Finally installed an automatic door and built out the chicken ladder and nesting boxes in the barn coop so the chickens could be moved into a warmer environment. What motivated me was the Christmas eve storm and subsequent plummeting of temperatures forecast for Christmas day. Me & Patty spent a good 45 minutes trying to capture all of the hens and get them into the new coop.

Had a pretty decent ice storm the night before last and a subsequent power outage and lengthy Internet outage. The scenes were beautiful but reminded me that we needed a backup for our internet service. Unfortunately due to a quirk in circumstances Emily’s final critique of her semesters work had to be delayed due to lack of internet access to confer with the professors and others. While a disappointment for her, I’m sure her work will be well received.

This was the impetus I needed to order an LTE router and unlimited plan to act as our internet backup when this happens again. City and suburb folks have no idea how bad/non-existant rural broadband is.

First Christmas at the farm and we continued our Christmas cookie tradition, albeit with two of the kids remote on Zoom.

Ace loves to go with me to tend the chickens in the morning and there is nothing better for him then when one or more eggs are found with a crack.

Nice warm day so decided to go ahead and get the Christmas lights up at the gate. Love the look!

Our go-to handy man Glen started construction on an insulated office in the barn loft, initially for use by our resident artist Emily, but perhaps later a good location for other things.

I installed the wiring and boxes for plugs, lights and ceiling fan this past weekend and Glen has continued on with installing the insulation and drywall. Should be complete in the next week or so depending on timing.

When Chris called shortly after he went out relic hunting I could tell by his voice he had found something big. Me & Patrick drove over and found him kneeling in front of a whole cannon ball that was incredibly only about an inch below the surface. Chris picked it up (although it made me nervous) and you could see the fuse still in it. He could tell it was a confederate round by the way the fuse installs. I held it and the weight was impressive, can’t imagine that puppy hitting someone.

Chris said the ball likely came from Confederate A.P. Hill’s artillery in the cannon pits on the other side of Mine Run.

The mason Chris made a nice find of a Union staff officer gold plated button from the Excelsior Brigade. That brigade had just lost over half its members at the battle of Gettysburg in the summer before coming here to the Mine Run campaign. Chris polished up the button and gave it back to me along with a Confederate sniper bullet he found. Evidently what I originally was told were mounds from an old pipeline were actually trenches and artillery revetments at the highest point on the farm. The trench line goes back quite a distance.