The Sap is Rising

Sure, most of us have enjoyed pure maple syrup on our pancakes, or the sweet crunch of maple sugar candy. But did you know?

•It takes 30-50 gallons of sap to make one gallon of maple syrup
•Maple syrup is boiled even further to produce maple cream, maple sugar, and maple candy.
•It takes one gallon of maple syrup to produce eight pounds of maple candy or sugar
•A gallon of maple syrup weighs 11 pounds
•The sugar content of sap averages 2.5 percent; sugar content of maple syrup is at least 66 percent or more
•Usually a maple tree is at least 30 years old and 12 inches in diameter before it is tapped
•As the tree increases in diameter, more taps can be added - up to a maximum of four taps
•Tapping does no permanent damage and only 10 percent of the sap is collected each year. Many maple trees have been tapped for 150 or more years.

Now that you have read some of the many facts about maple syrup, we can talk.  Every year in the fall the sap inside the maple trees, makes it way down the tree.  Well that same sap begins to raise in the late winter and early spring.  Here in the South the rising sap has so many different meanings. 

Every year everyone in the South looks forward to the Spring.  This year it is especially true, as we have had some really cold weather this winter.  We love the plant in our gardens, and in fact my husband always starts our garden on Good Friday.  He says this is the best time to plant.  The birds return and sing out side my bedroom window.  But the best part is I don't have to drive to work in the dark, and it doesn't get dark at 5 p.m.  Apparently, the spring is the onset of many things..things I never even realized until last week. 

One day about 4 years ago sitting around the teachers lunch table, one of the teachers said, oh you can tell the sap is beginning to rise.  I of course didn't think much of this other than Spring was on it's way. 

Well, just the other day at school, again sitting around the teachers lunch table, one of our paraprofessionals ( very nice, sweet, southern, older woman) we had been discussing how the behavior of the students was just really going south.... This very nice, very sweet, southern older woman turns and says..."I can only imagine what it is going to be like when the sap gets to rise'n." 

 Then it dawned on me...not only does the full moon, or windy days have an effect on students behavior, but the sap rising does also.. And in middle school...it has a whole different conotation.  Let's just say if it had an effect on smiling Bob from the enzite commercials, he probably would not need his enzite or viagra.   And of course this Northern chic, who was raised in South Florida, (which I told you before is just New York and New Jersey relocated south), had no clue in the 6 years I have been in Georgia..that this is what was meant by "when the sap gets to rise'n".    I love Spring and look forward to it every year.

Suicidal Owls

Fact:  The Eastern Screech Owl was first described by Carolus Linnaeus (the Swedish naturalist who developed binomial nomenclature to classify and organise plants and animals), who classified it in 1758. The origin of the word "Asio" is unknown, but it came to mean "Owl" in Latin. Eastern Screech Owls have also been called the common screech Owl, Ghost Owl, Dusk Owl, Little-eared Owl, Spirit Owl, Little Dukelet, Texas Screech-Owl, whickering Owl, little gray Owl, mottled Owl, the red Owl, the mouse Owl, the cat Owl, the shivering Owl, and the little horned Owl.

Yes he is cute..adorable even...don't let this innocent looking beautiful owl fool you.  Again, the story I am about to tell you is true.  Another "only in Georgia" experience for me. 

My first encounter with this creature was about 41/2 year ago. Maryann and I shared a house together and I was walking her sweet little dog (which you can't call a dog because she gets mad and so does he because she thinks he is human and so does he).    It was about 9 o'clock in the evening, and Charles and I were in the yard with Zack (whisper...dog...shhh!) So, we were talking and I heard this God awful noise, which sounded like a personal being murdered...I promptly ran in the house with Zack following.  I am sure most of you find this funny.  It wasn't!  I lived and so do in a house were the closest neighbor was at least an acre or two away.  In the country when it gets dark out, it is dark....no street lights, no residue light coming from anywhere.... so my natural instinct, being from South Florida where I worked in Riviera Beach (if you watch COPS, you know the area and there was a murder there daily), was to run...so I did...

