Sweetest Time of the Year!

It's that time of year when the days are getting longer. The darkness feels like it is being pushed back into its normal time. The days are getting warmer and the sun just feels like it is ready to burst out of it's winter blanket. The birds seem to be singing louder as if they know spring is just around the corner. My squirrels seem to be waking up from their little naps, much to my dismay, since they seem to think they are starving and need to eat ALL of my bird seed, EVERY SINGLE DAY!! If they weren't so cute, squirrel dumplings would be on the menu. . This time of year is my most anticipated! More time for the boys to play outside, jumping in puddles, riding bikes and less cabin fever. I love the thought of colors bursting out of their deep winter sleep.  Even the trees are awaiting to burst out in their colorful brilliance. To me it's a sweet time to be in.

With the anticipation of spring, comes the sweetest time of the year, Maple season. I LOVE LOVE LOVE this time of year. Last year we blindly tapped 11 trees. I say blindly because we bought our house in November after all the leaves had fallen and we were guessing which trees were actually Maple. Glad my hubby knows some things about New England trees... Maples are a bit scarce in Zambia and Texas so I was REALLY blind. But surprisingly, we were right on all our taps! We didn't get any oak sap! Is that even possible? We learned a lot of DOS and DON'Ts about maple syrup making last year. We are thankful for friends who gave us great advice!  Before fall was complete last year, we went and marked all of our maples in our yard and discovered about 20 more trees to tap. I'm so excited!

This week, was warm enough to start our taps. We are researching ways to improve our boiling down technique, since our Turkey fryer is not the most efficient way to get it done. Since evaporators are quite expensive, we are researching ways to build our own. But if any of you would like to donate to the Ramos Tribe Maple Syrup evaporator fund, feel free! I will supply you with some fresh maple syrup!  I will let you know later how we manage with any new ideas on evaporating. Excitement is running through my blood! There is just something wonderful about fresh pancakes with fresh maple syrup! Oh man I love this time of year!  I don't know if Keith loves it nearly as much as I do, maybe because the Honey Do list seems to grow. But he loves me and I say he does it  more out of love for his wife. 

Here are some pictures of prepping for Maple season at the Ramos house! Sniff Sniff... I can smell the Maple syrup already!!

No this is NOT a pregnancy test that a few people thought, this is a tree tap and excitement!

 Drilling

 Sap is already flowing out

 

 Oh I love this sight!

 The boys were like vultures waiting for the drops to reach their cups so they can drink up some sweet sap.

 Some trees got double taps! Double your pleasure, double the fun! Sounds like a  gum commercial but this won't be spearmint flavored.... unless I tapped the wrong type of tree.

 Our yard with all the buckets. 24 buckets.....

 I still have 12 more trees that could be tapped.  Plus a few trees that are big enough to tap twice ..... Next year I need a evaporator and a Sugar shack! Happy birthday to me???

Winter Family Day

This last weekend, we got to have a fun Winter day out at Cobscook Bay State Park. It was a wonderful day outside, not a lot of snow but with nice temperatures. Keith was working technically, but it was a nice family day that he could also participate in between work activities. The Cobscook Bay State park is part of the refuge, that the State parks manages during the summer with camp grounds and hiking trails. Every year the Park hosts a Winter Family Day that has ice skating, Horse drawn carriages, skiing(usually, this year there was NO snow) sledding (which due to lack of snow, was all ice and was a training hill for Bobsled or Skeleton! YOU SLIDE FAST!!). There was lunch of delicious Chili,  Baked beans, or Corn Chowder (that was absolutely FANTASTIC!!!) Hotdogs and roasting marshmallows could be done over the outdoor fire while you drank hot chocolate. The kids could build wood bird houses and I, I mean, they got to meet Smokey the Bear!  It was a wonderful day to spend together and enjoy being outside!!

Meeting Smokey the Bear.... I didn't know he was so tall!

 Horse drawn carriage! My first ever ride!

 My boys and I on the carriage ride

 Ice Skating pond. It was fantastic ice to skate and we brought our sticks to even play some hockey. Not many people when we arrived.

