Waterloo's Christmas On The Farm...and at the Colonial Cabin 2025

~Merry    Christmas!~

~~~

There it is - the cabin a few of us call  "home."

On December 6th I found myself on another time travel excursion,  along with a few friends  (and hundreds of visitors)  at the log cabin house at Waterloo Farm Museum.  You know the cabin I mean---the one we call our colonial cabin home~  And that's where we celebrated an 18th century Christmas.

~~~~~~~~

Christmas On The Farm is such a wonderful time and experience,  where visitors can visit two different periods of the past:  the 1850s,  inside the historic Realy Family Farm House.  They also got to visit the 1770s inside the Cabin that,  although originally built a few miles away in the 1840s and moved to this property in the 1960s to represent the original Realy cabin  (the farm house was built around the original cabin back in the 1850s).  But a few of us enjoy showing a much earlier time period in American history.  You see,  since a cabin is a cabin is a cabin,  we use it frequently to show colonial frontier life.  And this is where we'll begin:

I love Christmas time.  And for my entire life - as far back as I can remember - I've always wanted to celebrate the holiday the way our ancestors did.  I'd read and/or watch movie versions of Dickens'  A Christmas Carol and wanted desperately to recreate those times.

And do you know that's exactly what I did~~for over ten years I was with folks with the same mindset as I,  and,  well,  check out the link  (click HERE)  of our celebrating a Victorian Christmas.

Then,  as I researched even older Christmas celebrations,  guess what I wanted to do?
You got it!
And so now guess what I've been able  to do?

I have my time in living history to thank for making these Christmas dreams come true.  
Well,  today's special Christmas post should show the next step in our Christmas time-travel adventure:  our 2nd time celebrating a Colonial Christmas  (click HERE for our first time last year).

So here we are once again - - - a blog loaded with photos and commentary and even some colonial Christmas history to boot.

Wait---did you just tell me people didn't celebrate Christmas in the 18th century and that it was outlawed?

True,  many didn't.  But many most certainly did  celebrate Christmas in the 1700s!  Oh,  not everyone.  Congregationalists and Baptists,  descended from the Puritans,  were not very fond of the holiday.  However,  there were plenty of Anglicans (Episcopalian),  Catholics,  and Lutherans,  (Lutherans is what we portray),  who did celebrate the holiday.  

And so did our Anglican 1st President,  George Washington,  usually in a very big way.

Many colonial Lutherans even had a Christmas Tree~~

Yes,  yes,  I know Christmas was outlawed.  That's the garbage going around the internet,  but it was only outlawed in the colony of Massachusetts and only from 1659 until 1681.  And do you know why the ban ended?  Because too many people continued to celebrate!  They and their observances should not be cast aside.

You can read more on that HERE.  

So,  here we are,  at our 18th century home away from 21st century home,  very much enjoying celebrating and speaking about Christmas past---long past...

The colonial cabin crew celebrating Christmas past during Waterloo's Christmas On The Farm event.

Okay---let's get ready for the day!
We need wood for warmth and for cooking~~~~

Chopping,  gathering,  and keeping wood stacked for easy access is a good thing this time of year.

Trudging through the snow~~~
It would not only be just one variety of wood – depending on the cooking being done:  baking or frying or...there would be different varieties used for cooking food in the hearth,  such as birch,  hickory,  maple,  ash,  beech,  oak,  and elm.    As for the types of wood used for heating the home during the cold months:  given the choice,  they may have chosen oak,  black locust,  and/or maple,  should these tree varieties be accessible.  It was the hardwood that gave off the best and longest-lasting heat.

On average  (remember,  I wrote  “average”),  most Colonial homes would have needed at least 40 cords of wood for heating and cooking over the course of a year.

The colonial man spent a good part of  his day with an axe in his hand,  for that's one chore that was never-ending - families could never have enough wood.  Children and women would also chop wood if the necessity arrived.

