Hiya, Darlin’!
After a good night sleep and a chilly morning, things warmed up enough to start doing stuff outside, and I managed to get a lot more done than I anticipated! I started out fixing the ladder that had been torn off the side of the trailer. I pulled out the rivet gun and some rivets, and managed to bang everything back into place well enough to be stable again. Jeff helped me get some boxes and my pressure washer out of the attic after that, which should lighten the load considerably when I head out again. Then I decided to see what state the Buick was in. I tried to start it, but the battery was still pretty low, so I decided to put the Beatit charger on it, and lo and behold, it started! I never imagined it would! While it was idling high, I filled the tires up, as they had all lost about 10 pounds, checked the oil and what fluids I could, then lowered the idle and managed to move it to the front yard so I could wash it. The brakes were very poor, and it ended up overheating for some reason, though there was plenty of antifreeze in the radiator, the motor itself sounded just as fantastic as ever. I really hate to sell this car! I’m actually thinking I might invest in a shed to store it, if I can get it running well enough to drive it. I mean, I think I can afford it, and why not? I’ll do the mechanical work, and spring for a decent paint job, and it would still be cheaper than buying a new car, by a long shot. I washed the outside, and set off a bug bomb inside, since some fire ants and managed to build a nest up to and through the passenger door, and there were some spider webs inside, but nothing a good clean-out won’t cure. I’ll do the inside tomorrow, weather permitting. It would be great to have that to run around in, if the brakes and overheating problem can be fixed. Probably just a stuck thermostat, and Jeff said that it’s not unusual for brakes to freeze up from sitting too long. I asked him to help me with the mechanical work, if he’s got time, but we’ll see. Meanwhile, it turned out to be a nice day. I did some pool cleaning (though the pool is only 70 degrees, maybe a bit cool for now), but if the air warms up enough, that would certainly be refreshing. I cleaned the filters, but Jeff knows he really need to get some new ones, as the pool crawler’s not working any more. Anyway, it was a nice productive day, and then I settled down for an interesting movie about the creation of the Oxford English Dictionary, and a couple of half hour shows, nursing a couple of eggnogs with rum, first hard liquor I’ve had in ages, though rum isn’t my favorite, as you know. Time now for shower and bed! Good night, my sweet! Love you!

Merry Christmas, my love!
First Christmas in 33 years without you, in the flesh at least, though you’re certainly here in spirit. Not that we ever made a big deal about holidays, just another landmark I guess. Slept late, decided not to do anything in particular today, a bit chilly to do anything outside. I called your sister Jean and we spoke for awhile, then I mostly read, surfed the internet, and watched some Christmas movies. Jeff made a fabulous prime rib in his air fryer, along with his asparagus/bacon side and mashed potatoes. Had some egg nog with rum, talked to Glenn and then Karl, then came back to the trailer and watched the early version of The Miracle on 34th Street just for fun. I put the light blankets on the horses since it’s getting down near 40 degrees tonight, A very low-key day. Finished it off by doing a load of laundry, now I’m ready for my shower and bed. I’m sure I’ll find some project for tomorrow, maybe starting to work on the Buick, I really need to get that running, we’ll see. Meanwhile, off I go! Good night, darlin;! Love you!

