Sunday, March 24, 2013
Birthday Cards
Cards and presents for a nice birthday.
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We are to expect anywhere from three inches to six inches
of snow today through Monday night.
Our morning snow has melted and we now have a
wintry mix on the ground.
This winter, 21.9 inches of snow have fallen,
up an inch from snow falls in an average winter.
The weather service is predicting above normal temperatures
for April, May and June.
We shall see...
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Wright Patterson Air Force Base
Driving up to Wright Patterson Air Force Base, we passed the new "Lux Mundi".
"Light of the World"
One of the first displays upon entering the museum.
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Doolittle's Raiders
There were only a handful of goblets still right side up.
Tom Griffin told his story to the Butler County Retired Teachers.
He recently passed away.
In response to Doolittle's raid, the Japanese launched about 9,000 balloons carrying anti-personnel and incendiary bombs. The balloons were carried by high altitude winds more than six thousand miles eastward across the Pacific to North America.
The balloon attacks lasted only five months.
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Women's involvement in World War II.
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Lodging, food service, laundry, and fitness are just some of the responsibilities of the Prime RIBS Teams.
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Corporations sponsoring WPAFB.
ARMY NAVY AIR FORCE MARINES
We who came home must never forget those who could not.
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Friday, March 22, 2013
Jim
Wednesday, we drove up to the north east part of the state for a memorial service.
Cindy brought pictures of her father.
Jim's children:
Dwayne, Jerry and Cindy.
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We enjoyed visiting with relatives, in spite of the reason.
As we left, yet another snow storm was headed for the area. We drove far enough south to miss the snow.
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The aunts and uncles from Pennsylvania.
The aunts and uncles along with Rita, Gene and John.
Jim's family.
The ladies: Debbie, Ashley, Cindy, Sue and Ariel.
The gentlemen: Dwayne, Dave, Chris, Eric and Jerry.
Cindy's family.
Front: Chris and Dave.
Cindy, Eric and Ashley.
Dwayne, Jerry and Cindy.
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We enjoyed visiting with relatives, in spite of the reason.
As we left, yet another snow storm was headed for the area. We drove far enough south to miss the snow.
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Sunday, March 10, 2013
Maple Syrup Festival
We drove up to Hueston Woods State Park for the annual maple syrup festival.
The first stop was the lodge/conference center for the pancake breakfast.
The temperatures were approaching the sixties.
At least fifty people were in line ahead of us....
So.
On to the sugar bush.
We parked by the beach and took the West Shore Trail along Acton Lake.
It was muddy... we wore our boots.
This is how the Indians boiled down the sap to make maple syrup.
The hollowed out ash or basswood log.
Today, the maple sap is collected in a cistern.
Clear plastic tubing carries the sap from the trees.
A well managed pipe line system yields more sap than the
bucket method and requires less time and labor.
The sugarhouse.
The water is boiled off the sap in long, shallow pans
called evaporators. The color and flavor are developed during this process.
Pure maple syrup is strained through the white cloth bag before
being collected in the bucket.
Some producers let part of the sap boil beyond the syrup stage until
it becomes maple sugar.
We were early, so we were able to actually see the evaporators in the
sugarhouse.
The young man at the head of the evaporator told us that close to a
thousand visitors had toured the sugarhouse Saturday.
We could hear the 'plink,' 'plink' of the sap dripping into the buckets.
The branch in the left picture was removed after it splintered.
The face as well as the side of the tree is covered with sap.
The back side of the Lodge from across Acton Lake.
We walked the trail along Acton Lake back to the beach.
There were muddy sections....
We waded a shallow creek to wash off the mud.
The temperatures were in the low 60's.
One of the warmer days for the maple syrup festival.
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Wednesday, March 06, 2013
March Snow
Wet snow fell overnight.
We remain under a winter weather advisory until 1:00 pm.
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Tuesday, March 05, 2013
The Visit
The 'not-so-little-people' brought their mother up for a visit.
They had been to a Dayton Flyers basketball game;
the Flyers beat Richmond 78 - 74.
K.K. perused my fabric stash to find suitable fabric to make outfits for the Barbies.
Sunday morning.
Playing with the blocks while eggs, biscuits and bacon are being prepared.
Oh, and coffee for the adults.
What a nice smile, Noah!
After breakfast projects.
Noah, practicing his drawing;
K.K. created a 'follow the dots' for Miss El.
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Too soon, it was time to pack up the car and be on their way.
Thanks for stopping!
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