Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Maple Sugaring and Mail Call

Hello everyone!  I hope your week is off to a great start. :)

Today, I got the opportunity to learn how to tap a tree to make maple syrup!  My friend Lori and her family have been tapping their own trees for years now and since it is that time of year I got a lesson on the process. 
Basically, it requires a spile which is a kind of a spigot for channeling the sap from the tree to collect into the bucket.  The bucket is hooked onto the tree so that the sap will drip when at the right temperature from the spile into the bucket. 
You would think that the sap would be all sticky, but really it is like clear, sweet water.  Once all the sap is collected it is boiled down to make pure maple syrup! 

What a fun idea to do in your own backyard!  To learn more about maple sugaring at home check out my friend's website Tap My Trees.  There is lots of great info on the site about what type of trees can be tapped and details about the process from beginning to end. 

AND, I have a big HOORAY! to shout out.... Elizabeth Hancock has finally arrived in the mail!!
I am so thrilled to finally get a look at everything, although it seems I was not sent enough thread.  I am already thinking about diving into my own stash for a different play on the color.  And I think I will try this one over one since even on 32 ct it will be almost 16" wide on over two!  So I believe this will be a perfect over one project. 

I have the rest of the week off from work -WOOHOO!- I am going to NYC Wednesday night for a rocking show, and then I will be ready to just stitch and stitch and stitch into the weekend! 
Enjoy your week :)   Happy Stitching!!  xxxxxxxxxx

13 comments:

Ranae said...

We learn to tap maple in grade school at a camp.
EH is going to be so fun to watch the poegress
Have a great week off and enjoy the show

Margaret said...

So cool that you learned how to tap maple trees for syrup. I will enjoy watching your Elizabeth Hancock. If you're going to do it over one, maybe you would have enough thread after all??? Enjoy the rest of your week -- sounds pretty idyllic!

Catherine said...

How fun to learn how to do the sugaring! Good luck with Elizabeth ~ she's a beauty! Sounds like you have some good stitching time headed your way!!

Poussy Stitches My Love said...

oh beautiful Elizabeth !

j'adore cette broderie que je fais aussi !

amitiés de FRANCE

Marylin

Lois said...

Enjoy stitching Elizabeth! What a fun thing to learn!

Chris said...

Very cool on the maple syrup. Won't it be nice to have your own "label"?
The colors for Elizabeth Hancock look wonderful.
Have a great time at your concert.

Jan Gartlan said...

Oh wow, maple syrup really is from maple trees! What an educational post. I'll tell my children how it is done when we're eating maple syrup on pancakes next. Elizabeth is adorable.

Nicola said...

Thank you for sharing how to tap a tree. I so enjoy learning about new things from my pin pals.

Elizabeth is going to be a superb project and I look forward to seeing your progress.

Carol said...

Hi Krista :) I just discovered your blog and stopped in to say "hello!" I'm from a part of New York where maple sugaring is huge so this brings back very nice memories!

Elizabeth is such a gorgeous sampler--looking forward to seeing yours grow...

Lilla Chinchilla said...

Hi Krista! I like your Blogg very much! Nice to read about Maple Syrup. Have a great stitching-weekend! Hugs, Lilla Chinchilla

Joysze said...

Oh!!! How interesting, Krista. Did you get to taste some? ;)

Krista said...

Yes, Joysze. I got to taste the sap and it really is like water with a little sweetness to it. The syrup will be made once all of the sap is collected and boiled down. It takes a lot of sap to make a little bit of syrup.

Keeper of the Crowes said...

So happy Elizabeth finally arrived. Personally, I like the color palette. Lucky you getting to spend time in NYC! Looking forward to seeing your progress on "Liz".
Linda