Sap Pump Gets a Shed

No sap pump ever had it so good....a shed of it's own with it's own private power supply. Today Pat Reed and Don assembled the shed that Don had pre-fabbed in the barn. Tomorrow some trees will begin to be tapped and attached to the tubing collections system. Nick of time!

Tying up Tubing

Less buckets + more tubing = more sap = more syrup. So, Sherman Hollow Organic Farm is replacing some of its traditional taps and maple sap buckets with tubing and vacuum pumps. Research has shown a more consistent and higher output of sap if it's done that way. One things for sure, it's not as pretty in the woods. The up side...less work to empty sap buckets and more syrup. Less work and more syrup???? sounds like a good deal.

Two for one

In this picture I was able to capture both camp and home in one shot. On a morning hike up along Porcupine Mountain, to the east of our house, we caught a view of across the lake to Willsboro Point (with binoulars we could see the camp) and our new house (with the naked eye), all in one look. In this photo, see across the lake to Willsboro Point in the upper left hand portion, and see our house to the right of the tree on the lower right.

S'no(w) Picnic

Don and I are discovering, what the Sherman Hollow native's warned us about.....the weather climate particular to living on this road and at this (1050) elevation, is MORE of whatever they are getting down below. We best qualify that to winter weather. Today, snow flurries in the town of Hinesburg gradually turned into accumulating snow the closer I came to Sherman Hollow. By the time I got to the top of our driveway, the snow was an inch deep and by the time I have posted this picture, it's at least two or more and still coming down hard.

Shelved

The empty nook is now filled with shelves, which are now filled with books. Our living room echos less, and seems, finally, 'finished'. How good it feels to empty out the boxes and line up the books, fill in with nick-knacks and what-nots, and rediscover stories that had been hidden in storage.

A Place for the Christmas Tree

One of the very important design features of a house is having a good spot for the Christmas Tree. The spot in our new house was under dispute, until the tree was bought and in the house, and the spot revealed itself to us. And it wasn't one of the places being argued over. PEACE reigns.

For the Birds

The woods around us are full of a variety of birds. It's our hope this feeder will bring some of them closer into view. We've already had chickadees, nuthatches, titmice, blue jays, ravens, goldfinches, purple finches, downy and hairy woodpeckers, red squirrels, grey squirrels, and chipmunks.

Dining Room Table Progress

Remember those cherry logs we took to the saw mill (see post August 15th) to be turned into boards for a dining room table? Well, they have been kiln dried and are ready to go. Don picked them up today at Lathrops.

Book Nook

This recess in the living room is intended for a built in book shelf. The measurements have been taken and the simple design drawn and it's now in the hands of the cabinet builder. Meanwhile, books and favorite nick-knacks wait in boxes and piles

Wood Shed

The woodshed, started over a year ago, is being finished in time to get the wood under cover for the winter. Pat Reed and Don are making use of scrap wood to build it. I'm thinking it looks just about perfect for a few sheep instead of wood.

Smokin'......not

The upstairs fireplace has been equipped with a fan on top of the chimney to help keep it from smoking. It seems to be working and we can have a smoke free fire upstairs. But, the house is soooo tight it even sucks smoke in around the edges of our closed spring loaded damper on the downstairs fireplace. So...the downstairs fill with smoke. Back to the drawing board. Next try...somehow rigging a box to place the fan on top of both flues. Stay tuned. Clyde the cat seems to be oblivious to any issues what so ever. Guess he doesn't hear those coyotes howling outside.

Hold On!

At long last we have our front porch railing. Very useful for balance.... and help getting up and down slippery or wet stairs.

Spring Loaded

Our 'energy star rated' home is so tight, maybe too tight?, that when we have a fire in the upstairs fireplace, there is not enough air for it to draw properly, so it smokes terribly. Not only that, it also sucks air in from the downstairs fireplace flue (even when it's closed) causing the downstairs to fill with smoke too. The fix is still in progress, which will include a fan on top of the upstairs fireplace flue, and a spring loaded damper for the downstairs flue.....already installed and shown here. Maybe we've taken making our houses energy tight a little too far? We were required to meet certain energy star requirements to get our Hinesburg Town Certificate of Occupancy. The energy police didn't much like us putting in a fireplace from the very start. But with 7 acres of woods and a pyromaniac for a husband, a fireplace was non-negotiable. Plus...winter in Vermont with no fireplace just wouldn't cut it.

First Lawn Mow

The first mowing of our new lawn will most likely be the last of the season. The weather man is warning us of snow flakes on Thursday. We will be left with the dilemma of determining where the lawn ends and the fields begin. I guess we'll have to make that call next spring when we start up the mower engine again.

Our Barn Doors are Open

The barn doors are permanently open right now. A delay in their order means the barn remains 'unfinished'. And, until they are here, and installed, the farm equipment remains in the ugly, green temporary barn. The barn is strategically located between the east and west fields for easy access to both, all the while sitting just off the main driveway. What you can't see in the picture is the great amount of space up in the barn loft. Lots of room for barn cats! ;O)