Maple Syrup and Friends

 Monday, April 2 2018

While Papa was away at work, Maman got the sap boiler going.  It was a cool fresh day so the sap wasn’t running yet.  She had a garbage pail of saved sap ready to turn into delicious maple syrup.  Grant and Bill chopped wood for the fire. Karine’s Mom, Diane, also arrived to help.

Sam and David were having fun inside with their neighbour, Ross.

Soon we were all enjoying an outdoor picnic lunch.

The boys spotted a large racoon resting up in a nearby tree.  David had a lot of fun blowing big bubbles which soared up over the roof.  Fiona really enjoyed watching them rise too.

Sam had fun melting a piece of ice on the side of the woodstove.

The sap was boiling on the stove and the kids collected some more from the pails on the trees.  When the sap had boiled down, leaving a bare corner in the pan, it was time to raise up the pan and pour out the sap – Karine filled a large pail to boil on the stove inside until it turned into syrup. After boiling, she would bottle the syrup.

When the work was finished outside, the kids still enjoyed being outdoors in the sunshine.

Easter – Good Friday 2018

Friday, March 30 2018

As Maman and Papa were off work today, we decided to get together for an early Easter Dinner.  The boys brought over their helmets to use with their scooters and had fun wheeling to the park followed by Boots, running through as many puddles as they could.  They also scooted down the neighbour’s driveway, with Grant acting as a traffic guard. All went well until Sam hit our curb and took a fall – he got some colourful face scratches, but nothing serious. We gathered together for Grandpa’s favourite Easter dinner featuring baked bone-in ham.  The boys each made a fruit & smarties “car” for dessert.

Sugaring Time

Sunday, March 25 2018

As the weather was cooperating, the sap was running.  The Chelsea Bowmans set up their sap boiling equipment.  The boys enjoyed an Easter Hunt (Barbara hid some “treasures” around the yard). Then it was time to empty a large garbage container of sap and to supplement it with fresh sap.  Kirk borrowed some extra tree pails from Faith next door.  We enjoyed our first outdoor picnic of the season – Karine had made a hearty stew.  Ross and Sam found a bird nest and “fixed” it and put it in a shrub. Karine and Grant shoveled off the deck so the picnic table could move up.  It was a fun time welcoming spring.