Weekending……

Weekending….

As slow as the work week goes, the weekend just flies by doesn't it?
This weekend, I completely took one full day off….well, almost…there were a few vats of dyeing that happened, but no power dyeing. 😉
  Last weekend I spent my days off getting up early and working in the shop, so I spent this Saturday relaxing, watching some cooking shows and working on a project that I will share with you this week.  It was fun to stretch my knitting skills a bit.

Every year this weekend the Maple Syrup folks celebrate with open houses across the Northern States.  It's hard to believe that I have lived up here now for 24 years and have never been to a Sugar House!  After talking with a client at work this week about a Sugar House that he was going to go to that also serves up a scrumptious breakfast, Ken and I decided to head out to a few this morning.
First on the stop was Oak Hill Farm just over the border in Hiram Maine.  Ken marveled at the intricate web of tubing that went from tree to tree and ultimately into the Sugar House to be boiled and made into Maple Syrup.
They also cooked up a nice breakfast!

From there on our way home we stopped at a local Maple Sugar House that we never knew was there…in our own back yard!  The Sap Hound Maple Company is located right over the Conway, NH line in Brownfield Maine and is just a few miles from one of our favorite kayaking spots on Conway Lake.
It was fun to watch the way the Maple Syrup that we love to put on our breakfast foods and ice-cream are made and the samples we indulged in along the way were pretty darn good as well!

…and speaking of those indulgences, we decided to strap on our snowshoes to burn off some of those calories when we got home, so we headed up to nearby Tin Mountain where we met a friend who used to teach there.  It was fun to learn what some of the different animal tracks that saw were!

I love the little trail markers that let you know you are on the right track.  There are beavers, bears, bobcats, birds, etc…they make me smile. 
The sun was high in the sky and warm, which made the snow soft and enjoyable to walk through.

There is a certain peacefulness to walking through the woods in the winter/now spring.  Each step moves you further and further into the woods…so quiet and peaceful, but yet you can see the evidences of the busy life that inhabits these woods from all of the various animal tracks along the way.  The little snow hares, the squirrels, the deer, fox along with the awakening bears..and the bobcat prints that we saw last weekend.

It was a very full weekend indeed!  I hope that you had an enjoyable weekend in your corner as well.