Signs of spring

It has been mostly above freezing during the day for the past little while, and this weekend there was beautiful warm sunshine to boot. I can see about two thirds of the front yard and about one third of the backyard now. After having sat inside for the last three weekends (because of this) we could not resist the beautiful sunshine and wanted a little outing. We are both still easily fatigued after the flu, so we did not want to do anything too ambitious.

This time of year is maple sap collection time. Starch stored in the roots of maple trees is converted to sugar, which then rises with the sap. This starts in late February when there is a bit more light, and the sun has more warmth to "wake up" the maples. Neither of us had ever seen this process, so today we got in the car and drove to Stanley's Farm in Edwards.

As expected the place was packed with people coming for the all-you-can-eat breakfasts, with everything drowned in maple syrup. Sure enough there was a huge line-up out the door of the restaurant building. We just wanted a little walk around the property and see the actual collection and production. Although there has to be acres of sugar-bush behind the farm and buildings for them to be able to produce enough syrup to run a business, even the trees along the parking lot were being tapped.  Drops were falling at about 10 second intervals into the buckets attached to the trees.

A drop about to fall in the bucket. Older tap holes are visible in the tree trunk. 

Sap collection buckets on the trees

Off to the side tucked against a ridge in the land stands the actual sugar shack where the syrup is being boiled down from 2% sugar to 66% sugar, which according to the gentleman supervising takes 3 to 5 hours per batch. This farm has been in operation since the the 1800's and I could very easily imagine that this tiny building is at least 111 years old. Certainly the wood furnace under the boiling basins looks very traditional, but it does the trick just fine. The steam just rises to the ceiling of the shack, and then wafts out the open doors.

Boiling the sap down in the shack

Next you pass by the original farmhouse. You can see what was likely the original-original tiny farmhouse with the larger extension built on which then very likely became the main house.

At the barn there was a pen with about 5 turkeys, and about 10 kids making chicken noises at them. Every once in a while the turkeys would respond to the noises with such passion (or should I say venom) that I had to conclude they were letting out a stream of ugly swearwords at these little kids. Seriously though, I began to wonder how stressed these birds are after being yelled at by small kids all day.

"now, about this thanksgiving thing......."

Inside the barn were a couple of horses, very blase about all the petting and constant offering of hay. In another area were a couple of cows together in a pen. One cow was lying down and chewing the cud, but we kept hearing this odd noise, so we got closer. Under her head, tucked against the fence we saw a young dark brown calf asleep and snoring like a drunk. We stood there like idiots staring at this, because the sound did not match the picture we saw, but it became clear from the rise and fall of the flank that it was indeed the calf that was snoring loudly.

Swearing turkeys and hung over calves?  Time to move on back to parts of civilization we understand. So we ran some errands, including at the Rideau Center, and also stopped for a sandwich along the way. Outside the Rideau Center I saw a guy jogging in shorts and a t-shirt, and I managed to override the immediate desire to stick out my foot and trip the show-off. (It's only March, it's four degrees, and there is 10 cm of snow in the forecast for tomorrow. It's not over yet, OK? Sigh......I'm over it.) We took the scenic road back along the canal, where the skateway has been closed to the public, but the ice is still all there, and Dows Lake is also still completely frozen. Along the canal we saw people jogging (in jogging pants and sweaters this time) between the still present snowbanks.

When we passed by Hogs Back falls, we suddenly saw through gaps in the trees what a huge volume of water passes through there at the moment. We negotiated the muddy under construction parking lot to get to the same spot we visited January 30th, and watched this massive amount of water crashing through.

Compare that to this picture from late January.

Driving along Riverside drive we found this ice dam just south of Moonies Bay park.

And finally for Car and M: I don't think you have to worry about geese that want to be fed anymore. They have come back north.