October Journal

Looks like we're asleep at the switch - it's been October for 19 hours and nobody started the new thread!!!

I've got 25 tons of 3/4" clear stone coming tomorrow afternoon. Saturday we tear apart the rest of the old building, prepare the base to the right elevation and put down a foot of stone. We also plan to get 4 hydro poles planted as the supports for our new evaporator feed tank. Sunday my cousin will help us with the forms so we can pour concrete in a couple weeks.

Also on the to-do list this weekend is to get the steam stack for the Force 5 installed, Frankenstein and install a sleeve with ceramic insulation blanket around the smokestack to protect the rafters, tighten up all the fittings on the Force 5 and give the Force 5 a wash. If there's spare time I might go duck and/or deer hunting!

In Ther-Inevercrywolf-on's words there's a BIIIIG SAAAAAAAAAAAP warning in the forecast and only 5 months until I need to be ready to tap!

Marty

Oh yeah!!!! hey happy October to all!!!

I just got in from outside. With school and work at home sometimes takes awhile to check out things. It's been wet here lately and it's a good thing I got wood hauled in already as who knows if it will dry out again before it get's cold out.
October is that time of the year when you wish summer would not end and for fall to get it over with a freeze us up and we can go on with winter.

Ummmm where the heck did september go? Man I gotta get my but in gear. So much left to do before snow flies and so much hunting to get in the way. This rain is hurting me bad. I guess I either sit in the house and sing the rain rain go away song or clean the sugarhouse the next few days of rain in the forecast. Quarter end and Im on call 24 7 for the next 10 days and that does not help the cause when it comes to maple stuff getting done and finishing up the firewood for the house. Did I mention hunting. Man I love the fall but it puts me in panick mode every year.

Frankenstein Ennis. I like it seems to fit that monster evaporator nicely. Good luck with it the thing looks mean in a good way.:evil:

My work is done except for just a few things. Nothing but nothing stands in the way of my hunting. When hunting starts everything else stops around here. I just got a few more hours of brush clearing to pickup another 30 taps or so. There is always lots to do but a man has to hunt sometime. I killed 9 deer last year(brag,brag). Some of the guys I hunt with are not very good shots.

I need to get a deer this year. I haven't got a deer in..uh..uh..well since my daughter was born some 7 years ago. I used to be good 2-5 deer a year. But I haven't been able to spend enough time in the woods. I passed up a few little ones, (yes a hunter with a heart) but this year I am gettin' one.

But I haven't been with venison!!!

2 years ago I was coming home from work and I passed a guy stand by a hit deer but it was still alive so he called the police they came and put it down and I took it. I have a chevy Tahoe and cop said you want to put it in there your gonna get blood in it. I said oh I have a bag I could put over its head....he said,"oh is that your date truck!!!" :lol: anyway he said we have another dead one just an hour ago about 1 mile away, said sure what the heck. not to much lost meat they were in good shape. Thats my redneck story for the day!!!

I started mapping out my new sugarbush, but I'm still to busy with the farmers markets to give it all my attention. I'm itching to get out and string some tubing.

I went up to the woodlot yesterday and got a surprise. The leaves were amazing. This is the second harvest of the year for us maple sugarers.

Foliage must be near peak here this weekend.

Here's the foliage webcam from Proctor Maple Research Center in Vermont:

http://www.uvm.edu/~pmrc/PMRCCAM.html

few pics of the new sugarhouse

The colors are eally starting to pop here too. still alot of green oaks around but alot of the maples are gold and red.