 |
| Tapping Weekend March 14th through 16th |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| After unpacking and eating on Friday, it was time to practice bartender type skills for the summer. I've been getting better at layering drinks and shots. Few left the bar thristy. |
| It was more than a little evident that the bottle rocket forts have lost much of their formidableness in the last few weeks. |
| The webcam's time was not corrected. It seemed happier running in a world unspoiled by daylight saving time. Maybe next weekend. |
| While hiking the paths to the sugarbush, we found that the burdock is plentiful, clingy. |
| Despite unseasonablely cool weather, xLt had the gas powered drill fired up and was holing trees at a rate that would have enraged any Ents in the area. |
| The skeptics were silenced when sap dribbled from the fresh holes. |
| Spiles were gently tapped into the hole and buckets and covers added. |
| Drops of sap soon covered the bottom of the buckets. |
| The taps put in place on Friday were not flowing very well. The cold night had formed sap-cicles. |
| The remains of a big basswood were burned in back of the bar on Saturday night. It was really in front of the bar, I could not stop the flow of the "B" words in the last sentence. |
| On Sunday morning, it was time for the lake to get a new hole to check the ice thickness. |
| It's a little over 22 inches thick. That's 3 inches thicker than last year at this time. |
| The snow on the lake is strong enough to walk on and can be cut into Styrofoam like cubes. |
| A dozen or so cubes were cut and a small wall was built. The process took about 5 minutes and will not be made into a movie anytime soon. I'm not sure that a script will even be written let alone submitted |
| We'll be back Easter weekend to check the ice, help gather and boil sap, push layered shots, and eat ham. |