Maple Sugaring

For about the past month my family has been making maple syrup. Oh, yum!

Pancakes, waffles, french toast, repeat.

 Sadly, the sugaring season is coming to a close. But God blessed us with a longer season than normal and we are truly grateful!

Anywho! I have met people who thought that maple syrup comes right out of the tree all brown, sugary, and ready to use. If you have this same thought... PUT IT OUT OF YOUR MIND!!! You are thinking quite incorrectly about the whole thing!

Allow me to share our small operation with you.

We have six sugar maples from which flows an abundance of clear, sweet sap. Tapping our trees allows the sap to run (well, more like drip) into the buckets.

 Boiling is the next step. We have a little "sugaring pit" that we boil the sap on.

Once the sap boils down into syrup, we check the temperature until it reaches about 218 degrees.

Then we finish boiling the syrup on our stove. When the maple syrup is ready, the delicious stickiness is poured into hot jars.

That, my dear blogging friends, is how we make maple syrup at my house! :)

No, I have not fallen off the face of the earth...

What have I been up to? Allow me to enlighten you.

I have been...

baking,

shoveling snow,

goofing around with cousins and siblings,

school,

attempting photography in the chilly weather,

and singing with my family.

Now you know a few of the things I have been up to.
Epic, I know. :)

Scrumptious Blog Award

Lauriloth from Musings of an Elf has awarded me with the Scrumptious Blog Award! Thank you!

Rules
1: When you receive the award you must post about it on your blog and leave a link to my blog.
2: Answer all the questions to the tag below.
3: Do not award anyone who has more than one hundred followers (I made an exception).
4: Come up with ten questions for the tag.
5: Keep your questions clean and refrain from using bad language.
6: Tag 5 to 10 people.

Here are Lauriloth's questions:
1. What is your favorite book? The Holy Bible

2. If your house was burning down and you could save one item, what would it be? My little sister... unless you don't mean people, then probably my Bible.

3. What type of shoes do you prefer wearing? Boots

4. What’s your favorite instrument? Violin

5. If you could visit any fantasy world, where would it be? Middle Earth or Narnia

6. What’s your favorite season of the year and why? I love winter!!! Why? I prefer cold weather and there's snow!

7. If you could have any superpower, what would it be? Hmmm... probably flexibility.

8. Do you have any pets? Nope.

9. What color is your room? Spa blue.

10. Let’s say you could make absolutely any fictional character come to life, who would you choose? There are too many to choose from! It makes it rather difficult to choose. I'll just pick the first person who comes to mind: Millie Keith.

Now for my questions:
1. What is your favorite meal of the day?
2. Which do you prefer, morning or night?
3. If you could learn a language that you do not already know, which language would it be?
4. Ice cream, cookies, or cake?
5. Who is your favorite author?
6. Would you rather be baking in the kitchen, reading a book up in a tree, riding a horse across meadows, or sipping tea and chatting with friends?
7. What is your favorite spice?
8. What is your favorite meat?
9. What is your least favorite vegetable?
10. Using the answers for questions 7-9, think up a dish that you could make out of those three ingredients.

And I will now pass this award on!
Kathryn of Hidden Orchards
Kiri Liz of Lianne Taimenlore
The Keller Girls of Three Girls and Their Hobbies
Beth Grace of The Musings of Me, Myself, and I...
Emelie Claire of Meadow Brook Farm
Miss Elizabeth Bennet of Elegance of Fashion

Autumn Pictures

Here are some lovely pictures that were taken by my cousin, Toria! I edited them just a little for her and she is allowing me to do a post with them! Thanks, Toria!

 

All About Elevensies

 I've been tagged by Kiri Liz of Lianne Taimenlore! And it's all about elevensies! :)

 Rules
- If you are tagged/nominated, you must post eleven facts about yourself.

- Then, you must answer the eleven questions the tagger has given you and make eleven questions for the people you are going to tag.

- Next, tag eleven more bloggers.

- Tell the people you tagged that you have tagged them.

- No tagging back

11 Random Facts... 
1. I am up to my eyeballs with school!
2. Is it possible to be up to your eyeballs in something?
3. One of my classy blood cousins is far away right now and will be gone until December. Sad...
4. Pass the tissues!
5. I have been listening to Christmas music since September!!!

