Archives for September 2022

Friday, Sept. 30, 2022 – Beautiful Recon Ride on Flash

Hey Babe!
An excellent night sleep, cool enough where I even had to put my summer blanket on top of my sheet! Gorgeous! Did my chores a little computer work, then collected some crosspieces that I feel are necessary and that I can reach today, and saddled up Flash. What a beautiful day! Cool (relatively speaking) and sunny, absolutely gorgeous! We headed out on the green loop at 10:30 and put a couple of crosspieces in there, and while the water was high in some spots, there was quite a bit of dry trail as well. Flash was brilliant! The very first marker was in water so deep they would have gone way over the top of my rain boots, so I actually managed to keep Flash so still I was able to screw it in while on horseback! What a great horse! He never used to stand very well, but he was great today. Then we cantered down the road to the teal trail west of the grade and put a couple more along the teal and red trails, and then came back along the teal trail north of the grade to finish off. Sorry to say, something went squirrely on the power screwdriver on the very last screw, managed to get it in okay but then it quit. Not sure why, but I’m going to have to do a little investigating and get it fixed. Glad to get a few more of the missing markers done, though! Another step forward! Got back to camp just before 1:30. Glenn got in touch this morning and asked if I’d pick up some pool chemicals and give his pool a shock today, he thought it looked kind of green, so after I got back from our lovely ten mile ride, I took a run into town, picked up his order at Ace, and headed up to his house, where I gave his pool a good working over. It actually looked better than it did yesterday, so I’m not sure what he was worried about, but after I left, he told me it was looking ten times better after the treatment (he has cameras), so he’s happy. Got back to camp and settled in, putting out my awning and one of my gravity chairs (I actually took one over to Glenn’s today, so I have something comfortable to sit in when I’m there, as he has no furniture to speak of yet), and oddly, once I got settled in, I dozed off for a bit, and my back felt better than it has in weeks! Don’t know if it was the ride or the chair, but it was definitely an improvement. Grilled myself a nice steak and settled down for the evening. Ready for shower and bed, right after my Spanish lesson. Good night sweetie! Love you!

Thursday, Sept. 29, 2022 – All Came Through Unscathed! Except Glenn’s Pool

Hi Sweetie!
Had a good night sleep, which I’m sure I wouldn’t have done in the trailer, I would have been too nervous about the winds changing around. Good thing, too, as Ian came inland a lot closer than they had predicted. Left Jeff’s before 9:00, went up to Glenn’s and found his pool was a real mess. Pulled out all the big palm fronds, found the pump had gone off, apparently fairly early in the storm, which was probably good because if the filter got clogged up, it may have burned the pump out. Unfortunately, though, it had already started to turn green. I did just a little cleaning, then the scoop net disintegrated on me and I couldn’t do any more. So I ran into town and bought a new one at Ace, then stopped at the post office, then went to camp to check on things there. Was delighted (though not surprised) that the horses were just fine, and so was my trailer! One a few big limbs came down on one paddock fence, all the rest is just palm fronds and small branches that I’ll have to collect and burn. Still windy for most of the day, but definitely cooler, yay! Fall is here! Had a quick breakfast, then headed back to Glenn’s and spend about four hours cleaning his pool out well enough so his filters won’t get too clogged. I’ll need to check it in a few days, though. He wanted me to put in more chlorine (he has a saltwater chlorine system, but it’s obviously gotten behind the curve), but he was almost out, so he’s going to arrange to have more salt and chlorine either delivered or paid for so I can pick it up at Ace on Saturday, and do another cleaning. Got back to camp starving, so I fixed dinner and settled down for the evening. And what a cool evening it’s turning out to be! Supposed to be going down into the mid-60’s tonight, already in the low 70’s, wind’s gone, so I’ve opened all the windows, first time in months! I expect an excellent night sleep tonight, low humidity, and the weather for the next week is supposed to be just gorgeous. I’m sure hoping to get some riding in! It’ll be a struggle to decide if I should be cleaning up camp or “checking trails” :-), probably end up doing both. Depends on how my back feels, it’s been doing a little better after resting most of the day yesterday. Anyway, I’m off to my shower, then bed, so good night, my darlin’! Love you!

Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2022 – Moved to Brother Jeff’s

Hey Darlin’!
There were a few bands of rain through the night, but nothing really serious. Lola woke me up a few minutes before each one, so I checked to see if there were any tornado warnings in the area, but thankfully, the answer was always no, so I was able to sleep relatively peacefully in between. The morning brought a little rain, but progressively more wind, and at around 1:00, I checked the appropriate sources and learned the hurricane was, in fact, turning east a lot earlier than expected, and a hurricane warning had been issued for Lake Okeechobee. Well, that was it for me! No way I was going to stay here in my trailer with that kind of forecast, so I quickly packed up, closed up my trailer, and headed over to Jeff’s, where the winds hadn’t quite reached yet, though he had obviously had some rain. Spent a quiet afternoon reading, and the winds started picking up later in the day, the worst since the start of the storm, so I can only imagine how much worse it would be back in camp. Good decision! Even if there was no damage, I’d be sweating it all night with 50+ mph winds, which were being called for. Jeff served me a wonderful meal of steak, we watched a little Longmire (I’d seen the series before, but he hadn’t, I knew he would like it though), and now I’m in bed. Good night, baby! Love you!

Tuesday, Sept. 27, 2022 – Nothing To Report

Hi Babe!
Well, today was a really nothing day! Since I’d done everything yesterday, I had nothing really to do today, so after I fed the horses and had breakfast, I spent the day mostly reading and the evening watching TV. There was some rain on and off during the day, and a couple of bands of storms came through, but hardly any wind, just rain. Jeff called to make sure everything was good, as the trajectory of hurricane Ian seemed to be veering more eastward, so it will probably get closer to me than I expected, but who can tell? They’re so unpredictable. James was worried about tornadoes getting whipped up during the bands that came through, so I was watching the radar intently, even put a chair in the ladies room of the new bath house just in case there was an actual tornado warning, but nothing came even close. Supposed to be some more overnight, so I’m not sure how much sleep I’ll get, but seriously, there isn’t even any wind out here, even though the weather apps are reporting 15-20 mph where I am, it’s just not happening! Good chance fore my back to get better, I hope, though all this sitting around hasn’t helped yet. I finally took some ibuprofen, and I’ve had the heating pad on most of the day, with the occasional ice pack as well. A couple of days of enforced inactivity might just be the ticket anyway. Watching a limited series you would have loved about the origins of football/soccer called The English Game. One more episode to go! Meanwhile, a quick shower and I’ll be off to bed, though I’ll be ready to dash to the bath house/shelter if need be. Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Monday, Sept. 26, 2022 – Good News!

Hey Sweetie!
Felt a lot better this morning, was able to spray a few more paddocks and put some more stuff away, then got a call from James that they are NOT going to insist I leave the campground! (Though James did suggest it might not be a bad idea to stay at Jeff’s.) Really, though, I think I and the critters are safer here, the horses will be able to go in and out of the barn as they please. Lola’s not going to like the thunderstorms no matter where we are, and the forecast has us maxing out at about 20-30 mph winds. Unless there’s a freak tornado, I’m not too worried. I went around and made sure all the gates and stall doors were closed, took down my screen room and rolled up my awning, moved everything out from under the gooseneck to safer places, topped off my batteries, checked my generator, ran into town and filled up my propane tanks, filled up the water tank in the back of the truck, put the car cover on the Buick, lined up the truck with the trailer hitch just in case I felt I needed an extra 6000 lbs. of ballast, and generally got everything battened down. My timing was great, just a short while after I finished, a strong thunderstorm came through, and we weathered it with no problem. Cleared up after that, now we’re in the calm before the storm! Finally settled down for the rest of the day, reading and watching TV, which pretty much is all I’ll probably be doing for the next three days, since they’re calling for a lot of rain coming in, starting tonight. I had hoped to put some more posts out before the storm but ran out of time. I just laid them on the ground, and I’ll think they’ll be fine there. Took my shower early, right after I got done working, and I’m going to be early to rest my back some more. Surprisingly feeling a lot better today, despite all the hard work, so obviously the day off yesterday helped. If I get a whole three days more off, I’ll certainly be in the pink! Though I doubt I’ll be able to do much post installation, it will likely be WAY too wet, but we’ll see! I can always check it out with my original four-wheel drive, aka Flash, once it starts to clear up. Anyway, I’m off to bed! Good night, my darlin’! Love you!

