Hey Babe,
Had an early appointment at the DMV to try and get both horse trailers registered, but only managed to get the Trailrider done, but that was a huge accomplishment on it’s own. Evidently the copy of the Certificate of Origin from Harmar was the contributing factor. Amazingly, I got the same woman at the DMV as I had last time, and she remembered all the problems we had, so she was very helpful. I couldn’t believe the annual registration fee for the Trailrider is going to be over $100! Compared to the $26 in TN, it seems ridiculous. She was really nice about it though, and she asked me how much I paid for it (because Florida requires the taxes to be paid), and I gave her a figure (albeit a bit less than the truth), she said, “Are you sure it wasn’t a gift?” with a sly eye, so of course I agreed, and I got a big break there! She was telling me all about the rich and famous who come in and have everything registered under a corporation and don’t pay any tax, and I guess she was just helping out the common man (or woman) with her helpful suggestion. So at least I got that done! They wouldn’t register the Logan, though, because the VIN sticker has completely pulled off and the only way I can register it is if I drag it down to their regional office in Riviera Beach and have them certify it (for which I need to make an appointment), and then I need to come BACK to the north office and register it (for which I need to make an appointment), so I think in the end I’ll probably just leave the old TN tag on there, considering that it’s mostly just sitting in the yard storing hay, probably won’t go on the road at all this year, unless I decide to go out to Dupuis at some point. Probably not, though, considering my knee surgery is next week and everyone’s telling me it will be at least 4-6 weeks before it will be moderately healed. Seeing as that is nearly April, it’s going to be getting way too warm down here and I’m going to want to be heading north by then. I had expected to be at the DMV for a couple of hours, but was finished in about an hour, so I called the cardiologist and arranged to come in earlier, and thankfully they were able to do that. I stopped for a quick salad at a little cafe tucked in a strip center, then got down to my appointment. Sorry to say that didn’t go every well. The EKG that my GP did last week never got into the system, so he didn’t have anything to compare today’s EKG with, and with my high cholesterol, he decided I needed a couple more tests before he’d give me clearance for surgery, and they had a really hard time finding an opening in any of their offices. In the end, they managed to get one test down in Wellington on Friday, and the other test I arranged myself up in Stuart on Monday morning. It’s strange that their network systems don’t connect between Palm Beach and Martin counties, though apparently it’s in the works. So I’m going to be doing little else but running around to medical facilities for the next week plus. I was hoping for a longer reprieve after spending so much time doing that with Hubby, but hopefully after this problem is resolved, things will settle down. Got back just before it was time to feed the horses, and since Jeff was still working on his truck, I did it on my own. James and Glenn got home shortly after that, and Glenn gave me a few of his venison appetizers leftover from Superbowl Sunday, my one indulgence this week. Well, except for the wine I had over two days. Settled down for the evening at last, won’t be long out of bed. Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hi Darlin’,
Today was mostly about meeting with the PA down in Coral Springs in advance of my surgery next week, telling me all the procedures and medications that I need to know about. One quick stop at Publix to pick up a few things, then back to the house. Didn’t really do much else today. It’s been hotter than normal so I’ve had to run the AC for Lola all day while I was gone, and tonight, too, because of the heat and humidity. Hard to believe I had the fireplace going all night just a few days ago, so changeable right now. Better than being in the snow, though, for sure! Tomorrow will be busier, have a couple of things to do and places to go. Just another mundane day today! So I’m off to shower and bed early again. Good night, baby! Love you!

Hi Babe,
Pretty dull day today, it was hot and muggy, too much so to try to work on the truck, but I did do a little bit of laundry and housekeeping, got caught up on my monthly bookkeeping, and took a quick trip out to Publix in the Buick to grab a few things and to pick up the Trailer For Sale sign I had placed a few months back. So glad that’s done and gone! I’m sorry to say that of the four things I wanted at the store, I had to substitute three of them because they didn’t have exactly what I wanted. Disappointing, but that’s the way it goes! Spent the rest of the day reading and watching Heartland episodes, pretty uneventful. Didn’t see anyone else but James all day. So a quiet day, an even quieter evening, not much to report! I’m done with my shower and will be heading to bed soon, so good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hey Sweetie!
Woke up to a bit of rain, got my morning chores done, did a little sewing job on Lola’s bed, then mostly read and relaxed today until the afternoon. After the animals were fed dinner, I joined Glenn and Dena and their friends Terry and Belinda for noshes and the Super Bowl on the outside TV on Glenn’s motorhome. You remember that wood box that had two bottles of wine in it, that sat on the shelf behind our bar at home in Tennessee forever? Those were a gift from the bank I worked at back in about 1982, and for whatever reason, we never got around to opening them. I figured they turned to vinegar by now, and since I’m trying to get rid of as much clutter and weight as I can, I decided to finally open one today! The cork fell apart, but I did manage to get most of it out and strained it. Believe it or not, it hadn’t actually turned! It had a bit of an edge on it, like most red wines, so I put a little lemon-lime in there just to sweeten it up a bit, and managed to drink about half the bottle. I pulled out the cork and vacuum system that I found in the cupboard above the laundry the other day, and used that to keep it “fresh” after I opened it. Managed to down about half a bottle during the evening, so at least I’m partway there to getting rid of it. It’s not going to help my diet, but neither will all the noshes I ate over at the party, though I did keep it to meat for the protein, no carb snacks at all. Anyway, the game is unexpectedly one-sided, and after the last touchdown by Tampa (with Tom Brady quarterbacking!), I decided to come back and shower and get ready for bed. This is the first time in the 55 year Super Bowl history that a team has played on their home field. Hard to believe it took this long! Looks like they’re going to win it, too, which isn’t surprising with the home field advantage. Worst half-time show I’ve ever seen, though, although admittedly we haven’t been paying much attention to football in recent years. Anyway, almost time for bed, so good night, darlin’! Love you!