Amy gathered wood from the pile set on the porch to bring into the cabin.

Though chopping wood occurred throughout the year,  it was the winter months of January and February that were considered the best time of year for woodcutting,  and the rising of the sun was often accompanied with the sound of an axe as fuel supplies were needed.  Wood chopping had multiple purposes in the wintertime:  it warmed the axeman as he chopped down the tree,  again as he cut the wood of the fallen tree into manageable pieces,  and then warmed him once again as it was burned for fuel.  The men spent long,  hard days in the woods,  sometimes hiring out help to complete such a task.  They would seek out and prepare the specific firewood needed for the many needs.

And here you are~~

Upon entering the cabin,  we all immediately went to work in preparation for the day.  With the fire in the hearth,  we can get into the celebration of the Christmas season.  

The next thing in order was to get our Christmas meal a-cooking,  and the ladies got on that straight away!

Meet Amy---not new to reenacting,  but she is new to our cabin crew!
I was very proud that the pumpkin Amy was preparing is an heirloom squash that was planted by seed last June,  grown in the kitchen garden,  and harvested during the
Pioneer Day event in October.  Pumpkins were usually refered to pompion at the time.

We also had fresh made sour-dough bread.

Charlotte worked on the gingerbread cake from a receipt that once belonged to Martha Washington.

Charlotte also tended the hearth.

Charlotte has taken well to hearth cooking,  for she has multiple items a-cooking all at once.

Being that this was Amy's first time out with us,  Charlotte took her under her wing and helped her along.

The Waterloo Farm Museum's ever-popular  "Christmas on the Farm"  event has been going for decades,  starting in 1962,  meaning by 2025,  it celebrated its 63rd year - quite a long-running tradition showcasing Christmas past.  In fact,  I remember a few of us taking part in it a couple of decades ago as 1860s farm folk inside the farm house  (click HERE).  And now we speak to the visiting public about the various aspects of Christmas of the 18th century,  including,  toys for kids,  food & drink,  and even Christmas Trees  (Wait,  Ken!  They didn't have Christmas Trees in the 1700s,  did they?  No one had Christmas Trees before Queen Victoria and her husband in the 1840s!  

Um...yeah...read on,  for I have something coming up about that as well).

I also spoke alot about Wassail to the public.

"What's wassail?"  you ask,  as did the majority of the visiting public.

Well,  wassail is a traditional hot,  spiced,  mulled cider or ale drink,  often with citrus and spices like cinnamon,  nutmeg,  and cloves,  served warm during winter celebrations.

Here is an authentic wassail bowl.

Wassailing is an ancient tradition of visiting homes  (or orchards---but that's another story,  some of which you can read about HERE),  singing carols  (oftentimes wassailing = caroling),  and drinking or asking for the spiced cider to wish good health and fortune,  rooted in the Anglo-Saxon greeting "waes hael"  (be healthy).

Oftentimes,  men might have disguised themselves in garish costumes during special times of the year,  especially at Christmastide,  and put on skits,  sing carols,  and,  known as Mummers,  were generally considered merrymaking pranksters.  They would gather together with a large wooden bowl  (see photo at left)  and move throughout the village to people’s homes,  singing songs of good health and happiness to the homeowners as well as to their servants and animals - not unlike our modern caroling.  The villagers,  in turn,  would fill the bowl with the hot spicy ale known as wassail or perhaps money or even both.  Whoever did not give the drink or a gift of some sort,  or whoever gave too little,  the mummers  (also known as wassailers)  would wish ill will unto them.  Or…perhaps they would push their way into the home where they would find food or drink and take it for themselves of their own free will,  their faces hidden due to the masks and costumes they were wearing.

Historically,  wassailing involved a variety of customs with the wassail bowl,  or dipper,  being an essential tool for these gatherings.  Wassailing and wassail was very popular.  So popular,  in fact,  that songs/carols were written about it:

Wassail Wassail all over the town

our bread it is white and our ale it is brown

Our bowl it is made of the white maple tree

with a wassailing bowl we'll drink to thee!

