Thoisich mi!

Nobody bought a single thing of lilac at the markets this past weekend. But I made a little start on getting the land cleared anyhow. I went down with my 4-wheeler and cut the first 4 of 9 blown-down trees I can see blocking the road into the place. There may well be more farther in. I dragged one of them up to the house with the 4-wheeler and cut it up. It seemed pretty rotten on the outside, but it is tamarack, which doesn't rot fast, so the inside is sound and it will make good firewood.
There is a sort of road going over to the place, made, I suppose, when they cut the pulpwood there, if not before. But I have not been able to drive in there with my machine, because of the trees across the road. Maybe, if I cut them I can get there, though I don't know if I can get across the swamp. It is going to need a culvert eventually. It would be an advantage to be able to go over and choose the site before I call the machine operators at all. I guess I could go around through the neighbors property, but I'd probably have to clear a road there too. Still, that would avoid the swamp.
There is a woman who wants to help by buying a lilac spoon, but what she is doing is replacing her favorite one that broke, so I think I should try to make her one more or less like it, but I don't have a lot of lilac wood left. I need to make more spoons anyhow and started a batch yesterday, but I had all kinds of trouble yesterday at everything I did. It seemed I couldn't do anything right, and I got less than half as many done as I hoped. I hope it goes better today. Anyhow, I'd better go work.

Within reach

This will answer Margie's comment as well as bring this up to date. I did not go to the market on Saturday, but I did on Sunday and also today, Wednesday. I also deposited $107 more, which brings the total now to $1541. Only $54 more to go! I was mistaken when I posted that I'd deposited $272, because in fact I deposited $242 last time. Anyhow it is possible one more market and I will have enough, surely another week or 2, anyhow. And I have 4 sticks of lilac wood left to make spoons out of too, each about 4 feet long, but only one thicker than 2 1/2 " or so..
Sunday I met a woman at market who is a naturopath. She already had heard about me, because she is friend of some friends of mine, and my son-in-law has gone to her as a physician as well. Anyhow, I figured a naturopath would take an interest in a labyrinth, and so she does. I asked her to look for lilac bushes that have a lot of little ones to dig up when the time comes to plant.

$25

I just want to mention that I checked my fair book and found that I left out $25 worth, so I should have deposited $297 instead of $272. So it's closer than I was figuring. This is the time of year that the tourists and summer cottage people go home, though, so the markets are likely to slow. Still, I don't have so far to go.
I have been working hard all day on spoons, not lilac spoons this batch, plum and apple ones. I've been having trouble keeping up, and I wonder if I should stay home Saturday and make more. The bearing this has on the lilac labyrinth is that if I don't go to the market, I won't sell any lilac ones either. One of my sisters sent me a message yesterday that she knows someone who is going to a big fair to sell something she and her husband produce, and she has offered to take some of my spoons as well, but I don't have anything to send her right now, and it will have to be sent pretty soon to get there in time, especially since it could be held up in customs.
Hmmm.

Closer and closer

Today I went to the market in Baddeck, and one lady bought, along with several others, the most expensive spoon on the table, I think, a lilac one with a sort of basket of a gnarly place in the wood in the handle, for $36. So I told her about the lilac labyrinth, but she didn't know much about labyrinths, not even the difference between a labyrinth and a maze. Nevertheless when she paid her total she had $1 change coming. She said to add that to my labyrinth fund.
My intent was to figure out how much I had made that had to go in that account, and deposit it on the way home. But I forgot to figure it up before I went in the bank, so I tried to do it in my head, but I may have left out a few dollars. Anyhow, I put in $242 plus another donation, which which was a check for US $30. That came to $30.34 Canadian, so the total deposit was $272.34 and the total in the account is now $1434.35. So, if i figure right I have $160.99 to go to have the $1200 all out of money dedicated to the lilac labyrinth from the start. I probably have a few dollars of that, just because I had forgotten a few minor sales, but I'll check my book when I get out to the truck again.
I asked Robin about the link to my website and she said it had been on here, but she'd check. When she tried to put it back it said she didn't have the right password, but it worked for me just now. Something strange is going on. I'll tell her to try again.
I did ask Jan about the dimensions, and she said to make it what would work for me and not to worry about the proportions, because labyrinths are made with all sorts of proportions, according to what the maker has available. So I think I'll stick to my original dimensions, of 6' allowed for the row of lilac bushes and the same for the path.
My daughter and her little boy left this morning to return to Timbuktu and her husband, which is going to leave it pretty quiet around here.