Archives for 2020

Hello Darlin’,
Finally had a great night sleep last night, first in a long time. Spent part of the day doing some work on the OTL project, starting with an appointment to meet the woman who is generously offering her fields on Jupiter Farms Road as the Saturday night stopover, rather than Jupiter Farms park, which evidently is insisting on charging an outrageous amount of money to rent overnight, plus security, plus money for the pavilion, all adding up to a crazy figure, so naturally the team looked for an alternative and found it. It’s a great location, and Tim wanted me to go along to take advantage of my camping expertise to give it my seal of approval, which I wholeheartedly did. The end of her road does, in fact, lead directly to the Riverbend Trail, so we don’t even have to worry about crossing Jupiter Farms Rd., which is a great advantage. After that meeting I ran down to Autozone to start the process of getting the parts I need to repair the back brakes on the truck. They’re starting to squeal, but the parts are still under warranty, and Jeff has agreed to help me change them out tomorrow. Shopped for a couple of essentials at Walmart before heading home, than ran into Jeff and his friend just as I stopped for the mail, and since they were heading out to Angelo’s for lunch and decided to join them. Finally got back home, did my usual chores and settled down for the evening. Good night, Sweetie!

Hiya, Sweetie,
Well, I didn’t sleep very well last night, unfortunately. I decided to leave Lola inside because it was going to be so cold tonight, and she had been so quiet sleeping in your chair all evening that I thought she would be okay, but as usual, as soon as I went to bed, she started to get restless. Scratching at the screen door to go out, scratching at the bedroom door to get in, walking back and forth with her toenails clicking back and forth. I wasn’t about to get up again, so I let her go, and she settled down a couple of times where I got some sleep, but a few hours later she’s be wandering again. Last time I’m going to let that happen! In the truck, every night, she just obviously likes that big bed of hers on the back seat! Anyway, I set my alarm because I made an appointment up at the local brake place that would honor the Munro warranty we had, because the brakes are starting to squeal, and the one thing I DON’T want to do is have a brake problem. Turned out the front brakes are fine, but the back brakes that were done by our TN mechanic are starting to go. The rotors and pads are starting to wear. Fortunately, the parts have a 3 year warranty, and they’ve only been in for about 14 months, so according to my mechanic, all we have to do is go to an Autozone and pick up new parts. Unfortunately the labor part is only 12 months, so I missed that (not that I’d get anyone locally to do that for me anyway), but brother Jeff is an old hand at truck brakes, and he said he’d help me. No hurry, as long as they’re done before I leave, but I will pick up the parts so there at hand when we’re ready. Anyway, that didn’t take as long as I thought, so my next chores was to find a replacement connector for the shore power cable. I went to four places and the only one that had one wanted $85 for it! I figured I could probably get a whole new cord for that! He offered to lower it to $75, but even that was too dear, so I got on my phone and found the exact same part on Amazon for $43! I found a different manufacturer but the same part for $37, so I ordered that one. There was actually another one for just $16, but I figured that had to be a really inferior product, so I went for the middle of the road. Amazon Prime again, and they say it will be here by tomorrow! I don’t know how they’re doing it, but I’m getting really impressed with the Prime delivery system! With that settled, I ran down to Walmart and did a little quick shopping, but now I was running late so I grabbed a sandwich instead of having soup at the Kane center like I usually do on Euchre day, and arrived right at 1:00 to discover two full tables. I thought maybe some other folks would show up, but no one did, so it was round robin for me for awhile. Didn’t do quite as well as last time (guess you had somewhere else to be today :-), but then I had a different partner every game, and never the same partner I had last time, so maybe that was the key. Anyway, I enjoyed that for two hours, then dodged the raindrops down to Ranch feed where I picked up some horse feed and 10 bales of hay, which should last me until I can get some cheaper stuff up near St. Augustine next weekend when Jeff and I go to the Great Florida Cattle Drive Reunion. Though the forecast was that the rain would be over by 3:00 (yeah, right), it was sprinkling just before I loaded up the hay, but stopped just long enough for me to get home. I had just loaded into Jeff’s boarder’s trailer and covered it up, and got the four bags of feed into the back of my trailer when the sky burst open. Perfect timing, but exactly the opposite of what was forecast. Finished off the chores and settled down for the evening. Something I wanted to tell you, though. You remember the character of Rachel on the series Suits that we were watching? The girlfriend of the main character Mike Ross? Well, I finally realized that she’s the same girl that married Prince Harry! Don’t know why I hadn’t figured that out before, guess it’s because I’m not really into the celeb scene, but there you go! Strange world, isn’t it? Anyway, that’s enough about my day, glad we’re still having this conversation we started back in 1986, even if I’m the one doing all the talking. You always were a good listener! Love you, darling! Good night!