This is the 1st verse of The Goucestershire Wassail - also known as The Wassail Song - that I recited to many visitors.  However,  I then would recite another verse:

Come butler,  come fill us a bowl of the best

And I pray that your soul in heaven may rest

Everyone nodded of how nice of a blessing that was to wish upon the butler.  

But then I finished off the verse with:

But if you do bring us a bowl of the small

May the devil take butler,  bowl and all.

Lots of nervous giggling and even light laughter.

Charlotte has soup cooking on one end of the hearth,  while stirring the wassail on the other end.

There's the pompion,  warming up!
If you look closely,  you can see the wassail warming in the pipkin.

Warm wassail directly from the pipkin to my cup.

Carolers - not mummers or wassailers - entertained us --- we loved it especially when they performed the older songs.
Even though Silent Night is not  "our era"  (it's from 1818),  they did sing it in German.
Norm especially enjoyed this.

These young kids did a terrific job also singing  "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen"  and a few other older carols.  I am so happy they come out and add greatly to the atmosphere of the entire festival.

Many popular Christmas carols originated or were published in the 1700s or before,  including "Gloucestershire Wassail,"  "The Boars Head Carol,"  "Joy To The World,"   "Deck The Hall,"  "The Twelve Days of Christmas,"  "The Holly and the Ivy,"  "Apple Tree Wassail,"  and "While Shepherds Watched Their Flock By Night,"  for only a few examples. 

Charlotte and Amy enjoying the carollers singing old Christmas tunes.

Though it is said that the first  "documented"  Christmas Tree in North America in a home was in the  1820s or 1830s  (depending on who you believe)  by German immigrants,  I've also read that Christmas Trees were a staple in many German homes in the colonies for decades before that,  according to other research  (click HERE),  for it had a long history in Germany,  with documentation in that country dating back to the early 1500s.  The tradition of cutting down fir trees to be used in their holiday celebrations was naturally brought over with them as they immigrated to North America.  In the 1700s,  Christmas trees were modest,  often featuring evergreen branches or small firs - even cedars - decorated with edible items like apples,  nuts  (sometimes gilded),  cookies,  and paper strips.  The decorations on some of the more well-to-do family trees were oftentimes elaborate,  and included candles,  sweets and dolls.

The tree here in the cabin included orange slices.  But no candles.

Why no candles?
Do you know what it takes for us to make candles only to waste them on a tree?
(I can just hear my 18th century self saying such a thing!)~

Come the Victorian era,  when oil lamps became the main source of evening light,  candles could be purchased rather cheaply,  and therefore became easier to get. 

Real orange slices hanging from the tree.

Though German settlers introduced Christmas trees to the United States,  the custom was not initially embraced.  Christmas Trees in general here in the colonies and early Republic did not gain wide popularity to non-German America until the mid-19th century.  So,  yes,  they were here in a few houses before Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.

We are representing one of those early German-Lutheran familes.

A full fireplace is a happy fireplace.
I see butter a-melting in the porringer.

The roasted pompion  (pumpkin),  the gingerbread cake,  melted butter, 
and osage oranges  (the green balls in front).

Osage oranges   (hedge apples)  contain compounds that can repel some insects like cockroaches,  ants,  and fleas,  especially when cut open to release the milky sap,  but they are not a foolproof pest solution.

In fact,  even in this cold weather there was a fly buzzing about and landed near or on one of these fruits.

Due to the fact that we were sharing the cabin with the toymakers for this event, 
there was no heavy-duty cooking.  Just light and simple things.
See the smoke rising out of the pompion?

"In the 18th century,  pumpkins / pompions were versatile staples,  especially in America,  used for hearty dishes like roasted pottage,  soups,  or even candied treats,  though often considered peasant food in Europe;  they stored well for winter and were featured in early American recipes,  including the first published pumpkin pie in Amelia Simmons'  1796 cookbook,  adapting traditional English pies for the new nation." 

