Even though I went early this morning, Bradley House Museum was pretty busy with visitors. They are running Maple Madness all week, and will likely be packed every day. The museum is a collection of three buildings showing the development of dwellings by settlers during the nineteenth century. First came the log cabin, then the clapboard house with extensions, which you can see in my first photo of the rather brightly painted yellow Bradley House c. 1830, and finally, a more finished and decorated home, complete with dormer windows and sidelights around the front door.
Today, and the rest of the week, will be devoted to the collecting and making of maple syrup. First the trees have to be tapped and a bucket put in place to collect the sap.
The museum has a large collection of old buckets on show. Once enough sap is collected, it is boiled down to produce the syrup.
Then it can be poured on snow to make taffy, or used instead of sugar for pretty much anything. Inside Bradley House, a warm fire was burning and a lady was making maple cookies.
We are very lucky to so have so much local history preserved, and what better way to experience it than a day at Maple Madness. The colours, smells, tastes, and textures are vivid reminders of days-gone-by.
Life with Becky 
Real maple syrup is the easiest natural sweetener for the body to digest – not to mention it’s yummy! You’re so lucky to get to experience Bradley House firsthand.
I really like maple syrup in herbal tea…such an extravagance. We have another museum in the neighbourhood, which is used for filming on occasion. It is connected with a famous author. I’ll write about that another day. Until then, time for tea.
How wonderful! Ours is just in a squeezy jar from Sainsbury’s-not quite the same…..
LOL. No, not the same thing at all. I think we take it for granted round here, so I wrote about the process for other visitors to the blog. Unfortunately, you need a cold winter to produce good syrup. The Mennonites produce a lot of syrup locally, and you can buy it off them on the roadside by their farms. Pretty cool.
Thanks Cheb (is that right?) ! I really like the pictures, including you and Becky having tea. I’ve never ever gone to see a sugar shack. You have inspired me – I’m going to become a better Canuck and take my Littles to experience this “toute sweet!” (sounds yummy). Merci! Also: Looking forward to finding out who the mystery author with their own museum is soon!
Thanks, Becky and I were sitting out this afternoon, with snow still on the ground, but it’s sunny and over 5 degrees, so we’re outside, and I thought wouldn’t it be cute to have a picture of us having afternoon tea. 🙂
Maple syrup festivals are a great way to celebrate the coming of spring, and they are so Canadian. I hope you enjoy.
Love maple syrup in my morning coffeee with a bit of cream – nummy! Thanks for sharing your local history with us. It is so easy to forget that history is everywhere.
I love history. My mom used to drag me round all the old houses in England when I was a kid. I got to like it. I loved the paintings and the fabrics and the gardens. Now I also like old recipes as well. Becky would love maple coffee. She is a coffee nut. 🙂
Thanks for your comment.