Weekly Mileage #97 and the Second Wood Badge Ticket Item

still haven't found those beavers, but they're definitely active right now

I've started going for a hike on Mondays after dropping the boys at preschool and Sunshine at co-op. I've got enough time to do about 2 miles and then run some errands or spend some time on the laptop before picking everyone up. The weather has cooperated pretty well on Mondays, which hasn't been the case on Thursdays (our usual hiking day) lately. This week's problem? Frigid temps and wind. We weren't as cold as some parts of the country, but it was still very cold. Add in the wind, and I didn't want to take the kiddos out in that.

I did manage to spend some time on the treadmill, though I need to be more consistent if I'm going to get back in running shape anytime soon.

I managed to have a fairly productive week, despite a couple days of dealing with the effects of insomnia one night. I'm almost done gathering tax info and getting my books in order. Since I have four businesses and I do minimal work on them during the year, this takes longer than it should. I did this last year as well, but I've decided that won't be the case this coming year. I've got a monthly reminder on my calendar to update my spreadsheets when I file my sales taxes.

I also finished another of my Wood Badge projects and am working on two more of them that need to be done within the next two and a half weeks. I'll present those two at the Blue and Gold banquet, and then I'll just have the last project left. I've got so much going on that I want to finish them as quickly as possible so I don't have them hanging over my head, stressing me out.

The weather warmed up enough on Saturday for me to get outside and boil some more sap without freezing to death. I'd stored the buckets outside since it's been so cold (no need to use the freezer this time!), and had to bring them inside on Friday so the sap would defrost enough to put in the pans.

So far we've collected just over 25 gallons of sap (though there's more in the buckets at the trees) and boiled it down to about 3 gallons or so (it's not syrup yet: I need a hydrometer before I do the final boil). 3 gallons is a manageable amount to boil in pots on the stove inside, rather than over the fire outside. If we were staying here long term, we would invest in some sort of closed stove with pans on top to boil the sap, which would be much more efficient. I'm really not liking the inefficiency of the fire pit- I'm constantly having to check that the wood is still burning well and trying to keep ash out of the pans as I stoke the fire up again.

Weekly Mileage
Monday- 2.10 miles hiked
Thursday- 2.25 miles walked on the treadmill
Saturday- 10.00 miles biked
total- 14.35 miles

4 hikes towards #52hikechallenge
0 kayak miles towards #365milechallenge

8.30 outdoor foot miles towards #365milechallenge
4.45 indoor foot miles towards #365milechallenge
30.0 bike miles towards #365milechallenge
42.75 miles total