Conditions today were apparently some sort of arboreal "perfect storm"... for the production of maple sap. Came home from a seminar on organic farming to find Mrs. N hip-deep in magic elixir.
There was a mad scramble to find containers to hold the raw sap... we ended up using the flour and sugar canisters off the kitchen counter, to hold all the stuff we couldn't get into the big stock pot and the slow cooker.
Did I already mention the three containers out on the deck?
Everyone has headed off to bed. I'll babysit the big stock pot for a while and we'll finish this lot off tomorrow morning... just in time to empty our six buckets again.
I think we're gonna have to press our big water-cooler jug into service.
All I can say is... this had better be some damn fine syrup.
A.M. Report - okay, still below freezing... not much in the buckets right now
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FROM THE COMMENTS:
"Just remember: you are doing it for LOVE...forget the fact that when you add in your costs for the energy to boil the sap, the time spent, etc., you are creating a $200 bottle of syrup!"*