Archives for 2020

Hiya Sweetie!
Another day, another load gone! Didn’t sell as much, though I did get rid of the plastic patio table and chairs, though the lady I sold them to had a hard time describing to me where she lived so I got lost. The big load, though, was to the University of the South theatre. I decided that all of the rest of the theatre stuff, the props, lighting, chess table, etc. should go to them, so I wrote to the head of the theatre dept. and arranged to drop those off. It’s getting down to slim pickings now, with mostly just the big furniture, the MG and the box trailer left. Our realtor seems to think I can try to sell those over the weekend, but if not, then I’m planning on taking them to a furniture consignment store early next week. I was hoping to have all this done before the closing on Friday, but I’m just running out of time and energy. Sigh… Anyway, several people that want things couldn’t get organized enough to meet me, so I may have some more to do tomorrow, we’ll see. As soon as I got back I got busy sewing Flash’s horse blanket. He evidently got it caught on something sharp, because this morning when I fed them it had long sections that had been torn. I tried to use the sewing machine I traded for the other day, but it didn’t work very well, or rather, it had too many layers that had to be sewn so I had to do it by hand. That took almost two hours to do. By then it was time to put the blanket on, since it’s going down to freezing again tonight, wouldn’t you know, and settle down for the evening. I’ve decided to start watching Star Trek Voyager, a series we never watched before. It’s not the best in the series, the acting is pretty basic, and the characters are taking a long time to develop, but the story lines are occasionally interesting, though they’re a bit pat, not a lot of tension like in TO Star Trek. It’s a change though, and I needed that. So, time to get Lola in, take my shower and go to bed. Good night, my love!

Hi Babe,
Well, Lola was restless again last night, so it took awhile to get to sleep, she kept scratching on the bedroom partition and her nails kept tapping back and forth on the floor. It’s likely because she’s not getting enough exercise, but I have been pretty busy lately! Woke up to very cold temps, near freezing today, and for some reason the fireplace didn’t quite keep the place warm last night. I eventually crawled out of my warm bed, but it was tough! I didn’t have anything in particular planned today, except having that large potted plant picked up, and then I went to Manchester to meet someone for the ironing board and iron, but he never showed up. First time that’s happened, actually. I also took a couple of propane tanks down to Tractor Supply to get them filled, for some reason I thought they were close to empty, but it turned out that wasn’t the case, so I only had to top off one and fill another one that was pretty low, the other two still seemed good. I topped off the fuel at Walmart, then made a pickup at Home Depot. I had ordered what is advertised as a table top, but am going to use it as a new base on my chair. You remember the old replacement broke along the grain of the wood because I put it on going the wrong way, and even though I glued it back together and rotated it, it eventually gave up the ghost. I found another one, but this one isn’t wood, it’s more of a laminate, so I’m hoping it will be a better fit. I learned a lot from the last one about how to drill it properly, the depth and all, so I’m hoping this one will come out better and last longer, fingers crossed! It was only mid-afternoon when I got back, so I put the horses out in the yard, with Apollo on a tied down anchor and Flash free to go wherever, since I know he won’t go far without Apollo. The wind was so cold, I left their winter blankets on again, and there’s a freeze warming overnight. As usual, I’m in the wrong place for unusual weather! It’s supposed to get a little better next week, we’ll see. I had finally made a reservation at Chickasaw, only to have the governor extend the state park closings until May 1, so I guess I’m stuck here, unless I want to go someplace private like Circle E or Loretta Lynn’s, neither of which appeal that much to me. I think Land Between the Lakes might still be open, but I wasn’t thrilled about their trails, either, and frankly, I want to go to NEW places, not ones we’ve been to before. I’m also looking at Mammoth Cave as a possibility, but I’m not sure if they’re open either. I may stay on here for a few more days, because the weekend seems to be the best time to sell stuff, and if the new owners of the house don’t mind, I just may keep doing that, since everybody seems to be on their computers on the weekend! I’ve made a lot of progress emptying the house, but I still have a lot of the big stuff left, the home theater, the recliners (all four of them), the piano, the desk, both bedroom suites, and so on. If I can get them sold this weekend, or down to a consignment store early next week, I’ll feel like I’ve done the best I can and leave it at that. Anyway, I fell asleep in my chair this afternoon, which tells me just how tired I’m getting, I can’t wait to get someplace where I can really rest and wind down, hopefully soon! I maybe I can finally find time to really play with Lola, ride my horses and get on with life! Speaking of, time to get on to bed! Love you, babe! Good night!

