Yard Work and more

I'm starting to realize how hard it is to update this blog. I must admit when I first started I was much better at updating it with the latest happenings. So I will do my best to cover the last couple of weeks.

About two weeks ago I took the truck and picked up the mulch for the house. We decided to refresh the areas that were around the house as well as the front tree. At the front of the house we had these two bushes that the deer really seemed to enjoy. Only over time they have gotten worse. Gary tried at one point to "reshape" them with the chain saw. This is the smaller of the two. Lucky for us to have the tractor and chain.

This past weekend Audrey came to visit. The girls were having so much fun, Clem and Marilyn decided to come up to camp and visit. This way the girls were able to hang out in the hammock and swim. Audrey lives in Binghamton and we get to see her when she visits Grammie and Papa.

We came home from camp to bale hay. The girls even got in on the action. They enjoyed the ride to the field on the wagon.
Gary and his prize load, before the top bales decided to jump off. The wagon will need a slight repair before the next load.
The wagon didn't fair so well when the bales toppled off. There seems to be a weak spot.

Niagara Falls and more

It always seems to amaze me how quickly time goes by. It feels like it wasn't that long ago that the kids had spring break. Only the calendar says something different. Gary and I decided to take a mini-vacation with the girls. Our first stop was in Rochester. We visited the Strong Museum. Both of the girls enjoyed the Berenstain Bears exhibit as well as the Lego Castle. Another hit was the miniature Wegman's, where they had their own shopping cart for purchases. At the end there was a self-check out and they got their own receipt for shopping.
After Rochester, we headed over to Niagara Falls for the night.
Gary and Laura took their own trip over the falls.....
It was a little chilly at the falls, but the crowds were very light. A perfect time for us to go. We finished out our mini-vacation back home with a trip to the MOST followed by dinner at Chuck E Cheese. Tonight I was blessed with two clean little girls for Mother's Day. I'm thinking there can't be anything better than that. Unless you consider a freshly painted kitchen with flowers from your family a special treat for Mother's Day. Which I do! Gary and Laura brought me these flowers. My favorite! Daisy's and pink roses. I'm a lucky mom.

The Strip Show

Saturday was the day! For the wallpaper strip show.... We determined the paper had been up 20+ years. It was evident as we started to take things off the wall and could see the fading. Gary made himself scarce and the Hayden women/girls took over. I rented a steamer from the paint store. We quickly found it was well worth it.

The before......
Kelly took her post at this wall/section and was serious about her work.
Laura and Grandma joined forces to tackle this wall. Laura quickly found herself being the gopher girl. Which was a huge help.
Look at the piece she took off! How about that space she has in her teeth now?! Precious.
Under the wallpaper was a cartoon. This was put on the wall by a fireman who visited at one point. The reference of "Here Cinder!" is to Gary's dog he had when he was a child. I couldn't get this pic to rotate, sorry.
Here I am, working that steamer. Highly reccomend it if you have any stripping to do. Lucky for me it was a small area we were working with and I had lots of help.
Kelly and Aunt Amanda were also a team, at least when Kelly wasn't taking care of Jenny.
And after.... Thanks for the help ladies!

The Clean Up and Dump Truck

Oddly enough this weekend was Maple Weekend around NYS. For us, it was clean up weekend. This has been a very different year for maple syrup here. It was by far our worst year for production. The weather warmed up too quickly and the sap just was not in the buckets. Gary pulled the taps last weekend, making it the shortest season ever. The evaporator was only fired 4 times.
Just some of the taps drying on the back porch after being washed up for the season.
The front yard becomes the "washing" yard. In the center are the ice chunks that Laura dumped out before we could wash them.
Gary always seems to come home with these "great" finds. Look what he brought home today. Last fall he told me he found this dump truck and thought it would work great around the house. This weekend when Dad was visiting the two of them went and dragged it home.
The girls could not hold back their excitement.
Who needs a doll house when you can have a cab to a dump truck to play in????

New Squirt Hole

Look who has a new hole to squirt water through! Laura finally lost her top tooth. That tooth has just been hanging there. I thought we would have lost it on Friday when she came to me and her mouth was bleeding. I encouraged her to take it out, but it just wasn't ready yet. So.... while we were playing Monopoly Saturday night, it dropped right into her hands! Excitement! She quickly put it in a Ziploc for the tooth fairy. That tooth fairy came and took the tooth, leaving here with $1. Now we are just waiting for that wiggler next to it to come out.

Collection Day

Saturday was the first collection day for maple sap. The crew gathered in the afternoon and headed out to the woods.
When Gary was a kid he enjoyed driving the tractor. He still enjoys driving the tractor, but look at the new recruit he has. Kelly takes on the wheel.
Laura found a full bucket of sap. There were many buckets that looked like this.
The collection crew. Dominique, Laura, Matt and Joe.
Laura and Matt working on their teamwork to empty some of the full buckets.
This bucket did NOT make it into the tank.
Not good. I think he found a hole.
Case to the rescue! First time playing in the mud after it's paint job.
Wagon hooked.
Wagon NOT hooked.... In the effort of pulling the wagon out, it came unhooked with about 1,400 lbs of sap. We used the draw bar on the tractor to lift the weight of the wagon out of the mud to hook back on and pull out.

'Twas the Days Before Syrup

The buckets were hung by the maples with care, with visions the sap would soon be there!!
The tapping has begun. Sunday we tapped part of the woods after clearing out the trails once again from the snow storm.
This is the road going into the woods. It won't be long before the creek overflows the road in the thaw. Always good for crossing over the running water with a load of sap to haul up to the house.
Because of the fresh snow, we hooked the dogsled to the snowmobile to haul the taps around. Kelly held onto the bucket with Matt on the back.
And then there was the snow storm we experienced Thursday to Friday. It left us with about 14" of fresh, heavy, wet snow. No challenge for the Deere though. Gary cleared the driveway twice during the storm.
This was Thursday morning. The calm before the storm...