Hey Sweetie,
Woke up to a gray day with sporatic drizzle, so not the nice weather I needed to do laundry today, or to ride, so I started the day by doing some housekeeping, which included putting out some Borax for the insects and Havoc for the mice. I hadn't intended to do any deep cleaning, but when I looked under the refrigerator to put in my pesticides where I had deep-cleaned before, I discovered the vermin had been in there again, and had eaten through all the foam insulation I had put in around the plumbing. So I had to clean that up, plus a little regular housework as well. After that, I ended up spending most of the day working on trail maps, both for Broxton Bridge and Biltmore. I hadn't gotten around to doing the west side of the Biltmore trails, and that took quite a bit of time to sort out, then I just managed to download the .pdf files for the Broxton trails and worked on those for awhile, but they got really confusing. Lots of sections that go both ways, and some illegible arrows that I can't make heads or tail of. Plus, according the Becky, who's been doing these trails for many years, the map is very different on a couple of the trails, so I'm probably wasting my time until I get out there anyway. I wasn't even able to email the Biltmore trails to the folks over there, the cell signal is so bad. I don't understand it, I'm getting two solid bars, but I can't do anything except some browsing on the internet. I've gotten email in, but I can't seem to send any out, and streaming is out of the question. Grrr! I had been hoping for a relaxing week, but not have a good cell signal is more than a little frustrating. I did manage to watch a movie off my PVR, but it's definitely going to be a week of lots of reading! Anyway, that was my day, pretty mundane. Hoping to get laundry and a short ride on Apollo tomorrow, but who knows? Love being flexible! Good night, babe! Love you!

Pix to come.

Hiya Babe!
Let myself sleep in a bit this morning since it was such a short drive to Mill Creek. Didn't take long to pack up since I did most of it yesterday, and I was heading out of camp just after 10:00. Once I got to Gasline Road, though, I had a little problem. Patsy had told me that if I turned right, the way I came in, the hill was very slippery and someone had jack-knifed their trailer there Saturday night after the rain. It was possible that it was dry enough by now, but there's no place to go if it wasn't. She had suggested turning left and circling back by the lake. So I started to turn left, but that was actually going up a little hill and making a sharp corner, and there was a big tree on the corner, and the sand berm was built up on the high side. So about halfway around, the trailer was dragging really badly in the berm, so I had to back up and swing a whole lot wider, which meant I was way over on the berm on the right side in order to make the left, and I was still dragging, but at least I made it. Then I had another left turn on Mountain Rd., and I had to drive my truck halfway over the next berm in front of me in order to avoid the sign on the corner! Not sure if I wasn't better off trying the other way, but I was committed by then! The rest of the drive was uneventful, thank goodness! I made one stop at a Post Office to drop off my completed ballot, and some of the back roads were a bit rough, but I arrived right around 12:30. I had to take a walk to reconnoiter between the primitive sites and the electric sites, though most of the former seemed to be on pretty unlevel ground. I was almost tempted to take an electric site, but finally decided on a site next to the bathhouse with a couple of HUGE trees for the horses' highline. Managed to get mostly set up by just after 2:00, though I had to do some reconfiguring when the highline dropped down too low. The circumference of one of the trees has to be close to 10 feet, I really had to jury-rig my feed bag rings to make it work. Bad news is, the cell coverage is still really bad. Despite getting two bars on my phone, I can't even come close to live streaming, and I'm barely able to get on the internet. Disappointing! I was really hoping for a reprieve from that after all the frustration at Sandhills last night, but I guess I'll be doing a lot of reading this week! Of course, I still have movies on my old satellite PVR if I'm desperate. Anyway, horses are happily munching away just outside my door, and it's a beautiful night with a fantastic forecast for the entire week. It's hunting season, and some of the trails are closed, but I'm planning on giving Flash a rest for a few days anyway, though a short ride on Apollo may be in order, for Lola's sake as well. Looking forward to a good night sleep! Good night, darlin'! Love you!