Hi Darlin’!
What a night! After raining non-stop all day long (my wheelbarrow was ¾ full this morning!), the wind picked up something fierce during the night, whipping the trailer so hard we were rocking and rolling! I was woken up by it around 3:30 and had a hard time going back to sleep, it was so loud and violent. Fortunately no tornadoes touched down in the county, though the counties east of us got some which caused some damage. That meant I had a shortened night sleep, and though I did finally get back to sleep for a short while, I woke up tired. Unfortunate since I had a very busy day! After getting up when the 7:00 alarm went off, I fed the horses and threw frisbee for Lola, grabbed a quick breakfast and headed over to the house, where a fireman was waiting to buy the chainsaw. I was relieved yesterday when a guy was able to crank it up and start it, and I was grateful it did the same today. He bought that right away. More than an hour later, another guy came to look at the gooseneck jack. You remember we carried around the original for awhile before I put it in the garage? It was up in the hayloft/attic, which was unnecessary weight until I took it out of there. Anyway, the next guy that came along bought that. Several hours later (and much later than planned) a guy and his wife showed up to look at the MG, but after much discussion, I wasn’t willing to drop the price as much as he wanted me to, so we arrived at an impasse, sorry to say. Well, at least they had a nice drive down here. Once they left I quickly loaded up the trailer with all the stuff I had promised to deliver today (I had been waiting for the drizzle to stop, but it was still wet heavy air when I started to load), but I managed to manhandle everything, including that large bookshelf, into the trailer and headed to McMinnville. First the bookshelf, then the bar stools, then the extension ladder. Other than furniture, it’s really getting less cluttered in the house. I’m hoping for some more action, but I think the momentum of the weekend has slowed. We’ll see. I’ve managed to put a few dollars back in my pocket, which is as important as clearing the house out. After picking up a couple of forgotten items at Walmart, I finally got back to camp and settled down for the evening. It’s supposed to get near freezing tonight, so the horses are semi-permanently in their winter blankets until it starts to warm up. Way too cold for this time of year!! Figures. Anyway, time for shower and bed, and with no wind or rain tonight, just cold, I’m hoping to snuggle up and get a good night sleep! Good night, my darlin’! Love you!

Hiya Sweetie!
Well the rain started coming in early this morning, and it looked like it was going to sock us in all day, so I intended to relax today, but other things took precedence. I started listing more stuff on Marketplace, and started getting answers immediately, which surprised my a bit given that it is Easter Sunday. Of course, with the pandemic, all the churches are closed, so I guess everyone’s staying at home on the computer! Regardless, I got responses to the MG, but more pictures were required, then I got someone interested in the air compressor, and at the last minute they wanted to meet in Viola (at a new Dollar Store they just build down there, would you believe), so I went to the house, took more pictures, loaded up the air compressor and headed down to Viola, where I met the guy and sold the compressor. I headed back to camp after that, and literally spent the rest of the afternoon on the computer listing items, then responding to the plethora of responses that I received all day. I have a long list of things I need to do, people to meet, items to deliver and so on, so tomorrow is going to be a very busy day! I did some laundry, too, just for fun. It rained practically non-stop all day long, and was lucky to have about a five minute break just to let Lola outside before her bedtime before it started up again. Lots of wind earlier, but most of the day was just rain, rain, rain. So my day off turned into a busy day, but the good news is, I’ll be selling a lot of stuff tomorrow, for which I am very grateful. I even have a guy driving down from KY to look at the MGB, so maybe I’ll even be able to give that a new life, which would be much preferable to sitting around in Jeff’s yard for who know how long. No offense to Jeff, he just doesn’t have the room to store it or the money and time to restore it, so I’d rather see is on the road in good hands. This guy apparently does this as a serious hobby, so fingers crossed he’ll take it. Anyway, time for my shower and bed! Gotta get up early tomorrow! Good night, my love!

