we drove up the mill road this afternoon,
I don't think I had ever been to this spot before,
Owl Rapids.
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Trailing Arbutus
we went for a drive, then a walk in the woods today.
we discovered that the trailing arbutus is starting bloom. it is one of our favourite early spring wildflowers, and is smells so pretty!
Saturday, May 5, 2012
Friday, May 4, 2012
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Birch Syrup Experiment
Last week when we got home from
our road trip, Mark started to tap some
birch trees not too far from home.
Tapping the spile into the hole he just drilled.
The birch sap was running, drip, drip, drip...
buckets almost overflowing with sap
this is the third time we have made
birch syrup, but the first time we boiled
it away from home in the birch woods
it was wonderful being outside for so
many hours a day. we have read online
that you shouldn't use galvanized or
aluminum for sap gathering. we have these
buckets leftover from when we lived near
Bruce Mines and made maple syrup. I will have to do more
research to see if this is true.
we started to boil the sap in my dads
big cast iron pot over an open fire.
after 2 days of this I had a major reaction
to the smoke and sap fumes, my face swelled
up like a balloon. scared us both.
Mark rigged up his old tin camping
stove to boil sap on. it worked but
was not as quick as the open fire.
slow laborious procedure boiling birch sap,
140 litres of sap to 1 litre of syrup,
lots of boiling down.
near the end, boiling hard
we brought it home to finish it off
on the stove in the house. I didn't want
to scorch it over the fire. we made over 2 litres,
maybe 3, I haven't measured it yet. It reminds
us of molasses, and does not taste anything
like maple syrup, it isn't even similar,
as it is a different tree.
it was a fun experiment!
Monday, April 2, 2012
Sunday, April 1, 2012
April 1st, and I am not an April Fool... I am always foolish...
Hydro Bay(Terrace Bay on the map), Lake Superior
taken from up on Hydro Hill
I really want to go camp on these
Islands(Ned Island, Taylor Island, & Bell Island)
this spring or summer
Hydro Hill
CPR rail line
Lake Superior
We went to the garbage dump this afternoon,
yes an exciting life I lead..
we stopped up on Hydro Hill on our way home.
It was gorgeous up there, I hadn't been up there for years.
I was and am dismayed at how much garbage
has been dumped along the road,
and how much broken glass there is everywhere.
Shame on who ever did this.
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