of drilling holes, tapping in the spouts, or spiles, and affixing gallon storage bags with which to catch the sap. I tapped ninety-five trees yesterday for a total of one-hundred, fifteen. Today’s goal is to tap eighty-five more. That will be enough for this first year of retirement.

The sap has barely begun to run. Most bags are holding a few ounces, several are almost full, some have none. It’s going to take several days of above-average temperatures to get them all kick started.

I was going to tap at first light on Wednesday morning, but with the temperature holding at 12 degrees, I decided to take my daily stroll. I did get twenty-five trees done before it was time to go to Iron Mountain with Sargie to retrieve the Blazer. While there, I purchased another twelve cement blocks on which to mount the two-hundred, eighty-five gallon tank and several bags of river gravel.

The gravel was poured in the bottom of boiler and around the area. It will be much less muddy now as the snow around the shed melts.

Tired of tapping trees, I caulked part of the greenhouse late Wednesday afternoon. A person who is tired and whose sight is not the best should never attempt to apply clear silicone caulk around clear panels. It may not be the prettiest, but I believe it’ll be effective. I hope to finish that job today.

Neighbor Mike, who is down from Marquette working on his camp, invited me up for pasties last night. Since Sargie was closing and wouldn’t be home until well past 9:30, I took him up on his offer. We enjoyed an hour of inhaling Yooper meat pie, swigging Dr. Pepper, talking, and guy-time.

Today will be spent tapping and I’ll probably begin gathering sap late this afternoon. It’s unclear when boiling will begin, but I’m guessing it will start on Friday morning. Saturday’s temperatures are forecast to be in the forties and with 200 taps, when it starts, it’s going to pour. Hopefully the man from whom I purchased the tank will be home today or tomorrow. I believe he’s a long-haul trucker.

Sargie’s off today. She’s been working some long hours and is looking forward to a two-day Easter weekend reprieve.

It’s time to get this uploaded and head to the South Woods to tap trees. After all, a man’s work is never done.

So are the tales from Pentoga Road…

The boiler is being constructed and made ready for making syrup. Hopefully, I'll begin by the end of the week.

March 26, 2013 – Tuesday night

32 degrees/cloudy/calm

Pentoga Road

I’m writing tonight as I hope to be out the door at first light on Wednesday morning tapping trees. It’s time.

                       

Tuesday has been very busy. After my morning walk, I graded several assignments then went to town to purchase ten fifty-pound cement blocks. After looking at several commercial evaporators, I’ve decided my homemade stoves from years past have been too low. We’ll try this new (to me) design.

I stopped at the plant to see Yooper Brother Mark. He was busy doing whatever it is plant managers do.

While in town, I also purchased a gallon of muriatic acid with which to clean the four boiling pans. Old burned sugar has coated each and barring sanding or grinding it off, has been impossible to remove. I soaked the pans for a couple of hours in acid and most of the old residue has been removed. I’ll bring them inside tomorrow for a hard scrubbing with soap and hot water at the kitchen sink.

Water from melting snow was dripping off the maple shed and running back through so I pushed two feet of the white stuff off the roof.

That snow was on the roof. It's since been moved away from the shed.

The next chore was to attach the flue to the boiler. I drilled holes and riveted the old flue to the new elbow and set it in place. There’s a bit of metal work still to be done, but basically, it’s ready.

Jimmy and I riveted the new elbow onto the old stove pipe

As luck would have it, the battery on my Craftsman drill died last week. The other cordless drill I’ve had for so many years, a very inexpensive one purchased twelve years ago and used to build my cabin in the arctic, quit yesterday. Just when I need a decent drill to bore holes in the maple trees, both decided to quit.

The sun was out intermittently today and the temperatures above freezing. Though the sap wasn’t running, I wanted to tap trees. With both drills out of action, I dug out the old faithful, the bit and brace the boys and I used for years in Maine. Indeed, I did tap several trees today. It felt good to do it the old fashioned way, but I’m happy I purchased a new battery.

A new holding tank was added to my inventory of maple equipment this afternoon. A person was selling a new 275-gallon, brand new, food-grade, holding tank on Telephone Time. I called this afternoon and made arrangements to purchase it. In years past, when the sap is really running, I’ve had every plastic bag-lined garbage can filled, coolers, five gallon buckets, and any other container available.

The sun would shine on Tuesday then a few minutes later, snow would be falling. It was a crazy day in the weather department.

