Hiya Darlin',
After a good night sleep and chores, I got everything ready to go to Tidewater to remove a tree on the trail and to put ribbons up on the trail I hope will become the new purple "off the road," and even got Flash loaded up in the trailer, I went to start the truck and the battery was flat as a pancake! I couldn't even jump it with my little battery jumper! Fortunately there was a woman in the parking area who agreed to jump me, and after a few minutes, I did get it started. Unfortunately, now there is something seriously wrong with my electronics. Before doing anything, I checked my brake controller, and it was back to not working properly, so I disconnected it. Then I noticed that the interior lights of the truck were on, though I don't remember seeing them on before, but I thought maybe that was what caused the flat battery. Then I noticed that almost none of the dash gauges were working, except the speedometer and RPM gauge. Even the power windows and door locks weren't working! Obviously, they're not all on the same fuse, (which I checked several and they were fine), so evidently I have a more serious problem. Nevertheless, the truck seemed to be running fine, so I headed out, stopping at the gas station to put a little fuel in, only because my fuel gauge wasn't working and I couldn't remember how much I had left. I think half a tank, but I didn't want to be sorry, so I put in $20, just to be safe. Got down to Tidewater, got Flash saddled up and headed out right around noon. Later than what I had hoped, but it was a gorgeous day, so I didn't mind the late start. Headed out the yellow trail for the 6.25 miles ride to where Jo had said the downed tree was, and found a limb hung up in a tree first, cleared that, then went a little further and found the actual tree she was talking about. I managed to clear some of it, but the main trunk was way too big for my chainsaw, so I had to leave it. It wouldn't be possible to anything other than a swamp buggy or the big tractor back here, so I'll have to arrange with Rick to get a bigger chainsaw for that. Fortunately, it's not very far off the main road, so it won't take long once the logistics are worked out. Once that was done, I headed over to the section of purple trail that is by the side of the road, even going cross country at one point just to save some time, landing exactly where I wanted. Then I went up and down the area where I'd like to see the Purple Trail rerouted to get it away from the road, putting up ribbons, then adjusting them, back and forth a couple of times to make sure I had it pretty well set. Finally headed back to the trailhead, with Flash quite happy to canter for long stretches as we headed home! Ended up doing 16 miles today. Very happy the truck started, and made it back home just around 5:00. Rinsed him off, fed both horses, then me, then settled down for a few episodes of my latest binge-watch, Northern Exposure. I remember really enjoying it when it came out, it's nice to revisit the quirky characters. Finishing off with tea, Lorna Doones, Spanish, shower and bed! Good night, babe! Love you!

Hey Darlin'!
I wake up every morning with a grateful heart, but some days, like today, are just so incredibly good!! After a good night sleep, chores and breakfast, I hooked up with Bev and friends and headed out on the trail. We chatted along the way, until green and orange split, they took the green and I took the orange, which is the very last trail here at Goethe that I had left to perform maintenance on. Flash was in a great mood, moving out well in between spots that needed attention. I put up a few markers, slapped a few dots on some old markers, pulled down a few vines that were blocking markers, and picked up a few beer cans and one water bottle. Got back to camp in plenty of time to give Apollo a good rinse, with time to let him dry, grabbed a few carrots and nuts for a snack, then piled him into the little trailer for another trip to Chi University. I wasn't sure how Apollo would behave, sometimes he can be a bit ornery, but he was absolutely perfect! Even better than Flash on a couple of adjustments! I explained that I just wanted to make sure that at 28 years old, he was still okay to ride, and they him flying colors! They actually couldn't find anything wrong with him that needed special attention (which maybe wasn't the best example for teaching purposes!), but they did a few adjustments and admired what good shape he was in. They said to just keep doing what I'm doing with him, it's obviously working! Got back to camp, had some dinner, then went over to Bev's campfire for awhile before coming back for my tea and shortbread, shower and bed! Good night, baby! Love you!

Hiya Darlin',
Had a good night sleep, woke up refreshed enough to get up early. Started some laundry, did a little housekeeping, then saddled up Flash and was on the trail before 11:00. Today was the green trail, refurbishing stickers, adding a number of markers at intersections that were poorly marked, putting up signs that had fallen down, and general trail maintenance. Had a bit of extra exercise when, after tying Flash to a tree, I turned around and he was gone. Evidently, I forgot to stick the tail through the loop, ignoring the little voice in my head telling me to. I knew he would head for camp, so I just started walking the shortest path, more than a mile, and caught up to him just as he was approaching camp. He actually stopped for a second when I yelled whoa, but then Apollo whinnied and started up again. He hadn't even reached his hay by the time I got to him, he and Apollo were just nuzzling. After a quick break, I mounted again and headed back to where we were and finished the trail, so he didn't gain anything except a couple more miles of exercise. Surely I'll lose some weight today, still trying to get rid of the holiday five I added last month! I did a quick rasp of his front feet before putting him away, did a bit more laundry, and finally settled down to more of The Crown and dinner with an ice pack on my foot, which still aches a bit when I overwork it. A front came through with some rain, and a cold front is headed our way so temps will be cooler again this week, which is why I wanted to get that trail done today. One have the orange trail left to do! Headed for bed here shortly! Good night, babe! Love you!

