Hi Babe,
Had a busy day helping out at another endurance ride, this one over two days, run by Cheryl V.D., and with all kinds of different lengths including 100 miles, though only about 30 riders each day. I didn't mark the trails here, but I did help with some gofer stuff, like parking trailers and helping with registration, so the day flew by. Cheryl organizers her rides very differently than Jo, generally waiting until the last minute to do things because they seem to be in a constant state of flux, whereas Jo is a planner, everything done as much in advance as possible, so that was quite a challenge to try to change methods. The first rides are tomorrow morning, but I don't need to be there too early, which I'm glad about. Lots of faces are starting to look very familiar, it's a lot of the same crowd at these endurance rides, and I'm even finally starting to learn some names, though most folks have seen me at two or three rides now, so many of them seem to know me now. I stayed for the dinner and ride meeting, finally getting back to camp about 7:30, settled down for a short evening, and I'll be heading to bed here shortly. Love you, sweetie! Good night!

Hiya Sweetie!
What a busy, productive day! Got up by 8:00, did my chores, made arrangements to pick up 15 bales of hay at an actual haymaker rather than a feed store, for the first time in quite awhile. I've been buying it at Tractor Supply in town for $11.50 a bale, which is the cheapest I've been able to find, but this haymaker was selling bales for just $8, and the bales were at least 30 percent bigger, and it was nice hay for coastal, so it was a much better deal all around! Went to Walmart after that and did a little shopping, didn't need much, then Tractor Supply for feed and another couple of washers to finish fixing Apollo's hay bag, then a short walk over to Publix where I succumbed to temptation and got not one but two little cartons of my favorite eggnog ice cream, since it was on sale. Jo happened to see my truck while I was at Tractor Supply, so she came in and found me and we chatted a bit. finally got back to camp and spent some time putting everything away, surprised myself by fitting all 15 bales under the gooseneck, thought I would have to store some in my usual place in the front stall, but didn't have to, thank goodness. Be tough to get it in since I can't reach it with the truck. Well, that took some time to do. Once that was done, I finished sorting the last of the ribbons so they're ready to go, and then went about mending Apollo's feedbag, again. He keeps chewing through the bottom! I sewed a patch of material once before, but it was just cotton and he chewed through that as well, so this time I bought some faux leather vinyl, the strongest thing I could find in Walmart, and sewed that into the bottom. Hopefully that will last a long time. I decided to make my favorite chicken recipe again, but this time I had a deep pan, and instead of a whole chicken, I took a package of boneless chicken thighs and spread it all over them, then covered it with aluminum foil. I don't know how it did it, but somehow it boiled over in the oven, again, making a huge mess, again!! I can't understand how it did that, the chicken with the sauce didn't even fill the pan halfway! Anyway, that took time to clean up, and I'll still need to do it again tomorrow, and some of it dripped into the drawers below, again, so that will take come cleaning as well. But, I have to say, the chicken was delicious! Settled down to another Christmas movie, a modern holiday version of Groundhog Day, which was okay. Just need my shower before I get to bed! Good night, my darlin'! Love you!

Hiya Babe,
Slept in a little bit, then after chores I went back to bed and read for awhile, because it was raining out and it just felt like the thing to do! Spent most of the day reading and watching Christmas movies, had a nice dinner with breaded chicken and stuffing so it almost felt like a holiday, then settled in for the evening. The rain quit in the afternoon, but it's still quite warm so not feeling real Christmas-y. Ate too much, sat too much, but otherwise enjoyed a quiet day. Should be getting a bit busier later in the week. Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hiya Darlin',
Mostly just rested today, mended my saddlebags where one of my ties had come off, and sewed a couple of other weak spots that were soon to go. A stitch in time, as they say! Mostly read and played games on my computer, not really up for much else for some reason. It was a gorgeous day, and sitting on the porch was delightful. Settled down to another Christmas movie after dinner, and am making it another early evening. Good night, babe. Love you!

Hiya Sweetie,
Had to get up early for a 10:00 dentist appointment in town, and just as I sat down to breakfast I got a call from them that there was a problem with my insurance. I ended up on the phone with them for a bit trying to sort it out, and didn't make a lot of headway, but I didn't want to miss the appointment, so I went in. Somewhere along the line they got it more or less straightened out, but it's so inconsistent! First the dentist was going to make me pay for the entire visit, then bill the insurance, and have them reimburse me for whatever they didn't cover, which seems to be completely arbitrary, but by the end of the visit, the only charged me for an upgraded x-ray and an office visit (which I'm pretty sure was covered), but it was all only $40 so I just paid it and hoped for the best. Who know what will happen once it gets billed? Such a convoluted system! Anyway, after all that, everything is fine anyway, so that was good news. I stopped at Tractor Supply for horse feed, Walmart for fuel, Winn-Dixie for liquor and groceries, and finally Publix for a quart of eggnog ice cream, then back to camp around 2:00. Too late to ride out and collect the ribbons off the white trail, so instead, I fixed Apollo's new slow feed hay bag. I bought it a few weeks ago, and it does seem to slow him down, but the design is so poor because the drawstring is the same material as the rest of the bag, and it has no rings for the drawstring, so I've been having a lot of trouble making it work. At Tractor Supply I bought a bunch of washers that I then used to create loops for the drawstring, so it was much easier to use. I was short one or two washers, but overall it works a lot better! Ranger Rick came by and we chatted for awhile, then I settled down for the night to another Christmas movie, this time with Kelsey Grammer, had a nice dinner with an eggnog and ice cream dessert, and am ready for shower and bed! Good night, darlin'! Love you!

