Archives for 2022

Saturday, December 31, 2022 – Well Shelter Finished, Then Took Ill

Hiya Darlin’,
The day started out busy, with the volunteers starting on the shelter around 9:00, and James and I going over to the maintenance yard to exchange gates so we can replace a bent one on one of the paddocks. Then suddenly, in mid-afternoon, I started feeling like I was getting chills, like shivering under my skin, so I came back to the trailer and after a while, crawled into bed. I alternated between chills and sweats, and didn’t get out of bed at all. Carol was kind enough to feed my horses for me, so I was able to stay in bed. I haven’t been sick in so long, this is really a bummer. Loaded up on liquids and am staying in bed. Good night, Sweetie! Love you!

Friday, December 30, 2022 – A Busy Day At Camp

Hi Sweetie,
Woke up to the alarm expecting to ride this morning, but things got a bit out of hand when I was expecting a bunch of people to arrive around ten, which was after I was expecting to ride with Bev’s group, so once again, they went on without me while I stayed to manage traffic and newcomers. Finally did get a ride in with Carol and Jim Walter, big volunteers that will be helping to finish off the well shelter, they have two Arabs so it was a nice, comparable ride with Flash, Did about six and a half miles at a nice quick pace, with some nice canters and gaits in between. Once we got back and got the horses settled, we had a nice (albeit later than normal) dinner of filet mignon cooked over an open fire (lovely!) and had a nice evening with them, then as I finally headed back to the trailer I went to visit my closer neighbors, who are also very interesting, and ended up spending much longer there than I anticipated, so it was after 11:30 by the time I actually got back to the trailer! Took a quick shower, now I’m headed to bed, with an early alarm so we can get started in the morning. Busy day, nice day, productive day! Love you, babe! Good night!

Thursday, December 29, 2022 – A Regular Day At Camp

Hey Babe,
Not much to report today, just kind of a regular day at camp. Was supposed to go riding with Bev and her group, but they were leaving much earlier than I expected, so they went without me, which turned out to be a good thing, because James came by to drop off some manure rake heads, so I put those together. I’m going to need to replace one of the screws because it’s so round out I can’t tighten enough, but I jury rigged it with another screw for the time being, will pick up a new screw next time I go into town, no big deal. Closed my horses up into a single paddock and stall, thought we’d get more people in and didn’t want to be hogging a bunch of paddocks. Looked at Apollo’s feet, there’s definitely something weird going on with his back feet, but I’ve called the farrier to set up an appointment, probably be next week before he can come out. Checked in more campers, then had a steak dinner compliments of Bev, sat around the campfire for a bit, now I’m ready for shower and bed! Good night, my darlin’! Love you!

Wednesday, December 28, 2022 – Busy Day Out of Camp

Hi Darlin’,
Had a busy day today! Set the alarm but ended up waking up before it went off, since I went to bed so early last night. Got the horses fed and had breakfast, then was leaving camp a little after 8:00. First stop was the hardware store to pick up a couple of e-clamps to finish the repair on the tractor, which ended up not working anyway (I dropped one and didn’t try to put the second one on.) Put some duct tape on the end of the bolt, though, just to make sure they didn’t come loose and I lose them again. Got the lawn mowed, and the pool was perfect so I didn’t need to do anything to it, then headed over to the Kane Center, grabbed a bowl of beef barley soup and played a couple of hours of euchre. Small crowd, guess every one is busy with the holidays. Another stop for fuel, then Walmart for the bulk of my shopping, then a quick stop at Publix for more eggnog (as if drinking the half gallon over two days at Christmas wasn’t enough!), then finally back to camp just after sunset. Put away the perishables, then went through camp to register a couple of new folks, finally settling in for some ramin, a couple of hours of evening tv, now a quick shower and soon to bed! Love you, sweetie! Good night!

Tuesday, December 27, 2022 – Ride Day with Friends

Hiya Sweetie,
Despite the rain-free weather forecast that I went to bed on, it rained practically the entire night. Seriously? They couldn’t see this coming? Anyway, it was wet and chilly when I woke up and took care of the horses, and when my friends Bev and Maggie were finally ready to go, it was after 10:30. After breakfast, I just read and dozed until they called me, so as soon as I heard from them, I gathered up Flash and Apollo. Maggie’s friend Fred was going to ride Apollo, and I was happy that he was going to get some exercise. He does have one hoof that looks a bit odd that I’ll have to get looked at by a professional, but he seemed okay all day. We went on a ride about 8+ miles long, the green and yellow trail, and it was very nice. Maggie rides a Rocky Mountain that moves quickly like Flash, but we had to keep stopping and waiting for the rest of the quarter horses to catch up, even though they did a bit of jogging and cantering just to keep up. That’s how it works with stock vs. gaited horses! It was a good ride, though, everyone had a good time. Bev asked me to dinner but I begged off, it was too chilly to sit around outside to eat, so I’ll join them later in the week when it warms up a bit more. Settled down for the evening back at my trailer, now as we close in on 9:00, I’m ready for shower and bed! Good night, babe! Love you!

