Hi Darlin',
Had rain most of the day today, which was just as well because my back is still hurting me and another day of rest will probably do me some good. Other than cleaning the oven again, I pretty much spent the day reading and watching TV. It's taking this pulled muscle longer to heal than I had hoped, and my plan was to ride Tuesday, though the current forecast is really cold that day, so we'll see. The forecasts haven't exactly been very accurate, it seems, so maybe, maybe not. Anyway, not much else going on today. Good night, babe! Love you!

Hey Babe,
Had a good night sleep, did my chores, a little mending and my Egoscue stretching routine as best I could, but the pulled muscle in my back is still bothering me. I tried both heat and ice on it today, not sure if either helped that much, but I didn't want to take any more ibuprofen today. Despite all the warnings I've had about riding in the forest during dog hunting season, there were half a dozen day rider trailers that came in throughout the day. It's probably safe enough, but I am trying to recover from these pains, so I figured I was better off being more sedentary today. Unfortunately, this old recliner is feeling more and more uncomfortable, and I think it's contributing to my backache. Can't wait for my new chair to arrive next week! Anyway, had a relaxing day and evening, will be finishing off the evening shortly! Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hiya Sweetie,
Woke up to some rain and a bit of chilly weather, so the plans I had made with Jo to go to the World Equestrian Center this afternoon got bumped up to this morning, so I got the chores done quickly, putting light blankets on the horses to make sure the weather didn't bother them too much, then headed over to Jo's house to arrive by 9:00. After a trip to her bank, we got to WEC and wandered around for a few hours, watched a bit of an Arabian show, looked around for a barrel racing arena we could never find (it's not on their map yet, apparently), had a quick lunch at a little Italian takeout where we were able to sit with Lola on the patio (excellent crust on their Sicilian pizza!) and generally just enjoyed the Christmas decorations. A final stop at T&T Tack store just up the road where I bought a slow feeding hay net in the hopes to keep Apollo busy longer at his hay, and Jo bought a wheelbarrow she had her eye on, after I negotiated a 10% discount for her. Got back to camp a bit after 3:00 and relaxed the rest of the day. Heading to shower and bed! Good night, my darlin'! Love you!

Hi Darlin'!
Had a very relaxing day, spent most of the morning in bed after chores just to give my pulled back muscle a good chance to heal. Took enough ibuprofen not to notice it, anyway. Headed over to Jo and hubby Jeff's house for a lovely Thanksgiving dinner. When I arrived Jo was working on the feet of her horse Peaches, putting on some glue-on shoes to help her soles grow a bit, apparently they tend to run thin. It was an interesting process! Lola had a great play date with their three dogs Zeke, Lucy and Pickle, so she's worn out now, thank goodness! Had a lovely evening, then just before I was ready to leave, Jo put me in this incredible massage recliner that she has, it was amazing! Sixteen minutes of pure massage bliss, looking forward to seeing how I feel in the morning! I may have to invite ourselves over for a massage and canine play date a couple of times a week while I'm here! 🙂 Had a thoroughly enjoyable day with friends, and, like every day of this fantastic life, lived it with a grateful heart! Miss you, babe, and will love you forever! Good night!

Hey Babe,
I've been voluminous research about recliners the last few weeks, because I've decided that Lazyboy Vale that I bought used in Michigan just isn't cutting it. I thought I had one picked out at Badcocks, but they couldn't put a swivel base on it, and I really wanted one, so they recommended I go straight to the Lazyboy Gallery in Ocala, so that's what I did. I had a model called the Holland picked out, but of course, it was a different name at Lazyboy, like the Morrison or something, but since they had so many other recliners there, I did the whole sit-in-every-chair to find the right one, like we did when we bought those IMG recliners that eventually wore out. Lo and behold, I found an even more comfortable one, and a little smaller, that was manual rather than power (preferred when I'm boondocking so I don't have to put the inverter on just to get my chair up and down), in fact, very much like the IMG's we had before, including the color leather, and a lot less expensive that the current IMG prices! Anyway, I made the decision on the Pinnacle, and paid extra to have it delivered and set up, it will be coming next Thursday. That should give me plenty of time to sell the Vale once it arrives here. Glad to have finally made that decision, I headed back to camp, with a stop at United Hay Store, which was right on the way, and picked up 10 bales of coastal, which should last for a few weeks. The hunters were out in full force force this morning, it's gun dog season, so I won't be riding until it's over next Monday. No worries, I have plenty of planning to do before that! Settled down for the evening, more leftover chicken, though this time I made up my batch of dirty rice as a side dish, with vegetables. My back still hurts, but the heating pad is helping, looking forward to some pain free days! Good night, sweetheart! Love you!