Hi Honey!
Well it did get nice and cold last night, but finally warmed up nicely during the day. Short-lived though, we’re expecting storms overnight tonight. Anyway, after chores I went over to the house and sorted a few things out, too, some more pictures and posted a bunch of stuff on Marketplace. It seems that you either get an immediate response or you get nothing on that site, but I did manage to get one couple to the house, and they bought the wheelbarrow and shop vac (guess I won’t be doing much more cleaning in the garage!), and I gave them some little gardening tools. Sherri the neighbor came over for a while and we chatted, then after she left, I got a call for the deep freezer I had just posted. I offered to deliver it to them in Woodbury for an extra $25 and they agreed, so I closed up the house and managed to wrangle the beast up on the trailer with the hand truck (which I had already disconnected, so I had to reconnect it. Lesson learned!), and took a nice drive up there. A beautiful day so I didn’t mind. I stopped to pick up some milk at a Dollar Market (that’s right, they’ve expanded into an actual grocery store in Woodbury), and then couldn’t resist topping off my tank at the coop where the diesel was priced at $2.05 a gallon! Unbelievable! By the time I got back to camp, all the spaces were taken so I had to improvise and park the little trailer out front. When I let Lola out, one of the other campers, who has a small kid who loves Lola, wanted to play with her, so I let them wear her out for awhile. I bundled the horses back up in their winter blankets for the night, and came it to settle down for the evening. Not a bad day, managed to sell a few things and make a little money, I just hope I can keep the momentum going for the next few days. Every little bit helps! Congress passed a huge bailout bill last week in response to the coronavirus, and every taxpayer is supposed to be automatically getting “stimulus” bonus deposited into their accounts. While I don’t necessarily agree with the principle behind it, I can’t say it won’t come in handy while I wait for the social security survivor’s benefits to kick in. I just hope they’ll be able to reschedule my Vegas job before too long! My Michigan job seems to still be on track, so I should be able to hang on until then. And if the closing goes all right next week, I’ll have some more money to invest, and with the stock market so down right now, there are some bargains out there to be had. Might just be a boon once the economy starts to pick up again! Anyway, time to quit for the day. Love you, darlin’! Good night!

Hey Sweetie,
Had a great night sleep, Lola slept through the night and didn’t bother me in the least, yay! I woke up this morning, and for the first time in YEARS, I didn’t have something I absolutely had to do, nothing, nada. I contemplated doing some computer but otherwise taking the day off when I got a call from Jeff saying he had decided NOT to come up and get anything, mostly because of the coronavirus, so that meant I could start listing the rest of the items I was holding on to for him. I started by listing the Cub Cadet riding lawnmower we just bought before we went back on the road, with less than 30 hours on it, and within 30 minutes I had someone offer to buy it, if I could deliver it to him, at a place that was almost two hours away. He offered me more than what I was asking, so how could I turn that down? It was a cold but beautifully sunny day, a perfect day for a drive, so I thought, why not? Didn’t have anything else I absolutely had to do, so I headed over the house, hooked up the little trailer, loaded up the Cubby, which started without any trouble since I had put the battery on charge a couple of days ago, and voila! We were off and running! I stopped at Walmart for diesel and paid the unbelievable price of $2.16 a gallon! I even saw gas station later in the day that had regular gas for as low as $1.18 a gallon! I haven’t seen prices like this since I was in college a hundred years ago, amazing! Anyway, while I was driving toward Lewisburg, I thought about the horse expo in Murfreesboro we went to a few years ago, and our vendor neighbor who called herself the crazy goat lady, who made the most wonderful lavender hand cream, which I had used up a few months ago. I knew she lived somewhere in that area, so I quickly googled her, found her and called her, and as good fortune would have it, she welcomed my visit. So I dropped off the Cubby with no problem, then went out to visit her, and we had a nice chat and I picked up a couple cakes of lavender soap and hand cream, then she reminded me about the fudge spoons she made, I had almost forgotten about those! You remember those delicious varieties of goat fudge on a spoon? I still had ONE in the freezer from when we saw her over two years ago! So I stocked up on a bunch of them, too, in a whole selection of flavors. She gave me a tour of her little goat farm, it was lovely! I finally had to head home, which took almost two hours, but it was a beautiful drive, and got back only to find there were no open places to park, though my neighbor moved his truck so I could park the truck and trailer without blocking anyone else. I didn’t worry about the horses, they have plenty of hay, and I left their winter blankets on since it’s getting near to freezing again tonight. So I settled in for the night, and decided to watch the seasons of Madame Secretary that were made after we quite watching it on the networks (when we ditched the dish in favor of Netflix and Amazon Prime!), saw a couple of episodes of that (with Lola in my lap, which she’s taken to doing lately), so now I’m headed to shower and bed, as usual. So, good night now, darlin’! Love you!

