Gary and I always go out to this one grove of trees by Pymatuning Lake and take pictures of the trees.
I have this thing about taking pictures of these buckets. I just love the look of the texture of tree bark and the old fashioned look of these metal buckets.
I'm thinking that someday you won't see metal buckets as a lot of people tap trees with clear rubber tubing and running it into plastic bags. 
A grove of maple trees tapped for sap!
Oh look, a big sap standing beside a tree!
Isn't this an interesting looking tree?
Another interesting tree.....
Maple Syrup 101: Facts to know just incase you get on Jeopardy!
1. There are three versions of Grade A maple syrup, including Light Amber, Medium Amber and Dark Amber. The lighter the color, the more subtle the flavor. There is also a Grade B.
2. It takes 40 to 50 gallons of sap to make 1 gallon of pure maple sugar.
3. The outbuilding where the sap is boiled is known as "The Sugar Shack" or "Sugarhouse".
4. The sap flows for about 6 weeks.
5. The tap that is inserted into the tree is called a "spile".
6. Maple Sugar evaporators are designed to boil-off hundreds of gallons of water so that the syrup becomes concentrated.
7. Pure Maple Syrup is heart healthy as it contains natural antioxidants, zinc and manganese.
8. It is 3 times sweeter than cane sugar but has fewer calories.
9. One tap per tree 18 to 20 inches in diameter; 2 taps in trees in trees 19 to 25 inches in diameter.
10. On average one tree will produce 6 to 10 gallons of sap.
I hope all my friends in Blogland had a great weekend. I know we certainly enjoyed the sun here in Western, Pa. We've only had 6 days of sun in the past 30 days!
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