Hi Babe,
After a good night sleep and a bit of a lay in this morning, I was very glad I put the fireplace on all night, as it was quite a chilly morning! Managed to get the horses fed and my chores done, but there was no way I was going to ride today, as the wind chill was keeping temps in the low 50's, and even cooler, so another rest day for me! I did take one trip out to go to the office to get keys and learn where all the supplies are, as well as to be apprised of my official volunteer duties, with a minimum of 20 hours a week, which won't be a problem! Did a load of laundry and a little housework, but otherwise it was a "chill" day, which is the Florida equivalent of a snow day in my book. Feeling a lot more energetic after these couple of days of rest, so I'll be ready to hit the trails tomorrow and start retrieving ribbons as well as doing any trail work. When I went out on Sunday to get the water tubs, I had to move a tree off the road, so I'm expecting that some of the trails will need work as well. Had a quiet and pleasant evening, another Christmas movie, and I started watching another series off the old SciFi channel called Eureka. Another early evening, and hopefully another good night sleep! Love you, sweetie! Good night!

Hiya Sweetie,
Woke up still feeling tired, and determined I needed a day off to recharge my batteries, so, other than fulfilling a book order and driving it to Bronson ten miles away to mail it, I did absolutely nothing the rest of the day. I read, watched TV, played computer games, and generally just vegged out for the day. I watched my first Christmas movie of the season, and will do one every night this week as is our tradition. I trust I'll feel more energetic tomorrow, though it's likely to be too cold to go riding to retrieve markers. Getting down into the mid-30's tonight, so I put the blankets on the horses, and I'll be leaving the fireplace on overnight. Other than that, my day is almost done! Just my usual tea, Spanish lesson, shower and bed left! Good night, my darlin'! Love you!

Hey Darlin',
I had broken out the eggnog and bourbon to celebrate the end of the ride yesterday, and has a bit more than I should have, so woke up a little hung over this morning. After feeding the horses, I was just trying to relax, then Jo called about picking up the water tubs and cleaning up at Helen's so the work still wasn't finished. Rather than wait for Jo, I headed out and picked up all the water tubs and the event signs along the road. When I got back, I noticed that my heavy canvas tarp that I had used to wrap up the ride alfalfa bale was missing! In all of the fourteen years I've been on the road and in horse camps, I was proud to say that I had NEVER had anything stolen in all that time. It is so disappointing that of all of the places I've been, it was Goethe where my first thing was taken. I use that tarp all the time, and it's very difficult to replace because the only place I've been able to buy it was at a chain store in the upper midwest, and it wasn't cheap! The bale had been unwrapped and left behind, but the tarp was gone. So disappointing! I just don't understand how people can steal like that. Sigh... I headed over to Helen's, picking up signs along the way, only to find that Helen had done most of the yard cleanup. Jo arrived shortly after that, and we finished packing up, then taking the tubs back to the folks we borrowed them from, then went down to Willards for a quick nosh before coming back to camp. I felt like I was crashing this morning, but having more jobs to do forced me to push forward, but I'm definitely taking the day off tomorrow. We had so much rain from this last storm that even normally dry trails are underwater, so I need to let it dry up and drain a bit before heading out there on Flash. Settled down to a movie, but I'm so tired I won't be long out of bed. Good night, baby! Love you!

Hi Babe,
A long day, but got it all done in the end! Up early with the alarm, got the Horse Crossing signs out, helped all the 50-milers across the road, had breakfast and fed the horses, then helped the 25 milers cross the street, then headed over to the first vet-check hold, put more signs out, as well as hay at both water stops, then back to camp briefly before going to Helen's house where the ride started. Grabbed some lunch, then before long, back at camp waiting for the first 50's to come in. The day started out pretty well, but the rain finally started coming in around noon and never quiet the rest of the day. A lot of the 25's got done, but the 50's got the brunt of it. I ended up sitting in the truck at the finish line for several hours while the horses came in, the last one being just after 4:00, so it was good that Jo had that ride leave earlier than originally scheduled, though everyone was wet by that point anyway. Once they all went through, I fed the horses and settled down for the evening, though I didn't need dinner as I've been eating way too much the last few days. I did splurge with some bourbon-laced eggnog in celebration, and watched a very weird movie called Asteroid City. It had a stellar cast, and flipped between play-style and movie style, but got very weird and sometimes boring despite the all-star cast. It's like the stars want to do something different, but what's different is so non sequitur, it doesn't make any sense. I'm getting tired of movies that don't make sense, or have unsatisfactory endings, or just don't really have a story to them, but that seems like all the new movies offer lately. Sigh... Anyway, the rain is still rattling the roof, so earplugs tonight, and hopefully a good, bourbon-infused sleep tonight. Good night, my sweet! Love you!

Hiya Sweetie,
Up with the alarm, and got busy quick! After chores and breakfast, I scrubbed out the water trough and refilled it, then cleaned the bathrooms. As far as I know, that's not my job, but they were getting so bad I had to do something, so I did a quick clean. There's a leak in the men's room sink, and the boys camping here had turned it off, so when the two forestry guys came, that was their first priority. Anyway, Rick finally got the UTV over here, was supposed to be at 10:00 but it was more like 11:40 when we finally hit the trail. I was happy to see most of the ribbons on clothespins were still there, though a few had spun around the branches so much I had to let them down. A few of the intersection signs had come off, just not enough staples to hold them on the flimsy pine bark, so I had to really stick them good so they would stay. After doing the short orange, we came back to camp, then on to Helen's for a quick lunch, then back out to check on the white/red polka dot trail, and that was in good shape, too. Finally finished around 4:00, had just enough time to feed the horses and collect everything I needed before heading over to Helen's for dinner and the ride meeting. That finally broke up after 7:00, and once we updated the registration paperwork, I headed back to camp. Phew! Tiring day! Watched a one hour program, had my Sleepytime tea and Spanish lesson, now it's just a quick shower and early bed! Good night, my darlin'! Love you!