Here's the toymaker:

Sharing the cabin with us for this event was Tom the Toyman.
He was showing the visiting public the types of toys that were available
in the 1700s.

And with Tom was another toymaker,  Roger Kerr.
He had a few items that I really liked but his were not for sale.

Another hearth photo.

Norm,  portraying minister Heinrich Mühlenberg,  brought along his replicated
1733 New Testament Bible.

Some greens and the lit lantern gave our table a festive look.
I've read that some greens may have been brought inside as a decoration.
Other sources say no.
The truth is somewhere in between,  I'm sure,  for beinging greens inside date back to the Middle Ages,  so if a family took part in that tradition,  I see no reason why they wouldn't continue in the colonies. 

I'll stick with my own research - those that tend to go with reason.

Shortly before we sat down to our meal,  I lit a bayberry candle.
I did not make it - it was given to me as a gift.
But look at the beeswax candle inside the lantern:  made right there at the cabin a few years back by dipping  (click HERE)

Burning a bayberry candle on Christmas Eve  (and often New Year's Eve)  is a cherished colonial tradition symbolizing good luck,  health,  and prosperity for the coming year,  especially if it's a gift and burns down completely to the socket,  bringing fortune,  food,  and gold.  The practice involves lighting it on Christmas Eve,  letting it burn out on its own,  often after midnight. This tradition dates back to colonial America,  where bayberry wax was rare and expensive,  making candles a special luxury for holidays. 

Norm noted that we should stand to say grace.

Feasting on a Christmas meal consisting of potato & ham soup,  gingerbread cake, 
beets,  bread,  and warm spiced wassail to drink~~~all cooked at the hearth.

Christmas Day in the 1770s in Virginia  (from Colonial Williamsburg):  "Wassail,  Cheese Wafers,  Williamsburg Inn Chilled Crab Gumbo,  Roast Young Tom Turkey,  Fresh Mushroom Dressing,  King's Arms Tavern Creamed Celery with Pecans,  Heart of Lettuce,  Russian Dressing,  Eggnogg Pie and/or Ambrosia,  Mince Pie with Rum Butter Sauce."

---The Williamsburg Cookbook,  Traditional and Contemporary Recipes Initially Compiled and Adapted by Letha Booth and the Staff of Colonial Williamsburg  [Colonial Williamsburg Foundation:Williamsburg VA]  1975  (p. 15)

Of course,  we are out on the frontier so our meal was not quite as elaborate.

This is probably the most special part of our day.  It is every bit as wonderful as it looks in this photo.   For me,  part of the excitement is knowing all of our food was cooked over the hearth.

A visitor walked in,  saw us,  and said,  "This is exactly what I needed,  to see you all like this.  After the year I've had,  this is what I needed."
Warms my heart.

Charlotte~

In later November we'd had snowfalls intermitently,  most of which is gone now in our area of the state.  But a month ago,  some areas of Michigan received literally feet of snow,  while other areas,  such as Waterloo,  only got a few inches.  But it certainly helped in giving us such a festive appearance and atmosphere!  

Charlotte walking through the snow after checking out the sites and vendors on the
grounds of Waterloo.

As the afternoon wore on,  the clouds thickened and the sky darkened a bit. 
Still too light to light a candle if we were truly back in the 1770s,  but we lit one
anyhow...for visitor ambience.

A little cabin home in the snow~
The snow really added so much to our day.

Colonial toys:
A Jacob's Ladder toy is a classic folk toy with colorful wooden blocks connected by ribbons that create a mesmerizing optical illusion as they appear to tumble down one after another when tilted,  a chain reaction caused by blocks flipping over due to gravity and string arrangement. 