Hi Darlin'!
Got up with my alarm this morning, got my chores and breakfast done, then drove up to see what help was needed to finish packing up the ride stuff. Most of it was done, though Patsy said the little hill out of here was so slick after the rain last night that someone slid off the road last night, so suggested I take "the long way" out, which isn't really that long, just not as direct, but it's flat, so there's less chance of getting stuck. They all left to put stuff in their storage shed, so I went back to camp and started breaking down everything. Had pretty much everything put away before 11:00 or so, with just a few odds and ends I finished in the afternoon. I let the horses graze this afternoon, since they've been cooped up in the corral all day yesterday. It was a gray day, though fortunately not raining as predicted, and a bit cool, so I spent a few hours doing research for my absentee ballot, which was in my package yesterday, and managed to get that all done. I had no trouble getting on the internet on my computer, but when I went to watch TV in the afternoon, for some reason, I just couldn't pick up a good enough cell signal to do live streaming today. Usually, if I'm patient, I can find a spot that will work, but I spent hours trying, and only managed to watch about ten minutes of TV. I finally gave up and read for the evening. I did manage to get my Spanish lesson in, and to load up my diary for the day, but that was about it. Couldn't do laundry, but the rest of the week looks like better weather, so it will get done soon. A fairly short drive tomorrow, so no alarm in the morning! That'll be a nice change! Love you, sweetie! Good night!

Hey Sweetie,
Woke up before the alarm, no doubt because I got to bed a bit earlier last night, and after chores and breakfast, was up at vet check by 8:45. Had a busy day scribing in the pulse box, running around doing odd jobs, jumping a dead battery, checking riders in at the finish line, and generally being a go-fer. There was a big controversy over who finished first in the 50, but all the GPS evidence finally gave us our answer, so that edged out the conflict. There were actually a lot of people that seemed to miss markers, though I know they're there. I think a lot of these folks are so busy chatting, they just don't pay attention! Just after the awards ceremony, where I was tasked to hand out the prizes while Julia read off the winners, we started to pack up, and would you believe, it started to rain! A good two-plus hours ahead of the forecast (big surprise, the weatherman was wrong), so we got soaked getting things put away. Once that was done, I drove back to the trailer, put on my rainsuit jacket and went out to feed the horses in the heaviest rainfall. Just about the time I was done, it started to let up, naturally! It was after 9:00 when I finally finished, so no TV tonight, just a hot shower and an early bedtime. Good night, baby! Love you!

Hiya Sweetie,
Loving the quiet nights here, had another good night sleep. After chores and breakfast, I headed out to the nearby little town of Patrick, thinking that the package Jo sent me on Saturday would surely have arrived by now, but it still hadn't gotten here. Even the postmaster was surprised it was taking so long. After that I drove down to Hartsfield, the nearest town with both a Tractor Supply and a Walmart. I filled up three propane tanks, obviously I've been using a lot of energy running the furnace on these cold nights, though it's been warming up the last few days, so not so much now. Was happy to pay only $2.99/gallon! Picked up some horse feed, plus a couple of bales of hay just so I wouldn't have to crack open the stuff in my stud stall yet, and they wanted almost $13 for bales that were significantly smaller and lighter than the ones I bought from the haymaker last week. I would have bought more if it had been cheaper or heavier, but this will help. Then I spent some time running around trying to find a brake controller harness. My brake controller has been on the fritz again, and it's been killing my truck battery, showing a power loss when I hit my brakes. I've had the problem before and been able to fix it, but I think this time it's given up the ghost. I finally managed to find the right harness, and they were kind enough to let me try it out before charging me for it, but as it turned out, it didn't solve the problem. I'm thinking the brake controller itself has a short or something in it, and the guy at the auto parts store concurred. I had found another brake controller in a box during my deep cleaning the other day, so I may try wiring that in, just to see if it fixes it, though I don't particularly like that model, or I may just get a new one if I can find one I like. I think as long as it's not plugged in when I'm not using it, my truck will be fine, and I think the lights still work when it's plugged in, but I'll have to check on that. Anyway, once I came to that conclusion, I ran down to Walmart for a few things, then back to camp. I sat in my lawn chair in the screen room and actually dozed off! Don't know why I felt so tired, I wasn't that busy today! Tried to repair the broken leg on my solar panel again (the first time didn't take, not sure the second time will either, but it's worth a try!), then settled down for the evening. Patsy came by after she put most of her signs out and we chatted for a few minutes, then I watched a silly rom-com, now I'm ready for shower and bed. USPS Tracking says my package should arrive tomorrow (the postmaster said he would call me when it came in), so I'll go in and pick it up in the morning, as well as stop by and fill up my truck tank at the Forest HQ. Anyway, that's tomorrow, right now I need to finish off today! Good night, babe! Love you!

