I was supposed to put the new survey up, but I was just plumb tuckered out last night. Here is what happened: Everybody needs to send a BIG thank you to Donny. He left Georgia early yesterday morning and possibly robbed a Home Depot on the way up here. Anyway, he had every kind of cutting implement known to mankind and did most of the heavy duty work. The little cemetery where I only found 10 graves last fall is now in the sunshine again. By the end of it, there were 31 marked graves (Most just with fieldstones). Believe it or not, the rows are perfectly straight. Someone put a lot of effort into planning that little cemetery, I'm glad it's cleared off again. The major battle was with the Laurel thicket. There were several small trees, many of which were dead, which were also removed. When we left, there were only two graves remaining which still had trees growing in them - these were to large for us to remove without doing further damage. We also unburied three stones - one of which we had to fight some laurel roots for. It was worth it, we were able to make out a partial date. It was also the stone that a family memeber had hand made for someone they lived very much. A few trees were left between graves to keep any drunk kids who were driving by from being tempted. You still can't see it from the road. But once you get there, it looks like a cemetery again. A representative from the Abandoned Cemetery Committee stopped by, was very impressed, and said she will be reporting that the family is doing a good job of maintaining the cemetery. Still some work to be done. Eventually, we will need to remove the brush that has been piling up. Every 10 years, the abandoned cemetery committee cleans it off and they have been leaving the brush behind. We had a bit more than originally expected ourselves. Donny's suggestion was to get a large chipper, and make some mulch which can be mounded over the graves to help stop the forest from taking over. We also need to dig out the laurel stumps. We cut them down, but all that does is give them a good pruning so they grow back stronger. But annual shrub cleanings should keep it from getting out of hand again. It would also be good to remove the two trees still on graves - but someone with the right equipment and knowhow will have to do that. I'll get the new improved cemetery survey posted tonight - I promise. -- Linda Hoxit Raxter lraxter@citcom.net See Indexed Western North Carolina Cemetery Surveys http://www.geocities.com/~alextreehouse related to at least half the county - at least once ; )