Hiya Darlin',
Glad to have another good night sleep, up with the alarm, fed the animals and did my morning chores, and just after breakfast, met up with Ranger Rick and a few of the Forest crew as they switched out vehicles so that we could have a truck with a dump bed for today's chore. We had just a single volunteer show up, which, considering the short notice, I was very grateful for. Turned out to be perfect with the three of us, pulling posts and loading them up into the dump bed, switching off drivers as we moved north along the road. We managed to pick up more than 75 posts, most of which were still in the ground, a good start towards our goal. It only took us a bit over an hour to get them all collected and dumped into the trailhead. Our volunteer Dwight headed out at about 11:00, then Rick and I went down to the HQ to look for some signs and other sundry items, then stopped for lunch at Willards, then headed up to Watermelon Pond and Bailey's Mine, two more remote areas of the forest that I had never seen. Some interesting possibilities at both places, with their only drawback of not have much in the way of horse trails, but with some great possibilities not yet realized. Got back to camp, where Rick had managed to find the port for the sewer tank, so I strung some hose so that now my gray water will go directly into the sewer field, thank goodness. Even better, we got down my portable sewer tank from my "attic", so now I can empty my blackwater tank, and I don't have to freeze my butt off going into the public restroom anymore, since I now have a way to contain my sewer output! Yeah! Small things that make my life so much easier! Progress was made on many fronts today, so I'm a happy camper today! Had a good dinner, watched a great movie "Bank of Dave", now I'm ready for shower and bed! Great day! Good night, babe! Love you!

Hiya Sweetheart,
Another good night sleep, some computer work, then off to the dentist to have a cavity filled, something they didn't have time for last time I was there. For once, it was the only stop we had in town! Got back and spent/wasted two hours with Quicken Support trying to figure out why one of my accounts simply refuses to download, but they had no solution and ended up saying it was the credit card company's fault, only to discover hours later that I actually had TWO accounts that weren't updating, so now I'm more convinced than ever that it's a problem with Quicken, so that's going to be yet another exercise, though probably not tomorrow. That chat lasted until dusk, so I was feeding the horses as it was getting dark, so dinner was late as well. Sigh... Finally sort of settled down for the evening, though I don't feel at all relaxed after dealing with all that stuff. Anyway, day is done, time for Spanish, shower and bed! Good night, my darlin'! Love you!

Hi Darlin',
Finally had a really good night sleep, and felt better this morning, but still not as energetic as I would like, so I decided to just take it easy today. Puttered a little bit, putting a few things away, making satin balls for Lola and a few odds and ends like that. I spent some time putting together my time sheet for the volunteer work I've been doing, did some reading and computer games, swept the public restrooms, finally settled down to a lovely dinner of grilled lamb chops, asparagus and some leftover stuffing. First time I've used the grill since I've been here, even though I set it up as soon as I got here! Can't believe another year has gone by so quickly. I don't have much planned for this year, other than the Red Rock Ride in June (finishing on our 35th anniversary!), so I'm wide open to whatever comes my way. Meanwhile, I'll keep living the trailrider's dream, with you in my heart always! Love you, babe! Good night!

Hey Babe,
Woke up tired this morning, I guess all the activity, or more likely being out in the cold for so long, has worn me down a bit. I felt like going back to bed after feeding the horses, but instead I forced myself to get a few things done. Started a couple of loads of laundry and did some computer work until it was time to take my shower (which I had skipped the last two nights, so I was ready!), before getting dressed and heading out. First to Jo's to finally drop off the ribbons from her ride, and so Lola could run around with her pups for a bit, then to George and Margarita's around the corner, they had invited me over for a mid-afternoon dinner, and we had a great time catching up. We never lack for conversation between us! Got back to camp right at dusk, got the horses fed and settled down for the evening. Been having a little trouble with my internet for streaming, so it was start/stop for awhile. I gave up on the movie I was watching because of it, but I'm too tired to worry about it tonight. Just have to make the bed, then I'll be in sleepy land, hopefully! Heading that way soon! Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hiya Sweetie,
Had another day at the Goethe Gallivant, not too busy but had a lot of catching up to do from the morning activities before I got there. I finally started to get a handle on the process by about midday, something that would have been much quicker with a little training, but everyone pitched in to help get to the end goal. Made some good contacts for upcoming events, though, and to which might lead to bigger and brighter things in the future. I was very glad that I brought a couple of space heaters, it was very cold again today and having those at my feet made all the difference between being comfortable and being miserable! I added several layers, including long johns, and it was better, but it was still a cool day until the sun came out, but it's so wooded there, it only lasted for a short time. Anyway, it was a fulfilling day, the horses and Lola were glad to see my return, which was 8:00, a bit later than I had expected, but got everyone settled in, then did the same for myself. Eggnog with bourbon (with ice cream) was the order of the evening! Heading to bed very soon. Good night, my darlin'! Love you!