6. Christmas is my favorite holiday!!!!
7. I know it is quite difficult to tell, but.... I AM REALLY EXCITED FOR CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
8. And Thanksgiving!
9. Something I am really looking forward to is snow.
10. I love snow!

11. Yay! I thought of 11 random things!


Now for Kiri's questions:

1. What is your third favorite color? Brown.

2. If you could rewrite any scene from any book, which one would it be and why? I would make it so  Beth does not die in Little Women. Why? For obvious reasons...

3. Would you rather live in a old palace, a cottage in the woods, a pirate ship, or a underground burrow? Either an old palace or a cottage in the woods.

4. How do you pronounce the word "often?" Off-ten? Or Off-fen? Der, off-fen! That is the correct way to say it!

5. What is your favorite holiday film? I don't have a favorite...

6. If you had a book (any book including a cookbook or a research book) published, what would be featured on the cover? Cookies!

7. Where would your dream home be located? On a farm or ranch somewhere...

8. If there was no such thing as tea or coffee in this world, what hot drink(s) would you consume? Hot cocoa.... but I already consume that. :)

9. What one song describes your life/day/mood? Hmmm... good question. Probably Amazing Grace or Here Am I, Lord.

10. Peanut butter cookies, snickerdoodles, or gingerbread men? Yes.

11. What is something you absolutely love right now? United States History!!!

 Now for my questions. Are you ready? Uh, that's not the first question... ;)
1. What is your favorite holiday?
2. Do you prefer hot or cold weather?
3. Which country would you like to visit?
4. Vanilla or chocolate?
5. Describe the perfect ice cream sundae.
6. Would you rather attend a ball, eat something very unusual, solve a mystery that puzzles even Sherlock Holmes, or break the world record of the most books read in one year?
7. Breakfast or just coffee?
8. What is your favorite era in history?
9. Do you have any kind of accent when you speak?
10. Is it soda or pop?
11. Name 11 of your hobbies.

And now I tag...
Marcelle Renee of Miss Paris Chic
Miss Elizabeth Bennet of Elegance of Fashion
Kathryn of Hidden Orchards
Julianna Danielle of The Perfect Parfait
Beth Grace of The Musings of Me, Myself, and I...
Storyteller of Storyteller of Weston County
Marissa of The Countryside Lady
Emelie Claire of Meadow Brook Farm
Willa Nicole of Willa Nicole Scribblings
The Keller Girls of Three Girls and Their Hobbies
Miss Melody Muffin of The Splendor Falls on Castle Walls

Awards: Part 2

 This next award was given to me by Kiri Liz of Lianne Taimenlore. Thank you! I love your blog, too!

Rules:

1. Award 5 people

2. Tell who awarded you

3. Tell the people you awarded them

4. Always put the picture above the post

5. Always show the rules

And this award is awarded to these award-receiving people:

1. Miss Dashwood of Sink Me!

2. Miss Elizabeth Bennet of Elegance of Fashion

3. Kathryn of Hidden Orchards

4. Beth Grace of The Musings of Me, Myself, and I... And Other Such Fantastical Nonsense

5. Miss Laurie of Old-Fashioned Charm

I love all of your blogs!!!! :)

Awards: Part 1

I'm backed up on handing out the awards I've been awarded! So I am going to do them one at a time... over the course of however many days/weeks it takes me to post them all! :)

I was awarded by Kathryn of Hidden Orchards! Thank you ever so much!

Rules: 

1. Must state the rules.

2. Thank the awarded and link back to them.

3. Must pass this award on to five other bloggers

4. List their names with links to their award winning blogs.

5. Must notify the awarded bloggers by commenting on their blogs.

6. Share 7 unusual things about yourself.  Something that not many people could say about themselves.

7 unusual things...

1. I am learning French!

2. I'm a history nerd

3. I try to listen to more than one conversation at a time

4. I love cold weather

5. I love snow (am I being repetitive?)

6. Writing is not one of my favorite things to do (please close your mouth before you catch a fly)

7. I'm out of things to say about myself

This award is passed on to:

1. The Keller Girls of Three Girls and Their Hobbies

2. Miss Melody Muffin of The Splendor Falls on Castle Walls

3. Marissa of The Countryside Lady

4. Emelie Claire of Horse Crazy Girl

5. Willa Nicole of Willa Nicole Scribblings

Ta-da and congratulations, bloggers!