Our maple syrup efforts...

Maple sugaring is;

 

It's a  hobby with a mandatory time and effort commitment attached, a whole specific and precise process tagged to it to be sure...

Daily checks to empty all the sap buckets continue.

On any given day, as soon as one bucket is emptied and returned to the spiget's hook, one can hear the dripping chorus repeating itself again. 

Drip, drip, drip...

 

 

Just as soon as we have boiled and evaporated up all of our collected reserves, it seems it's once again time to repeat all over again. 

 

Observing the clear sap over several hours, finds everyone getting excited once we (finally) begin to notice a color change. An amber brown color quickly becomes a favorite around here. Now for it to begin to darken even more, and thicken up.

 

When it's all ready to strain, I've been placing the remaining boiled down maple syrup contents into this glass pitcher. 

With my syrup jars all hot and ready for the big pour, lids are sealed and another batch is complete. And then, after upwards of six to eight hours of boiling and adding, boiling and adding, a few (no names here of course) begin muttering the question of; "Why are we doing this again?"....so much work for so little syrup. No wonder it's nicknamed "black gold". Now, I know why. 

Will we do it again next year? Ask me later, but likely the answer would be "yes"...

Meanwhile, we have a winter storm warning over a period of the next two days, just when all the snow has finally been disappearing. Collecting sap, it would seem, will continue instead of cease. 

No matter, it'll melt, but for  now, more syrup to come for us.

 

 

A little bit of foodie fun...

Serving crunchy, green salads has become a custom around here, and one often finds some sort of addition of chopped fruit, assorted nuts (this one has chopped up dry roasted almonds), asiago or some sort of shredded cheese, and lots of goodness for every body. 

I am not a dressing person, never really have been. But, with company coming to join us for Easter, well that was a cause for more celebration by complimenting all of our various salads with "Renee's" salad dressings. 

Favorites are;

Pear and blue cheese, Asian, and Italian herb. 

Many years ago I could not for the life of me find one thing bearing my own unique name. Now, it's everywhere, even in my grocery aisle. 

Loving it! 
 

OUR new horse!

All of the boarders and their horses have now gone. They've left for other pastures, and the fields are beginning to be tilled and tended to by the new owners. 

As for the barn happenings, there are only nine horses out of thirty remaining, two of whom are still for sale.

A surprise happened last month. Yes, a HUGE surprise. I'm sure you know what I'm about to announce, the title of this post an obvious leak to the news.

 

WE, my husband and I, are now owners of a horse of our own! Long story short, with all of the barn horses now mostly sold, and if our daughter wants to remain as a rider over summer there, or show at all this upcoming show season, the horse she had bonded to for it all to happen (Aussie), became available for sale. 

Actually, he belonged to the coach's daughter. While expecting her first baby and birthing her last December, our daughter was offered to train and bond with this horse for the show season. What a HUGE surprise to us when she decided to sell!

As each of the owner's other horses at the barn were sold, many of them meant for a more beginner rider anyway, once the news this particular horse's upcoming sale was announced, there was only one rider to offer it to who would/could be a perfect match, before placing an actual advertisement in the online horse sale section. 

Guess who that was?  

With a whole lot of discussion, promises aplenty, and a great big wince, we decided to bite the bullet and purchase the horse.

Yes, our girls are like cowboys. 

They have spurs on their winter riding boots.

Buyers remorse has rolled through my mind at least a dozen times ever since we committed to the sale, but now here we are still pinching ourselves, the new owners of a horse!  

Let's hope for many ribbons this summer, to increase the value of this horse. (winking)

 The white marking on Aussie's forelock resembles 

the outline map of Australia, thus the name "Aussie". 

Since our older daughter also owns her own horse, one she purchased recently this past December, it's quite handy for both of our girls to buddy up when making their daily visits down the road to the barn, to tend to, and ride their horses freely as they choose. 

For the most part, yes, I'm babysitting while they are present at the barn, but their dedication and camaraderie so far is working out quite well.

So far, so good. And what an opportunity!

A few warmer days have allowed me to attend and observe where they are advancing in their abilities, grandbaby along with me. 