Sunday, Sept. 25, 2022 – Necessary Day Off

Hey Babe,
After a good night sleep, I still woke up in some pain in my lower back and hip, sorry to say. I got up and fed the horses, did some more spraying, and by the time I got back to the trailer, I was in agony again. Managed to get my breakfast done, then stayed in my recliner reading for a few hours, until even that was more than I could stand. Climbed up into my bed and did some stretching and shiatsu massage while reading for a long time. It was after 5:00 by the time I came down, and iced up my back for awhile. I had tried heat this morning, which didn’t help that much, and though the ice helped a little for a short time, it didn’t last. I felt just good enough to spray a few more paddocks in the afternoon, but again, by the time I got back, I was in pain again. Tried to stay comfortable in my chair for the evening, but once I start moving, the transitions are still killing me. I’m hoping that another good night sleep flat in my bed will make a difference tomorrow. I sure hope so. It seems like the hurricane is tracking a lot further west and north, so I’m fairly certain I won’t have to move. They’re only predicting 30 mph winds, tops, probably not even enough for me to take my screen room down! Not sure I could in the shape I’m in anyway. It’s so tiring, being in pain like this! Well, tomorrow is another day, we’ll see how I feel in the morning. Did managed to do my usual Sunday laundry, heading off for my shower and bed now. Good night, darlin’! Love you!

Saturday, Sept. 24, 2022 – Post Painting and Hurricane Preparation

Hi Darlin’,
Still having problems with my back, I’m sure I haven’t been doing it any good with all the physical labor I keep doing, but it usually feels better when I’m moving than when I sit for awhile, it really spasms when I have to get up again. Lots to do, though, today, starting with doing the final painting on the posts, and putting the crosspieces on a couple of them. Ready to put them in, but we’ve had a lot of rain, so it’s going to have to wait till the water levels go down. I think the red, green and teal trail I can do, they seem to stay the driest, but the yellow and white will be tough until we have some dry days. After finishing that, I took off some of the skirting on the trailer, figure even if the hurricane misses us, we’ll probably have enough wind to blow that around too much. Then I took out my new air compressor, and was really impressed for about ten minutes, it brought one of the trailer tires up 20 pounds in that time, then it made a weird sound, and though it kept running, no more air seemed to be coming out. I let it cool down (even though there was nothing in the instructions about overheating, like every other compressor I’ve ever bought), and I thought the downshifting noise was maybe it turning itself off as a precaution, but I waited a long time, then tried it on the Buick tires, and still got nothing, so this one’s going back. I love the design, and even though it’s supposed to go up to 160 psi, I’m guessing it will only do that if there’s no weight on it, so I’m going to have to just roll it onto the Jiffy Jack and fill up the tires when they’re off the ground. I already arranged an exchange, and it’s slated to be here by Monday, which is good, because if I do have to move, I need air in my tires, they’re all about 20 lbs. too low right now. By the end of the day, though, they’re now predicting landfall between Tampa and Pensacola, so I don’t seeing it having any significant impact here. Fingers crossed, because I don’t want to have to move yet! Of course, the new camp hosts are going to be here soon, so I’ll have to move then, but I’ll have more time and less stress to do that. Put some more stuff away, mowed my little patch of grass, put a lot of stuff in the shed, just in case. Then I worked on a little secret project for a couple of hours, which entailed walking around a bunch of the paddocks, so again, more strain on my back. I finally finished that up around 4:00, then settled down for the rest of the day. Finished off my limited series, watched a New Zealand movie, now it’s shower and bedtime for me! Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Friday, Sept. 23, 2022 – Possible Hurricane Coming

