It is spring, and the snow is serious about melting, as can been seen from the pictures.

At our home, the advent of spring also means the beginning of maple syrup production!  Thursday morning I gathered the sap from the dozen trees we tapped this year and began boiling.  About 20 litres of sap boiled and boiled and boiled until I was left with about three cups of syrup.  Friday evening we served the syrup on pancakes.  Delicious!

I really enjoy doing this for several reasons.  First, it gives me an excuse to go outside on nice sunny days, as that’s when the sap flows.  Also, it is very much encouraging to have a harvest at this time of year, when nothing has been growing (except the snow piles) for close to half a year.  

A random fact: In 2006, Quebec exported over 30 million litres of syrup, worth over 180 million dollars.  We are pretty sweet people, aren’t we?

Maple syrup is one of the healthiest sweeteners available (and in my opinion, the tastiest).

Percentage of Daily Value (DV) per 60 ml serving (copied from Agriculture Canada):

Psalm 119 verse 103 says, “How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!”  This is a reminder to me how important the Word of God is in our daily lives.  It must be daily our delight and delectation.  It should be our chief source of joy and pleasure.  But how often do we forget!  May we learn to say with Job, “I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my daily bread.” – Job 23:12

   It is my belief that we are currently in the season called “Still Winter.” Snowstorms in March are not uncommon and this year we received a good one – about two feet in less than 24 hours. (And it is only the beginning of March!) As always, this crystaline beauty was received with delight (at least by most). Daddy needed to get to the hospital for 8:00 a.m. to begin his shift, so the four-man snow clearing crew got outdoors bright and early, or perhaps more acurately said, dark and early. Though the car had been parked strategically the night before, it still took 1 1/2 hours to get sufficient snow cleared to drive the vehicle out. (We later learned that the police were actually out on snowmobiles helping in emergencies such as getting ER doctors to the hopital for their shifts.  Daddy missed a ride, though it might have been rather chilly!)

   Having accomplished the first task at hand, the boys left off shovelling until the snow let up a bit, since, at that time, it was still coming down at a rate of an inch and a half an hour.  At 1:30 p.m. the shovelling began in earnest.  The city snowplough had gone by a few times during the morning, leaving a “small” amount of snow at the end of the drive – three feet of heavily packed snow peppered with sand, gravel, and salt.  A big shovel load of that snow could easily weigh a couple hundred pounds.  Needless to say, it was a lot of work to move it all!  The day wore on and progress was made, but even when the crew (with a couple extra members for the last hour or two) came in at 7:00 p.m., there was still a bit of work left.  Nathanael’s car, parked up against the barn was finally free.  The van remains slightly snow covered, but as we need it later today, it will undoubtedly be cleared soon.

   The stark contrast between today’s weather and yesterday’s is almost amazing.  The sun is shining brightly and there is hardly a cloud to be seen.  Except for being just a bit cold (-20 C) this morning it is just the perfect day to be outdoors.  And that is where many of us will be, for Mommy had offically called it a snow day, once French studies and music practice are done!

   And now for the pictures…

What is that object buried in the snow?  Can anyone identify the model and make?

Maybe this picture would help.

Because it is taller and in a different location, the wind blew most of the snow off the van.

Our shovelling crew…

Pictures of today…

   “This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.” Psalm 118:24