Good morning... I have tried to write this twice previously only to get 3/4 done and have it disappear.... rats!  Anyhow, no sap yet but it looks as tho' the weather is due to break mid week and for a few days too! (I might even sneak in a day of ice fishing) There is some sap in the pails and tanks but not enough to really give it a go yet. It has been sitting for so long that i may just dump it. Rain due today so warmer and maybe above freezing tomorrow but then temp.s are due to drop back... then the warmup! I sure hope they aren't just pulling my meteorogical leg!
       I had forgotten all about the OC-4..... that's how all this sugaring conversation got started in the first place! You will have time to work on it in the mornings before you have to wander down to the sugarhouse. Do you have a place to work on it that is heated?   As for me I do not but the barn faces south so if I open the overhead door and work in the doorway I am out of the wind, the sunshine feels good, and I have plenty of light. Not so good for working after dark tho'.
    I have another barn to finish come spring. The power company just completed replacing all the high tension line poles out back so I wrangled all the old poles. I had intended on building a pole barn anyway so these appeared just at the right time. Instead of putting up a pole barn I am putting it up &quot;log cabin style&quot; stacking them. It will look like an Adirondack lean-to when done... just bigger. 30x80. I knocked off during the hot weather because the sawdust from cutting the poles has a lot of creosote ant that burns when you get it on your sweaty skin with open pores.
   So, 62 in a month or two.  Enjoy your birthday! It will be just about time to plant by then! I recently turned 59.... I just go ice fishing.
   Well, it would seem that I was able to get through this this time. Hooray!
       Good sugaring!
           Cal