We have a crisp and sunny day with a much cooler temperature - 20 degrees now. Last night we had a low of about 17. Tonight - get out the hot water bottle - around zero!!! I guess we'll make some ice tonight! If this trend keeps up, the sugaring season will be prolonged nicely. However, I just read Burr Morse's newsletter and he says the sugar content of this year's maple sap is lower than usual. Normally it takes 40 gallons of sap to make a gallon of maple syrup; this year it is taking 60 gallons. That's a big difference. Burr says the quality is excellent, though. The good news is that maple syrup isn't syrup until it's boiled to the right consistence and the sugar content will be the same, no matter how much sap has to be boiled away to get there.

The above picture is of the Prevost home on the left and Cynthia Donlon's on the right, both on Davidson Rd. off of Rt. 15. It's the hillside we look at from our living room window.

We haven't had any of this year's maple syrup yet - we're still working on a half gallon we got at Hastings Store back in the winter. We don't eat a lot of syrup, but there is a recent study out showing it has lots of antioxidants, so if you want to satisfy your sweet tooth in a beneficial way, Vermont maple syrup is the way to go. Here's a link to information on that study: www.sciencedaily.com

There were a couple of fishermen out on the ice by Island Drive this morning. They usually go closer to the islands, but today they seem to be staying closer to the shore. Click on the picture to enlarge it.

Woody went hunting early this morning. He doesn't seem to mind the snow. Last night he came in drenched from the rain we had before it turned to snow sometime around midnight. He likes getting dried off and rubbed down and will often go right back outside and come in wet all over again a few minutes later. It's a game he plays. Nobody wants a wet cat in their lap, so he always gets the rub down.

Fred and Bill Rossi have gone to St. Johnsbury to pick up Ice-Out tickets and leave off more for any outlet that needs them. We anticipate next week will be a big one and want to be sure there are enough tickets to go around. I sent the last of what I have with Fred - if anyone runs out they will just have to tell people to go on line to get into the game. This has been an unusual year and it's going to be really difficult to figure out when the ice might go out - even for those people who will wait until the very last minute. In spite of the warm weather last week and our worrying that the ice could go out early, all that has changed and the guesses people got in early are just as good as these later ones.