Hi Babe,
More stall mucking, picked up troughs, then distributed them, which took all afternoon, then scrambled to get paperwork done before the 7:00 volunteers meeting, computer screwed up and slowed me down so I didn’t get that done, got to the meeting a few minutes late, it seemed like chaos, didn’t get home till after 9:30, fixed the computer problem and printed what I had hoped to print before the meeting, now I’m exhausted and going straight to shower and bed! Whew!! Good night, my darlin’! Love you!

Hi Darlin’,
Had a good night sleep, got up a little early because I had the farrier scheduled for 9:00, then he started out early and was here by 8:20, so I was glad I was up early! He trimmed my guys in no time, as he always does, and was on his way before 9:00. I finished my chores and had breakfast, did some work designing all the forms we’re going to need to get everyone through the registration and check-in process as quickly as possible, then I took a walk around to the barns, just to see what kind of condition they were in and to count how many there are here, something I hadn’t gotten around to doing yet. Turns out there are 36 stalls divided between the three barns, and I was disappointed to see that very little care had been taken by the previous occupants when it came to cleaning up. I decided they all needed cleaning, and set about mucking out all the stalls. I also checked for loose boards and protruding nails and hammered them all back in, on two of the three barns. James came by to discuss with me where we can locate a couple more manure piles, since the central one is too far from two of the barns to be practical, and even got it worked out that he’s going to obtain three utility carts, three manure rakes, and enough hoses to reach all the stalls in each barn, a real bonus! We’re going to have to lock them up between events, but at least we’ll have them when we need them. He’s also agreed to let me come back after the Cracker Ride and work with me on getting this place really shipshape. I’m so glad he’s so willing to work with us! I told him I didn’t think I wanted the campground host job, just because it seems like it’s practically full-time and requires a lot of chasing people around for their permits, but I did say I’d keep volunteering to really get the trails, barns and horse-related stuff in good shape, and he seemed prepared, even enthusiastic, to let me do that. Anita’s happy because that means I’ll be around for the Poker Run in March as well. She and I spent a long time on the phone trying to get everything coordinated, but I think we’ve got it all in pretty good shape. All heck will break loose once the ride starts, I know, but at least we’re laying the groundwork to avoid a lot of potential problems. Barely just managed to settle down, and now it’s bedtime. Busy day planned for tomorrow, even without mucking out the big barn, which is still on my agenda, too! So off I go to showers and bed, early morning tomorrow! Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hey Sweetie,
Had a good night sleep, then got busy with chores and a couple of loads of laundry. I cleaned out the inside of the truck today, in preparation for the passengers we are likely to get during the ride this week, just a few more days away! The numbers seem to have settled down now, so I worked on logistics of getting the shuttling organized. I sent out an email about the Dupuis reservations, which opened this morning at around 9:30, and I worked on the FINAL Ride Information document, which I was going to send today but decided to send tomorrow. It will be my last general correspondence, and I wanted to make sure it was just right. Other than that, it was another pretty quiet day, so I’m catching up on my rest, which is a good thing! I’ll need all the energy reserves I can get come Thursday! I’m attempting to get to bed reasonably early, so I’m heading off the my shower and bed soon. Love you, babe! Good night!

Hi Babe,
The day started cloudy but ended up being beautiful, but it was too late to do any laundry. I wanted to rest Flash, so didn’t go riding. I did send out an email to all the participants, trying to get a handle on how many trailers we’ll actually have coming, but for some reason, people don’t really read or comprehend mail much anymore. I had to send several emails to people who just didn’t answer the questions for some reason, despite how clear I made them and the reason for them, so I’m only slightly less in the dark about it than I was before, so a lot is going to be done on the fly, which I don’t like to do because someone is going to be left behind somewhere along the line. It’s probably good that I had a fairly relaxing day, but I have a feeling it’s the calm before the storm! Anyway, I spent the afternoon on the computer, finally taking a break to read for awhile, then finally settled down for the evening. All of my neighbors left today, so I’m pretty much back on my own again, and it’s nice and quiet here once more. Watched a bit of TV, now I’m off to my much needed shower and fresh sheets! Good night, my darlin’! Love you!

