Archives for February 2021

Hi Babe,
Pretty dull day today, it was hot and muggy, too much so to try to work on the truck, but I did do a little bit of laundry and housekeeping, got caught up on my monthly bookkeeping, and took a quick trip out to Publix in the Buick to grab a few things and to pick up the Trailer For Sale sign I had placed a few months back. So glad that’s done and gone! I’m sorry to say that of the four things I wanted at the store, I had to substitute three of them because they didn’t have exactly what I wanted. Disappointing, but that’s the way it goes! Spent the rest of the day reading and watching Heartland episodes, pretty uneventful. Didn’t see anyone else but James all day. So a quiet day, an even quieter evening, not much to report! I’m done with my shower and will be heading to bed soon, so good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hey Sweetie!
Woke up to a bit of rain, got my morning chores done, did a little sewing job on Lola’s bed, then mostly read and relaxed today until the afternoon. After the animals were fed dinner, I joined Glenn and Dena and their friends Terry and Belinda for noshes and the Super Bowl on the outside TV on Glenn’s motorhome. You remember that wood box that had two bottles of wine in it, that sat on the shelf behind our bar at home in Tennessee forever? Those were a gift from the bank I worked at back in about 1982, and for whatever reason, we never got around to opening them. I figured they turned to vinegar by now, and since I’m trying to get rid of as much clutter and weight as I can, I decided to finally open one today! The cork fell apart, but I did manage to get most of it out and strained it. Believe it or not, it hadn’t actually turned! It had a bit of an edge on it, like most red wines, so I put a little lemon-lime in there just to sweeten it up a bit, and managed to drink about half the bottle. I pulled out the cork and vacuum system that I found in the cupboard above the laundry the other day, and used that to keep it “fresh” after I opened it. Managed to down about half a bottle during the evening, so at least I’m partway there to getting rid of it. It’s not going to help my diet, but neither will all the noshes I ate over at the party, though I did keep it to meat for the protein, no carb snacks at all. Anyway, the game is unexpectedly one-sided, and after the last touchdown by Tampa (with Tom Brady quarterbacking!), I decided to come back and shower and get ready for bed. This is the first time in the 55 year Super Bowl history that a team has played on their home field. Hard to believe it took this long! Looks like they’re going to win it, too, which isn’t surprising with the home field advantage. Worst half-time show I’ve ever seen, though, although admittedly we haven’t been paying much attention to football in recent years. Anyway, almost time for bed, so good night, darlin’! Love you!

Hi Darlin’!
Well, I finally managed to do it! I sold the old Open Range Trailer. A very nice Latino couple bought it for their daughter’s 15th birthday, aka her Quinceañera, and are going to put it in their yard and let her live in it as a way to teach her responsibility. Didn’t get all I was asking for it, but probably got all I could get for it. Just thrilled that the last millstone hanging around my neck is finally gone! Back to basics now, with only the four vehicles left as my only assets besides my investments. Well, plus my tractor, of course! It took a couple of hours to walk them through everything, get them hooked up and send them on their way, but I was very happy to see the end of that episode. I loved that trailer, we had some great times in it, but that was then and this is now, and the horse trailer will be just fine for me and Lola. I decided to just veg out the rest of the day, Glenn and Dena invited me in for a glass or two of wine (my first in quite a few weeks now, cut back as part of my diet), then settled down for the rest of the evening, mostly just watching some more episodes of Heartland. I started watching it thinking that the 11 seasons was all there was, but it turns out that it’s actually still running, and they just added two more seasons to Netflix! It’s mostly about horses, albeit with a lot of theatrical license in terms of the training techniques, but I’m enjoying it. Anyway, I’m off to bed now, feeling like a weight has been lifted. If it weren’t for my knee surgery coming up, I would definitely be looking to pack up and move on, but it’s still chilly in north Florida anyway, so I guess I’m better off here for now, even if riding the same old trails are boring. Next time I ride, I think I’ll do some more exploring in Cypress Creek, it seems there are a lot more service roads in there that I can wander around on, that aren’t designed as hiking trails, so at least I might be able to find something a little different that just walking along canals. Meanwhile, whereas I was running the fireplace all night to keep warm, last night and tonight I’ve had to put the AC on to blow out the hot air before going to bed. Eighties for the rest of the week, and humid, too! Welcome to Florida! Love you, babe! Good night!

Hi Sweetheart,
Had a great night sleep after going to bed early, yay! Did some computer work in the morning, then headed out to the doctor for my first “pre-op” exam, where they did an EKG that showed something a bit off, so now I have to see a cardiologist for a clearance before surgery. Crazy, huh? Had to get more labwork done, even though it was done last month it will be outside of 30 days to the surgery, and that’s a requirement, had a long wait there again. Finally got to Walmart to pick up a few things before heading home. It wasn’t long before James and I fed the critters and I settled down for the evening. Going to have another early night, I like it much better when I get to bed early! Good night, darlin’! Love you!

