A word on making,

I am a maker.  Tapping my own paltry sugar bush is evidence enough.  But feeling like a maker isn't necessarily in the completion of any project, but in the journey.  Maker's fail.  Alot.  I will admit to times when the failure was overly frustrating and my first reaction is to give up, break up with the project, return to my teenage self and pout.  There is a baby dress (the baby is now four months old...) that I have yet to finish.  I am still mad at it.

 On Saturday, as my children played all around, the sap began to boil, thicken and darken in color.  It became clear that this making moment was going to be successful.  This whole process has been immensely enjoyable.  I was in a rush to start and now I am grateful that tapping takes time and patience.   Time enough to enjoy, teach and wonder with my children.

We started out with our usual fire ring, make-shift stove, an up-cycled food serving container and one awesome fire starter.  Me.  Okay, I used a fire starter that Dustin and I had made a previous Father's Day for our Dads.  But it was my design and it rocked.

The kids were super helpful with keeping the fire going, and when I say super helpful, what I really mean is super obsessed with potentially burning their fingers by continually trying to stick random twigs into the fire.    Jeep may or may not have singed some of his hair on his head...

The first batch of sap out of any tree is usually very clear, just like water.  So we tapped these babies just right!

Bug was in charge of cutting the firewood down to the right size.  He was thrilled to use an ax.

I wasn't totally sure our fire pit idea was all that great, but I need not to have fretted.  

It worked just fine.

 After the sap has boiled down and passes a sheeting test, it is time to filter and store.  Cheese-cloth might just be my favorite textile.

 The finished product.

Sap can run up to a month, but it all depends on how long the transition from winter to spring takes.  We are hoping to see at least another two weeks of sap.  As of today, we have more sap now then we did when we boiled it all down on Saturday!

The air, the playing children, the husband and the boiling all made for an absolutely perfect day.  Here's to toiling in the field and ending the day toasting in one's own ability to make something wonderful.