At least the horses are friendly and seem to love having a baby squealing with glee and watching their every movement. 

And, Aussie is such a great sport too! He was all dressed up for a costume show last fall. I'm afraid this photo below was the only one I was able to snap from such a distance that turned out. I'm sure you get the picture though. His tolerance level is very high for things like this. :)

Here's to Aussie, the thoroughbred horse we now own! And here's hoping for a fantastic upcoming show season for both of our girls. Oh, and a wedding too for one of them... Whew!

Ten Things I'm Thankful For ~ (early) Holy Week edition

Holy Week - 2013

There just aren't enough hours in a day, and of that, I am very sure. Purposely reflecting on life's moments though, always happily becomes time well spent. 

Remaining ever-hopeful, and not always trying to lean blindly on our own understanding, well, that's often so much more difficult, isn't it? 

May you become filled with hope and grace during holy week ahead, spending time searching, praying, and acknowledging all those blessed "thankful things" pouring forth within your quiet, everyday moments. 
  

Somehow, we giggled over being handed entire branches this year, 
21 fronds on my husband's alone.

 My fridge, with a few favorite things; a countdown on the road to Calvary, a lenten idea calendar, hot cross bun recipe, and a perfect bible verse.

I'm so glad you're here, thank you for your visit today. May you be blessed during this Holy Week, and throughout the Easter season ahead. 

With gratitude;
~ Renee 

 

Here are my ten thankful things for this edition, in no particular order, always random, and just a very few from a whole boatload of thankful things I attempt to gather each and every day. 

My photos just tend to pop out at me (pick me, pick me) when I review them, thus the lack of exact common sense direction each time I post these "ten things". Choosing items at random, even though it might make no sense at all to anyone else for the reasons why I've chosen them, please be assured they always make perfect sense to me to include them here. 

"Life is full of pains and hardships, but we are lucky we have a great God behind us all the time. Be thankful and count even the simplest blessings..."

~Panwar

 

- 1 - I'm thankful for the support system our daughter continues to be blessed with, so many kind, caring, and wonderful people have embraced and loved her so much over the past year since having her baby girl. Thankful!

Now, isn't this dress appropriate for this horse loving/owning/riding little mama? The coach/owner of the girls' barn came back from Kentucky thrilled with this bitty dress for our little granddaughter. How appropriate is right!

- 2 - I'm thankful for an Irish bottle of Carolans around St. Patrick's Day, a little coffee additive used for special occasions, like on Sundays during Lent. 

I'm not a fan of the usual types of additives in my coffee, things like cream,milk, or sugar sweeteners, but give me a shot every once in a while of  bailey like creams, and yes, I'm thankful. And, so is my husband.  

- 3 - I'm thankful for so many things actually, and with having my blog posting efforts running a little slower these days, my memory banks are overflowing, and as always, I'm jotting down all thankful things to savor, oodles of moments which provide me with a happy heart when revisiting them later on. There's always so much to be thankful for. Always!

When (mysteriously, we won't point fingers, right? :)) finding this VW collector car in our grandbaby's hands this week, my mind began rolling back to our days of early marital bliss, with thoughts of a neon, bright, yellow Volkswagen beetle car definitely coming to mind, making me break out in a big wide grin. Those were the days my friend....because that was our first car.

- 4 - I'm thankful for impulsive neighborhood pickuup drivebys, when a late afternoon or evening ski date becomes a very fun and serendipitous mini event. Always lots of smiles, and thank yous afterward over a steamy hot chocolate, and a rip roaring fire in the chalet.

- 5 - I'm thankful for teenagers who aren't afraid to bring themselves down to a baby's level, who will crawl under tables and chairs to fetch, or play with our grandbaby, help keep her entertained, and away from the stairways, while dinner is being prepared in the kitchen.

- 6 - I'm thankful for our maple sugaring weeks, where our rookie attempts are actually turning out to be alright. Yes, entire days have been spent boiling sap on our kitchen stove. 

