Like all New Englanders I still want just a little more even when the day is a beautiful as today. My 'little more' would be a few more degrees of warmth and just a bit less breeze. Other than that....
I wasn't going out for a walk today. But since I had to go down to the mailbox and that alone gets me down to the road, I thought I should just go for it. It is great to see that the snow banks have finally receded into the woods and for the most part away from the road. And what is left is definitely in the 'snirt' category (snow + dirt = snirt).
This is the time of year when walking down my dirt road I have noticed holes. Not big holes, small holes. About an 1 1/2" x 1", roughly. I have always thought that these were from stones that had worked themselves up and then a tire from some vehicle had 'tossed' them elsewhere. I was totally wrong. Squirrels. You got it, squirrels. It goes something like this. The oak trees drop their acorns onto the road. The acorns that are not gathered or roll off the road get squished into the road. And you guessed it, come spring the squirrels have already pre-cracked, salted and sanded acorns. They find them and dig them out of the road. I have caught them doing this so it isn't just a wild, backwoods tale. Although I don't have a pictures to substantiate my claim.
And speaking of squirrels. I tried to make friends with the mad red squirrel that lives somewhere near my house. This winter I set out a small feeding table which I built. Cracked corn, peanuts and a few black sunflower seeds put there keep the squirrels and chipmunks off the birdfeeders. It also gets some other birds that are ground feeders to come a visit. I thought that this 'peace' offering would help placate my crazy little neighbor. Keep him from staring in my door or 'yelling' at me when I went outside to the generator shed. It didn't work. He has found another reason to chatter at me in disgust. I open my slider door. That is right. Both those 2 spring days in March found the slider in my house opened slightly so I could enjoy the spring like warmth. The mad red squirrel doesn't like this. I don't know if it is because my dogs might go outside or he thinks I should only be allowed out to refill the feeders but I found him on the railing right outside of the door 'yelling' at me. Other than his obvious dislike of me he seems to be quite normal. He doesn't 'say' anything to the hubby and runs when he sees the dogs. I just am special to him and not in a nice way.
Well sugaring season is about to come to an end. We didn't break any records this year with our own boiling. But I understand that this was an especially good year for sugaring.
The forecast for this weekend promises more spring weather with temperatures creeping up toward 70 by Monday if not hitting or exceeding that number. This means the maple trees here will start blooming and that means the end of the sugaring season. Like all harvests that happen in New England it is sad to see it end. Because you know you will have to 'hoard' that precious stash of syrup till next year. Nothing worse than facing a stack of blueberry pancakes on a Sunday morning with no real Vermont maple syrup to pour over them. You might as well not even bother with pancakes without the syrup.
The good part about this season ending is the farmer's markets will be opening again in May and that signals the start of another season. We have a small farmer's market in Townshend about 5 miles from our house. I absolutely love it! Almost every Thursday from May to October I can be found there. Last year there was a woman there that made the best stir fried rice, chicken and veggies ever. I would buy that and Don and I would split it for dinner. There are also the fresh veggies and fruits, baked goods and crafts. An ever changing palette of goods and goodies during our too short warm season.
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