Hey Babe,
Despite being so tired from all the activity yesterday, I still had a lot of trouble falling asleep, so I woke up a bit tired this morning. Did my usual chores, had a breakfast that was mostly strawberries and milk with just a few bit of frosted mini-wheats thrown in, which was absolutely delicious! I watched all the campers packing up (all four spots were taken last night), read for a little bit, then finally mustered enough energy to saddle up Apollo for a ride. It's been awhile,and he's obviously getting bored, so I took him on a bit of a longer ride. He behaved himself for the most part, except one section where he refused to go, so I had to get down and walk a short ways to get him past whatever it was. The rest of the five plus miles went smoothly, but I noticed the Blue Long trail here is marked as six miles, but it's really just barely over five. We did it in under two hours, and I was happy to see the trail was in good shape, with just a couple of small things that might need attention, but not much. Once we got back, I trimmed his front feet, but I was too tired to do his back feet, I'll tackle them next time. Settled down in my recliner and started to read, but ended up falling asleep for a couple of hours! Finally woke up enough to feed the horses and settled down for the evening, continuing to binge-watch The Crown so I can finally cancel Netflix, though I think there's another season of Outlander that's come out, so I'll probably finish with that. Won't be long out of bed tonight, despite my nap this afternoon! Good night, sweetheart! Love you!

Hey Babe!
Had a good night sleep last night, woke up at a reasonable hour, read for a bit this morning, waiting for the rain to stop. The forecast said it would all be over by about noon, so I got Flash ready to go and loaded into the trailer by 11:00 and headed down to the HQ. Met with Logan about the map-making, then headed out into the forest to find a couple of downed trees that had been reported in advance of the next big equestrian event here, the Gator Run. Found them both, but was only able to remove one, the other one was just a tad too big for my little chainsaw, so I'll have to get one of the guys and a bigger chainsaw out here to take care of that. No hurry, we have almost two weeks before the ride. Unfortunately, the forecast was wrong again, and it drizzled on us until nearly 3:30, so it wasn't exactly ideal riding conditions, but we made it through, thanks to the nice, bright yellow poncho Jo gave me after her ride in December. I also picked up some restroom supplies that I needed, my storeroom is getting a little low on paper essentials. Got back to camp around 4:00, got Flash settled, then settled down myself for the evening. I've decided I want to cancel Netflix, I'm tired of their movie collection, it just seems to center on so much violence and language, I'm just going to stick with Prime, but before I go, I wanted to catch up on some of the TV series that have added seasons since I last watched, like Heartland and the Crown. Once they're done, I'm gone. Prime did raise their fees for their new category of "ad-free" (which used to be included, but now I have to pay extra), but it's worth it because I get so much more out of Prime than just the video stream. Anyway, it was a productive day, we rode over nine miles, so Lola got some exercise, too, though she was pretty reluctant to get out of the truck at first. Once she got going she was fine, it was just trying to get her moving that was the trouble. Sort of like me these days! So a productive day, a pleasant evening, and looking forward to shower and bed! Good night, Sweetheart! Love you!

Hi Babe!
Another fine night sleep, and it wasn't long after breakfast and chores when I got busy finishing off sealing the two sinks. A better job than last time, I think, though still not quite professional grade, but then again, you get what you pay for! Did a pretty thorough cleaning of the public restrooms, what with campers coming in. Rick stopped by to pick up garbage and we chatted for a few minutes. Once all that was done, I saddled up Flash for a ride. I have seen a couple of wooden signs sitting on the ground for a very long time, and decided it was high time to nail them back up, so we headed over to the blue trail and knocked them back where they belonged, then I decided I just wanted to do a purely recreational ride, to observe rather than repair, so we headed out on the green trail. It was very illuminating! I've always been so busy putting up temporary markers for endurance rides that I haven't really been paying much attention to the permanent markers, and I found A LOT of places, especially intersections, that need better markings. A lot of the dots need to be freshened up as well. So I guess my next work day will be the green trail here in Black Prong. I'll need to do them all before I finish here this year. Flash did a great job, I think he really enjoyed a ride where he wasn't being stopped every 100 yards! We did a lot off gaiting, and he also did some galloping and cantering as well, so despite stopping to fix the signs, we were back in camp in less than two hours after doing nearly 8.5 miles. It was a beautiful day, absolutely perfect weather! Seventy degrees, partly cloudy, light breeze, just fantastic! Exactly the kind of weather we come to Florida in the winter for! Finally settled down for the evening, watched a rodeo movie, made up a batch of my special recipe chicken for dinner at George and Margarita's tomorrow so it can marinate overnight, and now I'm ready for shower and bed! Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hey Darlin',
Slept better last night, thank goodness, got a busy start to the morning with chores and laundry, then saddled up Flash to go pick up markers from the ride yesterday. Had arranged with Tom to pick up everything between my camp and the first road crossing, about 14 miles round trip, and I got all of them done one way and was on my way back when I ran into someone else picking up all the markers that I was supposed to be getting! Evidently, no one communicated to them that I would be getting them, and that they just needed to start south of the road, so then I didn't have any markers to follow back to camp, and they wasted their time picking up markers I was already going to get. So bad communications equaled wasted time for both of us, two of my hot button pet peeves. Grrr! Anyway, I got back to camp, did more laundry, cleaned the restrooms after the ride, and naturally, ten seconds after I mopped the floor, a biker showed and had to use it, so I had to mop it again. Oh, well. It was a beautiful day, I just wished I had been able to relax a bit more. My back is aching for some reason, I'm thinking about taking the day off tomorrow, but we'll see what transpires. Meanwhile, I had a nice salmon dinner, watched an interesting movie about two women running an illegal coupon business, now I'm ready for shower and bed. Good night, babe! Love you!

