It's Time to Make Maple Syrup!!!

It's spring here...or I should say it's finally starting to warm up and the snow is melting. It's also time to tap the maple trees and make some very delicious maple syrup. There is a lot of work that goes into making this yummy goodness, and so I thought I would share some pictures and explain the process for anyone interested in seeing what it takes. 

We have 450 taps, so the woods like this

To tap the tree you drill a hole and then pound in the spile...when the sap runs up the tree during the day and down again at night it drips from the spile into the bucket

When we need to empty the buckets we take the truck with the tank in the back around and empty all the buckets...sometimes it takes several trips.

It's easiest to carry 5 gallon buckets into the woods

Then you take the metal bucket off the tree, empty it into the plastic one, return the metal bucket onto the spile and proceed to the next tap (or metal bucket)

When your buckets are full or getting to heavy to carry you carry them back to the truck and empty them into the tank....after you buckets are empty, you go back and fill them again, back-and-forth....until all 450 are empty!!!

Emptying the full bucket into the tank on the truck

Our cooker...it's much longer than it looks...it's 4 feet wide and 12 feet long (or 1.2 meters by 3.6 meters)

Underneath the front pan is where we build the fire...it needs to burn hot and fast and so somebody has to stoke it every 2-3 minutes. It can get really warm!

You can kind of see how thick the cast iron is in the above picture,  and the fire is hot enough that it's making the iron red...when you open the doors to stoke that fire to keep it that hot you get a blast of heat!! Not to brag, but that's my fire.

This is one the side of the pan and someone gets to watch this...once the needle is at 7 (where it is now) it should be syrup in the pan that needs to be drawn off

It's syrup, we draw it off and let it run through a filter and to remove and dirt and sediment that may be there

After its been filtered it gets poured into the top pan and reheated, after it's hot it goes into the pan on the lower left where it's filtered again and then bottled.

The syrup in the top pan being reheated

The finished syrup getting it's last filtering before bottling

Bottling the syrup

This year the sugar content hasn't been fabulous. What that means is that right now on average it takes 59 gallons (223 liters) of sap to make 1 gallon (3.8 liters) of syrup (we have to boil out 58 gallons of water). Needless to say it takes many hours and lots of hard work, but being able to eat the pure maple syrup that you worked so hard for all year round is somehow rewarding. :) 

Good Bye Thailand

It's hard to leave new friends and perfect weather to return home to the snowy cold of northern America. I didn't realize how much I fell in love with Thailand, the people, food, and way of life. 

One of my favorite snacks

Thailand is beautiful!

Having fun

Going out for lunch...

We ate grilled chicken, and it was so good.

My brother came to visit...

Zip Line = Fun

I have no idea what the future is going to bring, or where I am going to end up...but, wherever I end up I'm sure it will be a new adventure. 

Christmas in Thailand

Merry Christmas!! 

(okay, so I know it’s a little after Christmas, but at least it’s before the new year). 

We drove out to the village in the afternoon and stayed there for the night. That evening we went caroling through the village, stopping at the church members homes.

Christmas caroling in a village

Caroling without snow on the ground isn't an experience I've had often.

The next morning we got up and held a Christmas service. 

The church was decorated inside and out with balloons and streamers for the Christmas celebration.

The outside of the church

Before the morning service I answered medical questions and gave out medications.

The afternoon we arrived there was a pig tied up outside the church, in the morning the pig had disappeared and there was lots of fresh cooked pork for breakfast and lunch.

We also held a Christmas party for the AYDC kids the Saturday after Christmas. At 9 a.m. there were stands set up around the compound for them to play games. Then we all ate lunch together, during the afternoon there was homemade coconut ice cream to be eaten! (it's so good!!!!) Dinner was served, and then it was time for the Christmas program and handing out the gifts to the kids. 

 

That's shows you a little of my Christmas experience in Thailand. There was so much good food to eat, and fun time to had by all.  

Rice Harvest

A couple weeks ago it was time to harvest the rice. There are 2 different ways of harvesting the rice, by hand or by machine. Doing all the work by hand takes time and is backbreaking work and if you also need to hire people to help. Hiring the combine is faster but a little more expensive. of course, all this depends on the size of your rice fields.

The foundation decided that it was worth the money to hire the combine, it was faster and the cost was about equal to having others come help for several days. It was fun to watch the combine out in the field and to see the rice being harvested. After the field was cleared we sat and ate lunch together surrounded by lots of rice.  