Hi Sweetie,
A busy morning, mostly spent on cleaning up the old RV and getting it listed on craigslist and Marketplace. The surface was still pretty clean from last year, other than some mud dauber nests, but I went a bit deeper since I had the time, and discovered two cans of tuna fish and the egg poacher for my Healthcraft set! I knew I hadn’t seen it lately but I just figured it must be in a box somewhere, but no, it was buried behind the drawer where I used to keep my pans. Glad I found it, I’ve been missing it! I took all the curtains down and ran them through the dryer to freshen them up, and I hooked up the battery to the Buick, but it hasn’t fully charged yet, I guess I didn’t have it set up right, but I disconnected it this evening because there’s a tremendous cold front moving in, just in time for Christmas! I didn’t want to leave the charger out in the rain that’s coming. It’s actually too hot right now, I’m tempted to run the AC for a few minutes to blow the hot air out, but by tomorrow I’m going to be running the fireplace to keep it warm! Crazy! Anyway, I finally settled down for the evening, Jeff had some leftover pierogis he had at Turtle Tavern last night, and he let me take it for my dinner, it was delicious! A nice change from the soup I’ve been generally having. He’s bought a nice prime rib for dinner tomorrow, and we’re both planning on taking the day off. I mean, it’s Christmas after all! Anyway, I need to get my shower and get to bed, hopefully I’ll sleep through the storm that’s coming, it’s supposed to get pretty windy, hoping I don’t have to get up and bring the awning in. Anyway, good night, my love! Merry Christmas!

Hi Babe,
Had a good night sleep, did just a few things in the morning. Put the battery charge on the Buick, and plugged electricity into the Open Range, got out Lola’s GoDogGo machine, which she ran herself ragged playing with, did some laundry, and just a few odds and ends like that to fill my day. Discovered that the ladder had been pulled off coming up the drive (it’s simply too narrow for me, but Jeff won’t cut anything back), so now I have another repair to make. My new awning fabric was delivered, so that’s another chore on the list. First things first, though, tomorrow I’m going to clean up the Open Range and get it listed again, there seems to be a good market for them right now, hopefully I can get that done. Next is the Buick, I want to get that running and sell that too. I hate to do it, that car was so much a part of our life together, but I don’t want it to just sit outside rotting, and I don’t have anyplace to store it anymore, so I don’t have a choice. Such a long list of things to do! But first I needed a little rest, which I did get some today. Read some, and finished off this season of the Crown series on Netflix, now I’m headed to shower and bed. Good night, darlin’! Love you!

Hi Darlin’,
A good night sleep after getting to bed by 10:00,, woke up a little before the alarm, decided to skip breakfast, though I brought my juice and coffee along for the drive, and was headed out before 9:00. It was an uneventful drive, thank goodness, though I had to put some power steering stop leak in, it still seems to be leaking a bit. Arrived at Jeff’s just after 2:00, plenty of daylight left to get situated back by the barn. Had to mess around with the electric a bit to get it working, but once that was done, everything else was an easy setup. I hadn’t eaten all day, so as soon as we got the horses set for the night, I made myself some dinner and settled in for the evening. Fell asleep during a movie, so I guess it’s time for shower and bed! Good night, my love!

Hey Babe,
Was in bed before 10:00 last night, went to sleep almost immediately, and didn’t wake up until almost 8:30! Guess I was tired! Not surprising after all the energy I’ve been expending this last week plus. In lieu of the crash, I decided to take the day off and recuperate. Thanks to Lola, I spent some time sewing her dog bed, again, as she tore up all the stitching around the zipper. This time I’m turning it upside down and putting the zipper on the bottom, I’m hoping that will deter her to some degree. If she actually manages to rip the material up, well, I’ll just have to replace it, even though I know she loves this one. It’s a bit too big for the space anyway, but we’ll see how it goes. After that, I spent most of the day just reading, a few minutes taking down some of the markers around the trailhead, then settled down for the evening. A nice quiet, much deserved, restful day. Tomorrow I’ll be picking up markers and starting to pack if I have time. My original plan was to leave Tuesday, but it may be Wednesday now, as Jo has asked if I would pick up the pink markers up to Hog Pond as well. I don’t want to try to do all of that in one day, so it may delay my departure by a day. We’ll see. Anyway, it’s been a quiet day, and even though I took a couple of ibuprofen this morning, I’m still pretty achy, not sure why the front of my thighs hurt, go figure! With another good night sleep tonight, I should be much better tomorrow. Off to my shower, planning another early night for sure! Good night, darlin’! Love you!

