Hiya Darlin',
Had an excellent night sleep, with my bedroom starting at 71 degrees, but by morning it was down to 45, so bit challenging to get out of my warm and toasty, flannel-sheeted bed! Fortunately, my RV repair guy was here by 10:00, and he worked on it for awhile, then had to go and come back again, twice, but finally got it working. I should have just bought all of the parts to replace everything when I was working on it before, and it would have save me some money, but I'm just happy it seems to be finally working correctly. Very chilly, sub-freezing temps this morning, and will be again tomorrow, but at least now I can set the thermostat and not be freezing in the morning. Art picked me up at 6:30 for a New Years Party at the Ripleys, and it was really fun. Everyone wore silly hats and crowns, and got a sticker on their back of some character or person that they had to ask questions (with yes or no answers) to try to figure out who it was. It was tougher than you might think, but it was fun. Then we counted down to midnight on the Sandwich Islands, occupied by penguins (9:00 our time), and celebrated. Before that, though, Melissa played a couple of things on the piano, and then I offered up my Man From Snowy River monolog for entertainment, which was greatly appreciated. It was a lovely party, and though I'm not usually all the sociable, it was a good time had by all. Got back to camp around 10:00, turne up the furnace to warm it up, and will soon be showering and once again snuggling into my flannel sheets! Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hey Sweetie,
A better night sleep, and I woke up late to a chilly morning. I drove around camp taking down the last of the signs and making sure everything was cleaned up. There wasn't enough hay around to collect, which my horses would normally have enjoyed, but no can do today! Art arrived about 11:00 and we headed out into the woods to try to find a GPS transponder that someone lost out on the trail yesterday. We had been given the coordinates, but no joy, though Lola enjoyed her time out there! We also took the opportunity to lock up the gates I had opened up for the ride. Shortly afterward, I was sent out to pick up some of the remaining water tubs, which I dropped off by Kelsey's (the trailmaster) truck at Tidewater. By the afternoon, my energy was running on empty, but I had to get propane, and Tractor Supply was out, again, to I went to Dunnellon Feed and Seed for the second time in a week! My RV repair guy wasn't able to get out to me tonight, so I've been running the generator since about 4:00, trying to get the trailer warm enough to make it as far into the night as possible. I had hoped to relax during the day, but that was not the case! I did managed to watch a little TV, though it was a struggle, with lots of buffering, until I finally gave up. Won't be long out of bed! Good night, babe! Love you!

Hey Darlin',
Another busy and exhausting day. Didn't sleep very well last night, probably due to the amount of pasta and carbohydrates I ate last night, was up bright and early and at my registration station by about 7:30. The whole day was about registration, prizes, tallying and otherwise keeping busy. Hard to describe all the different hats I wore today! That's kind of what makes this volunteer work so interesting, I never know what's going to be sorted out next! It culminated when the ride manager had just barely come off her ride by the time the after supper meetings were to begin, so I ended up doing the awards ceremony, handing out prizes (with Jo's help) while Cheryl had time to finish her dinner. She took over, I went back to computer work so the ride list would be ready for tomorrow (despite some VERY last minute changes!), but hopefully it's all sorted now. Got back to camp just before 8:00, took Lola for a walk, made myself some tea, and plan to be in bed right after a lovely hot shower. Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hiya Sweetie!
Whew! What a busy day! Up before my alarm, and promptly got to work. Finished putting up as many signs as I could, and roping off the areas that needed to be cordoned before just about anyone got there, then spent the day getting things done, directing parking, doing registration, opening gates, helping set out and clean up after dinner, hardly a moment tor relax! I managed to break away just long enough to open another gate, clean out my horses' paddock and give them their dinner, and didn't get back to camp until after 8:00, after ordering breakfast for the morning. Can't get enough signal on my TV to watch anything, obviously the tower is overwhelmed with data requests, but that's fine, I need to get to bed early anyway. Another long and busy day tomorrow! Probably not quite so hectic, but I'm sure I'll be asked to do a bunch of other things. Jill of all trades, after all! Having my sleepytime tea and a chocolate/hazelnut ball of candy (which I definitely don't need but am going to eat anyway! I'll start my diet after New Years!), won't be long out of bed! Good night, baby! Love you!

Hey Babe,
Slept fairly well, but my furnace, once again, quit working during the night. Or rather, the fan wouldn’t turn off so I ended up having to get up to turn it off. Did manage to get back to sleep for a bit, got up with the alarm, and after chores, starting doing the setup for the ride this weekend. Art showed up shortly after I started, and he helped me cordon off the areas we needed to reserve. Got that finished, so I decided to take the furnace apart again and clean it all up. Sorry to say, like last time, I made it worse. Now it only flicks but doesn’t ignite, so I guess I screwed up the igniter. I called a couple of mobile repair places, because I’m tired of messing with it, and nothing I do seems to be a permanent fix, but no one has gotten back to me yet. Art came back from shopping and took Lola for a walk while I finished putting the furnace back together. A few folks started coming in late in the afternoon, and the rest of the setup will be tomorrow, so I settled down for the evening. Going to be a busy couple of days! Good night, darlin’! Love you!