Well night before last, I had my second encounter with this cute, adorable bird.  This time my husband was driving me to the CVS to pick up medicine.  My sister was on the cell phone with me, and I heard something hit the windshield.  No only did I hear it, but Maryann on the other end of the phone heard it as well.  I immediate turned to Charles and said..."I sure hope a dear didn't run into us"  (because we have experienced that also) he said, "No, it was and Owl." This thing hit the windshield at lightening speed, as if he were a kamakazi pilot from WWII.   It is one of those times when you automatically say out loud..."What the hell was that!!!"

Then Charles told me of a story that had happened to him years ago involving the cute, adorable bird.  One flew into his truck and it died, so he picked it up and when he tried to have the "road kill" mounted, DNR showed up at his door ready to arest him... Turns out in Georgia, if an Owl should happen to fly into your vehicle and die, please don't go back for it.  It is against the law to have an Owl in your posession. 

Before I forget...the down feather from this thing are still stuck to my antenna, and I am not touching them.

People of Walmart

Fact: People of walmart is a real Internet site which captures pictures of people shopping at walmart, not exactly dressed in their Sunday best. Check it out http://www.peopleofwalmart.com/.

Okay..I told you in the last blog our adventure lasted 2 or 3 days. After we visited the Sweet Home quilters cottage in Conyers we decided we were going to make the pillow cases for the kids which were undergoing cancer treatments. (http://www.conkerrcancer.org/). Maryann, Liza, Luisa, and I made 19 pillows last night. (pic above)All different and all very cute. Anyway, we decided to stop at the walmart on the south side of Athens to do a little fabric shopping for our pillow cases. Little did we know that we were time-warped into "people of walmart". We ran into a few interesting characters to say the least. In the fabric department, the lady cutting the fabric was less than happy. She wanted to sit down and take a break after each time she cut a piece of fabric. While Luisa and I were waiting for Maryann to check out, Luisa said look at her name tag. Well, this lady was standing behind Luisa and facing in the other direction. There was no possible way I could look at her name tag without making it obvious. So, Luisa whispered to me her name...which I promptly said..."get the #$%^ out!" Okay...this is a good one I promise...the woman's name was Capucini....Yes you heard me right CAPUCINI. I really wasn't so shocked. I told Luisa a story about when I worked at a bank back in West Palm Beach, I worked with a woman named Lasagna. I just want to know one thing. What is up with people naming their kids after Italian food and beverages? I am Italian-American, we don't name our kids these things. Our children have regular names...Yes of course there are those stereotypical names like Anthony, and Ann Marie.. There is at least one Anthony in every family...In my family we have a lot of Al's...Anthony tends to be a middle name, but none the less, Anthony is in a name somewhere.

When we thought it couldn't get it couldn't get any funnier...the greeter checking my receipt said to me after she handed me back the receipt..."There is not time like now for the great taste of McDonald's." I have one question...What is going on? I wouldn't be surprised to see our pictures on the people of walmart site...I bet that is where that pic above came from...that walmart...In fact I don't even know if I was in walmart yesterday...it was so strange...I am beginning to think I imagined the entire day.

Country stores

Fact: A country store is a retail store usually located in a rural community, that sells a wide variety of merchandise but is not divided into departments.

Mary Sue in A Scarlet Thread

Yes, I know it's been a long time and many things have happen since the last blog. First we would like to wish you all a very happy New Year!

Our latest adventure of the New Year started on December 29 and continued through January 2, of 2010.

It all began when Liza, Mary Sue and I decided we would go shopping for quilting fabric. My husband Charles told me about this quilt shop in McDonough Ga. called A Scarlet Thread. We decided since we were going to be in the Atlanta area that we would just go to as many quilt shops as we could. ( A total of 4 in all).

Our first stop...A scarlet thread. This was a beautiful quilt shop with over 7000 bolts of fabric. (Hence the smile on Mary Sue's face). We did a little damage here, but we knew we had 3 more stops...

Next stop was In Town Quilters in Dacatur Ga. We were surprised at the selection. We made a few purchases and off we went.