Hey Darlin’,
Well, once again Anita and Scott went trail-marking, so I got another day off from that job. I feel like I’m doing a lot less this year, at least on the trail end of it, though I have been keeping busy with all the computer stuff, the social media and the file upkeep. I felt sorry for Camp host Steve today, he had several campers that overstayed their permits and he had to kick them out, not fun! Part of the problem is with their computer reservation system, which allows them to request a second permit that’s effective the same date as the expiration of the previous permit, even though it’s clearly stated that you can only stay seven nights, and have to leave for 24 hours on the eighth day. When I was at another WMD on the other coast, their system wouldn’t allow you to make a second reservation, which, if this place did that, would be a lot easier on Steve. Might be something worth suggesting to James next time I talk with him, since I sure don’t want to be a camp host if I have to deal with that kind of stuff everyday! Anyway, after chores and breakfast and some more OTL work, I finally decided to take Flash on a conditioning ride today. it was hot and muggy in the morning, but then the wind switched around to the north and it cooled down and got a little cloudy, so it turned out to be a perfect day for riding. I planned a 15 mile loop, and we kept up a good pace, even doing several long stretches of cantering, so we ended up doing just under 16 miles in about three hours, getting back to camp just after 4:00. It wasn’t long before it was feeding time again, and then I settled down for the evening. Now it’s coming up to shower and bedtime! Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hey Sweetie,
Not much going on today for me. Anita and Scott went out trail-marking on their four-wheeler, so I didn’t have much to do today, except run into Okeechobee for hay, feed, propane and a few groceries. That killed most of the day, along with a few OTL registrations and a bit of computer work. Seems like the calm before the upcoming storm next week! I’ll take it! I was planning on marking JD next Monday, but Anita said she got permission to do it on the four-wheeler, so they’re going out Sunday, which means I have more time to get registration organized, which is a good thing. I have several ideas about getting more information that we need for things to run smoothly and I need to work through them. Anyway, settled down for the evening as usual, now I’m ready for my shower and bed before long. Love you, babe! Good night!

Hey Darlin’,
Got up with the alarm this morning, had a 9:00 doctor’s appointment, just my annual physical, was back in camp before 11:00. Did some OTL work, then spent some time pressure washing the water tank in the truck, since we’ll b using that to fill water troughs next week and it’s been awhile since it had a good cleaning. Between putting out OTL fires and working on that, it was suppertime by the time I was finished. Got the horses fed and settled down for the evening. Oh, I forgot to mention yesterday that my bad neighbor inexplicably moved to another spot! Haven’t learned exactly why yet, though James camp through camp late yesterday afternoon and it’s possible he said something to them. I was glad to be vindicated, even though I never spoke to James about it, that just came out of the blue. Great minds, though! Chatted a bit with my other Canadian neighbors, I haven’t had much time to be sociable with all the late night work hours I’ve been keeping lately, and they’re leaving tomorrow for a bit. Guess they’re coming back in March, don’t know if I’ll be back here then or not, but it’s possible. Anyway, managed to watch a little TV, then put together the OTL weekly report for Anita, did my French lesson, now I’m done and heading for the showers and bed! Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hi Darlin’,
Stayed in bed a lot longer than usual, probably because I was so snug and warm and the outside was in the 30’s, you think? Finally warmed up enough to get out of bed, got my chores done, then started doing some odd jobs, then some housework, and, of course, some OTL work, having to revamp the Ride Information document now that we’ve decided to offer early take-outs on the first two days, so I wasn’t exactly idle today. A pretty relaxing day, at least until a friend of my neighbors showed up and behaved so completely inconsiderately that it made my blood boil. This guy shows up, parks on the road to get his horses out, puts a hose on the spigot without a splitter (which should have been my first clue of his selfishness), then decides to park between me and my neighbor, despite the fact that it completely blocks off anyone from being able to get out from either side of him. We’ve been keeping that space clear so that people can turn around on the road, and get in and out of the field behind us, but no matter what was said to this guy, he refused to even recognize how inconsiderate and downright unsafe his actions were. So HE’S able to turn around and back up, but now, NO ONE ELSE can! It’s people like that that give the rest of us a bad name. I just don’t understand how some people can be so selfish! Even the woman that was with him, and his neighbors, all tried to tell him it he shouldn’t do it, but he did it anyway, the rest of us and all of those who follow be damned. A whole field was wide open for him to get into, but instead he blocks the whole damn egress. Grrrr! And now I have to put up with this guy for at least a week! I guess it’s a good thing I’ll be gone a lot this week, it’s just so irritating to be around someone like that. Just as I was about to call it a night, I got a call from Anita and was on the phone with her for nearly an hour working on more stuff, now I’m exhausted and I still haven’t done my French lesson! I was going to trailer out to Riverbend or JD tomorrow to mark trails, but that’s both been put on hold for now. Anita’s trying to get Riverbend to let us put up permanent markings, so there’s not point in putting up temporary ones if we can do that instead, and she said it’s too early to do JD, plus we’re trying to figure out whether volunteers and trailer drivers have to pay the entry fee or not, and she’s going to have to call about it tomorrow. So I guess I’ll probably just take ride tomorrow and see how the mowing went last week, and maybe put up a couple of pink paint marks here in Dupuis just for fun. I just need to get on my horse and ride, I’ve been sitting in front of my computer too long! Anyway, it’s really late, so good night, my sweet! Love you!