Hi Darlin’!
Well, I finally managed to do it! I sold the old Open Range Trailer. A very nice Latino couple bought it for their daughter’s 15th birthday, aka her Quinceañera, and are going to put it in their yard and let her live in it as a way to teach her responsibility. Didn’t get all I was asking for it, but probably got all I could get for it. Just thrilled that the last millstone hanging around my neck is finally gone! Back to basics now, with only the four vehicles left as my only assets besides my investments. Well, plus my tractor, of course! It took a couple of hours to walk them through everything, get them hooked up and send them on their way, but I was very happy to see the end of that episode. I loved that trailer, we had some great times in it, but that was then and this is now, and the horse trailer will be just fine for me and Lola. I decided to just veg out the rest of the day, Glenn and Dena invited me in for a glass or two of wine (my first in quite a few weeks now, cut back as part of my diet), then settled down for the rest of the evening, mostly just watching some more episodes of Heartland. I started watching it thinking that the 11 seasons was all there was, but it turns out that it’s actually still running, and they just added two more seasons to Netflix! It’s mostly about horses, albeit with a lot of theatrical license in terms of the training techniques, but I’m enjoying it. Anyway, I’m off to bed now, feeling like a weight has been lifted. If it weren’t for my knee surgery coming up, I would definitely be looking to pack up and move on, but it’s still chilly in north Florida anyway, so I guess I’m better off here for now, even if riding the same old trails are boring. Next time I ride, I think I’ll do some more exploring in Cypress Creek, it seems there are a lot more service roads in there that I can wander around on, that aren’t designed as hiking trails, so at least I might be able to find something a little different that just walking along canals. Meanwhile, whereas I was running the fireplace all night to keep warm, last night and tonight I’ve had to put the AC on to blow out the hot air before going to bed. Eighties for the rest of the week, and humid, too! Welcome to Florida! Love you, babe! Good night!

Hi Sweetheart,
Had a great night sleep after going to bed early, yay! Did some computer work in the morning, then headed out to the doctor for my first “pre-op” exam, where they did an EKG that showed something a bit off, so now I have to see a cardiologist for a clearance before surgery. Crazy, huh? Had to get more labwork done, even though it was done last month it will be outside of 30 days to the surgery, and that’s a requirement, had a long wait there again. Finally got to Walmart to pick up a few things before heading home. It wasn’t long before James and I fed the critters and I settled down for the evening. Going to have another early night, I like it much better when I get to bed early! Good night, darlin’! Love you!

Hi Babe,
Though I slept late this morning, I still felt kind of tired today. I spent some time online trying to resolve my RV parts issue, between the mechanic and the parts store, trying to figure out what I should order in advance so that we can keep the repair time down to a minimum. I also searched for the amplifier on my truck, I found a very comprehensive method for testing the system, but it all begins with the amplifier, which I can’t seem to find. They all say the amplifier is under the “center console,” but I don’t have a center console. I took apart another dash panel looking for it, it wasn’t there. It might be under the seat, but I haven’t checked there yet, I will do later when I’m in the mood. Kind of vegged out later in the day, I feel fine, just tired for some reason, maybe because of all the non-stop cleaning I did yesterday. Anyway, I had a relaxing evening and am going to bed early. Good night, my love!

