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!

Hi Darlin’,
Had an excellent night’s sleep, woke up feeling not only refreshed, but in the mood to do housework! That’s such a rare occurrence, I embraced it and went crazy, doing practically a spring cleaning, reorganized several cupboards, and cleaned like a madwoman. Now everything smells like lavender and bleach, and is nice and clean, for the moment. That took up quite a bit of the day. Glenn and Dena arrived in the early afternoon and got set up, Jeff finally got around to fixing my electricity after he got Glenn set up, then in the evening he set his palm frond pile on fire. It was much smaller than the last one, but it was still a pretty good bonfire. Finally got back home and settled in for the evening, feeling like it was a productive day, but I definitely need a shower and to get to bed! Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hi Sweetie,
Lola was restless last night, so I didn’t really get a good deep sleep, but it wasn’t too bad. I was up fairly early, and got started on my big project of finishing up the replacement of the ramp mat. The worst part was getting all the rest of the glue off, but with Goo Gone, pressuring washing, the rough side of a sponge and my scraper, I eventually managed to get it all off. After some careful deliberation and planning, I managed to devise a way to tack it down, glue it off in two halves, then get all the rest of the screws in, with the addition of some wide washers to keep the screws from pulling through, and a little bit of trimming around the edge, though I’ve covered more that what was previously done, so I’m hoping that’s a plus. I think it came out pretty good in the end, and the surface is DEFINITELY much less slippery than the old one. I’m certain Flash will like this a lot better, and maybe I can even get him to stop leaping out the back of the trailer, though I doubt I’ll ever get him to back out. Of course, Apollo couldn’t care less, but maybe he’ll like it better, too. That took most of the day, then James and I got the animals fed and put away, and I settled down for a nice peaceful evening. Brother Glenn is on his way from Texas in his motorhome, he and wife Dena will be arriving tomorrow around midday, if all goes according to plan. Not sure what the next few days has in store! Took my shower early, and I’ll be heading to bed shortly. Love you, babe! Good night!

Hi Babe,
Started out the day searching for ABS pipe to fix my plumbing problem, but no one carries it anymore, so I just went to the local hardware store and got some PVC and glue for about $12, which was an exact fit, and used that instead. It didn’t take hardly any time at all to put it together and get it installed. Makes me mad that I paid some clown in TN $250 to do the exact same job at the other end of the pipe a few months back. Well, at least the job is done. Then I got an email from Home Depot that the new mat for the trailer ramp came in, so I stripped off the old mat, took out all the screws, and spent some time pressure washing the old glue off, though that’s going to take some more work to get it clean. Hopefully I can finish that job tomorrow. It kept me busy most of the day, with three trips out to get stuff, before I finally settled down for the evening. Got a bunch of email from the Montana DMV about the trailer title, all of it bad news, they’re claiming they can’t help me in the least. Seems like I’m stuck in a Catch 22 and can’t get out of it. I don’t know where to go from here, but I’m still trying! Got a busy day tomorrow, so I’m heading off the bed now. Good night, darlin’! Love you!

Hi Sweetie,
Had a late morning drive down to Coral Springs for my doctor’s appointment at 11:45, only to sit around for more than an hour before they called me in. I don’t know why they were so late, all they said was “scheduling problems,” but it would have been nice if someone had come out and told me there was a delay. The receptionist said they were at lunch, but the nurse said they always work through lunch, so I don’t know. Anyway, the surgeon explained everything they wanted to do to me, and I left with a whole list of more appointments I have to do before the surgery in a few weeks. They need a pre-op exam with my GP, another pre-op exam with the surgeon a week in advance, and a Covid text. I had to change my appointment for my shoulder because it conflicted with one of those. Once I got back home (thankfully, it was an uneventful drive on the turnpike thanks to the Sunpass), I spent a bunch of time organizing all these appointments. They’re saying I’ll need two weeks essentially off my feet after the surgery, then physical therapy for 2-4 months before I MIGHT be able to resume my usual activity. Flash will be NUTS by the time I get back on him if it takes that long! I’m not thrilled at the delayed departure, starting to look like late March or April before I’ll be able to get out of Florida. Fortunately, the last couple of appointments can be done virtually, so that should help. Don’t have any idea what will happen after I see the shoulder doctor, though, but I’m determined to get this all done asap. I’ve had these aches too long, I need to clear the way for normal aging aches, which haven’t really started yet! Finally got that all done on the computer, and settled down for a quiet evening. Now I’m off, as usual! Good night, babe! Love you!