Hi Darlin’,
Well, not surprisingly, Lola was very anxious when the storms came in last night (which included some hail, though no damage to anything), I ended up having to give her a pill, which I should have done earlier, but the storm moved through quickly and she settled down after that. She tried hard to come up into the bed, and I had to turn backwards so I could pet and comfort her, it was the only thing that settled her down until it all passed. This morning I finally had my conversation with the Social Security people about the survivors benefits on your pension, I made the appointment way back in January for a phone interview today! We managed to get it all settled, so at least I’ll have that little bit coming in. Afterward I ran down to McMinnville to do some shopping, feed for the horses, a new dryer vent for the trailer and some 2×10 boards for leveling the trailer. I’ve broken most of the smaller boards, they were just too small and narrow for the task, hopefully this will work better. Then finally a stop at Walmart for everything else. They actually had a lane of shopping carts outside the door to form a line in order to limit the number of people in the store (what they’re calling “social distancing” in an effort to keep people at least 6 feet away from each other. You would be astounded at how quickly people’s behavior has changed in the last month, it’s downright shocking (including me)! Fortunately there was no line and I went straight in, got everything I needed and got out of there, though I, too, wore a facemask and latex gloves while I was in there. Gas is down to $1.29 a gallon, and that’s in McMinnville! I saw one place where diesel was $2.15, but I’m waiting till I go to Manchester in a few days, where I’m sure it will be even cheaper! There’s a glut, the Saudis cranked up their production last month, and of course, there are a lot less vehicles on the road since everyone’s supposed to be staying home. The wonders of supply and demand! When I got back, I ran out to the house because I had gotten a call from someone about a couple of the items I posted on Marketplace and managed to sell a couple of things to the family that moved in and started a junkyard up the road. That’s what the other neighbors are calling it, the junkyard, another Harmon special. The first one, as I recall. Anyway, it’s money in my pocket and less stuff around the house, which is all good. It was too late to let the horses out when I got back, which has become my habit this week, but I did put their winter blankets on because the temps are supposed to get down to almost freezing overnight! Not the spring I was hoping for, but it has been nice since I’ve arrived, and is supposed to warm up again next week, so I can withstand a cold front. Anyway, settled down for the evening, thought I’d give Madmen another try, started from the beginning and quickly remembered why we had abandoned it (though others seemed to like it, it’s not my cup of tea!), so I’ll have to find something else tomorrow. Been doing a lot of reading lately, so much so my eyes hurt me sometimes, just another sign of aging, I guess! Jeff still hasn’t decided when (or even if) he’s coming up, and it’s driving me crazy. There’s stuff he wants, but if he doesn’t come till the last minute, I won’t have much time to sell them and I’ll have to let them go to consignment and I won’t get much out of that. I may have to do that anyway, everyone around here is hanging on to every penny since so many folks are out of work because of the virus. Bad timing on that one! Still, the day of closing is drawing nearer, and I do whatever is necessary to get out of here asap! Still don’t have any place confirmed where I can go, still looking… Well, Lola’s back in from her nightly ablutions and I still have to take my shower, so I’m off! Love you, darlin’! Good night!

Hi Babe,
Had another good night sleep, thank goodness, Miss Lola seems to be settling down nicely. I’ve just realized, though, that we haven’t had any storms of note since I started letting her sleep in the trailer rather than the truck, and tonight storms are forecast, so we’ll see how THAT goes! Meanwhile, I continue to pace myself with the work that needs doing. I’m trying not to kill myself or get too anxious about doing all the work at once, and you know how hard that is for me! I managed to get the Cub Cadet going okay today, so I was able to put it back together. It seems the belt might be a little stretched, but it’s hard to tell, and it was working just fine. I searched for our marriage license because I need it to try to claim some kind of bereavement benefit from the British Pension Service, not sure if I qualify but I thought I’d give it a try. I find it hard to believe they don’t have some kind of widows benefit when a spouse dies, but that’s what they tried to tell me a few months ago. Anyway, I had to order a certified copy from Palm Beach County, but I didn’t want to wait so I sent the paperwork on ahead anyway. I spent some time making a list of everything that’s left and posting it on Marketplace, I’ve already gotten a couple of replies so maybe I can sell some stuff this weekend, wouldn’t that be nice! A quick trip to the Post Office to send out and pick up the mail (all junk) and then I settled down early, actually nodding off at one point this afternoon, which is so very nice! I finished watching the Titanic series, the last few episodes of which were pretty boring and came to a rather sudden end, which probably explains why they didn’t get a second season, if one had been planned. Anyway, I’m going to pull in the awning and put away the furniture before I shower and go to bed since this storm is coming in later tonight, so I’ll sign off. Good night, my love!

