The Wilkes Team

The weather has been very cold here in Virginia. Daniel decided to start tapping the maple trees outback. We began last week. I went with Daniel and Kenan and watched them drill holes into the maple trees. We have begun with eight or nine trees and are hoping to tap more. A couple days ago, the temperatures were so cold (like 10 degrees all the way down to below zero) that our small pipes were frozen full of sap. The best conditions for tapping are when temperatures are below 20  degrees at night and around 36-40 degrees in the day.

We boiled down about 1 – 1 1/2 gallons of sap on our wood stove. When done boiling, there was about 1/3 cup of tasty maple syrup. We had to watch the sap very carefully towards the end.

I am so glad the Lord has given us maple trees for making syrup. I am looking forward to having fresh Virginia maple syrup on my pancakes.

Maple Syrup Resourcs:

 How to make maple syrup and tap your own maple trees

 Here is a slightly different set up

 Maple Syrup facts

 To beware of when storing maple sap

 Backyard Sugarin: A Complete How-To Guide

8 Comments » | posted in Farming 101, Outdoor Adventures

Last year, I gave Jennifer a birdhouse for her birthday. After her birthday, the two of us painted the little house yellow and burgundy. It was all ready for a family of birds. We put it in the crepe myrtle in our front yard.

A Daddy and Mommy chickadee found the house around the beginning of May. They worked hard to make a little nest for the babies that would come shortly. Before long, two baby chickadees hatched and began chirping every day for food. The nest was located close to the place where Jennifer likes to have her morning devotions.

A couple days after we arrived home from Nashville, TN, Jennifer found one of the baby chickadees sitting in the crepe myrtle. She went slowly up to the tree, but the bird flew into the neighbor’s yard. The bird stayed right where he was and Jennifer picked him up. He was so cute. Soon after, the Daddy and Mommy chickadee became alert to their missing baby and began chirping for it. We let it go after taking a few pictures.

The Bible says to, "Behold the fowls of the air (Matt. 6:26a)." I have been enjoyed taking the time to watch birds with my older brothers and the Staddons. One lesson that the birds teach me is to be attentive to the younger and needy ones.

I am glad Jennifer was alert and saw this little baby chickadee. Now it looks like a family of Wrens may be checking out the same nest.

4 Comments » | posted in Outdoor Adventures, Photography

Yesterday our family met up with some good friends at ‘Fired Up For Fun” – a ceramic place in Stephens City, Virginia. Inside the store there are thousands of clay cats, lighthouses, birds, snow men, houses, a humongous deer, pots, plates, cups, bowls, and many other things. They are all white.

First, you have to pick something to paint. Yesterday I chose a small cardinal. With a large brush, you dust off the clay. Next, the nice lady who owns the store helps you pick out the paint colors. She squirts the paint onto a plastic tray and gives us a lot of paint brushes. My favorite  part is the painting. Matthew helped me paint the bird. Usually, you have to paint the whole ceramic atleast 3 times. If you don’t, the ceramic may not look right after it is baked.

The store owner has lots of creative ideas that make the ceramics look really neat. After we are done painting, she puts the ceramics inside a large kiln. They are heated to around 400 degrees for several hours. Afterwards, the pieces of painted clay feel like glass.

Sometimes the color of the paint doesn’t look right when we are painting. And it also feels very rough. But after the clay is baked in  the kiln, the paint becomes the right color and is smooth as glass. In our lives, God uses  trials to make us beautiful vessels that bring Him glory.

Let your light so shine before men  that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is heaven.

Matthew 5:16

7 Comments » | posted in Family News

One day last month our family went to visit our cousins who work on a farm in Fauquier County, Virginia. They blessed our family with a bountiful dinner of pizza, hot chocolate, hot cider, and much more!

After dinner, they took us to a very large barn where our cousin Kevin works. Earlier that day, before we arrived, a baby bull was born. They thought the mother cow had only one calf but when we went to the barn we found a second baby calf. But it had died. The first calf was very cold and weak. It needed milk, but was having trouble sucking. We all helped Kevin move the mother cow into an open space and forced her down a long channel to a holding place. The cow was then locked into a position where she could not move. Kevin tried to milk the cow so we could feed the baby calf, but she did not have much milk and kept trying to kick Kevin. We would have to make some.

Most of us went with Kevin to his shop and made a bottle of milk. Joshua and Daniel stayed behind and kept trying to bottle feed the baby bull with the little bit of milk Kevin had gotten out of the mother cow.

Even though it was very late and cold, everyone kept good attitudes, prayed, and helped wherever they could. Kevin brought the new bottle of milk to the baby bull. It started to suck on the bottle. We were so excited. God saved the little calf.

3 Comments » | posted in Farming 101, Outdoor Adventures

We received our first snow storm this December and it actually fell on Adam’s Birthday! It was a very powdery and was really good for snow balls. I call it puffy snow

We all woke up that morning to snow outside and we all really wanted to go out and play in it. So after Wisdom search we decided to skip breakfast and head out to play in the snow. We had a blast!

The snow ball fight was my favorite activity that morning! We had two teams. One team started on the deck and the other was on the ground. The team on the ground was trying to take over the deck by pelting the team on the deck with snow balls until they surrendered and ran off! It took a lot of working together in order to get the one team off the deck. If one person decided to try and take the deck by them self they would stubble off the stairs very quickly and be covered in snow. But if we went up as a team we had a lot more success!

If we try to only please our self and do things our own way instead of God’s way. It will not work very well. We will stubble and fall. But if we are willing to do things God’s way and work together as a team by looking at our problems from God’s perspective we will have success as we did in our snow ball fight!

6 Comments » | posted in Family News