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| The transformation from a wood shed to a sugar shack is slowly happening. What a mess! |
March 10, 2013 – Sunday
32 degrees/rain/calm
Pentoga Road
This is about as lousy of weather as I’ve seen in a long
time. If we could throw in some forty-mile an hour winds with gusts to seventy,
add a few mountains and an ocean, we’d have Sitka, Alaska. Kind of makes me
homesick.
It was like this all day Saturday. As Sargie and I agreed
last night, one just can’t get warm… regardless what the thermometer says, the
dampness just goes right through a person. Oh well, it’s to get cold with lows
in the single numbers later this week and stay that way for a few days.
I just looked at the weather forecast:
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Hmm, it appears we’re right in the path of the upcoming
storm. I guess I ought to get more gas for the snow blower when we go to town
today. Doesn’t sound as though it’s going to be pretty.
I took my hike first thing Saturday morning. The two feet
attached to my legs along with their ten happy toes were almost singing as I
finally got to wear my summer ultra-light hiking shoes. The pavement was clear
and dry and I walked five miles in eighty minutes.
After a cup of coffee and enjoying the chance to get warm, I
headed to the shed and removed the plywood back. The best part of the morning
was discovering there were enough cement blocks with which to begin assembling
the sap boiler. I put those in place then climbed up into the rafters of the
barn to retrieve the pans, stove pipe, and other needed materials.
I took a break from maple-related activities to shovel a
foot of snow from the roof over the living room. Walking on a snow-covered tin roof is a dicey proposition. My feet slipped from under me more than once, but in
the end, I managed to remove most of the white stuff.
There would have been twice the work done yesterday if it weren’t
for feeding the chickadees. Knowing I carry a coat pocket full of black
sunflower seeds, they seem to appear in front of my face at the most
inopportune times… like when I’m precariously balancing on the roof or up in
the rafters of the barn. Though I often don’t see them ahead of time, I usually
hear the fluttering of their wings as they come zooming in for a landing. I
don’t care. I enjoy their company a great deal and find myself talking to them
as I work. One in particular, Jimmy, just sits on my arm for the longest times,
no bird feed needed. He turns his head as if he understands what I’m saying
while I gently stroke his head or belly with one finger.
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| Jimmy the Chickadee helping me shovel snow from around the electric fence |
Elmo also follows me while I’m working, chirping, and
seeming to scold me because I am making the structure next door to where he
lives (in the old wood shed) into a sugarhouse. I can already see he’ll be
climbing all over me, searching my pockets for tidbits of food, by the end of
syrup season.
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| The snow was covering the second lowest strand of electric fencing around the orchard and garden. It took over an hour to clear it away. |
I finished the day by fabricating a sheet metal end for the
boiler, assembling the connector and stovepipe elbow, and drilling and riveting
everything together. In the end, I think it’ll work just fine.
Sargie was home fairly early last night and we enjoyed huge
salads with chicken. I made some garlic bread and we ate like little piggies.
Bedtime came early.
Sargie’s off today, but with the inclement weather, we’ll be
staying close to home. If we receive nine inches of snow, I doubt she’ll be
going into work tomorrow. It usually takes the county at least twenty-four
hours to clear our road, sometimes longer.
Time to pour another cup of coffee, throw a couple of logs
on the fire, and I need to turn up the volume on the radio. It’s time for the
news. A man’s work is never done.
So are the tales from Pentoga Road…
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| Coming in for a landing |
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