Clean up went well yesterday with full sun and temperatures in the 60's. It was just the kind of weather one prefers for an outside job which involves water. The taps were pulled and cleaned with a scouring pad to remove all organic material. The bagholders were disassembled and washed before being boxed up until next year. The filter can was washed. Part of the evaporator was disassembled and washed. The two pans (sap and syrup pans) were left with the last sap of the season to sour and dissolve much of the scale that built up during the season. (In 3 or 4 weeks, we will dump the soured sap and do the final clean up.) The evaporator stack was topped with an old bucket to keep the rain out. The collection buckets were washed along with the bulk tanks. The latter are stored inside during the off-season; they have an outside location during the season. The cupola doors were latched so that they are not rattled by the wind during the off-season. The syrup house was swept, and the garbage packed up and brought home. The empty LP cylinder was dropped off to be refilled. A final note was made on the calendar.

Mid-day today, the weather turned sour with rain and rain mixed with snow. It has continued into the evening and is forecast to continue through much of tomorrow. There has been some accumulation of snow with more expected. The wind has been gusting making for some winter-like conditions. How different from yesterday.

I finished late yesterday with a trip to the library to pick up some new reading material. More on that to follow.