Hey Darlin',
Woke up to a chilly morning, in the upper 40's, but it's going to be another ten degrees colder tomorrow morning, supposedly, so I can't complain! Wrapped up in a turtleneck, several layers and my Alaskan parka, I got the horses fed, did my morning chores, then drove down to Tidewater to help out. First thing I did was help Jo crew her horse, the plastic shoes she puts on had a few loose fasteners (they glue on little fingers that grip the outside of the hoof), then she was off. Didn't have too much to do until the afternoon when folks started registering for tomorrow. Handled a bunch of little problems, like having to drag out Cheryl's printer to copy more Waivers because we out, and I had to make up a lot of the ride cards because they hadn't been prepared in advance. Folks came to collect their prizes in the afternoon, so there wasn't much of an awards ceremony (none, actually), and the ride meeting was short and sweet, though probably not real helpful for all but the most experienced riders. Oh, well. Not the way I would do things, but it's not my system. That said, I don't have plans to go in to register at 6:30 in the morning tomorrow, either, they'll just have to handle it without me, like they did this morning. Most folks got checked in, but there were still a few missing when I left tonight. Anyway, not quite so busy today, and there was a cold wind that had me keeping all my layers on, including my moose ear muffs and my Alaska parka, and even then I felt cold with the wind chill. Tomorrow I'm wearing long johns, huge gloves, and a wool cap! Brrrr! Anyway, got home around 7:00, fed and blanketed the horses, watched a one hour, skipped my shower, and am heading to bed shortly! Good night, babe! Love you!

Hi Babe,
Had a busy day helping out at another endurance ride, this one over two days, run by Cheryl V.D., and with all kinds of different lengths including 100 miles, though only about 30 riders each day. I didn't mark the trails here, but I did help with some gofer stuff, like parking trailers and helping with registration, so the day flew by. Cheryl organizers her rides very differently than Jo, generally waiting until the last minute to do things because they seem to be in a constant state of flux, whereas Jo is a planner, everything done as much in advance as possible, so that was quite a challenge to try to change methods. The first rides are tomorrow morning, but I don't need to be there too early, which I'm glad about. Lots of faces are starting to look very familiar, it's a lot of the same crowd at these endurance rides, and I'm even finally starting to learn some names, though most folks have seen me at two or three rides now, so many of them seem to know me now. I stayed for the dinner and ride meeting, finally getting back to camp about 7:30, settled down for a short evening, and I'll be heading to bed here shortly. Love you, sweetie! Good night!

Hiya Sweetie!
What a busy, productive day! Got up by 8:00, did my chores, made arrangements to pick up 15 bales of hay at an actual haymaker rather than a feed store, for the first time in quite awhile. I've been buying it at Tractor Supply in town for $11.50 a bale, which is the cheapest I've been able to find, but this haymaker was selling bales for just $8, and the bales were at least 30 percent bigger, and it was nice hay for coastal, so it was a much better deal all around! Went to Walmart after that and did a little shopping, didn't need much, then Tractor Supply for feed and another couple of washers to finish fixing Apollo's hay bag, then a short walk over to Publix where I succumbed to temptation and got not one but two little cartons of my favorite eggnog ice cream, since it was on sale. Jo happened to see my truck while I was at Tractor Supply, so she came in and found me and we chatted a bit. finally got back to camp and spent some time putting everything away, surprised myself by fitting all 15 bales under the gooseneck, thought I would have to store some in my usual place in the front stall, but didn't have to, thank goodness. Be tough to get it in since I can't reach it with the truck. Well, that took some time to do. Once that was done, I finished sorting the last of the ribbons so they're ready to go, and then went about mending Apollo's feedbag, again. He keeps chewing through the bottom! I sewed a patch of material once before, but it was just cotton and he chewed through that as well, so this time I bought some faux leather vinyl, the strongest thing I could find in Walmart, and sewed that into the bottom. Hopefully that will last a long time. I decided to make my favorite chicken recipe again, but this time I had a deep pan, and instead of a whole chicken, I took a package of boneless chicken thighs and spread it all over them, then covered it with aluminum foil. I don't know how it did it, but somehow it boiled over in the oven, again, making a huge mess, again!! I can't understand how it did that, the chicken with the sauce didn't even fill the pan halfway! Anyway, that took time to clean up, and I'll still need to do it again tomorrow, and some of it dripped into the drawers below, again, so that will take come cleaning as well. But, I have to say, the chicken was delicious! Settled down to another Christmas movie, a modern holiday version of Groundhog Day, which was okay. Just need my shower before I get to bed! Good night, my darlin'! Love you!