Hi Babe!
Got lots done today! Rode Flash all around the southeast portion of the trails that we'll be using, doing a final trim on all but one section which has yet to be mowed. After that ride, Meg, Annie and I went out in the side-by-side and cleared almost all of the middle eastern section, until all of our equipment ran out of battery power. Not much left though. Got back after 4:30 having had a productive day! Settled down for the evening with some more episodes of Haven (I'm really hooked on that last few seasons), and once again planning for an early bedtime! Good night, darlin'! Love you!

Hi Sweetie!
The focus today was to check some more of the trails, do a little clearing and planning for next week's Horseshoe Bend Boogie Endurance Ride. Really beautiful trails here, and it's great that the neighbors are so helpful and willing to let us use some of their fields in between the government properties! There are multiple tracts being used, which creates a lovely diversity on the trails. Flash did a great job, as usual, with only the occasional heavy sigh when I made him stop to do some trimming when he would have preferred to run, but he did make up some speed when we circled some of the fields. My go, go, go guy! Did nearly ten miles today, in about three hours with all the stop-starting. After we got back, I spent a little time gathering all the old forms and documents for the 2022 Ocean to Lake trail ride and sent them all off to the new committee members who are trying to organize the latest rendition of the ride. Then I relaxed a bit in the evening, and that was pretty much it for the day! Good night, babe! Love you!

Hey Darlin',
Another good night sleep, managed to get on the trail by 10:30, mostly just checking some of the other trails, GPSing some trail changes to get an accurate mileage, and also doing a little clipping and pruning along the way. Flash did a brilliant job, as always, but with the occasional heavy sigh when we had to keep stopping. He's so funny! Had his newer boots on, didn't lose anything today, thank goodness, not that the terrain here was difficult. No mud, a few creek crossings, some stony bits and a lot of grass and dirt, so footing wasn't an issue. It is quite lovely here, and the trails are nice. No major blockages, so it was all good! Spent some time working on the trail maps, still not 100 percent finished, but we're working on it! Lost all of the work I did on my Google Earth from the last two days when my stupid computer decided to reboot without asking, a problem which I've tried to remedy many times and haven't been able to accomplish. Grrr! Other than that, it was a beautiful day! Lola's been playing with Meg's big rescue dog and getting a workout, and even started chasing one of her cats! I guess the cosequin is doing a great job! Settled down for the evening, planning on an early bedtime. Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hey Darlin',
Another warm day today, but still lovely in the shade, so after chores and breakfast, plus a not so quick run over to Karen's to add our trash to her pile before it was picked up (where I tried to use the Tractor Supply app to pay from an order online, as she has a good cell phone booster at her house. I was unsuccessful, grrr!), and a short-lived escape by a horse that jumped over the front rail of his stall, broke his lead rope and ran off to the next loop, where someone was able to catch him before I even got there (exactly why I prefer a highline to these little standing stalls), I saddled up Flash and we headed out for a beautiful ride down to the more southern part of the forest. This place truly has some spectacular trails! We went out on Icicle, then took Jumper over to Mike's Rd, then Valley Trail, east on Streamside, then back up to Ridgetop, then west on Streamside to make a figure eight, all gorgeous trails! I ran into a couple, Bill and Sandy (he was riding and she was driving a buggy) and we chatted for quite awhile. Seems we met them here back in 2015, and he remembered quite a bit about us! Nice to know we made an impression! Then we headed out Mike's Road to Pitcher Pond, Spring Creek, then north to Fletcher Trail. Flash had picked up his pace almost as soon as we turned north, but once we hit Fletcher Trail, which is a wide, firm sandy road, it was Katie bar the door! He took off galloping almost all the way back to camp, over 1 1/2 miles!! I didn't mind, it was a slower ride because it was mostly on hilly single tracks, so it was great to have the wind in my hair, literally! We got back to camp, I washed him down and put him on the line, then finally managed to make a Tractor Supply order online in Watertown (Karen's supposed to be going in to pick up her ebike at a shop, and I asked if she would pick up the order for me). There were quite a few new vehicles in camp, and one of my new neighbors is Beth, whom I met last year at Brookfield (she astutely recognized Flash as a Paso, having one herself), so I went and chatted with her. Turns out she and Karen are friends, so when Karen arrived to pick me up to take me to dinner, Beth came along and it was like old home week for them. We went to the Coachlite Inn, about 15 minutes away, had a lovely meal, then took a scenic route home, getting back after 7:00. Fed the horses and settled down for the evening. What a beautiful day! A great ride, a great meal with horse friends, couldn't ask for more on a long summer day! I felt you all around me today, our love for this place hasn't diminished one bit! Love you, sweetie! Good night!