Norm checking out the Jacob's Ladder,  which has  "mysterious origins but appears in historical records from the 17th century in Dutch texts and was popular in 19th-century America as a Sabbath toy,  linked to the biblical story of Jacob's dream,  though its true start is debated,  with claims ranging from ancient China to King Tut's tomb."

The name of the toy - Jacob's Ladder - comes from the Biblical story in Genesis 28:10-22 where Jacob dreams of a ladder reaching from Earth to Heaven,  with angels ascending and descending it,  symbolizing a connection between the divine and the earthly.  The toy, made of wooden blocks linked by ribbons,  mimics this celestial stairway as the blocks appear to  "climb"  or  "fall"  down the ribbons when tilted,  creating a tumbling motion. 

I was simply enjoying every single part of this day - thank you,  Charlotte, 
for snapping this image of me.

Journeying forward in time to visit the 1850s farm house,  I liked the look of the carriage in the snow near the barn.

Amy checked out the greens for sale.

Toymaker Tom also mosied around the farm area,  visiting the vendors.
I'm frustrated with myself that I didn't take the opportunity to visit the vendors.
Nobody's fault but mine.

So let's enter the 1850s Realy Family Farmhouse and experience a Victorian Christmas in this meticulously restored home,  showcasing period furnishings and artifacts...and celebrating the Christmas Season as they would have in the mid-19th century.

The servants are preparing a fine Christmas Meal.
Servants absolutely worked on Christmas Day in the 1850s,  often performing extensive labor to prepare elaborate feasts and manage household duties for their employers,  while their own celebration  (and day off)  typically occurred on December 26th,  oftentimes with gifts from their employers.

Christmas Day was a workday and not a holiday for those who were servants.   Cooks,  maids,  and kitchen staff worked tirelessly preparing meals,  baking,  cleaning,  and ensuring fires/lamps were lit for the family's festivities.

How beautiful the table setting was for the family for Christmas.
Ready for the holiday~~

Here's the prize turkey!
The centerpiece of the family's Christmas dinner meal.

The Realy Family Farmhouse began as a log house around 1855,  later expanded,  and is now furnished as a museum with period items to reflect daily life for a pioneer family in the mid-1800s.

The window decor~

Back around 15 years or so ago we used to celebrate an 1860s Christmas inside this house,  and in particular,  this sitting room.
We portrayed a family of the Civil War era.

We all had a wonderful time.  But I have to admit,  I am so very much enjoying our colonial Christmas in the cabin.
Yes,  that is a real baby in the cradle---Larissa's first born.  That baby is now in high school!

The pump organ in the front parlor.

The servant girl adjusts the organ seat.

In the 19th century,  the Sugar Plum Fairy emerged as a magical ruler of the Land of Sweets in Tchaikovsky's ballet The Nutcracker from 1892.  "Plum"  was slang for any sweet delight,  referencing Clement Clark Moore's famous poem  "Visions of sugar-plums"  and Victorian candies called sugarplums  (comfits --- old-fashioned confections of seeds,  nuts,  dried fruits,  or spices coated in hard sugar candy).

Waterloo had the Sugar Plum Fairy there at the house.

The Realy family Christmas Tree.

The stairway banister is decorated.

I see a few spinning wheels,  combing paddles,  a couple of hackles,  iron pots  (looks like they might be Dutch ovens),  a lantern,  a yarn winder...so what's in your  attic?

Looking out the attic window to the windmill and the log cabin house.

The windmill is original to the Realy farm,  but was not for milling.  Instead it was used for drawing water.  And yes,  it still works,  though the fan and the tail are being restored.  The motor mechanics have been rebuilt.  Once the fan  and tail are finished,  they will all be re-assembled and then put back up on the tower.  This spring of 2025,  the whole tower will be renovated, and the windmill will become the iconic symbol of the museum.

It is a Perkins windmill.

