Let There Be Light!

Last fall the overhead fluorescent lights in the hay barn suddenly quit working.  All through the winter we had to fumble around in the dim light getting the horses' hay.  We had one of four sockets in the brown barn that was undamaged, and we used that to plug in the chickens' heat lamp for warmth.  One of the sockets merely had a ground prong stuck in it, so we used that to plug in their heated water bowl.  The other two sockets looked like they had burned out, so we definitely weren't using them!  Multiple linked extension cords were draped from the working socket all the way across the barn to a light and box fan we could use for the horses.  It was an electrician's nightmare . . . or dream, depending on how you look at it!

Just this past week our great electrician Mike Hughes worked his magic in both barns, and we are back in the Modern Age!  The lights in the hay barn work; a trench was dug to the Chicken Palace with a conduit installed, ready to add wiring when the budget permits; a breaker was added in the hay barn for the brown barn; a trench was dug to the brown barn and new wiring run to it; light switches and fixtures are in place and labeled for the future tack room, feed area, and milking parlor; wiring is ready for a 60" barn ceiling fan which will be installed next week; and three motion-detector security lights are working across the front of the barn.  We can even turn off the middle one on a separate switch when there are animals in the (future) barn yard, so only something approaching from the side of the barn yard will set off the lights.

I smile every time I go out there at night to shut up the chickens!  Thank you, Lord!  And thank you, Mike!