Hey Darlin’,
I did something to twist my back again yesterday, and making the bed and getting into it took a very long time. I kept having spasms in my back, and it was extremely painful, and it reminded me of how many times you struggled to get into bed because of the pain you were in for the last few months. I took some ibuprofen before my shower, and thankfully it kicked in, so I had a good night sleep and I had no pain in the morning, so whatever it was, it passed for now. Woke up early to the sound of the brothers leaving, as Karl’s flight was out of Ft. Lauderdale at 9:00, so they had to leave before 6:00 to get there in time with rush hour traffic. I took care of the animals, then got busy on the computer doing a bunch of stuff. I managed to finish the proposal for that convention later this summer and sent it out, and also spoke to that woman from Michigan about some brainstorming they’ve done on our behalf. She’s willing to provide a venue and a guaranteed fee for her members, get bodies in the seats for a set price, then charge “non-members” a premium, all so she can get her folks trained, possibly in July. I get the impression she wants to do this for all of her clients, so maybe this is a good start to a long-term relationship that could benefit us both. I sure could use some good news like that. It would be nice if I could time it so I could take one of those Michigan Lake-to-Lake rides, too, you know I’ve been wanting to do that. Had some bad news today, too, our renters have decided the house is too much for them, and are probably going to move out this spring, so now I’m destined to go back up and finish clearing the house out sooner than I wanted. I contacted that guy from the valley who was interested in property up here on the mountain, and he’s making arrangements to go see it. I hope he makes an offer, because I sure can’t see me spending any more time there, especially without you, and I have my sights on so many things that having a house will just get in the way of my travels. Another stupid thing, there was a notice from the post office that the mailbox needs to be moved because it’s current placement (where it’s been for decades) requires the driver to back up a couple of feet to turn around (it’s a dead end road, what else could happen?), but evidently backing up is now a major safety issue with them, and they’re not allowed to do it. Their answer is to force me to move my box across the street, which is ridiculous, but I’m trying to get an exception, since I’m not there and can’t do it (nor do I want to!) Grrr! So I’m starting to feel like I’m getting caught up on the cleaning and maintenance of the trailer, but of course, then something else always happens. The electrical cord from the garage must have gotten stepped on by a horse or something, because the end got completely pulled out of the cord on the RV side, no easy feat with a cord that’s all fused together, so now I have to get that replaced tomorrow. I was really sorry about that, too, because now I don’t have electricity, and it’s going to be down in the 40’s tonight and I’ll have to run the furnace, as my electric fireplace won’t work. Got a lot done today, but have even more to do tomorrow, so I’ll say goodnight, my love!

Hi Sweetie,
During the night I kept waking up thinking of things I had to do, so I was making a list on a memo on my phone. By the time morning rolled around I had a bunch to do. Turns out I couldn’t do some of them because it’s a holiday, but it was mostly stuff around the house. Jeff’s dog Rosie came to visit while I was still in bed, for a minute I thought I was listening to a rat or something scratching, until I heard the dog door slap open, and when I stuck my head out of the bedroom she was standing over Lola’s bowl, about to eat her leftover dinner. I told her No and she casually walked back outside again! Once I got up and had breakfast, I got busy. The horses somehow managed to step on a section of my heavy-duty sewer pipe and tore completely through it, but I had an extra connector so I got that fixed. I did some laundry, worked on the computer, found the receipts for a couple of items I want to return, and generally just did ordinary, mundane things. Karl and Jeff went out in the afternoon, leaving me on my own for a few hours. Amazon Prime delivered a new controller for the lift chair this afternoon, amazing since I only ordered it yesterday! I put it on the chair and now it works perfectly! Got that listed back on Marketplace, so hopefully I can get that out of here soon. Jeff’s boarder showed up to clip her horse, even though tonight they’re calling for the coldest temperatures of the season! Seems she did the same thing last year. So now Jeff has to blanket him when it gets colder like this. Not horrible, but upper 40’s overnight apparently. Anyway, eventually the boys got home, hung around inside for awhile, then Karl came out to pay his respects to you. I had him try on your leather jacket, but it didn’t fit. I don’t want to give it to Goodwill, it was too expensive for that, but I figure I’ll eventually meet some appropriate person to give it to, being such a nice jacket. I heard from the ladies in Michigan about that job we’ve been discussing, and it looks like it should come through this summer. That will give me a good goal to shoot for, northern Michigan at some point this summer. I twisted my back again, so I’ve been in agony most of the afternoon, alternating between heat and ice, not sure if it’s helping, but ibuprofen is on the schedule when I go to bed, which is going to be shortly. I’ll be leaving the fireplace on tonight! Fresh sheets, a quick shower, and I’m off to bed early because I just feel really tired today, probably residual from yesterday’s four hour ride in Corbett. Well, that’s all the news, have a nice night, love you!