After researching about sugaring, we thought our first year using the indoor kitchen, would be just fine for producing this sweet bottled ending to the sap gatherings, and it has been. It's been extremely handy to have all the action nearby, allowing us to multitask and to pursue other endeavors, and yet still being close enough to keep an eye on things as the bubbling and boiling progresses. 

A general rule of thumb is the 40:1 rule, where it takes 40 cups of sap to boil down to equal 1 cup of syrup - amazing, but true! At first we were so excited to have SO MUCH sap, but then to see how little comes from hours of effort, well, I for one will never, ever, again complain about the cost of purchasing maple syrup from the store. Yikes! 

Next year if we attempt our sugaring again, we already know changes will be in order. We will build ourselves a wood fire sugaring station outdoors, and have a larger production boiling away out yonder in the snowy depths of our back property. We'll be able to save ourselves lots of time and effort from usage of much larger pans, while creating a much more cost effective method to the madness. Meanwhile, I can assure you that pancakes never tasted so good! Yum!  

- 7 - I'm thankful for fantastic pots and pans, and even for having an often crowded stove. When that's the case, that obviously means I'm cooking something up for my family, be it syrup or dinner. 

Actually, the back two pieces of cookware were purchased before we were married, over 36 years ago, and they truly don't owe us a dime! They have sustained years and years of usage, assisting us in providing and hosting big family celebrations, with plenty of food preparations included for their successes. 

Thank you to our frying pan, about ten years old, for you too happen to be my dear, and lovely companion these days! I'm always doubling up the cooking, and enjoy two meals from one foodie making effort.  

- 8 - I'm thankful for Angie and Jane, owners of  the Etsy store called; "Jesse Tree Treasures" . These ladies sure do offer visually meaningful, and gorgeous handmade items, for families to use round the liturgical year.

I love this "Holy Week" set, complete with wooden tree, and scripture study for use with the meanings of each symbol dedicated and represented for use over the week. 

How rich our faith to be able to include these items in our homes, and how wonderful these sames items would be to tuck away into a bride-to-be's hopechest, or for any other type of vocation, for use in their own homes someday. There is something to say about providing the next generation with these types of rich liturgical offerings, especially for use with our future progeny, that makes the investment well worth its weight in gold. 

Thank you ladies!  

- 9 - I'm thankful for another great year with lots of time well spent taking our younger two skiing and snowboarding. Last July we purchased winter passes for a great preseason deal, for this new to us mountain instead of the last one, which obviously became the sole venue for this year's activities.  

Similar to the one we frequented last year, both are not far, just in different directions. The location was sure handy for taking in extracurricular moments, kids fast becoming completely rejuvenated, and better able to handle the assigned algebra for the day. (kidding) 

Everything in due season comes to an ending, and with spring's thaw rightly attempting to claim its grand return, these photos were all snapped on the mountain's very last day, before the "closed" sign was placed the following day, on the slope's chalet doors. 

  
With weather always permitting for slope actions, the hours spent in the great wintry outdoors, were greatly appreciated by all. This winter felt extra long compared to previous years, and perfect for all the shushing, jumping, and tricks one could muster on any given mom-designated "slope day". Plus, knowing so many others with yearly passes there like us, or meeting homeschooling or our church groups there for a day of camaraderie and fun, all only added to this year's enjoyable season. Goodbye winter 2013!

- 10 - I'm thankful for other people in our lives who have an obvious knack for getting to the point, and who mentor our children well in our absence. 

If this isn't stating a great fact at the barn, and if this great coach/owner didn't place announcements up like this on the communication board, guess who might instead be having to get after all the girls about important things like this over there? 

I love the mentoring, support, and guidance our two girls have been getting at this barn. I still feel it will be a sad day once September comes, and the barn as we know it, will experience forever changes.

Are you still with me? Thanks so much for reading, and for allowing me to share with you.

To me, only including ten things is so tough. There are hundreds of things I'm thankful for.

What about you? 

   

{this moment} - wedding preparations

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. 

A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. 

A simple, special, extraordinary moment. 

A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. 

Preparing for our daughter's August wedding... 

Behind the scenes, without giving anything away...

( If inspired, go visit others' {this moment} posts over at SouleMama)