January Journal 2008

I did nothing syrup related yesterday. I started my dutch lessons on the computer. Het meisje een onder en tafel! Got to get ready to start my maple syrup import business in the Netherlands.

Okay okay I'll fess up. I went out and cut a few trails around a small bush. looked over a section that I haven't tapped and found a few tappable trees hiding among the pines and cedars. found some young trees that will need to be protcected and pampered for my son's future. was hoping to get out again today but it's really cold here. 16. bought some spiles on e-bay.

Well I'm glad that we are not all laying around getting fat.
16 thats balmy. dont you have longhandles. I've checked beaver traps @-70 wind chill and caught fish at -30. put your coat on and go do some thing even if its wrong. (this is were I would put the smiley face . but i cant figure them out)

Dave Y,

I remember those days - my buddies would go out and ice fish when the mercury read 10 degrees, coupled with a 15-20 mph wind whipping across Oneida Lake in Syracuse, and that ws fun. And all that was without a shelter because we were poor college students. We would play football and snag seagulls when we were bored. It's tough to reel in a seagull on six pound test and a three foot jigging rod. I miss ice fishing, those are good times.

Andrew

Well we finally got the grates in. I found a couple of end plates. I think they were out of a boiler or some sort of heat exchanger. They are 28 inches in dia. and 1 inch thick.They are full of 3/4 inch holes where the tubing went through. Should have lots of air flow. I used a torch to square them up and sized them to fit. We set the rails in the fire box and slid the plates in on top. It looks good. Now I'm getting excited, can't wait to fire it up to see how it will work.

Dave Y I thought I was the only one that couldn't get the smileys to go where I wanted them to go.

Andyp

Andrew, Yea ice fishing is fun, but i never seem to get to do it any more. I'm still out in all kinds of weather. Thats one thing I never let bother me. The nastier the weather the better i like it.
Andyp , Well maybe some body could give us some computer lessons :-)

I finished tying my mainline tonite and took some pics of the bush, let the Labs run thru the woods. They sure like going the the sugarbush. I cleaned my new tanks In the freezing rain. Man I must be stupid! Dang It was cold ! I even had to thaw out the water. I really wanted to get that job out of the way!

Doing research Plastics and on FDA items that may relate to maple. If I find anything of value I will let you know:) Dave Y and Andy the : and the ) will usually work. Try it, then do the preview post to see if it worked.

Had a real nice visit with Paul form Turtle Maple about large maple sections (cookies) He is really into the educational aspects of teaching maple, we could all take note of some of his and Kathy's work.:)

Good positive maple news!!!!

Looking forward to the NWPA annual members meeting Sat Jan 19 at the Blooming Valley church We will have sugar makers for NEOhio as the guest speakers and will roll out the new NWPA brochure. The beautiful brochure was a result of a $15,000 state grant to promote maple now that's going in a positive direction for our hobby. Starn Marketing group of Meadville Pa did a wonderful job putting this together. 10,000 of these will be at road side rest stops for the public to pick up and 5,000 are for members to hand out. If you get to see one our little maple business is shown in several photos. I provided several other maple related photos too. Local Nature Center Asbury Woods (Erie) is featured making maple and also the Newbury book Miracles On Maple Hill gets a page since this was written here in North West PA.

Regards,
Chris

Guys- Sounds like everyones gearing up for the big season. Im getting closer to being ready. I keep on plugging. Should have the ro room done tomarrow hopefully. I have my gasket so I can setup my evap and get the pans out of the kitchen. Have minor plumbing to do with the tanks. Hoping to have most of the little stuff done this week. Ro comes next week. Getting there. I see on some of the other posts things get a little heated sometimes. For what its worth this is my thought, Nobody has to be right and nobody has to be wrong. This is just syruping. I should have the inside of the shed looking pretty nice in a week or two, Ill try to get some pics. Pretty exciting seeing people tapping allready. Have a happy, Theron

Theron, Glad to see you are finally going to put those pans on your arch. I thought i was going to have to do that for you.

Good Morning, fellow PA-ers! I have the day off and hope to get the bulk of the woods-work done. I got the tank cleaned and ready, and the mainline cleared of downed trees, but I still have to attach droplines to my new 50+ reds, and add a quick disconnect here and change a connection there and so on and so forth.

I was given an old stainless sink that I want to rig up by my steam-hood drip line, so I can use that hot water more efficiently. Then seal up some gaps around the bottom of the siding on the shack to get some of the worst of the drafts out. We're thinking COMFORT this year. Maybe a recliner, too, and a satellite dish! :)