Monday, December 26, 2022 – Housework Day

Hey Babe,
Decided I needed to do some housework today. I had kind of thought about cleaning out my wardrobe and trying to get ride of some stuff I don’t wear anymore, but ended up just doing a good clean in the bathroom and on the paddle fans. Took out Lola’s bed and gave it a good spray with Febreze and let it air out, put the cushion in the dryer to fluff, and generally did a nice clean up of the bathroom. Was going to do more, but then my friends Maggie and Pistol arrived, so that kind of brought that cleaning binge to a halt. I finished up a few things, put some stuff away, checked in a number of equestrian campers, and generally just got back to a regular day. Still chilly today, but definitely starting to soften up, thank goodness. Supposed to be in the 80’s by the weekend! Sat around the campfire for a bit, then came home so I can get an early night sleep. Heading to the shower here shortly! Good night, my darlin’! Love you!

Sunday, December 25, 2022 – Merry Christmas!

Hiya, Darlin’!,
Had a great night sleep, finally got moving after 830, gave the horses some alfalfa cubes soaked in hot water for breakfast as a special treat, then once again spent most of the day watching Christmas movies and calling family, including your sister Jean. Sorry to say she’s bedridden now, the health system there is struggling and they’ve cut back on the number of sessions they’re giving her after her surgery. Hopefully it will improve after the holidays, but who knows? Spoke to all my brothers. Jeff asked if I wanted to go down to the Turtle Tavern, but I decided to say in front of my cozy electric fireplace instead of driving 60 miles round trip for a meal. Not sure if he even went in the end. So a quiet day, did one load of laundry, but that was about it! It’s actually been perfect, it has been too cold outside to do anything. Granted, warmer than up north, but we had wind chills this morning below freezing, and didn’t get above 50 degrees here today, so staying home in front of a cozy fire was a perfect way to spend Christmas. Lola spent many hours in my lap today, too, so it’s been a good day, albeit spending it alone. Had a nice ham, mashed potato and glazed carrot dinner as well. Heading for shower and bed, now, so good night, sweetheart! Love you!

Saturday, December 24, 2022 – Christmas Movie Day

Hi Sweetie,
Decided to spend the day doing nothing but watch Christmas movies and drink eggnog. Couldn’t muster the will to do anything else today. Probably drank a few thousand calories. Happy Christmas Eve, babe! Love you!

Friday, December 23, 2022 – Ride Day and Got Lots of Other Stuff Done

Hey Babe,
Managed to keep busy all day, and got a lot done as well. After feeding the horses, I worked on my union contract, they’re still giving me a lot of trouble about the same old things they always give me trouble about, then took Flash for a ride, only about 6.5 miles but I wanted to check out the water on a few particular trails, and was glad to see it’s mostly gone, safe for tractor travel, so whether I want to put up the few posts I have left, or to mow, I can safely get around a lot more trails. After we got back, I spent about an hour finishing my set up, putting out the skirting, putting up the screen room, and generally getting ready for what looks like the coldest night of the year. It was absolutely gorgeous out on the trail today, but there’s a cold front coming in that’s dropping temps into the mid-30’s tonight, so before dinner, I put the horses’ heavy winter blankets on. I also closed up all the doors and half doors in the barn to keep it warmer, there’s a cool north breeze I wanted to cut off. No one else here yet, but at least my guys will be warm! Expecting a big crowd next weekend, but pretty slow here right now, at least on the equestrian side. Finally settled down to dinner and a Christmas rom-com, as it my wont this time of year. Got the fireplace going, and will likely leave it all night, even got out my flannel sheets with the expectation of a very chilly night! Headed for shower and bed nice and early, which is becoming my habit these days. Looking forward to cuddling up in my little bedroom cupboard, and hopefully, Lola will sleep better tonight! She’s been a real pain the last few nights, scratching on the door and the bedroom divider, her toe nails clicking on the floor. She’s been quiet all day, then when I go to bed she suddenly gets all restless. Hoping she’ll be quieter tonight after our ride today. Anyway, good night, my darlin’! Love you!

Thursday, December 22, 2022 – Finally Rested Enough to Get Going

Hiya Darlin’,
A good night sleep, then after feeding Flash I fixed a fence board that had bome loose in one of the paddocks, picked a few ragweed that were about to bloom, had breakfast, then headed over to brother Glenn’s to check in on his place, with a stop at the hardware along the way. Delighted to find that the chlorine in his pool finally did the job and all of the stains were gone. Other than a plugged up filter and a dead rat that I had to scoop out of the pool, everything else looked great. Fixed the lawn mover as best I could with the parts I got at the hardware store, but didn’t have time to do the mowing yet, I’ll get it done next week. Stopped and got some fuel, then headed down to Jeff’s to pick up Apollo and bring him back to camp for a happy reunion with Flash. Did a little grocery shopping for Christmas at Public, can’t have the holidays go by without some special fixings, like eggnog. Parked the small trailer back in its place, moved some salt for the wells, then settled down for the rest of the evening. Ordered a couple of Trojan batteries for the RV, expensive but they should last, providing I take good care of them. Just starting to rain here. Supposed to be nice during the day here tomorrow, then a huge cold front is coming in, dropping temps into the 30”s, just in time for Christmas! Brrrrr! At least the horses will have the barn to hide in, and I may put some blankets on them as well. Anyway, heading to shower and bed momentarily. Love you, sweetie! Good night!