Hiya Sweetie,
Another early wake up, but I managed to get back to sleep for a bit, then read and did my PT. I had just gotten up and was in the bathroom when I got a knock at my door, I guess since I hadn't stuck my head out yet my neighbors were compelled to check up on me. I guess early birds don't get those of us that thrive on a theatre schedule! Anyway, I got everybody taken care of, did a few things around the house, then saddle up Apollo put Lola in her orange vest, and away we went! We had a lovely ride, nearly 5.5 miles! I had given Apollo a bute pill with his breakfast, and it did seem to make him more comfortable, though he was still a bit stiff at first, at least until he was startled by a deer and he flung himself in the opposite direction in a hurry! Once his adrenaline got up like that, he improved! Looking forward to the joint treatments I've been giving him to kick in. We went down Blue Jog to Confusion Flats, then Florence to Cow to Homebound, a very nice loop that was all flat and pretty good footing except for some pine roots, so perfect for my old guy. Love to see that he keeps moving, despite the fact that he's 29 years old now! Spent the rest of the day mostly reading, then binge-watched some more Havens. The stories are really getting interesting now, the writing much more complex and thought-provoking. Anyway, it was another beautiful day here in way Upstate NY! Love Otter Creek! Life is good! Good night, baby! Love you!

Hi Sweetie!
Another late morning, but got some stuff done before saddling Flash and heading out around 12:30. Today we decided to do some trails up north, so we picked the farther loop on Beach Mill and Payne Lake, Frost Pocket and Cleveland and just had ourselves a great old time. He was in good spirits today, and we did a lot of gaiting. When it came time to head south again, he decided to become an endurance horse and we galloped, cantered and largoed most of the way back to camp. We did nearly 15.5 miles in less than four hours, so we made some good time. I think I finally have my left stirrup in the right place now, back to pre-surgery levels. I had lengthened it because it was more comfortable, but it has been a bit long, putting me a little out of balance, but halfway through the ride, I pulled it up another notch, and I think it's perfect now. I also tried out a new saddle pad I bought for the Yellowstone trip, and it certainly did feel comfortable! Not taking any chances after that hard saddle on the Red Rock Ride last year! I also took my new (old) camcorder, it was wonderful to get back to one handed photography. I put in a 128 gig micro SD card, and I have another 32 gig, which I trust will be more than enough for all the pix and videos I want to take in Yellowstone. Got back to camp around 4:00, relaxed for a bit before heading into town to meet Karen at her favorite restaurant, Tony Harper's, a nice little Italian joint. I had a calzone with sausage and pepper, but there wasn't very much in there, mostly just lots of ricotta cheese, so not the best I've ever had. Need to order pizza next time! But I ate half, which was more than I needed, and of course, I couldn't drive home without stopping at Mary's for a mini twist frozen custard cone, so tomorrow I'm going to pay for it on the scale for sure! Well, gotta indulge every once in a while! Got back to camp, did my chores, then sat with the neighbors for awhile at their campfire. Looks like it's going to rain overnight, so I'll be closing up before going to bed, which will be soon! Good night, babe! Love you!