In researching this brand,  I learned that  "Perkins Windmills,  pioneered by Palmer C.  Perkins in Mishawaka,  Indiana,  after his 1869 patent,  were iconic 19th-century American farm windmills known for their attractive design,  wooden blades,  and ornate gingerbread platforms,  becoming crucial for water pumping."

Back down to the dining room.

There was something inside the old farmhouse I wanted to try - weaving on a loom.

Now,  I did this once before this past summer inside the museum at the River Raisin Timeline event  (click HERE),  but I was very interested in trying it in a more historic setting,  and it was something else I could mark off my  (before I kick the)  bucket list.  As you may know,  I very much enjoy trying out the many different jobs and chores of the past:

I've plowed behind a team of horses

I've helped to plant and then harvest vegetables from a kitchen garden

I've planted,  grown,  harvested,  and then processed flax

I made candles using linen wicking spun from my flax by my wife on a spinning wheel

I worked on a shaving horse

I rode a horse as Paul Revere

I made cider by using a cudgel and a hand press

I helped to chop down a tree with an axe

I helped  (a little)  to make beer

I helped  (a little)  in the raising of a well-sweep

and I was even able to experience working a loom~~~

So here I am again-----  

My 5th great grandfather,  William Raby,  was a weaver back in the 1700s in England.   So,  in honor of this ancestor of mine,  I like to think there might be some similarities between he and I as I pulled the beater---.  Perhaps he was there beside me...one never knows.

I worked a loom last July volunteering at the timeline at River Raisin Battlefirld Museum,  which gave me a good feel for what I needed to do.  This time I was working a loom inside a historic house!

I love that I have been able to experience a loom.

In the 18th century,  warm clothes were woven primarily from wool,  often heavily fulled  for water resistance,  and sometimes blended with linen  (linsey-woolsey)  for durability,  using local sheep wool for cost-effectiveness.  By the way,  "fulled"  in this sense was when the 18th century weaver would take the woven fabric to the fulling mill,  which,  through water-power,  would finish woolen  "country cloth"  by pounding it with heavy wooden hammers  (stocks)  to thicken,  strengthen,  and felt the fabric,  making it shrink and become waterproof.

Fulling mills typically operated during the spring and fall months,  for it was largely dependent on the availability of enough water flow in local creeks and rivers to power the waterwheels that drove the fulling hammers.

We've had some mighty cold weather of late,  but only a few days before a warm up so perhaps the weaver will still have time to complete the process with the fuller.

Over time,  weaving had evolved from a full-time men's occupation to part-time women's work.  

To me,  the most difficult part of weaving is working the treadles.  Which foot on which treadle?  I would love to be able to practice and actually make something.  Depending on how difficult or easy the pattern is,  it can drive one bonkers. 
Attention must be paid to each duty.

So,  back out to the cabin I trudged~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~and found a couple Victorian friends:

Brian and Jim are both 17th century living historians,  though for Christmas on the Farm they portray 19th century Victorian gentlemen.

With that,  day one of the wonderful Christmas Past celebration came to a close.  I hope you enjoyed this 2025 journey to Christmas Past.

For me personally I very much enjoyed being a part of it once again,  for I have been actually immersing myself in Christmases of long ago since 2009,  so many of my Christmas memories are very much the same as those who lived in eras a hundred-plus years before my time.  And all of these experiences have taught me to celebrate differently to some extent in my modern time.

But I must say,  every year I enjoy my holiday back there just as much as any other time.

Day two of Christmas on the Farm would occur the following day,  but that would have been a lot of time on the road for me,  for most of us in the cabin crew live at least an hour's drive or more.

So,  from us to you,  Merry Colonial Christmas!

From what I've been able to find out  (thanks to continued research),  the phrase  'Merry Christmas'  is indeed the greeting one was more likely to use in colonial times.  "Different sources trace the origin of the phrase back to different dates,  but in each case,  they all pre-date the 18th century.  The casual use of  'Merry Christmas'  in Charles Dickens'  "A Christmas Carol"  seems to suggest that it was already well-known to the English by the early to mid-19th century."~~~~~

So...have yourself a merry little Christmas...let your heart be light...