Hi Darlin’,
Pretty chilly night last night, with a lot of breeze, so I ended up closing up the awning before going to bed, no point in putting a strain on my new fabric. The wind kept up most of the day, so rather than try to do anything outside, I stayed in and did some more cleaning. I haven’t done a good clear-out of the cupboard above the bathroom sink, there was still a lot of your stuff up there, like a bunch of hearing aid cases and cologne and other things. I cleared that all out, and did a really thorough cleaning, reorganizing all my little travel bags that I keep up there. It took a lot longer than I thought it would, but I wanted to really give it a good clean. I also defrosted the freezer at the same time, there was a lot of ice build-up, then the refrigerator after that for the same reason. I’ve just got a few more drawers and the bedroom to do before I can say I’ve done a complete “spring” cleaning on the trailer, though I also want to check the roof for any places where I might need to re-seal it. Once I get the slide-out fixed, I guess I’ll have done just about everything I could possibly do to be ready to get back on the road again. Good news, I just got an email from the union that they’re willing to give me an exception to the stage manager requirement for my one-woman production, now all I have to do it meet their Covid protocols. Of course, that was the big sticking point last time, so I’m not holding my breath. I’m hoping if I get the vaccine that will curtail some of those protocols, but so far, I’m not in line to get it, and it may be months before I do, though hopefully not. Time will tell. Anyway, I’m tired from all my work today, so I’m heading to shower and bed early. Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hi Sweetie,
Rain came in early this morning and woke me up, but I read for a bit, then fell back to sleep. Did some stretching, then got up and finished fixing the backup camera, though I waited until the water tank in back was dry before sticking it on there. Got the battery all charged up, so I put that all away, and finished gluing a loose rubber bit around the wheel well inside the trailer, a job I started the other day and had to let dry before finishing it off. I’ve been trying to figure out why I haven’t been able to find the title for the little Logan horse trailer, so I made some calls back to Tennessee and discovered that it had been sent to the wrong address way back then, so I had to fill out a form and send a check out for a duplicate title, just so I can get ANOTHER title here in Florida. I also got some documentation from Harmar on the Trailrider, it’s all I could seem to get, Montana can’t help at all, and the previous owner isn’t helping either. Hopefully it will be enough to get the job of registering it done. I fixed the screen door latch, too. I had a choice between buying a new latch (this one that broke is barely a year old!), but discovered that I could get springs for the latch much cheaper, and that was what the problem was, so that’s what I ordered. It took me a few minutes to figure it out, but it works just fine once I got it in right. I was going to take the Buick to the mailbox and the store, but it wouldn’t start, dead battery. You remember when I bought that battery I was planning on selling the car so I only bought a cheap one-year one, and I haven’t driven it in a while, and it’s possible there’s a short somewhere that’s pulling power, so I had to put the charger on that, but meanwhile I just took the truck. By the time I got back I had two problems, the radio wasn’t working right, because the crazy antenna adapter keeps wanting to slip out of the back, so I had to take the radio back out AGAIN and try to push that in hard enough to make it stay in, and my brake controller started getting all wonky on me, and when I looked up the error code it said there was a problem with a power interruption. I thought it might have something to do with my camera install, but it turned out to just be a loose power wire, which I fixed. In the process, though, I accidentally touched ground and power with my wire strippers, and there was a spark, so that blew a big fuse, so the brake controller didn’t work at all. I found the blown fuse, ran out again to NAPA and got a new one, put that in, and it all worked fine again. Whew! I hate working with electrical stuff, I always blow something! But it’s all good now. The wind picked up and the temps really dropped today, so I put the blankets on all the horses at feeding time. Jeff wasn’t home so I did it on my own, though he had already prepared the food for everyone, which is always helpful. Finally settled down for the evening to a bunch of episodes of Heartland, now I’m ready to hit the hay. Good night, babe! Love you!

Hi Babe,
A late morning, spend some time working on getting the backup camera going on the truck. I got it working, then when I put the radio back in I couldn’t get it lined up properly, finally figured out the bracket was slipping, so I tightened that up and that fixed it. Was just working on lining up where I’m going to put the camera when the truck battery died, guess I had some lights on for too long. Put it on the charger and it started fine a few hours later, but I’m leaving the charger on overnight just to make sure. I can finish off velcro-ing the camera in place tomorrow, probably going to have to be on the water tank to get the right angle for the gooseneck. Had another couple come out and look at the trailer today, figured it wouldn’t hurt to see if I could get another offer, maybe improve the price a bit, since the other couple’s offer was quite a bit less than what I was hoping for. Whatever, I just need to get rid of it, it’s the final stone hanging around my neck property-wise. What’s left is all I want, my Trailrider, my Logan, my GMC and my Buick, don’t need anything else at the moment. Btw, the Logan has a rust spot on the roof in the tack room, and when I touched it, the whole area crumpled, so now I have a roof to fix. Always something! Even with so few assets, there’s always something that needs fixing! I’ve never done body work, but I’ve watched other people do it (Jeff used to do it on the boat at the cottage every summer at least once, usually more, he was always cracking the hull on something! So he’s the expert really, but he’ll never have time to do it.) Doesn’t matter, there’s always YouTube, I’m sure I can learn how to patch a rusty roof. Other than that it was a quiet day. Was hoping to get to Mick’s for ribs today, but Glenn bailed on me after we arranged it last night. No biggie, just a little disappointing. Anyway, time for shower and bed. Good night, darlin’! Love you!