Hiya Sweetie,
Another good night sleep, fortunately, and a bit of a slower morning, except for work on the computer. I learned a few more things about Bereavement Benefits from England, and it appears that I might be eligible, though it’s supposed to be filed within three months, which is exactly the date today. Of course, trying to confirm an answer to anything right now is next to impossible, all the government offices on both sides of the pond are understaffed and overwhelmed with dealing with this coronavirus. I did take a quick run over to the house to try to find some paperwork with your National Insurance number on it, and finally found some, though not after getting Jeff to tear apart everything in his closet first, sorry! I also brought the tools to fix the belt, and it went on very easy, almost too easy to my mind, I’m wondering if it stretched. I had put the battery on charge last night, and it was enough to turn it over a bit, but not enough to start it, so I left it to charge again, since I don’t want to put it back together again until I know it will work. Got back to the camp shortly before the realtor came by, I handed over some old surveys and title work in the hopes that would save on some costs, and might have even persuaded him to lower his commission a bit, we’ll see. I felt kind of lazy after that (imagine that!), so other than putting the horses out and checking on them from time to time, I look the rest of the afternoon off. Nice to be able to do that occasionally, it seems like it’s been ages since I just relaxed for a couple of hours during the day. It’s been beautiful weather this week, and all the leaves are just starting to come out, the dogwoods and fruit trees are in bloom, and it’s been in the 70’s. That’s changing, though, we have a cold front coming in and it’s going to be near freezing in a couple of nights, so it’ll be blankets for the horses again. Apollo keeps breaking away from his anchor and next thing I know I’m off trying to catch him up, with Flash running circles around him while I get him to where he needs to go. Everybody’s been pretty good about it here, though Lola took a long walkabout this afternoon, I don’t know where she went, but I’m thinking I’m going to have to put her on a leash if I’m not actually playing with her. Well, it’s reached that time of the evening, she’s standing by the door and I still have my shower to take, so off I go! Good night, baby! Love you!Hiya Sweetie,
Another good night sleep, fortunately, and a bit of a slower morning, except for work on the computer. I learned a few more things about Bereavement Benefits from England, and it appears that I might be eligible, though it’s supposed to be filed within three months, which is exactly the date today. Of course, trying to confirm an answer to anything right now is next to impossible, all the government offices on both sides of the pond are understaffed and overwhelmed with dealing with this coronavirus. I did take a quick run over to the house to try to find some paperwork with your National Insurance number on it, and finally found some, though not after getting Jeff to tear apart everything in his closet first, sorry! I also brought the tools to fix the belt, and it went on very easy, almost too easy to my mind, I’m wondering if it stretched. I had put the battery on charge last night, and it was enough to turn it over a bit, but not enough to start it, so I left it to charge again, since I don’t want to put it back together again until I know it will work. Got back to the camp shortly before the realtor came by, I handed over some old surveys and title work in the hopes that would save on some costs, and might have even persuaded him to lower his commission a bit, we’ll see. I felt kind of lazy after that (imagine that!), so other than putting the horses out and checking on them from time to time, I look the rest of the afternoon off. Nice to be able to do that occasionally, it seems like it’s been ages since I just relaxed for a couple of hours during the day. It’s been beautiful weather this week, and all the leaves are just starting to come out, the dogwoods and fruit trees are in bloom, and it’s been in the 70’s. That’s changing, though, we have a cold front coming in and it’s going to be near freezing in a couple of nights, so it’ll be blankets for the horses again. Apollo keeps breaking away from his anchor and next thing I know I’m off trying to catch him up, with Flash running circles around him while I get him to where he needs to go. Everybody’s been pretty good about it here, though Lola took a long walkabout this afternoon, I don’t know where she went, but I’m thinking I’m going to have to put her on a leash if I’m not actually playing with her. Well, it’s reached that time of the evening, she’s standing by the door and I still have my shower to take, so off I go! Good night, baby! Love you!