2010-Warmer days (up in the high 30’s, sometimes 40), cold nights, though last night was above freezing. It’s snowing a sleety sort of rain right now. The daffodils are up a good 3 or 4 inches (under the snow) on the south side of the house. The seeds I started under lights are mostly all sprouted, except for the mache and celery which take longer. I have heard that the skunks are up and about though I haven’t seen any myself, which is fine because usually it’s dead ones. The squirrels have been highly excited; therefore many casualties for them.
I am trying to gather supplies for maple syrup making, nothing is coming together. I can’t find dad’s drill, the forestry store doesn’t have spiles to put into the holes, and the weather is not cooperating. I guess there’s still a couple of weeks at least.
Finally, I drilled holes in the maple- three on the sunny side and just ran plastic tubes directly out of the holes into my wine making bucket and two glass jugs. One began running sap right away, one leaked sap down the tree, but when I filled the gap with clay, no more appeared. The third, which was also like drilling iron, never ran. It was getting colder and about 4 o’clock so maybe it will be stronger today. The tree is complicated inside, like three or more stems that have fused together so it’s hard to tell where, inside the stem, you have reached.
2011-Funny, the squirrels aren’t noticeably active this year. Probably too much snow cover still-a foot in many places and not much bare ground to be found. I’ve started syrup making-a simple little plastic fitting makes the tube attachment nice and snug. The sap is flowing well (my maple and two of V’s);probably 8 gallons in two days. It’s raining hard and there’ll be no chance to start boiling until tomorrow and then the wood is all wet. Next year I will have to think a little more ahead and get the wood all collected and covered by the end of fall. The last day of March is 1 ½ hours longer than the first; a greater increase than in any other month.
2012-Finished maple syrup making Friday-almost a gallon in three boilings, with C’s help. Weather is changeable to say the least- fifty a day ago, twenties last night, possible single digits tonight and then near sixty on Wednesday. Heavy snow fell Thursday, nearly eight inches but melting as it fell into slush and mud and still a coating remains. Yesterday summed it up; the sky was darkly grey and the air a much damper chill than the forty degrees the thermometer declared. It felt like snow and then snow it did, hard and squally, but then the clouds shifted and the sun shone through the falling snow which became gentler but steady and lasted that way for nearly fifteen minutes before it gradually stopped.
2013- I made spiles out of pithed-out sumac twigs and felt very proud of myself. They worked well but have to be made bigger than it seems because they shrink when they dry.
Signs of spring: the trees are tapped and flowing sap, wood anemones are making bright yellow carpets up the road and the red winged blackbirds have shown up with their thuggish friends, the starlings.
In one glance I saw a yellow finch, a scarlet cardinal and a bright blue jay. If they were tropical rarities, such a sight would have people gathering to gawk, but they are, we say, just ordinary.
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