Well, the weather office forecast still showed rain all day, but in fact, it snowed all day, not heavily, but steadily. It was above freezing, so it didn't stick on bare ground, but it did add more where it fell on top of snow that was already there. So still nothing done. I hope there will be a day before the snow comes to stay for the winter.

Rattus drattus! The heavy equipment didn't come today either. I called the dozer operator about 9 AM and he said he hadn't known before, but the mulcher operator said you can't use that machine in the snow, because the snow turns to ice and plugs the opening where the brush goes in or the chips come out. (I didn't understand which.) They are hoping for rain, which was being predicted for tomorrow, but I don't know if it still is. Some snow went today, but the majority is still there. On the north side of this house the icicles on the bumper of my truck grew, while snow melted in the sun on the south side.

Well, this is Monday, when the heavy equipment operators had said they'd come, but I got a call from the wife of one saying that as they were getting ready, Wayne, the guy with the Mulcher discovered that the teeth of his machine were pretty dull, so he decided they had to be sharpened. This will take most of the day, so they won't come til tomorrow. I'm in favor of sharp teeth on any tool that has teeth. I always sharpen a chain saw when it gets dull, so that sometimes I have annoyed people by stopping to sharpen my saw several times a day when I had to work under conditions that made it dull quickly. He will do a better job quicker with it sharp. I wish some of this 6" of snow that has fallen in the last few days would go, too, but a few inches of snow won't slow down big machines much.

Well, I have finally called the heavy equipment operators to come clear the land. I had hoped to get in there before I called them to choose the eact spot, but there turned out to be too much stuff in the road for me to do it right away. I have been really busy making spoons, and also working on the woodshed to get it done before winter and I could see I won't have time to do it in time to get it cleared before winter. So they are coming Monday.
I won't be able to take my time deciding where to put it. Once they get the road good enough for me to get in on my 4-wheeler, I will have to tell them where to clear so they can go ahead and do it. But it is going to be ready for planting next spring!

I finally got down to the road into the labyrinth place again, now that my 4-wheeler is going. I cut the last tree that was blown down across the road. It looked too rotten on the outside to be good for anything but firewood, but actually it is pretty sound inside and it will make a floor joist for my woodshed, maybe 2 of them. It was late in the day, but I drove on in the road, since I had that tree out of the way, but I found a bunch of little trees coming up in the middle of the road, to the point I couldn't get by. I hope I'll get a chance to cut those and go on in at least til I see if I can get across the swamp. I may not be able to get over, in which case I will try going around by way of the neighbors' property. It used to be possible to get in that way. My nephew and his stepson and a friend of his came over not long before dark and lifted the two left over house timbers onto the concrete posts to make the sills of the woodshed. I sure hope I can get that done before it snows. But that is not part of the lilac labyrinth project, so I suppose it doesn't really belong here.

Today I went to the post office to mail a package containing 4 lilac spoons to Florida. The post office clerk said, "Good place for them! I don't like lilacs!" She said the smell makes her sick. I thought, "How strange!" She said her mother was the same way. I have never heard anyone else say anything like that.
I think I have finally got my 4-wheeler in running condition, after taking it to the shop and getting it back and that very day it quit again. I ncalled the repairman at home and he came out on Sunday and got it going again. More water in the gas! How did it get there? I will be cautious, though, til I've tried it out. But maybe now I can get out to the labyrinth place and decide on just where. Then I'll call the guy with the machine.