 More people joining the fun

 Keith is not a skater but with his ice shoes, he pulled Luke around on the sled

 Ready for the Olympics!

 Our little cheering squad

 Kaden making a bird house

Mud puddles, Boots and Boys

This year we are having a unusually early spring. At least to me, the person who has only spent one spring here. This week it's predicted to be in the 60's. Most of our snow is melted and our yard is covered in ice.  It's the season of the sound of water flowing in the gutters and down drains, and drips in all directions.  We even have our Maples tapped and are harvesting sap already.  More on that later.

Today was a lovely 44 degrees F and with rain predicted for the afternoon, the boys and I went out to enjoy the warmer temps. We went for a walk and the boys rode bikes. Of course when it comes to boys, that means finding every mud puddle we could and jumping in them. Yes we were freezing after, yes we had to change our clothes but it was a good fun day for all. Luke is much more enthusiastic with the water puddles than the snow.

 

 The face of happiness! Boys in boots playing in mud puddles.

Taco Tuesday

We take tacos very seriously in our family! Very! To the point of, I know how much Keith loves me when he says he loves me more than taco, that kind of serious! Even more serious then bacon, serious! We could eat tacos everyday, and while in Texas, we do! If tacos were a vegetable I could be a serious vegetarian! We celebrate any holidays that involve tacos, like Cinco de Mayo, National Taco Day October 3rd, and Taco Tuesday, of course! I may not always make the same tacos, and sometimes I throw in other Tex-Mex dishes. But altogether we just love Tex-Mex and tacos. Everyday could be Mexican for dinner, but since I don’t want people to think we are a bit obsessed, I’ll stick to Tuesday.

Tonight being Tuesday, I was making Al Pastor tacos (That’s a seasoned shredded pork with a bit of kick) with homemade corn tortillas. Isaiah my little Chef, joined me and decided he wanted to try his hand at making tortillas, and since I wasn’t in a big hurry, I figured good teaching moment. Soon Kaden was joining and we had quite the process. Kaden did the smashing them flat, Isaiah was the transfer to the comal (the flat Iron skillet that every home that makes tortillas has) I was in charge of flipping and removing the hot tortilla. But my boys impress me everyday with their learning and love for cooking. I hope when they are famous chefs they mention their momma taught them everything they know. Hahaha! Here is our adventures in cooking tonight. So if you ever are around and hungry, you know what we are having on Tuesday nights...... The tacos were amazing!

Deliciousness! Happy Taco Tuesday!

A NEW Tool

 Keith has been gone to a meeting down in Portland this week, which at our home has proved to be survival week.  The night before Keith left I came down with a head cold that seriously took the breath out of me! Keith even asked if he needed to cancel his trip. But I declined and kind of regret that decision now, but he was already gone. We had school on Monday with a few hiccups and a week of TV lost by one of my children, but we got through. Did our weather report and got the info we were to have a light dusting of snow on Tuesday. Well boy did the weather man predict this one wrong. While the head cold had me in a vice and kept me in bed, my oldest held down the fort, have I told you how great spreading your kids out in ages is? Having a 10 year old able to make breakfast for his brothers is great! Cereal and toast it was. Anyways, the dusting became inches and by 10 pm we had 10 in of snow dumped on us. I had to get over my head cold very fast and try to remember all of Keith instructions on how to  use the snowblower.  I did feel pretty powerful moving snow with my blower! Glad it is self propelled, so it could drag me up the driveway. I managed to clear the driveway and then got 2 more inches which I plowed this morning. We fixed tacos for dinner then we all went to bed early. I was wiped out. But I must say the snowblower is fast becoming a favorite toy.... I mean tool. Don’t tell Keith or he may disappear during all our snowstorms! Today th e sun is shining and the world looks white and clean, and we have a high of 18 degrees. It’s hard to believe that this past Sunday it was 46 and we were out playing in the yard enjoying the warm temperatures. I   know we have a few months left of winter but I am looking forward to spring coming soon!

Since yesterday writing this, we have received another inch of snow, plowing again! And again! But the kids and I did make a great snowman!