Hiya Sweetie,
A good night sleep, morning chores, then a couple of loads of laundry hung out to dry on a perfect, cloudless, warmer, slightly breezy day. Drove down to HQ to refill my tank, and did a little housekeeping when the generator was on doing laundry. Otherwise, a fairly mundane day! Just my usual evening of dinner and a movie, and soon off to bed. Good night, babe! Love you!

Hey Babe,
Had a better night sleep, managed to make it until morning without waking up, yay! Unfortunately, when I got into bed last night, I realized that Lola, who has been relentless in finding ways into my bedroom when I leave her behind when I'm riding, not only managed to get past all my defenses, but when she roughed up the bed to her liking, she managed to make a nice long tear in my flannel sheets, right at chest level, darn it. So this morning, I was online trying to find a replacement, but trying to get queen short sheets delivered within the next week has proven to be impossible, so I'm just going to have to live with it until I get to Florida. This is the second pair of sheets she's done this to, but at least I was able to patch the last one and put it at the foot of the bed. This one is too big, I think, though I haven't tried. Besides, I feel like I'm overdue for a couple of nice new sets of properly fitting sheets. The last ones I bought were regular queen and they don't really fit that well, so I think I'll get one of each, flannel and regular. Anyway, after spending time doing that, I finally started to tackle the last cupboard in the bathroom above the laundry on my deep cleaning sweep. Glad to have that done! Now I guess I'll start at the front and work my way back again! I haven't done the storage areas in the bedroom for a while, so I'll be starting there, I think. Other than that, a pretty quiet day in camp, until this evening, when I started hearing loud engines, sounds like someone doing drag racing nearby or something. Peaceful here until that happened! Well, to each his own, I'm sure they won't be going all night. Watched a fun romance with Colin Firth, and calling it a night! Good night, my darlin'! Love you!

Hi Sweetheart,
Woke up to quite a chilly morning, but I had the thermostat set so the furnace came on just a couple of times, and that helped take the chill off before I crawled out of bed. Spent the day doing some more deep cleaning, a perfect chore when it's this cold outside! Didn't warm up until late afternoon when the north wind finally calmed down, but even then, I left the blanket on the horses all day. Not much else going on today! Ride day tomorrow! Good night, baby! Love you!

Hey Darlin',
A bit cooler this morning, but still nice and sunny so it warms up nicely. After breakfast and chores, I finished my shopping list and headed out to the truck with Lola in tow. As soon as I started it up, I noticed my fuel gauge, which was at full last night, was down almost a quarter of a tank! I got out and looked under, and sure enough, I had a big leak dripping down under my truck bed. When I got down to see it's origin, I discovered there were a couple of filters down there, apparently from the AirDog system I had put in a few years ago. One of them was a water separator which had a little knobby head on it, and that was bent, so obviously I damaged it somewhere on these rough roads coming in yesterday. Since it's diesel and not gas, I figured it was safe enough to drive, though I was losing fuel the whole way. On my way into town, I called several shops, and naturally, everyone was too busy to see me today. Then I started calling parts stores, thinking maybe I would have to order it, which meant I'd be losing fuel until I got it. I finally spoke to a guy named Dave at O'Reilly's in Cheraw, and he knew what I was talking about but needed the part number. Since I was just about in town, I headed over to him, and he was ready for me, got the part number and started searching. Turns out he didn't have it, but then I called Advanced Auto, and she had one at a store in Chesterfield, just ten miles up the road, so I drove up there and picked it up. I still hadn't found a mechanic in Cheraw, but I found on in Chesterfield a half mile up from the Advanced, called Hunters, so I drove up there, walked in, told them all I needed was a quick filter change so I wouldn't keep losing fuel, and handed them my filter. Thank goodness they had room for me! I was pleasantly surprised they had a lift big enough for my dually (rarer than you'd think, though this is rural South Carolina), and a older mechanic named Jeremiah had it replaced in no time! Really nice folks there, and would you believe, they only charged me $15!! Couldn't believe I was getting change back from my $20 bill! What a find! Well, that improved my day considerably, so I headed back to Cheraw, topped of my fuel tank again (took my over $40 to replace the fuel I lost and/or used after I filled up yesterday), did my big grocery shopping and headed back to camp, with a stop at Forest HQ to fill up my water tank. After putting all my groceries away and refilling the horses' water, I was finally ready to settle down for the evening. Another busy day! I put the blankets on the horses because the temps are supposed to get down into the high 30's tonight, with a slight chance of rain! They don't have enough winter coat to combat that yet! Anyway, time to finish my evening. Good night, sweetie! Love you!