Hiya Babe,
Spent the day doing lots of odds and ends. I was just feeding the horses when Art came by for his daily walk, and asked to take Lola with him. I think that breaks the tedium for him, and Lola is a great companion, as we know! They came back after an hour, and by then I had done a couple of loads of laundry and was hanging them up to dry. He didn't stay long, so I got busy doing housework and a bunch of little jobs that needed doing throughout the day, with reading breaks occasionally. Made arrangements to pick up the Buick tomorrow (can't wait to have Panther back on the road!), as well as have lunch with Helen and Art. Finally settled down for my usual evening. Just another day in the life! Good night, my darlin'! Love you!

Hey Darlin',
My plan today was to do a bunch of errands in the morning and get back to do housework this afternoon, but that didn't exactly work out as planned. My first stop was at Jo's to pick up a package with some med's for Lola and the pink flags I need for setting up the ride next weekend, and we took a few minutes for Lola to have a playdate with her four dogs, since she gets so excited every time we pull up into Jo's neighborhood. A brief stop at the Dollar store where I picked up a couple of things. Next stop was at the Triple J ranch where I had previously bought some really nice green coastal. I decided that rather than use the hay I had already stored, I would just buy enough to last me my stay here and leave those eight bales for the next leg of my journey. Unfortunately, they didn't have anymore of that nice hay, it was just your usual coastal, but Chelle had told me that Farmers Direct still had the greener stuff, so I drove up there. Turns out they were out of coastal, but had a truck coming in around 2:30 this afternoon. They were pretty sure it was of the greener stuff, so I decided to wait for it. While I did, I took a drive down to the trailer place to check on my little trailer, and learned the axles hadn't come in yet, so it would be mid-January before it would be ready. They had put the new roof on, though, so that was a major improvement. After that, I stopped at a park near the hay place, because I read they might have a dog park, but it was just open fields, so I just sat and read for awhile before heading back to the hay place. Eventually the trailer with the coastal arrived, and I was happy to see it was the lovely green stuff, so I bought another fourteen bales. Then I stopped at Helen's to pick up some cans for recycling, then I dropped those off at Forest HQ before finally getting back to camp around 3:45, much later than I had anticipated. Poor horses, I only had a few flakes to give them this morning, figuring I'd be back by noon, but they were waiting patiently for me, and attacked the new hay as soon as I put it in the paddock. Stored the rest of the hay under the gooseneck and finally was able to start my evening. A busy runaround day, but at least now I'm set for hay until I leave to head south. Gorgeous weather today, and more on the way, so I definitely would like to get some more riding in this week! Housework is calling me, so I'll have to squeeze that in sometime, but you know how that always ends up at the bottom of my to-do list. Time for bed! Good night, my sweet! Love you!

Pix to come!

Hi Babe,
Woke up to a chilly morning in the upper 30's, took quite awhile to get the chill out of the air, and by then it was a bit too late to ride, since my vet friend Art was picking me up at 3:30 and I didn't want to be rushed or worry about running late. I finished reading a book, and had just finished feeding the horses when he arrived, and we set off to Pavarotti's for an early dinner. We split an entree, which was more than enough for both of us, then headed over to the World Equestrian Center (WEC) to wander around their grounds, which is all lit up for the holidays. Quiet a spectacle! We met up with a group that had been organized, and we enjoyed walking around together for a couple of hours. It was a lovely evening, and I had dressed in enough layers and even brought my parka just in case it got too cold, and I never did! Got back home about 9:00, too late to do much but finish a Spanish lesson, do my blog, take my shower and head to bed! Good night, darlin'! Love you!

Hiya Darlin',
Finally had a good night sleep! I've been waking up in the middle of the night and having a hard time getting back to sleep, but managed to sleep through the night until about 7:30, yay! Did my chores, skipping breakfast, and drove into town for my annual blood test. I arrived early and the system wouldn't let me check in, so I went over to Tractor Supply to fill up three tanks of propane, only to find out they were out! Checked my mail, ran into Walmart for eggs and bread, then back to the lab, which was very quick. From there I drove up to Dunnellon Feed Store, which also sells propane by the gallon, though for a bit more than Tractor Supply, but it was worth it not to run out or to have to come back. Got home, but everything away, and it wasn't long before it was time to pick up Helen and head over to Willard's, where our ride team had a debrief and celebratory lunch. Got back to camp around 3:00 and settled down for the rest of the day. Made plans with Art to join a group going over to WEC tomorrow night to experience their Christmas decorations, apparently it's quite a sight. Relaxed the rest of the evening, feeling more rested, but could still use a day off! Maybe Sunday. Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hey Sweetie,
Well, not exactly the day of rest that I planned, but not too exhausting. I did go up and help Chelle do the inventory, took a bit longer than I hoped because we also got all the station boxes sorted and restocked, and it had just started raining by the time I got back to camp. Meanwhile a friend stopped by and we ended up chatting for quite awhile, so I didn't quite start my restful routine until almost 4:00. Not as much time resting today as I hoped, but you know what they say, I'll rest when I'm dead! Finally did settle down for a quiet evening, and had the satisfaction of still getting something worthwhile done today. Tomorrow's also going to be busy, but maybe over the weekend I'll finally get a day of nothing! Wouldn't that be nice! Be nodding off here soon, so off to bed with me! Good night, babe! Love you!