Frozen mid stream

Today after breakfast (always at Bernie's) we went to Pineland Farms to stock up on chicken pies. I have been waiting to get pictures of the sap buckets. I will have to go back another time for better ones. My hands were frozen.
This is a tap collecting sap from a sugar maple. (In an average season the temps have to drop below 40% f at night to make the sap run. (usually February to March , April maybe depending on the year) a tree will yield about 40 quarts of sap which will be boiled down to make about a quart of maple syrup. If you google how they make it, you find out so much more than I can put here.
If you have never had fresh maple syrup before, you have missed out. I am NOT talking log cabin or Mrs Butterworths. Anything that does not say 100% maple syrup is not maple syrup. The Yiddish word for that's is "drek".
As a child we would take bowls of snow and put fresh warm male syrup on it and make maple slush. That memory makes me smile. It also made my dentist smile as he retired nicely. Now you can get maple syrup made in Canada, and all over most of the northern U.S. however it is a well know fact that the best is made in Maine .
We all are fiercely proud of our syrup and to be honest they all are good.
The process of making it is long and tedious. The sap is only good for a short amount of time so the sap houses are working 24/7. Next week is Maine maple Sunday. I will try to get a picture of a sap house.

There is a story that a hardware store owner in Eastport who tells with great delight and the superiority known only to Mainers about a man from away who came to buy taps and buckets for his trees. He brought them back and said they didn't work. The owner went over the directions and was assured that the man did it all correctly.
On the way home the man rode by his house. There were holes drilled in birch, elm , and oak, trees. 'Nuff said.


The trip today was so much fun. Here in Maine we have frost heaves. Oh and since we are driving my husband's dream car.....dodge caravan. ( yes oh yes he is all mine girls) sitting in the back was like 10 miles of roller coaster. No one in Maine even has their shocks and struts checked until April. The ice pushes the road up and creates hills and dales. It sucks sitting in the back seat of the car.
Well the tellehealth people have come and set up the computer for Dad to take his vitals every morning and send them to this agency. Weight, blood pressure and oxygen reading. We tried it on me first.
I love this scale and may marry it. Ok not marry but there is at least a first date in it.
I am officially ten lbs over weight. Yew haw Molly. That's nothing.
Dad is well and the cats are pissed. (Never enough food or attention and if we could throw a few electrical cords in there to chew on that would be great.) oh dear I meant the for cats not Dad.
Have a great day or night people. Back to work tomorrow