We drove to our third destination...Sweet Home Quilters Company in Conyers Ga. This shop was an old house circa 1900. Liza loved it! They had some really nice sales here. We also learned about the Conkerr cancer. org project from SHQC. This organization provides colorful pillow cases to children of all ages that are under going cancer treatments across the nation and has expanded to other countries. We picked up the brochure about this organization and decided we would participate and make pillow cases for the kids too. Sweet Home Quilters Company is a drop-off site for the cases.

Are last stop on this shopping journey was believe it or not, Patrick's feed and seed in Covington Ga. When I was researching our possible destinations...I came across Patrick's feed and seed. I put it on our list of stops just out of curiosity. Wow...we were surprised! First, we couldn't find the place..Mary Sue called them from the Cell phone for directions. She told the man we tried finding it was our GPS. (His response was, "is that one of those satellite things?" in a thick country accent) We cracked up at this of course and thought oh my, what have we gotten ourselves into. Turns out, this Feed and Seed not only has all the farm supplies you need, it has a ton of candy and over 3000 bolts of fabric. Not to mention the Atlanta areas largest selection of flannel fabric. This was much more than feed and seed.

We had the great day. Mary Sue and I decided one day we are going to open a quilt shop.. She suggested we call it A Stitch in Time...May suggestion was Two Crazy Stitches... I can hear the customers now telling their friends...."what did you do today?" response..."Oh, we went to see those two crazy stitches down at the quilt shop."

Cooter Brown

Interesting Fact: Folklore has it that Cooter Brown had family on both sides during the Civil War and he didn't want to fight for either side. So he got drunk, stayed drunk throughout the war years, and was not drafted. Now a person's intoxication is measured to his.

If you have read the previous blogs, you know I have a friend named Mary Sue. Mary Sue is a good ole' gal, born and raised here in Georgia. In fact she tells me when she is gone she want us to say at her funeral, and I quote.."She was a good ole'gal and we are gonna miss her." She and I are probably the two most unlikely people to ever become such great friends. I was born in New Jersey, and raised in South Florida, which is pretty much the same thing as being raised in New Jersey. But my mom always says, Yankee by birth, Southerner by choice.

Mary Sue is one of my most treasured friends, turns out we have a lot in common...go figure. She has taught me everything I know about quilting...(also in a previous blog) . She claims I am afraid of color when it comes to quilting, but she is helping with with that disorder. She gets a little upset when I fire up her facebook pages with my Mafia wars successes...Again..I am from New Jersey, and Italian...(enough said)

Okay, back to the story..one day we were at a Farm exhibit at the Eatonton Plaza Arts Center, (also mentioned in a preious blog)...we happened to be meandering through the exhibit, and Mary Sue was pointing out people she knew in pictures. Some of these people I think dated back to the early 1900's...Mary Sue is not that old, but OMG...she remembers everything, and knows everyone I think in a hundred mile radius...Well, she was talking about this one person and compared him to being crazier than Cooter Brown... I being from South Florida, was not familiar with this Cooter Brown person and Asked her..."Who is Cooter Brown?" and "Who would name their kid Cooter Brown?"...Mary Sue has this way of looking at you real funny when you ask something really stupid...(I knew in about a nano second from the look on her face, this was one of those questions)...She says..."You never heard of Cooter Brown?" ...Heck no, I have no clue who he is I am not from here...Then she explained that he was a fictious person, and haven't I ever heard the saying..."Drunker than Cooter Brown"? No, I hadn't or I wouldn't be asking about who he was...

Turns out these southerners have a saying for everything, and a language all their own. I am proud to say, I have never been as drunk as Cooter Brown, nor have I ever been drunk or planned to be. Nor has Mary Sue, something else we have in common!

My 1st Rodeo in GA!

