Syrup - Earth Hour

Well - It's Monday already. What a busy weekend. On top of all this - BOTH kids were running fevers - Ingrid in the 102's and Grace not so bad in the high 100's. They are both home from school today - but NOT FOR LONG. Fevers are now gone - - Dance class - here we come. Glad that was short lived. We leave for Kansas City in just 5 days!

Earth Hour was fun. We actually turned the power off at the circuit box. NO flow for an hour. We lit lots of candles and the big lantern. I read to the girls from Little House in the Big Woods. There is a chapter in there all about sugering! It was fun. All the while - David was outside watching the syrup to make sure we didn't spoil it in all our fun. Around 9:30 the kids went to bed - and David brought in the syrup. The 30-40 gallons of sap had cooked down to about 7 quarts. Time to finish off on the stove. We continued to boiled down until it reached the PERFECT 219 degrees Farenheit - - - that is 7 degrees about the boiling point of water on OUR stove with OUR now calibrated thermometer. Ask and engineer - get an answer!! We finished canning it up around 12:30 AM!

So - here is the Syrup. We got 12 - 8 oz jars. A LOT of work for 12 jars - let me TELL YOU! The name on the label - STILLE SKOV - will be the name of our little piece of woods. It is Danish for Quiet Place in the Woods.

Then of course, work continued on THE COOP! Scott & Cindy & Co. came over and helped us carry the deck out of the garage. IT FIT for those of you worrying about it!! They helped with the walls too - and that was a nice bonus. So - here are all the pieces strewn about in the back yard - final vote in the POLL was 14 to 7 - so you Back Yard'ers WIN!!

Here David is putting the back wall into place. It is the shortest section - and has NO windows or doors. Let me just say - this is going to be one well ventilated coop!

This is a view from right behind the garage. You can see the steps coming out of the dining room to the left - and the coop far over to the right. It is 28 (not to energetic) paces from door to door. I'd guess about 50 feet! There is another small "structure" just to the right of the largest tree. It is the compost pile of those inquiring minds who JUST HAVE TO KNOW EVERYTHING!

And, here is the view from down in back. Quite the cozy back yard. Hmmmm - - - wonder where the eventual hot tub figures in with the chickens. Wonder if they'll jump in. Gosh - I hope not. ICK!

And, finally, here is the master giving a thumbs up to his work. (Actually - I think he's asking me if I think the front overhang should be higher in th front before he secures it in place. I KNOW we've already discussed this once or twice - my response was NO - it is WONDERFUL RIGHT WHERE IT IS!) xt step - sheathing the sides and roof with particle board - - and then putting siding and insulation in. I think the grand plan has a layer of 1/4" plywood or luan on the inside to keep the chickens from pecking away the insulation. Note too - your varmint lovers - it is about 10" off the ground on a cinder block and PT to level it off as it slopes down a bit to the back. No little critters welcome.