I want to build a stand alongside the boiling shed and let the sap gravity feed from the new tank into the boiling pans. For the first time, I won’t have to worry about sap storage this year.

I traveled to Iron Mountain this afternoon and managed to kill two birds with one stone. First, I signed my income taxes and they were electronically submitted, and second, I purchased a new 19.2 volt battery. It’s in the charger as I write.

I met Sargie after work and we had a date at one of the local Chinese buffets. We rode home together and I’ll return tomorrow morning to bring the Blazer home.

My goal for Wednesday is to tap seventy-five trees. Twenty-five are already tapped. My goal this year is to harvest sap from between one-hundred fifty to two-hundred trees. We’ll know what I’ll be doing for the next month.

It’s time to cut twine and slice bags so they can be placed and tied onto the spouts tomorrow. It’s going to be a busy day. A man’s work is never done.

So are the tales from Pentoga Road…

March 26, 2013 – Tuesday

24 degrees/calm/cloudy/light snow

Pentoga Road

I jerked awake and propped myself up on one elbow.  The large, white, numbers on the digital clock flashed 5:15 AM. I slid from bed, put on my glasses, and looked again… 5:55 AM.

I once again slept longer than intended. Oh well, a hundred years from now, who’ll know?

The big news? I finished the construction phase of the greenhouse! (Do I hear Sousa’s Stars and Stripes Forever playing in the background?!)

After riding partway to work with Sargie and hiking back Monday, I was in the barn by mid morning trying to figure out how to piece together the two windows. It was past noon before they were assembled and almost two by the time they were mounted onto the frame.

It doesn't seem like they should, but the windows were one of the hardest parts to figure out how to construct.

One on each side, the windows can be raised to allow hot air to escape.

The panels went in fairly quickly, but it seemed to take forever to remove the clear protective film from each. I had to use magnifiers to find a loose end, then pull it from the glass. Once again, unraveling the mystery of how the clips held the panels in place took almost an hour. But in the end, before the sun set, the greenhouse construction phase was complete.

I delighted in giving Sargie a tour of the 6x8 ft structure last night and at one point, she smiled and with a little girl look on her face, suggested we sleep in it. A hideout! We both laughed, quickly nixed that idea, and walked back into the house.

After my walk this morning, I’ll be going to town and purchasing some self-tapping screws. The final phase after inserting them will be to caulk the panels. Though the instructions say I’m finished, I’ve read several accounts warning to fasten each with screws and caulk as an insurance policy against strong winds.

I’m going to see if I can get my Director of Greenhouse Engineering, Yooper Brother Mark, out here in the next few days to get some ideas about moving the structure from the barn and into the back yard. I’ll use it from there until all the snow is melted. After, it will be moved down to the garden area and permanently anchored.

Sargie works early today and we should have a few hours together this evening. Things have really been busy in the Vision Center and she’s not had more than an hour or two of evening relax-time yet this week.

I hope to get caught up on assignments before I go to bed tonight. Wednesday will be spent drilling holes and inserting maple taps. I also hope to assemble the boiler, pans, flue, and have everything ready to go by Friday.

So as you can see, a man’s work is never done.

So are the tales from Pentoga Road…

All that remains are the panels

March 25, 2013 – Monday

22 degrees/cloudy/calm

Pentoga Road

I was just looking on the hot table and counted twenty-two geraniums that have sprouted in the past two weeks. Strange seed, that geranium. Three sprouted within two days, another two the day after. And since, it’s been one here, two there. I read that with some species, it can be a difficult plant to propagate. So far, it’s not been terribly difficult, but has taken patience. Twenty-one plants from thirty seeds so far… even if all the plants live and no others sprout, we’ll still be money ahead over buying bedding plants. I’m optimistic the other nine will sprout in the near future.

After Sunday’s walk, I immediately started work on the greenhouse. It wasn’t that cold outside, in the twenties, but I had difficulty staying warm. Having to handle very cold pieces of aluminum bare-handed resulted in having to pause every few minutes and either rub my hands together or place them in front of a small electric heater.

I quit after the first hour and came inside to have breakfast with Sargie and see her off to work. Resuming immediately after, I began to make good progress and by afternoon’s end, the framing was finished.