Hi Sweetie,
I worked so hard today, but I feel like I’m finally starting to get caught up with so many long-standing jobs, though some were ones I hadn’t expected to have to do. I began by starting to fix my recliner, the one with the broken base, and once I took it apart, I figured maybe I could glue the break on the bottom, then shift it 90 degrees so that the weak part is against the grain, but when I got out my wood glue, it was obviously too old and starting to dry out, so I decided to go to the hardware store and get some new glue. I also had a key for the mailbox made, since Jeff only has the one, and since this is going to become my new “permanent” address, I thought it would be a good idea to get one. I also needed some hay, so I ran down to the feed store and picked up a few bales just to get us through. When I got back, I finished gluing the chair base and clamped it, fingers crossed that it holds. Meanwhile, I picked up the DC converter that I had ordered, since the Open Range didn’t have one, and expected Karl to finish that job this morning, especially when he insisted it was an easy job and wouldn’t take long. Unfortunately, I soon realized that what he meant was that it was an easy job for ME to finish, and after wasting two hours waiting for him to come out and do it, I finally gave up and took over the job myself. It took awhile, particularly since I wasn’t the one to take it apart, but I finally managed to get everything working okay, but it killed most of my afternoon. I had been hoping to go riding, which I really need because my stress level has been really going up and up lately and I’m starting to get cranky about everything, but it didn’t happen. I’m hoping my day out in Corbett tomorrow will help. Anyway, I finished off the Open Range, put the chair back together, did some more cleaning in the cupboards in the bathroom and the refrigerator, switched over the sheepskin off your saddle onto the saddle I use for Apollo, cleaned out the pool a bit because we had a lot of wind yesterday and there was a lot of stuff in it, and finally settled down for the evening after dark, though not until after moving some basic supplies from the big trailer to the little horse trailer so that I would have what I needed with me in the morning. Busy, tiring day, heading to the shower and bed! Love you! Good night!

Hi Darlin’,
I did some more cleaning today, finishing off the bench seats of the dining room, so now it smells of leather in here, which is nice. I brought up the little horse trailer, which was back by the barn and covered with green algae, and got down the pressure washer from the attic/hay loft and gave the trailer a really good clean. I’ve made arrangements with one of the OTL board members to go riding in Corbett on Sunday, so I wanted to get it cleaned up a bit. Not that it will stay that way long trying to get back to Camp I in Corbett, but at least it will start out that way! I finished up just in time to shower and change, then head down to the funeral home. I did just what you wanted me to do, had you cremated, and put you in a beautiful wooden box that was inscribed with the poem by Omar Khayyám that you so admired, and what we based so much of our life on. “The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ,
Moves on: nor all thy Piety nor Wit
Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line,
Nor all thy Tears wash out a Word of it.”
It describes our philosophy so well, that it’s all just water under the bridge and there’s no point worrying about it, or wasting time on it, but just to keep moving forward, which is just what I’m trying to do. I had an early dinner with Jayne again, and we talked a lot about pets, as well as some of our mutual history. I’m sure you remember Lord Richie, probably your only competition (though not really, you just thought so), well evidently he passed away quite a long time ago, at quite a young age. Was sorry to hear that, he was a lovely man. Afterward, I brought you home, finished clearing off the dining room table and doing a few other things to spruce the place up, eventually put you in what will be your final resting place right in the center of things, lit a candle, and toasted you with a glass of wine. I’m hoping to have a memorial/life celebration in March just before your birthday, and quite a few people are interested in coming. Not quite sure where I want to have it just yet, I have a few logistical things to work out, but there are a lot of people who are responding, and it’s very heartwarming to see how many people you’ve touched over the years. Anyway, it’s past my bedtime, and I worked hard today, so off I go! Love you, darling! Good night!