Hey Babe,
Had another great night sleep, though having gone to bed so early, I woke up shortly after 6:00. I read a little, but then decided to get up in time to watch the sun rise at 7:12, so after reading a bit, I got dressed and went downstairs. Don was up, but Toni hadn’t come down yet, and Lola wasn’t ready to come down either, would you believe! She was still curled up in her bed, snug as a bug in a rug. I left the door open so she could come down when she wanted. I watched the sunrise, then had breakfast with Toni after a bit, then Lola finally wandered downstairs and I fed her. Eventually we went outside for a bit, I took her down to the beach, where Miles, one of the authors who had been here for cocktails yesterday, was walking his dog Rusty on the beach, so we chatted and played with the dogs for a bit. Toni and Don had an appointment around 11:30 to get their Covid vaccines, so I finished packing up, got everything out to the truck where we said our good-byes, and they headed off, just as I got a phone call from the orthopedic doctor’s office in WPB. It seems he would rather not send me to the conveniently-located guy in Hobe Sound, because his specialty is knee replacement, which is not the surgery I need, so he would prefer I go to the guy in Coral Springs. We managed to set an appointment for tomorrow, which is good that it’s sooner, I’m just not looking forward to the long drive, especially with traffic. Fortunately, it’s not far off the turnpike, so I’m going to get one of Jeff’s Sun pass boxes so I can whip through the toll booths. I had an uneventful drive home, with a stop for fuel so I’d have enough for tomorrow’s trip, and one at Publix to pick up some things I had forgotten the other day. Was back in early afternoon, and I just hung out for the afternoon. Eventually Jeff came by, I guess he was working on the trailer in back, and we chatted. He managed to get his Bronco going, it had been blocking the driveway practically since I’ve been here, so we’ve all been having to drive across the lawn to get back here, but he was finally able to move it out of the way. We soon fed the horses, he found his spare Sun pass, and then I settled down for the night, doing several loads of laundry and just getting back into the routine once again. It was nice to break out of it, to be able to have some enlightening and intellectual discussions with friends for the weekend, and I’m hoping I’ll have a chance to go once more time before we both leave out of Florida, but we’ll see. I may just come up to their place in VA, too, who knows? Anyway, it’s getting close to bedtime, so I’ll say goodnight now that I’ve caught up on my letters. Love you, darlin’!

Hi Darlin’,
Had a fabulous night sleep, especially because I had put my earplugs in so I wouldn’t hear the traffic going by on A1A, and when I woke up, Lola was still curled up in her bed, looking like she never moved all night! After getting dressed we both headed downstairs and had a nice breakfast. Miraculously, there was a launch that had been scheduled at Cape Canaveral yesterday that was postponed until today, and for once, it actually went off on time! I’ve been so close to seeing a launch only to have it canceled so many times, I was thrilled to actually see one! Right on the deck, right at 10:00, the Falcon 9 rocket took off. Fabulous! Afterward, Toni and Lola and I took another walk on the beach, this time going north instead of south, and once again, Lola played with other dogs along the way, tried to make friends with everybody, fetched impressively as always, and generally had a great time. The water was a bit rougher, I was concerned about the undertow, so kept her out of it for the most part. We got back and had a nice lunch, then everyone read for a bit before a football game came on. The two games today were to decide who would go to the Super Bowl, but it’s the first football I’ve watched in a VERY long time, so it didn’t really matter to me, I didn’t know hardly any of the players. Toni had invited some friends over for cocktails, a couple that were both authors, one of historical fiction, another a business book, so we swapped stories of various strategies for publishing. She gave me copies of her two books, and I gave her one of my horse camping books, and we chatted for a bit. After they left, we had a nice chicken dinner, then settled down to watch the second game, which was Buffalo against the KC Chiefs. I had heard from Facebook posts that Buffalo was having a good year, but they were beaten up pretty well by the Chiefs, so didn’t make it to the Super Bowl. Toni and I both went to bed at the end of the third quarter, and I went looking for Lola, then discovered she had already sneaked upstairs when no one was looking and was curled up in her bed already. Good girl! I wasn’t long after her, and fell asleep pretty quick after that. Another lovely day with our friends! Wish you had been there, we all miss you! Love you, sweetie!

Hey Sweetie,
Headed out after breakfast on the drive to Melbourne Beach, really nice to get away and visit Don and Toni again. I’ve thought back many times to you 85th birthday when they met us down at the Downton Abbey exhibit in WPB and the lovely high tea over in Palm Beach that we had together. I haven’t seen them since then, but I invited myself over and they were happy to see us. I hadn’t realized that they never met Lola, every time we’ve met them we’ve left her behind, but Toni absolutely loved her, and even Don, who’s not much of a dog person, ended up admiring her excellent behavior. We took a nice long walk on the beach after lunch, and Lola just had the best time! There were quite a few other dogs on the beach as well, and she frisked around with them as well, which was so good to see considering she’s been a little reluctant to be nice to other do lately, after her incident up at Goethe. We walked quite a ways, though it was a bit challenging because they’re in the process of rehabilitating the beach, so there were massive trenches where the big machinery was going up and down carrying loads of sand. It was really nice, though. After a fine afternoon, we went down the road a bit to a New England restaurant and met up with a couple of their friends and had a very nice meal. I had the lobster salad, which was right in line with my diet (though the wine I drank at happy hour and with dinner was a bit more than usual), but a day or two of indulgence with friends won’t hurt! I ended up doing Snowy River for our table just before we said good night, and then I asked Don and Toni if they’d ever seen the movie. I remember you had done the poem last time we were at their house, and they hadn’t seen it yet, then, either, guess they forgot about it. You know how busy they always are, and nothing’s changed! But they suggested we watch it as soon as we got back, so we did. Prime had it, for a small fee, but it was great seeing it again, since it’s been awhile, and they really enjoyed watching it as well. That took us to almost 10:30, so we were off to bed right after that. I had put Lola in the truck while we were out to dinner because I didn’t know how she’d be in the house while we were gone, but I did bring in her bed from the truck and put it by the foot of the bed, and as soon as we headed upstairs, she settled right into it. Took my shower and got into their very comfortable guest bed, tried to read for a bit but promptly feel asleep. I guess we all got the exercise we needed today! Love you, Babe!