New Year's in Tennessee

. Way too cold, and no fun at all. The forecast was I guess for Knoxville. Sunbright never got out of the twenties. And with the wind, it felt like single digits.

Our phone service had been shut off because we'd forgotten to pay the bill. My cell worked enough to send and receive texts, to let Patty know where we were.

Rachael and Brooke rode their bikes over to the neighbors to sell girl scout cookies. Mishka followed them, and killed three of their chickens. Several others are still missing.

Not a good trip.

It was so nice to sleep in after the first night, and the moonlight was brilliant! I cut the notches and doubled the boards for my posts on the east wall. This took half the day. After getting the first post of ten in, and the next brace, and standing in the wind for several minutes . . . I decided to call it quits and head inside. I felt down on everything . . . really it was just the cold. Without heat the cabin's an icebox. The little radiator is useless - the work lamps put out more heat. We decided to come home.