Hiya Sweetie,
Getting back into my theatre schedule, late to bed, late to rise. That's what happens when I'm parked in deep shade rather than a wide open field! The horses are loving the new, giant hay bags I bought, even though they're slow feeders, and they're lasting all day, as planned. I finally decided to give up on fixing my camcorder, so I ordered the same kind, though refurbished since they don't make them anymore, at twice the price I remember we paid ten years ago! But that one gave us good service for a long time, and I need a good camera for my Yellowstone trip. The newer models are much bigger and heavier, so I wasn't interested in those, even though the pix might be a bit better. Not printing them up, so it doesn't really matter. Once I got that decision made, I then made arrangements to go pick up hay from the Mennonite family that Karen recommended, aka Tim the Hay Man. He had just baled his second cutting yesterday, and for $4 a bale, I got as much as I could hold in my trailer and use until the end of the week. Green and lovely, just as you would expect! Haymakers have been having a hard time this year, it's been so rainy, but the last few days have been perfectly dry, so fields are buzzing with activity. I picked up an extra three bales for Karen and dropped them off at her house, to replace the three she gave me a few days ago. I also stopped at the meat market for more garlic cheese curds, some lemonade, and a pigs ear for Lola. Got back to camp and put them all away, with a few under the gooseneck to finish off. Finally got around to saddling Apollo for a gorgeous four mile ride, starting on Shady Trail, then Hiawatha, Glenwood, Twin Ponds, Icicle and Blue Jog. Lola came along, and I figured she's head into one of the Twin Ponds, but I couldn't persuade her to go in. Apollo stumbled a lot, there are a lot of pine roots out here, but mostly I think it was his arthritis. I've started him on a MSM/Chondroitin routine, but it hasn't kicked in yet, I'm hoping that will help. Gotta keep this old guy moving whenever I can! Got back to camp just after 4:00, trimmed his front hooves, then settled down for the evening. My phone has now been charged four times with one of the battery banks I bought, so I'm gaining confidence that I can make it through Yellowstone with enough power to keep things charged up. Meanwhile, I've been having trouble livestreaming today, though I don't know why. I'm seriously considering a Starlink once I come back from my vacation, it gets so frustrating not being able to get online when I want. Anyway, time for my evening ablutions and bed! Good night, baby! Love you!

Hi Babe!
Had a fitful night sleep, until I pulled out my extra throw blanket! I was too cold to be comfortable, even with my wool cap on, until I did that! I slept fine after that. It's so shady here, it's hard to get up at the crack of dawn, so it was more like 8:30 when I finally got moving, though I did do some PT exercises and read for awhile. Spent some time taking apart my camcorder to see if I could fix it, not sure it's doable. I'm missing a screw on the door spring hinge, and don't have one to replace it handy, though I think tomorrow I might pull out one of my many old laptops and see if I can find one that fits. There might also be some damage to the electronics band that moves with that hinge, which is keeping the monitor from working. I can actually record video, which I tested from the SD card, but not photos, apparently, and the monitor is blank, so I may have more problems that that, but I'll try anyway! I'd really rather have a separate camcorder rather than do everything with my phone, so I may have to buy another one. Oh, well! Finally saddled up Flash and hit the trails about 12:20, on a gorgeous day! A bit cool in the woods, but finally warmed up by late in the afternoon. Had to wear my Red Rock denim jacket to stay warm! I decided to do the Blueberry Trail clockwise (so far, I've only done it counterclockwise once before), and it is truly a stunning ride. We took Fletcher Trail, Florence Pond Trail, Crooked Creek Trail (we had two creek crossings), then picked up Blueberry after a short stint on a road. We came across signs for Trailside Restaurant which didn't look like they were that old, so I thought maybe they had reopened it (I had heard they shut it down), and Google said they were open, so we took a detour just to see for ourselves. Sorry to say, Google had it very wrong, not open, empty, and looks like it has been for a long while. I think they shut down during Covid and never reopened. Anyway, we headed back, took a wrong turn and ended up meandering along a lot of private roads until we finally had to just about go cross country to get back on track. No worries, Flash is a bulldozer! We ended up going over 14.6 miles, and we cantered the last couple of miles, except one stop to let a couple of kids say hello, though Flash had his adrenaline up so he wasn't standing as calmly as usual. As soon as we finished there, we took off again. What a rush! Love that horse! Got back to camp, put him away, then went to visit with the gals at the end again, who then came down and had a tour of the trailer and bought a book. Went back to chat for a bit, then got a text from Karen that she had my special order Sweigels white hots (six pounds!) and a package, so I ran down there and got that, came back and had dinner and settled down for the evening. Got involved with trying to solve my camcorder problem again, there's still a couple of things I want to try tomorrow. Anyway, tea time, shower and bed soon! Good night, darlin'! Love you!