Hiya Sweetie,
Another good night sleep, woke up a bit early, worked on my shoulder a bit. The pain is very isolated now, and every time I work it, it improves, but we're not quite 100 percent yet. Finally got up and did my chores, felt tired from all the hard work yesterday, but finally managed to get myself motivated, got all Apollo's gear in the little trailer, and was just about to leave when Jeff H. showed up. We chatted for a few minutes, then I headed out to Tidewater, finally got on the trail about 1:00. We only had to finish one small section of yellow and then go on to what was left of the blue trail, and it all came to less than six miles. Took awhile, though, what with trimming and clearing and putting up the occasional sign that had fallen down. Apollo did a pretty good job, though, never smelled any pigs, and once I reminded him to listen to me a few times, he ended up being well-behaved. Can't solve a horse problem leaving the horse at home, right? So it turned out to be a relatively nice ride for us. At least the weather was nice, finally warmed up! Shortly before I got to camp I got a text from Connie C. that someone had taken a fall and his horse was loose, and asked me to post it in the Goethe Facebook Group, so I did. Got back to camp and was on my way home when word came it had been found and retrieved. Put Apollo away, rinsed out the small trailer and parked it, then settled down for the evening. A nice day, so glad it's back to typical Florida temps! It's temporary, colder in the forecast, but I'll take it whenever I can get it! Meanwhile, good night, darlin'! Love you!

Hey Darlin',
Had plenty of sleep again last night, so I woke up nice and rested, did my chores, and found the parking lot filling up with forest folks. Evidently there's a burn scheduled for 80 acres north of here. I posted a notice on the Facebook page for Goethe, then hooked up the trailer and headed to Tidewater with Flash. There's a big event this weekend and I wanted to do a good trail clearing session, and boy, did I ever! Exhausted this evening! Did a lot of heavy trimming along with a few new stickers, and was out there for over five hours, finished over 16 miles of trail, so it's no wondered I'm tired. It was after 6:00 by the time I got back, got Flash settled and fed the horses. I warmed up some leftovers and settled down for the evening, looking forward to getting to bed early. I felt like I needed some physical activity, and I sure got it today! Good night, babe! Love you!

Hi Darlin',
Had a great night sleep, slept right through to the alarm this morning! Had a busy morning with chores and preparing the chicken for dinner at Jo's tonight. I had gotten up early so I could ride the entire orange long trail out of Apex, which means, except for the two cutoffs on orange and green, I've been on every designated trail out here. Yay! Thankfully, it was a lot drier, though there were still quite a few puddles and creeks, but nothing that lasted a hugely long time. Of course, all week the forecast had no rain for today, until this morning when it suddenly jumped to 60 percent. I took my new yellow Goethe poncho with me, and had to pull it out and use it when the rain started to come down a bit. Not real bad, but it was enough to get wet! I only put on a few stickers, cut a few odds and ends that were sticking out on the trail, etc., but once it started raining, I cut it short and headed straight to camp. As it turned out, I got there just in time to get Flash settled in the trailer and parked in front of the HQ for the 1:00 meeting there with Helen, Jo and Rick. Jo was a bit late, but we all had a nice chat while we were waiting. Helen remembered me, even said she had looked me up and was impressed by what I'd done. I was very flattered! We all had a nice chat, Jo presented the checks, one to the forest and one to Operation Outdoor Freedom, the two groups that are the beneficiaries of the December ride. Afterward I headed back to camp for a bit, then gathered all my stuff and headed over to Jo's, where we had a fabulous evening eating, drinking white Russians, and chatting until after 8:00. I got back to camp and fed the horses, blanketing them for 35 degree weather, though Apollo took exception and managed to kick me in the shins in his objection. We had words, then I had to put an ice pack on my leg for the rest of the evening. Watched one quick episode of Eureka before settling down to my usual Spanish lesson (600 day streak!!) and shower, then bed. Goodnight, babe! Love you!