Today’s Monday which means there will be a million assignments pouring in for my classes. As Mom always said… rather emphatically, I might add, “HOMEWORK FIRST!” So, after my walk, I’ll be inside reading and grading papers and hopefully this afternoon will see me in the barn beginning to mount the glass in the frames.

I have to get the greenhouse finished in the next three days. Temperatures for Thursday are forecast for 43 degrees, 45 for Friday. If anyone wants to find me, I’ll be the guy wearing snowshoes, probably stripped down to  a tee shirt, hauling sap out of the woods in five gallon buckets or feeding wood into the boiler. A man’s work is never done.

So are the tales from Pentoga Road…

It was a bugger mounting that sliding door. Jimmy was right there (below the light) making sure I did everything right. I wanted a dog for companionship. God gave me a bird. Go figure.

Wearing my cap and gloves that are about ten times too big, I think Sargie ought to run for the coveted title of Ms. Yooper 2013.

March 24, 2013 – Sunday morning

22 degrees/cloudy/calm

Pentoga Road

Saturday was a busy one on Pentoga Road. With the temperatures in the lower 30’s, I seized upon the opportunity to take an early walk. Upon arrival back home, I made big veggie omelets and after eating, headed to the barn to begin construction on the greenhouse.

There are bags and bags of nuts, bolts, and things that I have no idea what they are for.

In many ways, building it has been somewhat easier than I anticipated. I’ve read some horrible online stories in various gardening blogs of those who have given up or in the end, hired someone to build it for them. So far, I’ve been pleasantly surprised. Naturally, Sargie, the girl who has both feet solidly planted on the ground, reminded me I’ve spent enough time the past two to three weeks memorizing the instructions and researching the construction, I ought to be fairly comfortable building the thing.

The base plates are mounted and the four corners bolted into place.

Putting it together is more of a process rather than an activity. The pieces, all ten billion of them, are numbered on little paper dots stuck to the aluminum pieces. That requires the magnifiers to find the darn dots, and occasionally, one has fallen off leaving me wondering how the part I’m holding fits into the larger scheme of things.

But for the most part, I read the instructions, hold a piece where I think it should go, look at the instructions again, feed a bird, talk about it out loud, then with the nut driver attached to the cordless drill, fasten it in place.

Sargie came to my rescue yesterday. I couldn’t get the corner braces to fit… the holes wouldn’t line up. It was discovered that I’d put two corner studs on upside down and was attempting to fit the braces on the outside rather than in. We finally got it figured out and construction continued.

My final action last night was to place the ridge cap. Today should see me begin to bolt in the frames for the glass (UV treated composite plastic) and possibly begin on the slider door. I’ve read two accounts where people skipped the sliding door concept and mounted it as one would a storm door. That appeals to me, but I’ll have to wait and see how it all fits together. The last act will be to mount the plastic pieces into the frames. I’ve read that’s also a challenge.

We took time out of building Saturday afternoon to go for a drive. While in Iron River, we stopped by the local craft fair being held at the old school.

One thing I do know… beginning Wednesday, the temperatures are to rise into the upper 30’s and lower 40’s and remain there. That means maple season will FINALLY be upon us. I have a feeling it’s going to be fast and furious this year and I’ve mentally cleared my plate of any other activities other than collecting and boiling sap. I need to have the greenhouse finished by then.

Every Packers man's dream come true... his woman dressed in a Packers apron. I told Sargie I thought she'd look hot in it. The girl just kept walking.

Sargie works today from noon to five and after, will have supper with Mr. Milligan at the VA Hospital. I’m going to get this uploaded, strap on the headlamp, and go for my walk. I want to be back so I can have breakfast with Sargie, then continue working on the greenhouse. Because you know, a man’s work is never done.

So are the tales from Pentoga Road…

Jimmy has also adopted Sargie

I had the computer in the shop with me on Friday afternoon, referring to downloaded pictures of the various phases of greenhouse construction, like the one I'm assembling. You can see who wanted attention. Elmo the Ermine also spent a few minutes on the work bench chattering. Jimmy didn't leave me all afternoon and even flew alongside when I later took a walk. Yeah, I know, I really need to get a dog. This bird thing is getting stupid.

March 23, 2013 – Saturday morning

19 degrees/cloudy/calm

Pentoga Road

I awakened at 3:30 this morning and lay in bed for over an hour thinking about the greenhouse. After Friday’s successful assembly of the base, I think I’m ready to begin putting up the walls today. The forecast high is 34 degrees with sunny skies. I want to make hay while the sun shines. Construction is a go.

