A super cell with tornadoes is moving in from the west at about 50 mph.  This could be a long night of storms.  Last night’s storms were non-events.  It rained this morning starting about 7:30 AM and lasted about 45 minutes.  Then became party cloudy and warm. 

Into the woods by 9:00 AM.  Staying late to slowly boil down the sap in the evaporator paid off.  We emptied the evaporator today.  Had about 20 gallons remaining.  We took the big pan off to rinse it.  Got water.  Replaced the pan and filled it with water.   Then we could boil the remaining sap on the front pan. 

Removing the big pan is a challenge.  It is about 4′ x 3′.  Its heavy gauge stainless steel so it weighs over 100 lbs.  Its hard to move.  We actually use ramps to slide it off the evaporator and onto the floor were we can more easily handle it.

By about 3:00 PM we had boiled the remaining sap down.  It should not take too long to finish on the gas finishing pan.  Not sure if we finish and bottle Monday or Tuesday. 

All the buckets and covers are in.  We hustled this afternoon as the weather looked threatening.  Some spouts are still in, but they won’t blow around or get wet. 

We can see the end of clean up now.  The buckets are in.  The sap ready for the finishing pan.  Tomorrow we work on cleaning the evaporator.  We have two days.