Until next time,  see you in time.

For a colonial Thanksgiving,  please click HERE
For a colonial Christmas,  please click HERE  

For a colonial New Years celebration,  please click HERE

For a colonial Winter,  please click HERE
For a colonial Spring,  please click HERE
For a colonial Summer,  please click HERE
For a colonial Autumn,  please click HERE

Spending A Year on a Colonial Farm,  click HERE

To learn more about American Apples,  please click HERE

Are you interested in our previous colonial life cabin excursions?  Look no further,  for here is a complete list with links for all of our colonial cabin excursions,  including our celebrations of holidays such as Candlemas,  Rogation Sundays,  and Lammas Day celebrations  (remember - each year listed here we are representing 250 years earlier:

2020 = 1770

2021 = 1771

2022 = 1772

2023 = 1773

2024 = 1774

and now

2025 = 1775

~To read about our 2020  autumn harvest excursion - our first time at the cabin - click HERE

~To read about our 2021 wintertime excursion at the cabin - click HERE

~To read about our 2021 springtime excursion at the cabin - click HERE

~To read about our 2021 summertime excursion at the cabin - click HERE

~To read about our 2021 summer harvesting of the flax at the cabin - click HERE

~To read about our 2021 autumn excursion - click HERE

~To read about our 2022 winter excursion at the cabin - please click HERE

~To read about our 2022 spring excursion at the cabin - please click HERE

~To read about our 2022 summer excursion at the cabin - please click HERE

~To read about our 2022 autumn excursion at the cabin  (Pioneer Day) - please click HERE

~To read about our 2023 winter excursion at the cabin  (Candlemas) - please click HERE

~To read about our 2023 spring excursion at the cabin  (Rogation Sunday) - please click HERE

~To read about our 2023 late spring at the cabin - click HERE

~To read about the 2023 early summer - please click HERE

~To read about the 2023 summer  (Lammas Day) - please click HERE

~To read about the 2023 autumn Pioneer Day - please click HERE

~To read about our 2023 Thanksgiving harvest celebration - please click HERE

~To read about our 2024 Winter experience at the cabin - please click HERE

~To read about our 2024 spring excursion at the cabin - please click HERE

~To read about our 2024 late spring with just Patty & I - click HERE 

~To read about our 2024 summer  (Lammas Day) - please click HERE

~To read about our 2024 mid-and-late-summer - please click HERE

~To read about our 2024 mid-September - click HERE

~To read about our 2024 autumn Pioneer Day Celebration - please click HERE

~To read about our 2024 Thanksgiving Harvest - please click HERE

~To read about our 2024 Christmas at the Farm Cabin presentation - please click HERE

~To read about our 2025 winter & Candlemas Day - please click HERE

~To read about our 2025 spring/early May Rogation Sunday excursion - please click HERE

~To read about our 2025 Memorial Day/Late May visit,  please click HERE

~To read about our 2025 (Lammas Day)  Celebration,  please click HERE

~To read about our 2025 September visit with my grandson experiencing living history,  click HERE

~To read about our 2025 Pioneer Day event,  please click HERE

~To read about our 2025 Harvest Thanksgiving Celebration  (including my grandson!),  click HERE  

Including today's post,  that makes 34 days spent in the good old colony days!

Again,  I simply cannot thank enough those special folk at the Waterloo Farm Museum for their allowance for us to have such experiences.

We are so honored.  And grateful.

I am also honored to visit the past with my cabin cohorts of  Patty  (who just happens to be my wife),  Norm,  Jackie,  Larissa,  and Charlotte  (and sometimes a few others here and there),  for,  without them,  none of this would even happen.

Brian,  Chad,  Chrissy,  Arlene...and many others from Waterloo - past and present - my heartfelt thank you.

America 250

Merry    Christmas