Independence Day

Mowing was not fun, but I’m glad the grass is green not dead like some summers. Astrid told me not to mow at ”high noon”. Too hot, she said, so I waited until 5:30 and it was still hot. 😂 But after the chore was over, it was worth the effort.  "Well done is better than well said." Benjamin  Franklin

Asti and Logan went on a date. They went to a place in Conway. The pizza with the spinach and mushrooms looks good to me. Logan likes ranch dressing. Surely, he has enough of it. 😋 These two kids are support for me. ♥️♥️♥️

Got a watermelon at Kroger. I went with Laura. During the school year, she shops online and Eric picks it up. She dug through the watermelon vat and picked me one. Her dad taught her how to pick a melon. He loved them and she does too. I cut mine and it was delicious. The chickens love the rind and bits left. I lost another hen to the heat. I think I’m down to 8. Astrid said she’d give me some. The hen was an olive egger and one of my favs. I got her in April of 2022. She was 4. 😢

Ingrid made a cheesecake. It may be for a Justin’s birthday. She’s a great baker. No cracks across the top. That’s hard to do. I don’t worry about the cracks; I just enjoy the flavor. She said she was adding cherry topping to this one.

Happy Independence Day! My many greats grandpa Charles Powell,  at age 33, volunteered for the army of Virginia January 3, 1777. He was with George Washington 3 years. He was at Valley Forge that horrible winter and in many battles. He was a bombardier,  a specialized artillery soldier responsible for operating the heavy, siege-style weaponry of the era. In the Revolutionary War, a bombardier fired specifically crewed weapons like mortars and howitzers sending explosive shells toward high trajectories to destroy fortifications. After he served his 3 years, he went home to Virginia and was in the militia until the war was over. He received a grant in Ohio but sold it and before 1790 moved to Kentucky on the trail Daniel Boone hacked out. What a hero he is to me.
Charles Powell In the First Artillery Continental TroopsExtracted from National Archives Records
Appointed January 3, 1777, for 3 years
At Valley Forge June 3, 1778 , Pay rate $9 a month paid in New York currency, in 1778
At Camp White Plains August 8, 1778
Sick in Camp at Camp Fredericksburg October 1, 1778
Promoted to Sergeant October 1, 1778 Pay rate $10
At Camp Pluckamin December 21, 1778
At Middle Brook June 3, 1779
At Camp Smith's Clove July 4, 1779
At New Windsor August 3, 1779
Discharged January 10, 1780 - Morristown, New Jersey 
Wrost Winter of 1780 aritcle at The History Net

On Sept. 1, 1783 Charles Powell signed as receiving 79 Pounds, 8 shillings, and 5 pence.