Hiya Sweetie,
Got a good early morning start, with a quick stop at PetSense (a new division of Tractor Supply) to get some biscuits for Lola that I forgot yesterday, then a nice, short drive down to Black Prong, less than an hour away. Other than one stretch of road that was really bumpy and in serious need of repair, it was an uneventful trip. Met Scotty, who works for the forest, and he helped me get all squared away. I'm happy to have electric again, but it's only 20 amp, so I'm going to have to do some serious management. I don't have access to the circuit board either, at least until I get a key next week, so I'm being extra careful only to run one high energy thing at a time. I did the first full setup that I've done since last winter, with screen room, bbq grill, front skirting, and dog pool. Put the horses up on a nice long highline as well, I might put a pen up for them later, but the ground is so soft here, I know that Apollo knows how to escape from that (by grabbing the top of the post and pulling it up out of the ground!), so I may not bother. They have lots of room to move around. Did some work on the computer, then settled down for a nice quiet evening. I pulled a muscle in my back last week and it hasn't been getting better, so one of the "high energy" items was to put my heating pad on my back for awhile, and that seems to have helped. Hopefully it will be better tomorrow. Anyway, watched a silly movie, had warmed up chicken, and won't be long out of bed. Good night, my darlin'! Love you!

Hey Darlin',
Kept pretty busy today, doing some packing, running out to do some shopping, hooking the truck up, etc. I had a craving for that chicken recipe that my old friend Jennifer gave me forty plus years ago, so I picked up the ingredients, though I couldn't find a whole chicken already cut up (and I had to wait for a truck to arrive to get my usual chicken thighs!), so I ended up doing that myself, which turned out to be more of a challenge than I thought! It was a big roaster chicken with absolutely huge breasts, and the bones were incredibly hard to separate, so it wasn't the prettiest thing, but it didn't matter to me. I had bought a small sheet pan with short sides to cook it in, since I only had a flat one with no sides, and also a roasting bag that I thought I'd try. Turns out the reason I didn't have a baking sheet is because it doesn't fit in the oven properly, and ended up slightly cock-eyed, which of course made a mess in the oven, even with the oven bag. Ended up cleaning the oven three times today, including with oven cleaner at the end (which I'll have to do again before I use it again), so not a great result. Chicken came out okay, and I have tons of leftovers. Anyway, I managed to get most everything packed, so it should be an easy pull-out tomorrow. Looking forward to moving on, as always! Good night, baby! Love you!

Hi Sweetie!
Woke up to a beautiful morning, though I twisted something in my back a couple of days ago, so it was a three ibuprofen morning to get going. After my usual morning chores and breakfast, I saddled up Flash and we headed out on a route that would take us to all the remaining trails I hadn't been on yet here at River Rise. In my planning, the track came out to be about 17.3 miles, but in reality, it turned out to be 18.8 miles, so a very nice ride! After not getting any exercise because of all the rain this week, Flash was raring to go, so we made good time, we were back in camp in less than four hours. Many sections of this place are so wonderfully "old Florida," with old growth trees, sinkholes, ferns, very jungle like in places, while at the same time, almost all of the trails are double tracks with mostly good footing, though occasionally the sand is deep. We took a spur that, according to the map, ended at the Santa Fe River, which it did, but it also seemed to continue on afterward along another trail. I didn't take that, I'll have to research that more for next time, because we still had a long time to go on our original plan. A gorgeous day, blue sky and fluffy clouds, so nice after a week of gray! I only ran into one other rider, and she was on a mammoth donkey, which I had never seen before. Of course, at first I thought it was a mule with the long ears, but it was much too shaggy and hairy for that, but then she told me what it was and it was obviously a big donkey. What fun! Was back in camp by 3:30, gave Flash a nice wash, then settled down for the evening. A fantastic day, just the kind of day I truly relish, and really appreciate after so many rainy days. What can I say, the Sunshine State has kind of spoiled me, and it's not often the sun is hidden for so many days in a row. Anyway, great day, pleasant evening, won't be long out of bed! Good night, my darlin'! Love you!

Hey Babe,
More rain during the night, more rain in the afternoon, but in the morning I brought the horses out of the barn and put them back on the highline so they could stretch their legs a bit. Flash is going a bit stir crazy, and Apollo's done something to provoke him, because he was kicking at Apollo as I was tying them up, which I wasn't happy with since his feet were at my head height! Not sure what that was about! They soon settled down, and I left them there until dinnertime, so they got nice and wet, and rolled and got dirty, so I guess they had fun today, at least better than being in the barn all day. Still have another day or two of rain in the forecast, though I'm still hoping to get at least two more rides in while I'm here. I'm not leaving until Tuesday, so I should have time. Had a strange craving for biscuits today, so I got out my Cracker Barrel mix and made a couple, had one with butter and cinnamon, was thinking I might make chicken in gravy to pour over the other one, but I think I'll wait until tomorrow to do that. Two biscuits in one day is a bit too indulgent! So another quiet day while I bide my time until next week, when I expect to start getting quite busy planning a new route for Jo's endurance ride, if I can. Assuming they're getting all this rain, too (it's only an hour away), it might be a bit wet on some of the trails, we'll have to wait and see. Anyway, another pretty dull day around here, though I've been reading an intriguing series, so I've stayed engaged. Guess that's all there is to it! Good night, sweetie! Love you!