Hey Babe,
A lot cooler this morning, but I managed to get two loads of laundry done. Very windy and dry, even though it was cool, so it didn’t take very long. Then I spent the entire day re-working the OTL T-shirt. Not as happy with the design as I was before because it seems the only font the printer was happy with was a really choppy, blocky thing, but since this is about the fifth time I’ve revamped it, it’s done, no matter what! Got a few more sign-ups, actually got to 50 riders today, yay! And only four are Sunday only, and that’s always the biggest day, so I’m thinking we might just break a record here, wouldn’t that be great! Worked through till after 5:00, then fed the horses, had dinner and settled down for the evening, with a brief stop at my Canadian neighbor’s campfire beforehand. Put the winter blankets on the horses since the temps are supposed to get down to freezing, plus a wind chill factor. I opened up an extra propane tank, just to make sure I don’t run out overnight! Headed for shower and bed shortly, so good night, my darlin’! Love you!

Hey Darlin’,
Didn’t get to bed until after midnight last night, then ended up waking up early, but forced myself to stay in bed and fall back to sleep. Eventually got up and got busy. My first job after my usual chores, and after yet another bout with the printer on the T-shirt design, I headed into Okeechobee. I had three empty propane tanks, and with a cold front taking us down to literally freezing temps, I didn’t want to be short, so I headed to Tractor Supply, only to learn that their pump has a broken seal so they shut it down. I ended up going to a bait and tackle shop, which surprisingly had a very competitive price. I also asked Tractor Supply about maybe donating some water buckets for the ride, and the manager claimed they only had a $100 a month budget for donations, and offered me a gallon bucket. Really? Very disappointing, so I passed. Then I took a quick trip to a local trailer sales yard, where I had found a great 6 horse trailer that I was hoping to persuade to loan us for the take-out on the OTL trail, but it was on consignment, with difficult owners, apparently, so that was dead in the water, too. Finally I headed to Walmart to get fuel and do a little shopping, then finally got back to camp just before 3:00, all the while having to deal with the problems of the T-shirt design. I ended up spending the rest of the afternoon on OTL stuff, and finally settled down around 7:00. Long day, not as productive as I would like. One good thing was I had to buy a lamp for my low beam headlight, and one of the other campers jumped in and changed it for me. Saved me 20 minutes on Youtube trying to figure it out, so I was glad for the help! That was the best thing that happened all day. I managed to get the final maps done, happy that we’re finally able to incorporate the FTA trail in Corbett on it. Still have a lot of work to do tomorrow, but with a forecast that temps won’t get out of the mid-50’s tomorrow, staying inside seems like a fine idea! Anyway, I managed to unwind, watch a little TV, had some popcorn in lieu of dinner, now I’m just about ready for shower and bed. Good night, sweetie! Love you!