What a wonderful day! The weather was perfect – the air crisp and the sky blue. After our guests checked out and I cleaned up the kitchen, RJ and I headed up to the Genesee Country Village and Museum for a day of “Sap, Syrup, and Sugar.”  We started with a pancake breakfast and sausage with homemade New York maple syrup. Then we headed out to the sugar shack to see how maple syrup and sugar was made back in the 1800s.

     We have tapped 5 sugar maple trees on our property and have already collected over 50 gallons of sap. The sap has really been running well this season and the sugar content is around 2.7%, which means instead of needing 40 gallons of sap to make 1 gallon of syrup, we can use 32-35 gallons to make 1 gallon.  New York Maple is so sweet and rich. I swear it’s because we have really good water. Our inn is right on Spring Creek. This spring fed waterway follows right through our property, which I’m sure doesn’t hurt.

     We visited two of the historic houses at the museum where RJ and I sampled maple baked beans (got that recipe) and maple cinnamon bread (got that recipe, too). I just love walking through the museum. There are about 65 historic houses to tour in season and the village is beautiful even in the winter and early spring.  We walked through the gift shop (never know what one may find) before we left.

     From the museum, we headed into town to check out new fixtures for the Stewart’s bathroom. We got lucky and found exactly what we were looking for. RJ said tomorrow he’s going to finish staining the dining room windows and ceiling. I finished painting the Stewart’s bathroom Friday (I love the deep sage color on the walls and the white trim). As soon as RJ finished the dining room, he’s going to install the fixtures in the Stewart’s bathroom for me. Then all that will be left for me to do is clean the floor and tile before installing the blinds and curtains. That bathroom will be just gorgeous when we are finished.

     By then RJ should be ready to leave with the catastrophe van again. He’s leaving the second week in April, heading out to Lexington, Kentucky. I’m not exactly sure when he’ll be back this time. At least we’ll be together to celebrate out 37^th wedding anniversary.

     We decided today was a pizza day, so I make pizza dough, chopped up my pepperoni, mushrooms, onions, and tomatoes, and then headed outside to collect sap while my pizza dough was rising.  I collected another 15 GALLONS of sap. Can you believe it?! So when I got back into the house, I made our pizza, popped that baby into the oven and started boiling down sap.  It takes a while so I only managed to boil down about 2 gallons of sap this evening. While we ate dinner, we watched Two Weeks Notice with Hugh Grant and Sandra Bullock (loved it – light entertainment) and then answered email and wrote.

     What a great day! Man, do I love my life! See you tomorrow. It’s going to be another great day… I can just tell. Till later… Good night.