Hey Babe,
Well, I told you a long time ago that once you were gone I’d go crazy with cleaning, and even though at the time I was talking about the house in Tennessee, it happened today, big time. I had an appointment with the carpet cleaners for the Open Range at 10:30, and he texted me that he was on his way, but I didn’t have my phone right on me and didn’t get it on time (there’s been a lot of texting delays lately due to the weak cell phone signal out here), and because he didn’t hear from me, he skipped by me and went to another job. I finally called him at 10:40, but it was too late and he had to reschedule for later in the day. I had two drivers come one after another to pick up all your dialysis stuff, one driver took the machines, the Ipad and all the clinic supplies, and another came for all the NxStage supplies, but then there was some confusion because the second driver thought HE was supposed to take the machine, but they were already gone (they actually passed each other in the driveway, not knowing), but I was led to believe what I already said. Anyway, I guess they got that straightened out without me, because they were both delivering to the same place anyway, and I didn’t need to get any more involved. Not too long afterward, the carpet cleaner showed up, made a good deal with me (I managed to finagle a discount, I thought they were too high for such a little job, but they agreed to a 30 percent cut), and the whole job was done in about 20 minutes. Hope it helps get that ladybug smell out! Meanwhile, I started to completely reorganize the trailer. With so much extra space now, I was able to put a lot more stuff away. I rearranged a lot of the cupboards, as well as the stud stall in the back of the trailer. I’m going to try not to clutter it too much, I’d like to keep it where I can open that door into the back if I want. So far, so good. I did lots of cleaning, even used the Lexol cleaner and conditioner on the bench seats of the dining area (well, on side is done, the other will get done tomorrow), and generally kept really busy. Lola made friends with the neighbors behind us (I guess the kids at the front neighbors have left after the holidays, been really quiet back there and Lola hasn’t been out that way lately), and of course, she trained them to throw for her in no time. She spent practically the entire afternoon back there. I’d call her, she’d come, stay for about a minute, I’d go back to work and she’d take off again. She finally came back just before horse feeding time, so I played floppy frisbee in the pool with her, but you could tell she was tired from all the exercise she’d gotten earlier. Didn’t keep her from swimming for awhile, though! She’ll definitely sleep tonight. I’m glad, I’ve been so busy I haven’t been able to spend as much time with her as I’d like.
I had a nice conversation with Jane Alter today, about you and us and the possibility of doing the Convention again this year. Even though she’s 81, she stays really active and would absolutely love to go again, fingers crossed. I asked her to send me a bio I can use in the proposal, as Ashley believes they’ll want to know our team members, and I agree. Hoping Steve can come, but he’s just been made a full professor at Alfred, so it depends on his schedule. Again, fingers crossed! It was a pretty hot one today, but the nights have been getting pleasantly cool, and I’m definitely looking forward to bed tonight after all the cleaning activity today. Love you! Good night!

Hello Darling,
Had another busy day today, though plans changed at the last minute due to brother Karl. The lift chair I sold last week developed more serious mechanical problems, so I arranged to go pick that up again, hopefully I can find the trouble and fix it once and for all (though the woman was so grateful, she said I had “restored her faith in humanity.”) My plan was to pick it up and then go to euchre at the senior center, but Karl decided he didn’t want to go, he had made other plans to have an early lunch with his friend John, who is leaving tomorrow to go up to his new house in Georgia, so instead of euchre we went to Uncle Mick’s, that little hole in the wall in town, for lunch. We were there a couple of hours before we headed home, where we lugged the chair inside. I finally registered Jeff and myself for the upcoming Cattle Drive Reunion, though the regular website wasn’t working properly (it said the sale had “ended” even though we were within the deadline, but I managed to message someone there who just took my reservation, saying we could pay when we got there. Jeff tried to talk me into taking the trailer up there, but I finally put my foot down and said I didn’t want to do that, it was too much effort just for a couple of days, and besides, the point was to go CAMPING, like we did during the actual drive back in 2016, so he said he might just take his Bronco so he wouldn’t have to stay the whole time if he didn’t want, or maybe just because he’ll want to sleep in it. Whatever. Anyway, after a while, I decided to head over to the local hair salon for a cut, which was okay, though my hair has been so strange with it’s curliness lately, it’s not exactly what I was hoping for, but at least now it’s shorter. Then I headed over to the OTL meeting at Tim’s house, thrilled they managed to resolve the problems with the pavilion at Jonathan Dickinson State Park, so all that is back on track. The meeting went on longer than usual, but there were more people there than usual, and I guess now that we’re getting closer, there’s a lot more that needs to be done. A lot of logistics are starting to get resolved, and I’m doing my best to contribute. The key equestrian organizer seems to be a woman named Anita, and we’ve arranged to go riding this weekend to check out the trails in Corbett, you know, the ones I got so lost on last year? I think I’ve corrected that map now, but it will be good to confirm it on the ground. By the time I finished doing the things I promised to do at the meeting, it was nearly 10:00, so it’s just a bit of TV before bed. Good night, my love! Miss you!