The combine harvesting the rice

Rice

Saving every grain

The combine unloading the rice it's harvested

Filling the rice sacks

Changing out the full rice sack

Loading the full sacks onto the pickup truck

The combine is hard at work while everyone else sits around talking 

Drying the rice 

 Hope you have enjoyed the pictures of our rice harvest! If I remember correctly, we harvested 7,340 pounds of rice that day. That rice will feed the 100 kids here for 5 months, after that it's back to buying rice for the remaining 7 months. 

The following two pictures are of people harvesting their rice fields by hand. 

Broken Pieces

Last week has been really rough. I was/still am struggling with some old issues, being in control and being independent. When I came to Thailand, I came to serve. I’m finding that I don’t have a servant attitude though and it’s making it a real challenge. I’m willing to help if 

 1)I want to do it or….

2) If it’s something I’m interested in or even if…

3) I feel that it is something that I can do

I think most people would say the same thing, they'll help if it meets one of the 3 things I listed.

It’s a  real struggle in a non-confrontational culture where you are expected to do what’s best for the group and not yourself therefore I must stay quiet and happy. How does an independent introvert who very much loves to do her own thing fit into a culture that is built on relationships and sacrificing your needs for the betterment of the entire group? What do you do when you realize that you really are selfish and holding onto old self makes you feel empty and alone in a new culture? If I let go, who do I become? My boundaries, my barriers won’t be in place anymore. How do I protect my heart? 

Those and many other similar questions where running through my head all of last week. I quickly reached my coping limit and withdrew. That sudden withdrawal may have hurt those around me, it wasn’t on purpose I just need time and space. Then I get frustrated with myself because I feel that isn’t showing love to those around me and I’m being selfish about what I want. 

Sunday evening I was able to check out an international christian fellowship for the first time. It was great to be able to worship and hear the message in my own language. The message was very interesting, the speaker chose to preach on the passage in Matthew 14 where Jesus feeds 5,000. After everyone was full, Jesus told his disciples to pick-up the leftovers and they picked up 12 baskets of broken pieces. 

  

Jesus had just preformed a miracle in feeding the masses, but there were broken pieces left over. The speaker also went on to say, that often we experience the miracle and think we are fixed, suddenly all our issues are gone but we don’t see them laying at our feet in broken pieces. Just as Jesus commanded his disciples to pick up the broken pieces, we need to stop and pick up the broken pieces and hand them over to Jesus. 

As he went on, he also said that sometimes we become fixated on the broken pieces and then they become our identity. I know this is what I have done. He kept talking, and picture flashed in my brain for just a second as well as the meaning. A little girl was sitting on the floor, (me) so focused on putting the broken pieces back together that were scattered around her that she didn’t see her father kneeling before her asking with his eyes, ‘will you look up at me?’ He was kneeling patiently waiting for her to realize that she couldn’t put the pieces back together but that it didn’t matter, all he wanted was for her to look at him and hand him the pieces. 

I have become so fixated on my broken pieces, the pain, hurt, betrayal of my past that it has become my identity. I’m broken and empty and don’t know how to fix my life so that I can love as God loves, so that I can serve with a willing heart. 

How do I let go? Who do I become? Maybe I’m broken, but I have come to feel safe in that brokenness. Part of me wants to let go and embrace who God wants me to be, but part of me fears what that will look like. I am at war within myself, what do I do with the broken pieces. I know that I should surrender them, but what happens after that? 

(The pictures I used are really cool, but I can't claim them as mine.)

Thailand: Buying Food

I know that I need to eat healthy foods, but sometimes I want junk food. The problem with that is that here the junk food is more expensive than the healthy food. It’s cheaper to eat fruit and vegetables than it is to eat ice cream. It’s a struggle…needless to say, I’m eating much healthier now than I think I ever have before!

There is an 'organic' store in town where some of this produce is from. 

Bag of green beans: handful already eaten...purchased at the organic store for 25 Baht ($0.78)

Bag of fresh Chives: bought at organic store for 15 Baht ($0.47)

Large Apple: expensive (but I was craving an apple) 35 Baht ($1.09) Later I found a place where I can buy them a little bit cheaper, at least now I know for next time. 

Lettuce: bought at the organic store for 25 Baht ($0.78)

Tray of cherry tomatoes: bought at the organic store for 20 Baht ($0. 63)

Cucumber: bought at local market for 3 Baht ($0.09)

Ice Cream cone: (the cheap one) 20 Baht ($0.63)
The expensive one (Magnum bars) are 40 Baht  ($1.25) a piece. 

This is just to give you a little bit of an idea...I still love to eat ice cream and potato chips, it's just that when you compare the prices I don't know that it always makes sense to buy the snack food. Right now, I'm wishing I had an ice cream bar in my freezer. I could easily go at get it...I haven't decided if I'm going or not.