Hey Sweetie,
Got word today that there might be a hurricane coming our way (one of the reasons I never really wanted to stay in Florida during the summer!), so of course, everyone’s getting all excited about it. Apparently, I won’t be able to stay here if it comes too close, so my orders today were to start packing everything up, putting stuff away, and getting ready to move if the order comes down. It’s not supposed to get here until late Tuesday or early Wednesday, and the trajectory is completely up in the air right now, but I’m supposed to get prepared anyway. So I cleaned up most of the painting stuff and put it all in the shed, leaving just enough things out to do a little painting tomorrow. My biggest concern is the row of posts I still have left to install, whatever I can’t get in will have to be moved and stored, which will be the biggest pain. I put away a lot of stuff, but I’m not too worried about the screen room and stuff just yet. Frankly, I’d be safer out here than at Jeff’s, he’s got so much junk in his yard, more stuff to get thrown around, but I don’t have much choice. The barn out here is probably safer than his stable as well, but I don’t know what else to do. I’ll wait to see which way it’s going, I might just head somewhere in the opposite direction. I did some research, and with a rig my size, parked, it looks like I can sustain winds well over 100 mph, especially if I’m head on into it. We’ll see. Anyway, that’s how I spent my day, that and running into town for some hurricane preparedness shopping, like topping off my fuel and getting some groceries, water and dog food, which I was low on. Settled down for the evening to a Turkish limited series about a time traveling journalist, now I’m ready for shower and bed. Good night, babe! Love you!

Thursday, Sept. 22, 2022 – Tractor Tire Done, Among Other Things

Hi Babe,
Worked on my shoulder a bit this morning with my massager, and it does seem to be helping. My back was a bit better, but still painful, just less often, so I’m going slowly on everything, but it seems to help to keep moving. After chores and breakfast I ran into town, stopped a the Post Office and picked up a bunch of packages. A little behind-the-seat insulated storage deal so I can carry some water and a few tools with me without taking my little cooler, two new flame dispersal plates for my grill, one from the manufacturer and one from a third party, but I think it’s too small and will likely return it. The big item was a new air compressor/tire inflater. The last ones we had gave up the ghost, so I got a new one. I’m worried about the trailer tires losing a little are, and this one is supposed to go up to 160 psi, so it should handle the 123 I need on those tires, but we’ll see. It’s nice, though, because it works on AC, DC and it has a rechargeable battery as well, so it should be handy. Then I went to the tire place and picked up my tire, at last. Then off to Glenn’s to drop of an extension cord I’m letting him borrow until his electrician can finish wiring in his new spa pump, and to do a little pool cleanup. Then back to camp, where I persuaded a couple of the hunters that had come in earlier to help me get the tire in place, so that worked out well. I wouldn’t usually ask for help, but with my back the way it is, I didn’t want to make it worse by trying to manhandle something that awkward. Tried to replace the flame dispersal plates, could only get two of the four screws out, but I could fit the new one in anyway, so I left it like that. Settled down for the evening, already took my shower, heading to bed right after my Spanish lesson! Good night, darlin’! Love you!

Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2022 – Almost To The Home Stretch

Hiya Darlin’,
A good night sleep, actually woke up early, and then spent about an hour doing a few stretches and using that little shiatsu massager we’ve had for decades. Can’t believe it still works! But it actually helped quite a bit, I felt a lot looser when I got up. Still moving really slowly, still have minor back spasms, but fewer and less painful, so I guess I’ve made progress. After chores I spent some time trying to coordinate the last handful of arrows and guide posts that are left to be done. I finished painting all (hopefully) of the crosspieces, and as much of the remainings posts as I could. Some will need some numbers added, but overall, except for maybe one or two more oddballs, I should just about have all of the posts completed. I was going to pick up my tractor tire, but I’m expecting a package at the post office, and they close early on Wednesday, so I decided to wait until tomorrow. That ended up being a good decision because I need to go up to Glenn’s tomorrow and drop off an extension cord for the pool guy, who’s putting in the new pump for the spa in the afternoon. So mostly a run around day tomorrow. Spent most of the afternoon working on the GPS files for James, got those and the Intersection Post placement shape files to him by end of day. Then spent more than an hour trying to make a plane reservation for next month to Phoenix. What a mess! American Airlines prices were outrageous! And they were going up hundreds of dollars of minute! Plus they had terrible connections. I ended up booking on United. Their connections aren’t that great, I have a couple of long layovers, but at least I go to Houston as my stopover, rather than Charlotte, and it was half the price. I know I’m not paying for it, but still, I’m not going to make my client pay over $3000 for a single flight! Crazy! Anyway, that mostly killed my evening, now I’m ready for my Spanish lesson, my Sleepytime tea, a shower, and bed! Good night, sweetheart! Love you!