Hi Babe,
Though I slept late this morning, I still felt kind of tired today. I spent some time online trying to resolve my RV parts issue, between the mechanic and the parts store, trying to figure out what I should order in advance so that we can keep the repair time down to a minimum. I also searched for the amplifier on my truck, I found a very comprehensive method for testing the system, but it all begins with the amplifier, which I can’t seem to find. They all say the amplifier is under the “center console,” but I don’t have a center console. I took apart another dash panel looking for it, it wasn’t there. It might be under the seat, but I haven’t checked there yet, I will do later when I’m in the mood. Kind of vegged out later in the day, I feel fine, just tired for some reason, maybe because of all the non-stop cleaning I did yesterday. Anyway, I had a relaxing evening and am going to bed early. Good night, my love!

Hi Darlin’,
Pretty chilly night last night, with a lot of breeze, so I ended up closing up the awning before going to bed, no point in putting a strain on my new fabric. The wind kept up most of the day, so rather than try to do anything outside, I stayed in and did some more cleaning. I haven’t done a good clear-out of the cupboard above the bathroom sink, there was still a lot of your stuff up there, like a bunch of hearing aid cases and cologne and other things. I cleared that all out, and did a really thorough cleaning, reorganizing all my little travel bags that I keep up there. It took a lot longer than I thought it would, but I wanted to really give it a good clean. I also defrosted the freezer at the same time, there was a lot of ice build-up, then the refrigerator after that for the same reason. I’ve just got a few more drawers and the bedroom to do before I can say I’ve done a complete “spring” cleaning on the trailer, though I also want to check the roof for any places where I might need to re-seal it. Once I get the slide-out fixed, I guess I’ll have done just about everything I could possibly do to be ready to get back on the road again. Good news, I just got an email from the union that they’re willing to give me an exception to the stage manager requirement for my one-woman production, now all I have to do it meet their Covid protocols. Of course, that was the big sticking point last time, so I’m not holding my breath. I’m hoping if I get the vaccine that will curtail some of those protocols, but so far, I’m not in line to get it, and it may be months before I do, though hopefully not. Time will tell. Anyway, I’m tired from all my work today, so I’m heading to shower and bed early. Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hi Sweetie,
Rain came in early this morning and woke me up, but I read for a bit, then fell back to sleep. Did some stretching, then got up and finished fixing the backup camera, though I waited until the water tank in back was dry before sticking it on there. Got the battery all charged up, so I put that all away, and finished gluing a loose rubber bit around the wheel well inside the trailer, a job I started the other day and had to let dry before finishing it off. I’ve been trying to figure out why I haven’t been able to find the title for the little Logan horse trailer, so I made some calls back to Tennessee and discovered that it had been sent to the wrong address way back then, so I had to fill out a form and send a check out for a duplicate title, just so I can get ANOTHER title here in Florida. I also got some documentation from Harmar on the Trailrider, it’s all I could seem to get, Montana can’t help at all, and the previous owner isn’t helping either. Hopefully it will be enough to get the job of registering it done. I fixed the screen door latch, too. I had a choice between buying a new latch (this one that broke is barely a year old!), but discovered that I could get springs for the latch much cheaper, and that was what the problem was, so that’s what I ordered. It took me a few minutes to figure it out, but it works just fine once I got it in right. I was going to take the Buick to the mailbox and the store, but it wouldn’t start, dead battery. You remember when I bought that battery I was planning on selling the car so I only bought a cheap one-year one, and I haven’t driven it in a while, and it’s possible there’s a short somewhere that’s pulling power, so I had to put the charger on that, but meanwhile I just took the truck. By the time I got back I had two problems, the radio wasn’t working right, because the crazy antenna adapter keeps wanting to slip out of the back, so I had to take the radio back out AGAIN and try to push that in hard enough to make it stay in, and my brake controller started getting all wonky on me, and when I looked up the error code it said there was a problem with a power interruption. I thought it might have something to do with my camera install, but it turned out to just be a loose power wire, which I fixed. In the process, though, I accidentally touched ground and power with my wire strippers, and there was a spark, so that blew a big fuse, so the brake controller didn’t work at all. I found the blown fuse, ran out again to NAPA and got a new one, put that in, and it all worked fine again. Whew! I hate working with electrical stuff, I always blow something! But it’s all good now. The wind picked up and the temps really dropped today, so I put the blankets on all the horses at feeding time. Jeff wasn’t home so I did it on my own, though he had already prepared the food for everyone, which is always helpful. Finally settled down for the evening to a bunch of episodes of Heartland, now I’m ready to hit the hay. Good night, babe! Love you!