Hiya Babe,
Woke up to a freezing morning, literally! Not liking this north Florida winter right now, but thankfully it will be the coldest morning for awhile, and hopefully I’ll by much further south by the time the temps go down again. I stayed in bed longer than I probably should have, just because it was too dang cold to get up, until finally I had no choice. I did my chores and had a leisurely morning, just trying to make sure I’m good and rested for the endurance ride tomorrow. Scotty from the forest service came by to get water to fill up the buckets Jo and I spread along the trails yesterday, and I asked him about a critter that Jo and I had seen crossing Camp Road yesterday. She thought it might be a pig, but I was convinced it moved more cat-like, and was wondering if they had black panthers around here. Scotty said it was likely a jaguarundi, which I’d never hear of, but when I looked it up, I agreed that must have been it. They’re not even native to here, they come from South and Central America, but some have evidently been expatriated here, and to see one is a rare sighting according to him. Beautiful to see! I did some computer work, made a doctor’s appointment for the end of the month, read for most of the afternoon, then I got Flash ready to ride over to the start in order to get vetted in. I decided to fix up that bareback saddle I had, which I’ve only used a couple of times because it just doesn’t seem as secure as I’d like, so I spent some time rigging that, hoping I could get it to work. I did managed to make it workable, but it’s still pretty insecure, so I don’t think I’m going to keep it any more. I guess I’ll try to sell it when I get down to Jupiter. Vetting started at 3:00 so I rode over a little after that, but not before making Flash do a couple more of the impulsion exercises today. He’s finally starting to get the idea, and I’ve learned that if I start him off as though I’m lungeing him, then straighten him out, he goes pretty well. Anyway, he did well with it at the vet checking (training paid off!) And I scored perfect marks at the vet check (yay!), I’m looking forward to seeing how he does during the ride tomorrow. I rode him back, got them all fed and happy, then went out and put up a few horse crossing signs that Jo had given me the other day, and arrived back at the start for the dinner at 5:45. It was pretty cold out, especially as the sun was going down, so no one stayed very long. I headed out shortly afterwards and quickly settled in for the night. Going to bed early for my very early morning alarm, though not as early as last year, since I only have about a quarter mile to ride instead of a full mile. It’s not supposed to be as cold tomorrow morning as today, but it’s still going to be in the low 40’s, brrr! I may wear my long underwear! Anyway, done for the day, off to shower and bed! Good night, babe! Love you!

Hi Sweetie,
Well, I THOUGHT I was done marking trails, but it seems I was wrong! I knew there were a few more trails to be marked right out of the back gate of the starting site, but I thought someone else would be doing that today, but in the end, I ended up walking it. Not only that, we decided to change the route a tiny bit at the beginning just to shorten it up a little, it ended up being a little long. It took longer to do than I hoped, mostly because I had to walk back over to the trailer for a staple gun, which I discovered was jammed so I had to fix it, then finally got back to it. I still didn’t manage to finish before we had to move on to the next chore, picking up water troughs and dropping them off at designated spots along the trail. That also entailed adding some additional signs at certain intersections, which all took time. We started at noon, and it was 4:00 by the time I got back in camp, then I had to walk back out and finish the last bits of trail marking, but I finally got it done! I was back in camp by quarter to five, then I returned a call I had received earlier from one of the ladies in Indiana I rode with this summer, they’re planning their year of outings and wanted to pick my brain a bit. Finally got to feed and blanket the horses (it’s going down into the low thirties tonight!), and settle down for the evening. Off to my shower and bed. Good night, my darlin’! Love you!

