Highland Maple Festival

I went on an educational field trip this weekend, I thought I'd share. This is definitely not something I got to see living in Texas!

Some of us from the family drove about an hour away to the Highland Maple Festival. We started the morning at an all you can eat pancake breakfast. They had buckwheat pancakes (didn't care for), regular pancakes, homemade sausage (delicious!), and pure maple syrup (of course). I was impressed, this is obviously a major event every year for this small town but they got everyone through pretty quickly and all the volunteers were friendly and helpful. Gotta love small town USA!

After loading up on carbs we went to some farms to see how the syrup was made. Here are some pictures of how it was done "back in the day".

 

                                                                    

Buckets were placed on taps to collect the sap dripping from maple trees. They left this one uncovered to show visitors so yes, I tasted it. Didn't taste like much of anything to me.

The collected sap would be poured into long troughs like this. A fire burned underneath and the sap would be stirred occasionally, boiling off most of the water. It takes 40-60 gallons of sap to make one gallon of pure maple syrup!

Once most of the water was boiled off they'd transfer the liquid to smaller kettles where they could better control the heat of the fire. Here they would cook it more until the desired consistency and flavor.

They had samples to taste and I surprised myself by liking the hickory syrup they were selling. Hickory syrup is an old process for making syrup that was popular before 1850. Basically, you remove some bark from the hickory tree, roast it in an oven, then soak it in water to make a tea. You strain out the solids, add sugar, and cook it down until it has the consistency you like. Now a days it's called Grandma's syrup because only the older Grandma's would take the time to make it. I got some as a novelty, it has a unique smoky sweet flavor.

 Then we went to a modern day operation, wow! Here you can see the tubing on one of the trees and then you can see that tubing weaving in and out, connecting all the maple trees together.

Tubes were running everywhere but they eventually led here, to the Sugar Shack. Starting in the 1970's, some maple syrup producers started using reverse osmosis to remove water from the sap before it would be boiled down. Reverse osmosis allows approximately 75% to 80% of the water to be removed prior to boiling.

Here's a video of the pumps in action:

And what festival could be complete without vendors? We parked and then wandered around the main street, oohing and ahhing at all the different items for sale. One vendor was making baby rattles with his foot powered lathe. He made it look so easy that of course I wanted to try when he asked for volunteers. FYI, I had been "working" a lot longer than this video shows but phew, it was tiring work!

A fun day and I learned a lot.

Botox Review

Sorry, folks, I've still not been too good at updating my blog. But I have gone through 4 rounds of Botox now so I can give you a pretty good description of what it's been like!

Let me be completely honest, I've taken an Ativan (an anti-anxiety pill) before each treatment because it's nerve wracking. Yes, I've had someone drive each time (big shout out here to my sis-in-law, son, and nephew.)

The first time I went I the nurse was taking my weight and blood pressure, getting my medical background and all that good stuff, and she asked me, "Where are you getting Botox today?" 

That threw me for a loop in my half sedated state. "Don't you know, you guys are the ones who do this all the time?!?"

She must have seen the extra fear on my face because she laughed a little and assured me that, yes, she did know, she asks that every time to make sure the patient knows. I guess they want to be reassured that I'm not expecting it to make my face free of wrinkles or something. I told her I wasn't exactly sure but I'd been told it was going to be in my head, shoulders, and neck. Ding, ding, I passed!

A few minutes later the neurologist ushered us (me and my sis-in-law) into a nearby room, answered any questions I had, and then it was time to get started. I laid down on the table, he raised it to his height, and then he would announce, "A prick, now a sting," every time he gave an injection. After 6 or so times of that he asked me if he needed to tell me every time and I told him to just get on with it already.

It was the prick of the needle and then a sting as he inserted the medicine. He started in my hairline at my forehead and then he had me turn my head to the left. I'd have to clench my jaws so he could tell exactly where the muscle was, I'd release, and in went the needle. Then it was time to turn to the right and get that side done. 

I wish I had a picture to show you, believe me, we asked but he said no. He wasn't comfortable letting her take pictures while he was giving the shots. Ha ha, my sis-in-law and I are like two peas in a pod when it comes to stuff like that, we both want to be there watching exactly what's going on. 

The relaxing music going on during the shots didn't do much for me personally, what distracted me more was listening to my sis-in-law asking him questions and listening to their discussions. I kept my eyes shut and just focused on my breathing and trying to stay calm and relaxed.

When the front and sides were done (none were injected right on my face btw) he lowered the table and had me sit there for a second and make sure I wasn't going to pass out. I was fine so he had me sit on a little stool and put my head down on the table. Now it was time for the shots in the back of my neck. Ouch, they stung the worse and my headache flared up big time! (As a side note, he completely missed with one shot, my hair is so thick he didn't even get it under the skin.)

Then we waited a few more seconds for me to get my bearings, I sat up, pulled down the collar of my shirt on one side, and he injected a few more along the muscles of my neck/upper shoulder. Repeat on the other side and I was finally done! Thirty one shots in all.

The whole thing took 30 minutes or so. It wasn't pleasant by any means but it wasn't too bad, either. By the time I got home 45 minutes later I just went upstairs to sleep. 

It was when I woke up that "recovery" began. Ugh, I felt sore on all the injection sites and my daughter was calling me "Bobble Head Dumbo" because my neck felt so weak that I could hardly hold my head up. The botulism in my system made me feel nauseated and gross, my head and stomach ached, and my head felt as heavy as a bowling ball for about 10 days. That was no fun!

Since then my neurologist has given me half doses in the back of my neck so I don't get so bobble head like. It has helped. Every time I still have about a 10 day recovery time right after the shots. But you know what, it does help!?! My migraines are not as long lasting and I do get about half as many. I can tell after about 10 weeks that the Botox has started to wear off. Unfortunately, insurance will only cover it every 12 weeks and my doctor is so booked that I'm usually more like 13-15 weeks between shots. 

Who would have thought that botulism would decrease migraines? Who would have thought that I actually start looking forward to the shots (because my migraines get worse when the medicine wears off)? Huh, life sure throws you some curve balls! 

My verdict is in, I would recommend it. It takes a few rounds before you really start to see the benefits, it's expensive, and recovery is no fun but hey, 10 migraines a month is so much better than 20 or 25!