Check out this stalagmite that grew on the garage floor.

Friday morning was spent sitting on the opposite side of the desk from a tax-preparer. It took her two hours to put everything together, all the documents from Alaska, which has no income tax, to Michigan, that does, IRAs, annuities, real income from teaching, retirement income, percentage of the year as a resident in one state and then another, etc. etc. etc. Though the fee was more than I’d anticipated, it appears I’ll be able to do it next year myself and I was happy to get the transition completed by someone who actually knew what she was doing. At least I’ll be receiving a refund, the first in over ten years.

After, I picked up Sargie at the Vision Center for lunch. Since it’s Lent and meat on Fridays is a no-no, we enjoyed a fish sandwich each. Our dining out place was in the car while parked at the local cemetery alongside the graves of an aunt and uncle of Sargie’s who died many years ago. Their graves are just feet from the small cemetery road, so we parked there to eat and talk. It beats the parking lot of Walmart.

I arrived home around 1:30 and immediately got busy measuring, marking, cutting, and assembling, the base of the greenhouse. It took almost four hours, but in the end, it came out square and strong. I lay the sills on the 2x12 boards when finished and everything looks good to go for today’s construction of the walls.

I talked with Luke, Abigail, and Coleman during the afternoon on Skype. They are having a maple sap boil on Sunday with people coming over, a social affair. I’m hoping to begin gathering sap towards the end of this next week. The forecast high for a week from today is 39 degrees with warm weather forecast after. Hopefully, our maple season is about to begin.

I managed to slip in my five-mile walk before dark last night. Sargie arrived home soon after I got back and we had a quiet evening together.

Sargie’s off today. I’m going to slip out of the house fairly soon, when it gets light enough outside to see, and walk my five miles. After, I intend on spending some quality time in the barn working on the greenhouse. With maple season in the offing, I’m eager to get it completed so I can concentrate on making syrup.

A man’s work is never done.

So are the tales from Pentoga Road…

On Skype with Luke... and the birds. 

This is what happens to Yooper children when they are naughty around a snowman.

March 22, 2013 – Friday

-3 degrees/cloudy/calm

Pentoga Road

I’m up, around, and spiffed up this morning. It’s tax day. After attempting to do my taxes using the HR Block free software on line and having it hang up (several times), I called the local office in Iron Mountain and made an appointment for this morning. Somehow, their complimentary software can’t get past the point when I converted my annuities over to IRA’s this past year. I’ll have a real person do it for me.

If I'm wearing camouflaged footwear, does that mean no one can see my feet and when I walk, it appears as though I'm floating a few inches above the ground? 

Sargie was off Thursday, so after writing, I tiptoed out the door and hoofed my five miles. Light snow had fallen during the night and walking was a slippery proposition. At one point, I stepped onto a piece of ice and down I went. Nothing was hurt other than my ego and I’ll live to hike another day. Still, it was a not-so-gentle reminder that I’m not quite as young as I used to be.

I worked on assignments during the morning hours while Sargie busied herself around the house. It was a quiet and comfortable day.

We went to town later in the afternoon, took a short drive, then came home and began our preparations for grilling shish kabobs. There was a regular assembly line of two in the kitchen as we prepared pork, green pepper, mushrooms, shrimp, pineapple, and baby potatoes from last summer's garden on wooden skewers.

The marinade came from ideas off the internet plus our own. In the end, it contained soy sauce, catsup, sugar, and maple syrup. I’m going to brag… we did well.

The most difficult part about grilling outside was keeping Jimmy from trying to help. At one point, I became frustrated enough that I was tempted to include grilled chickadee as a side dish for dinner, but in the end, threw some seed out into the yard and he and his buddies decided to move their action in that direction.

The shish kabobs were to-die-for good and we decided that it will become a staple, especially when the kids come home or we have company. Sargie knocked one out of the ballpark on that meal!

It’s off to Iron Mountain this morning to have the taxes figured. Sargie works today, but since she’s working Sunday, has Saturday off. The temperatures are to moderate over the next week. I’m thinking it’s time to get busy on the greenhouse before the sap begins to run. I’ve got a feeling that in a week or two, I’ll be looking back on these days of laziness and inactivity with envy.

Time to get rolling. A man’s work is never done, you know.

So are the tales from Pentoga Road…