Yesterday it was warm and sunny, not what you'd expect here in November, and I went down to the place I planted the lilac bushes I got from Vesey's spring before last in order to weed them out before all the leaves would fall of and leave them hard to find.  Most of the leaves had already fallen, but I found most of them anyhow, I hope.  Najim and Ann, (who came here for a few days) came too, and after a while Shindouk, and we finished the patch, so if I get to plant them in the spring before the leaves are on them, as should be done, I ought to be able to find them.

    Terron

     This morning I went down to the labyrinth clearing with my friend Sarah, who has offered to help me lay it out, &c.  We actually went to get fence posts for the chicken yard, but she said she can't measure it out until we get the logs out of there.  There are about 40 black spruce, tamarack, and balsam fir trees cut up into pieces 8-10 feet long, mostly fairly small, but some bigger ones.  We hitched up 6 pieces to my 4-wheeler and dragged them out, but it wore out the rope dragging those up the road before we got there.  I am certainly going to have to have a trailer to get those all out, but they don't all have to come clear out right now.
      Sarah thinks I am certainly going to have to get the whole place tilled and fertilized before I plant anything.  I hope not, because I don't think I can afford to.  It would take a giant rototiller that is capable of chopping through tree stumps.   Such a machine does exist, but it costs $250/hr.,  am told.  Of course, I don't know how many hours it would take.  I don't know what they'd charge to bring it here from wherever it is, either.
       Then, even more than fertilizer, maybe, it should have lime, about 4 tons, I suppose.  I have been thinking of getting a whole truckload for the field, and lime is cheap, but still . . .  And the problem is hauling it down to the place it is needed.  That road is getting pretty wet, and it won't dry til next summer.
      So all this gets discouraging.  I sure hope the price of fuel doesn't go out of reach before I can get all this done.