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From Mr. Handsome:

Last winter went down in family history as our first year making maple syrup from the trees on our property. You may remember our blog post about it. We had much success and even more fun that we decided to give it another try this year. The first weekend gave us our purest and tastiest syrup yet.

We upped our game in a few different ways. First, we actually bought equipment from an authentic maple syrup supply company, instead of using metal pipe and plastic tubing from Home Depot. We were able to get a tighter seal all the way from the tree to collection bucket so no bugs or rainwater can contaminate the sap. We also upgraded our filters to remove more of the sediment and create a more pure syrup.

What didn’t change was how much time it took to make the syrup. It takes something like 50 gallons of sap to yield one gallon of syrup. I spent all day boiling sap over a fire just to get about a quart and a half of syrup. It is obviously not a cost effective or time efficient way to get syrup, but the experience is what matters. For a lot of the time, Little Buddy sat with me.

An added benefit was that boiling maple syrup turned out to be a great science lesson for Little Buddy. We had just read a book about how matter can move from solid to liquid to gas. Little Buddy was literally able to watch a solid turn into a liquid and then a gas when he saw the chunks of frozen sap melt and then boil off into steam.

He then asked, “Daddy why does hot air rise?” I was dumbfounded that a four-year-old had the mental capacity to see the hot steam rise and wonder why it happened. It turned out to be a very difficult question to answer in an age appropriate way. I tried to explain how the molecules move faster, which causes them to expand, making the air less dense. This was unfortunately over his head, but I assured him he will learn all about it when he is older.

The day spent boiling maple syrup turned out to be a sweet success!

We had some readers ask if we garden. The answer is yes! In past years, I have grown a few tomato and pepper plants, but this year, we decided to expand our garden and try out hand at growing a variety of vegetables.

Our initial hope was to save money by growing our own vegetables. With inflation, this seemed like a good idea. Unfortunately, we have now spent close to $1000 on lumber, soil, plants, fertilizer, and other supplies.

But it’s not all about the money. We are excited about providing pesticide-free vegetables for our family, as well as teaching Little Buddy the value of hard work and giving him a basic science lesson. Mr. Handsome also hopes that growing his own vegetables will help him eat more salads. And the beds can be used in future years, so perhaps one day we will be at a point where our garden saves us money on groceries.

We started preparing everything in early spring. Mr. Handsome spent hours building the raised beds (three smaller ones and two bigger ones). There are a lot of deer in the area, so we knew we needed to make a solid plan to protect our plants. We also have a lot of tall trees on the property, so placing the beds in the sunniest spot was a must.

With the price of wood so high, Mr. Handsome used two logs for one of the beds. He and Little Buddy picked up a bulk load of dirt, and Little Buddy thought it was so cool to watch the big tractor dump the mud into the back of our truck.

The three smaller beds sit on a retaining wall, but to keep the deer out of the two larger ones, which sit on the ground, we had to get creative. For one, we ordered heavy duty, nylon netting made for golf courses, and Mr. Handsome built a PVC frame. For the other, he used fence posts and chicken wire.

We will continue to update you on our garden progress. How many readers are gardening this year? Is it going well?

As most wives know, the best way to get your husband to do something is to make him think it was his idea in the first place. Many of you know that I am big fan of de-cluttering, but Mr. Handsome has always been reluctant to get on board with the idea. He just has a hard time letting go of stuff.

A few weeks ago, Mr. Handsome stayed up late with the baby while I got some much needed rest (he does this quite a bit, which is lovely). Right before heading to bed, I programmed Netflix to a show called “Minimalists: Less is Now.”

The next morning, I awoke to Mr. Handsome rummaging through the closet. “What are you doing, Honey?” I asked. “Oh nothing,” he replied. “I just watched this show last night on minimalism and am trying out the 30-day challenge. I am going to get rid of at least one item every day for the next month, and this sweater is looking like a great candidate to be removed.”

My plan had worked! I was shocked to see my husband showing excitement about de-cluttering.

What exactly is a minimalist? A minimalist is someone who doesn’t derive their self-worth from their material possessions. They try to live simply and only keep the possessions they either truly need or derive joy from. (I personally don’t get any joy from my toilet plunger, but it’s certainly a needed item.)

Minimalism is a response to the over-consumerism that is rampant in our society. We are constantly being pushed to spend more money to buy things we can’t afford to impress people we don’t like.

One rule of thumb when deciding whether to keep or get rid of something is “Have you used it in the past 90 days, or do you plan to use it in the next 90 days?” If the answer is no, then you can probably get rid of it. Of course, seasonal items and emergency supplies are an exception to this rule.

What are your views on minimalism?

Mr. Handsome and I are by no means true minimalists. One look at our toy collection or our garage will tell you that. But like most people, we could use to de-clutter, especially after the holidays. So for the next thirty days, Mr. Handsome and I will try to get rid of at least one item every day and see what happens. Would any of you like to join in the challenge with us?

A couple months after our wedding in 2015, I posted our vows. A few months after that, I shared a photo of how we chose to display them above our bed.

In general, when I look back at the decor we had when we got married almost six years ago, I sometimes cringe. My styles have definitely changed, and I now enjoy spending more time making our house “homey” than I did back then. Mr. Handsome has returned to his old hobby of woodworking and has created some beautiful pieces. (Did you see the animals he made for Little Buddy’s bedroom?) And about three years into our marriage, I invested dozens of hours into refinishing and staining our solid wood kitchen/dining room table and coffee table. (All the work was done at our two-bedroom apartment, I must add.) Mr. Handsome also built a custom bookshelf.

Back to our vow: For quite some time, both of us have been looking at the cheap, store-bought picture frames and the blue cardstock we used for the background and thinking that our vows deserved a fancier display. A few weeks ago, Mr. Handsome built (out of old barn wood from a family farm) two identical picture frames.

Then he printed our vows on stationary paper and soaked the paper in a tea and coffee mixture for a few minutes. After letting the paper dry, he burned the edges. We both love how they turned out!