Hi Babe,
Had a long hard day marking trails today, with Jo on her ATV. Not very comfortable hopping up and down off the luggage rack thing on the hood, and getting off and on the passenger seat was no better, but we managed to get most of it done, but I’m exhausted from all that climbing around. There are still several miles left to do (which I’ll do by horseback, which, frankly, is much easier!) because there was one section we couldn’t get the ATV through where Dede got stuck on Friday, and some other sections we can’t mark until we decide whether the green trail is passable or not. It was close to 4:00 by the time I got back, grabbed a beer, let Lola out (she didn’t come with me, so she was closed up in the trailer all day), and sat by the firepit with Mike and John, playing frisbee with Lola. All of sudden, with no provocation or warming, Mike’s dog leaped out from where he was laying down and attacked Lola, grabbing one of her hind legs. They fought, and by the time we separated them, Lola had big cuts where the other dog’s teeth cut completely through her skin on both sides of her legs in three places. They’ve had a minor tiff or two before, nothing serious, but enough so you would think the owners would know they have to keep that dog under restraint, but they don’t. I get it, it’s their house, but still, when you have guests and a mean, unpredictable dog, you’d think they would take precautions. Anyway, one of their dinner guests, who arrived moments later, happen to be a retired veterinarian, so she was kind enough to look at it and wrap it up for me, with instructions to change the bandages every other day for a week. Poor Lola, she looks so miserable now! She can’t understand why anyone would be mean to her, she’s such a lovable dog! I gave her an aspirin for the pain, now she’s sleeping, hopefully through the night. Anyway, we all had dinner together, then John started singing by the campfire. I did Snowy River, but didn’t really have any interest in listening to the music, so I left to make a map of the Hog Pond section that Dede managed to email me. I’m so tired, I’m taking my shower early, changing the sheets on the bed, and probably going to bed right after that. I’m going to try to find someplace else to move to tomorrow, I can’t stay here with Lola in danger of getting into another fight, I just won’t be able to relax here again after this. So, I can’t say it’s a good night, but I still love you, darlin’!

Hi Babe!
Up at the crack of dawn this morning in order to meet the gang at the trailhead to do our requisite trail clearing. After the usual orientation we broke down into groups and Jo and I headed off on her ATV, working our way along the trail for more than two hours before coming back to camp and meeting up with the folks still left. One of the ladies got her side by side stuck so bad the forest service guy, Scotty, had to go and pull her out, so after everyone else left, Jo and I headed back to finish off the part of the trail they didn’t get to, plus we looked at a couple of other things in the interest of having alternative routes if Scotty can’t get the chunks in the green trail down to a decent level. We’ll know on Monday, then we can confirm the route and finish marking it. Jo and I have planned to go out and mark most of the rest on Sunday, so I guess I won’t be going out on horseback to do much this week. I wasn’t sure I wanted to participate in the ride next week, mostly because my knee was hurting, but it’s gotten a lot better, so I’m thinking I’ll go ahead and do it. Flash loved it so much last year, and he should be pretty fit this year with all the hill-climbing we’ve done this summer. You remember last year we hardly did any riding all summer, and only a few rides before we got down here in December last year, so he wasn’t anywhere near as fit as he is now. Connie’s agreed to let me borrow her livestock trailer that morning, since it’s nearly three miles from here and I don’t want to ride that before a 25 mile race, so I guess that clinches it, I’m racing next week. It was 3:00 before I got back to camp, and Jo came over so we could figure out the best route to make the mileage, with alternatives if the green trail isn’t usable, and I think we got it pretty well figured out. It will be a little different from last year, which will be nice. After Jo left, I got involved with helping Connie solve a problem on her computer for an hour, then I had promised to fix some fish that my neighbor John had caught yesterday, they got the limit in two different kinds of fish, so I spiced it up and wrapped it in foil and parchment and put it on Connie’s grill, while the other ladies made potatoes and a lovely broccoli cheese casserole, all of which came out delicious! And I didn’t have hardly any dishes to do, yay! We chatted until about 8:00, then I came back to settle down for the evening, but spent most of it trying to balance an investment account that I’ve been having problems with, and finally got it done. Now it’s later than I hoped, but I don’t have any plans for tomorrow so I can sleep late, though I may take a ride, but the question is, should I condition Flash or ride my slug Apollo? Decisions, decisions! I’ll see how I feel in the morning. Meanwhile, I’m off now, late, late, late! Good night, my love!