Red Roof Maples 2018

[Russell Lampron]

At -5* it was a little cold to hit the woods today so I am waiting to tap until next weekend. I got the pre filter canister for my RO last week so I worked on that instead. I put some water in my wash tank and ran the RO. To my delight all of the pumps work and there weren't any water leaks. The only thing that I don't know is if the membrane was damaged when it froze. Luckily I have a brand new one if I need it.

After I was done with that I got my sweet and permeate tanks into the woodshed and connected to the RO manifold. I got the raw sap tank connected too. After lunch I brought the releaser and pump down to the woods and got them hooked up. Now when I tap I can turn on the vacuum and let it suck. Tomorrow I'm going to redo the plumbing to the Bubblemaster and I'm also running new pipes to fill the permeate and sweet tanks.

[BAP]

Sounds like you lucked out on the RO. Certainly was a good day to be working where it was a little sheltered from the wind and cold.

[Russell Lampron]

Sounds like you lucked out on the RO. Certainly was a good day to be working where it was a little sheltered from the wind and cold.

Yes it was a good day to get some inside work done. I cranked up the heat in the RO room and could go in there to warm up when I did work outside. I was afraid that I was going to turn on the RO and have water spraying all over the place. The pumps started right up and built pressure like they are supposed to with no leaks. At this point I only have a couple of little things to finish and I'll be ready for sap.

[Russell Lampron]

I finished the little things that I had to get done today and am planning to tap next weekend.

[Russell Lampron]

I had to work yesterday morning but did manage to get over 300 taps in in the afternoon. It looked like I would get rained out today but the rain held off until almost noon and I was able to get about 200 more taps in this morning. With the soft wet snow on top and ice underneath getting around in the woods was a little slow. I slipped and fell 3 times and when I was tapping in the swamp I broke through snow and ice into the mud up to my knees. I should have gone out and tapped last weekend when everything was froze up.

[Russell Lampron]

As most of you don't know, last spring I was diagnosed with prostate cancer. I had it surgically removed in July and thought all was well and that I could finish my recovery and be done with it. In September I was told that my PSA level was a little higher than it should be. PSA is an enzyme that is produced by the prostate cancer cells. My level should have been zero or just above and it was 0.19. The Dr told me that he missed something and that I would have to have radiation and hormone treatments to get rid of what he missed. We checked the PSA again in November and found that it was at 0.21, it had climbed a little bit but the remaining cancer wasn't aggressive. I got my first hormone shot on January 2nd and went to see the oncologist on January 12th. I had an appointment today to plan and schedule the radiation treatments. I start those on March 27th right after Maple Weekend. That will consist of going in every morning before I go to work to get zapped with radiation for 8 weeks. After that my PSA should be zero but time will tell. Cancer sucks!

[mountainvan]

Yep, cancer sucks but it can be overcome. Good luck and good health.

[Amber Gold]

Hey Russ, Sorry to hear the bad news. Good thing is it'll start after maple season. Stay positive.

[Maplewalnut]

Good Luck Russ, nothing but well wishes. You got a lot to keep battling for!

Mike

[BAP]

Will be thinking of you Russ and keep up the positive attitude.