Hiya Darlin',
A cool morning, down in the low 50's, a refreshing change from the heat wave we've been having! Decided to run my couple of errands this morning to let it warm up, so I drove down to town, dropped off another return to Amazon, picked up a bag of All Stages (which the Tractor Supply was finally able to get in from another store, as they didn't have any, despite their website saying they had forty bags! Not a very well managed store!), then got back to camp just after 11:00. Had Flash saddled and out on the trail before 11:30. I decided to follow the trails where I might find the missing halter one of the ladies from the parade had lost, down Icicle and Erie Canal, but no luck. Ran into Carol and her friend, they hadn't seen it either. We reached the river and crossed it, then headed west on Eatonville Trail, crossed over Otter Creek and too the trail of the same name, then turned north on another loop and left the forest to go along a road until we picked up Hiawatha trail back to camp, just under fourteen miles in all. I had forgotten how rocky it was on some of those trails, not to mention the gravel roads, and felt bad that I hadn't brought Flash's boots along, but one is so stretched it keeps falling off, and the new one I ordered isn't due until next week, so there wasn't much I could do. I'll check his feet tomorrow and make sure there isn't any (or much) stone bruising. He'll get a couple of days off anyway. Today was absolutely gorgeous, perfect weather once it warmed up a bit, and it was a fantastic ride, as always here at Otter Creek. Got the horses settled, and even played a little fetch with Lola. I've been giving her Cosequin since Tennessee, and it seems to be working, she's moving around better, though she only retrieved the ball a couple of times. Still, I'm happy to see any improvement at her age! Had myself dinner and a little TV, won't be long out of bed! Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hi Babe,
I keep waking up at the crack of dawn, and when I'm lucky, manage to fall asleep for a little bit longer, though not too much this morning. That's okay, I had a busy day. After chores and breakfast, I saddled up Apollo, and Lola and I headed out for a short ride. Apollo was stumbling a bit for awhile, but eventually loosened up enough to do a little jogging. I took him on mostly flat trails at first to get him warmed up, which I think helped. We did cut it shorter than I had planned, though, because Lola seemed to be struggling a bit. We ended up going just over three miles. At least the big guy is still moving! Once I got him put away, Lola and I headed into town to do a bunch of errands. I'm returning some pants I ordered from Amazon, dropped of the final check to the Yellowstone outfitter, got fuel at the ridiculous price of $4.19/gallon, picked up some joint stuff for Apollo and propane at Tractor Supply, but once again disappointed in the management there. Their website said they had 40 bags of the All Stages that I feed Flash, but they actually had NONE. Now we're back to getting some sent over from another store IF they have someone available to do that! Very poorly managed. Then to Walmart for some of my usual items, then a stop at Millers Meat Market for some garlic cheese curds (my new favorite snack whenever I'm up here), and a last stop at Mary's Dairy Bar, where they have superb frozen custard, which I've been looking forward to ever since I crossed the Mason/Dixon line, but haven't been able to find yet. A small twist cone (chocolate and vanilla swirled) was all I needed, and I called that dinner. Well, except for a couple of slice of bacon and a few cheese curds later, anyway. Had some visitors come by, a lady named Carol whom I had met several times previously around different horse camps in NYS, including Sugar Hill and Phillips Point, and we had a lovely chat along with another of her friends. Small world! Finally fed the horses and settled down for the evening, later than usual, but still daylight! Headed to bed shortly. Love you darlin'! Good night!