FACT: The Goat, Feb. 22, 1892 Georgia’s mascot for its first football game against Auburn, Feb­ruary 22, 1892 in Atlanta, Ga., was a goat. Old newspaper clippings indicate that the goat wore a black coat with red U.G. letters on each side. He also had on a hat with ribbons all down his high horns, and the Auburn fans yelled throughout the game “shoot the billy-goat.”~~GO DAWGS~~

So, you can surmise from the picture of the goat that this rodeo will have goats. Well, it gets better. Ok, so, Matt and I are in Georgia before the rest of the family when we moved up here. My friend Pam invited Matt and I to go to a rodeo since her boys and their horses would be taking part in it. We were new here, like only a few days, so we said, " Why not," and went. This was sponsored by 4H. I had only been to professional rodeos before in south Florida. I was in for a treat. I didn't tell you that it was to start late afternoon or early evening - I can't remember. All I know is it was HOT, muggy, sticky and SMELLY! PLUS this was our 1st encounter with Georgia bugs...WOW they are big...especially the nasty flies...YUCK!

The first round of tricks that we saw were little kids dressed in full cowboy gear, hoping on a sheep and riding it. It was weird and very funny. This was a first to see anyone ride a SHEEP.

But then Pam leaned to me and said, "have you ever seen them pant a goat?" WTF? What does that mean???? Well, we were about to find out. The announcer said something in his very thick southern drawl of an accent I couldn't understand- remember, FL girl here...no ear for THAT accent just yet. The next thing we knew, goats ran out of a gate and stopped. Then little kids ran up to the goats and LITERALLY tried to put pants (YUP- the kind you and I wear) on a goat. THIS was an actual rodeo event. The crowd in the stands went crazy and routed these scary little children on. Putting clothing on livestock. This just leaves me to ponder this, WHY? Even more so, WHO was the BRAINIAC that came up with this potential Olympic event?

Cow Patty Bingo

Interesting Fact: The average cow produces 30lbs of urine and 65lbs pounds of faeces daily.

I know what you are thinking...Cows again...this is a good one..keep reading. Picture this...It is a beautiful Saturday in middle rural Georgia. Looking for something to do that was free and entertaining, I decided it would be a great Idea to take the family, my friends Lusia and her daughter, and of course Mary Sue to downtown Eatonton Georgia. The Plaza Arts Center was featuring Agricultural Awareness. There were old tractors, FFA displays, and a display on farm life. It was a wonderful view into histories past. (I really enjoyed the history aspect) They also has a petting zoo complete with a cow, chickens, goats and pigs. You can imagine how thrilled Maryann (the other fact chick) was, has she has been wanting to pet a calf since we moved her. Well, as much as she loved the calf...she was enthrauled by the pigglets (I must admitt they were very cute) She got to hold the pigglet and it snuggled under her chin. She was in love with it and wanted to take it home...Then of course my Georgia husband said, yeah in about six months, we'll be eat'n good. He is always looking to eat...(good thing I can cook or he might starve). When we finally left the petting zoo, I found Mary Sue, blunking down money on a bingo game...I LOVE BINGO! I wanted to play too. Turns out I was playing COW PATTY BINGO...Now, sit down for this one...ARe you sitting okay...This was not my grandmother's bingo..(She used to bring me to bingo with her when I was a little girl....) There were no ink dabbers, there were no bingo cards, no balls with numbers floating around in an air machine, no caller shouting "B 7". No there was none of this...Instead, there was a grid on a paper, you put your name in the square you wanted to bet on, the cost for a chance $3...the look on my face priceless...Turns out that once the grid on the paper is filled up, they take the calf to a field with the same grid on it and wait to see where she is going to do her "business" Wa-La...Cow Patty Bingo... (which is never to be confused with Beach Blanket Bingo) I don't know why they are called cow "patties"..They look nothing like a hamburger patty, nor a peppermint patty..there is nothing "patty" about them... A couple of questions to ponder...What if the cow "patty" lands between two squares?...What if it lands on four corners? or better yet what if the cow is constipated...Then what..the game is called on count of no poop! Do they return the money? I still don't know if I won or lost...I had to leave before 3:00 or when the calf was ready to do her business. And if you read the interesting fact above, 65 pounds is one heck of a patty!

You must think by now that I am crazy, maybe even two kinds of crazy, but I am telling you, you can't make this stuff up...This stuff really happens in Georgia...I Love it here and I am never moving!

P.S. The pig above are the one's Maryann got to hold...The cow patty bingo sign was the actual sign from the Ag. Awareness event....