I was talking to a friend of mine and he said the sap is real sweet this year. So he is really having a hay day. He gives me all the syrup I need. He makes about 15 gallons a year and some in his family will not eat the stuff.

That is a nice cooker you have there. Is your syrup dark or light this year in color? The stuff I got last year was really dark but had a real nice maple flavor. Do you make any maple hard candy or sugar?

When a friend I "used" to make syrup . All we had was a large stir pot over a wood fire. My friend took field stones and mortar, and made a fire pit that fit the large stir pot, with a small chimney off the back and an open front to feed the fire through. We'd go to the mill in town and get their oak and maple scraps and then just sit out there and make a day of it, cooking down sap. It was kind of fun. But a lot of work also. After his stroke, we lost interest in a lot of things we used to do, since he can not hardly get around.