For those of you who thought I fell off the face of the earth, I am back! Yes, the last nine months have been very full, but very very good. Leanna and I enjoyed our first Christmas together as well as our first trip to Chicago as a married couple. My family had a beautiful reception for us with close friends and family during our stay in IL.
 |
| Us! |
 |
| Intense game of Dutch Blitz |
 |
| We had fun pulling people on a tube behind my old snowmobile |
 |
| The family table. |
The cold months passed with not too much excitement. We were kept busy with feeding and caring for the animals while enjoying the occasional snow fall. It even got cold enough to enable us to have a week of ice skating!
February found us putting out maple syrup taps for my fourth season here in Virginia. With putting 22 gallon of syrup in jars we felt like we could make the jump and sell syrup in the farm store as a specialty item. The syrup sold quickly and we have plans of selling more next year.
 |
| I used food grade 50 gallon barrels (a gift from a friend) this year to collect sap instead of coolers, which made it a lot easier! |
 |
| My new evaporator set up, a retro fitted fuel barrel with a stove pipe. |
 |
| Finishing off the syrup on a gas burner outside to cut down on heat and steam in the house. :) |
 |
| The finished product! |
 |
| A cute couple in front of a sugar shack at a local maple syrup festival. :) |
