This site is an archive of ChiotsRun.com. For the latest information about Susy and her adventrures, visit the Cultivate Simple site.
Thank you for all your support over the years!

Taking Advantage

March 16th, 2009

Yesterday was a beautiful day here in NE Ohio, it was sunny and warm (in the 60’s). We took advantage and went on a picnic and hiking with our very good friends.
picnic-in-the-sun
The trail was south of Massillon, OH, it was a nice trail, perfect for running and biking.
walking-the-trail
It seems like a lot of people had the same idea we did, we saw a ton of people walking, jogging and riding their bikes. This little guy was having a blast!
dog-in-bike-wagon
Sorry for all of you that were looking forward to the sugaring post today, that will come tomorrow. I was in the garden planting lettuce and beets until nightfall and busy right up till bed time, so the sugaring post will come tomorrow when I can give it the time it deserves.
sunset-in-the-woods
The perfect beautiful day was capped off by the most lovely sunset that Mr Chiots captured wonderfully as we were heading in from our outdoor chores.

Did you have a productive/relaxing/enjoyable weekend? What did you do?

Working Late

March 15th, 2009

It was a beautiful day here in NE Ohio yesterday, high in the 40’s and partly sunny. A perfect day to spend in it’s entirety outside.

This is what we saw all day yesterday from dawn till dusk.
fire-at-night
We were up too late boiling down our maple sap over a fire for me to make a meaningful post. I’ll be back tomorrow morning though with tales of our sugaring adventures and photos of our maple syrup (boy is it delicious!!!).

Did you have a fun productive day yesterday? Were you able to work outside?

You Know You’re a Gardener

March 14th, 2009

You know you’re a gardener when pots of plants & seeds start taking over your house (especially this time of year). I have little pots of various things sitting all around the house in any little spot of light I can find.
herbs-in-small-pots1
Many of these will end up out in the gardens in later this spring, but these little guys will stay inside. Hopefully I’ll be harvesting herbs from there pretty soon.

Is your home being overtaken by seedlings?

Maple Sugaring at Chiot’s Run

March 13th, 2009

Yesterday Mr Chiots and I tapped 12 of our maple trees here at Chiot’s Run. I have always wanted to do it but I thought you could only tap sugar maples, but Saturday I found out this was not the case.
maple-spile-dripping-sap
I ran to Lehman’s Hardware in Kidron, OH and bought some spiles to tap our trees. Then we spent a half hour tapping our maple trees yesterday.
maple-sugaring
One tree started running sap as soon as we tapped it, it was very exciting. We hung the jar under it and it produced almost a pint of sap in 2 hours before it got cold.
maple-spile-in-tree
It’s a bit late in the year for us to be tapping, the season started a few weeks ago, but we still have a week or two of sap weather coming. We won’t get much syrup since it takes 40 gallons of sap to make 1 gallon of syrup. If I get enough for one pancake breakfast I’ll be happy.
maple-sugaring-in-glass-jars
This is such a great way to learn new things. I would never just sit down and learn about maple trees, but we had a great time looking in our tree book and finding out how to identify maple trees in the winter by their bark. It’s a good thing I already knew which trees on our property were maples, since identifying trees in the winter without being able to see the buds is a bit of a challenge. We learned a lot and we’re looking forward to the sweet reward!

Anyone else tapping their maple trees? Do you buy local maple syrup?

A Spot of Tea

March 12th, 2009

It’s always fun to go to my mom’s house when she’s babysitting the grandkids and hang out with my nieces & nephew. Yesterday I spent the day enjoying a spot of tea with my nieces.
pouring-tea
I took a little tea set over for them as a gift and of course we had to use it right away. They got all dressed up and we enjoyed tea with cream, tea cakes (tiny peanut butter & jelly sandwiches), and mini oreos.
little-girl-drinking-tea-2
little-girl-drinking-tea
It really is fun enjoying the little things with kids. They were so excited that they got to pour their own tea and use cream in it.
a-spot-of-tea-1
Don’t forget about our Dress Up 2 Cure event. Check out all the people that have already uploaded photos to our Flickr group.

So get your kids, grandkids, nieces, nephews, pets, vegetables, or anyone dressed and if you need an excuse have a tea party. Dress up, send me a photo and I’ll donate $10 in your name to help little girls with Rett Syndrome.

Did you do anything fun yesterday?

About

This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.

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