Hiya Babe,
Took a long time to get to sleep, woke up a couple of times during the night, finally dozed off and slept until almost 9:30! Usually the horses would be nickering for their breakfast, but since I've started using these big hay bags, they're a lot happier since they're not running out of food! After chores and breakfast, I headed out to town, first to Tractor Supply for propane and some washers to modify the hay bags to make them easier to use, only to discover that they're propane was empty or broken or something, and I had to make do with washers that weren't all the same size because they didn't have enough. This is the worst managed Tractor Supply I think I've ever been to. Anyway, I went next door to the coop and they filled up my tanks, though they did it by the size of the tank and not the gallons put in, but it was still pretty reasonable. Managed to pick up some additional hardware I needed, and was sorry I got my washers at Tractor Supply because the coop had a much better inventory, plus they had them individually instead of packets, so they were cheaper. Oh, well. Went to Walmart for a few things, then stopped at Mary's Dairy for a mini twist, just because I can't resist frozen custard! At least I got the smallest one... Stopped at Karen's for my final package, got back to camp, put everything away, fixed the hay bags, fixed a bad fuse in my solar panel, and finally settled down for the evening. Shared dinner with my neighbors (they cooked my steak with their hamburgers, so less dishes for me!) and we chatted into the evening around the campfire. Won't be long out of bed, though I'm hoping I'll get to sleep early enough so I get both a good night sleep and to not sleep so late in the morning! We'll see! Good night, my darlin'! Love you!
Thursday, July 24, 2025 – Visiting Day with Friends
Hey Darlin',
Got up with the alarm to get an early start, was done with chores and breakfast and out the door by just after 9:00, heading down to Camden to visit with my high school buddy Steve and his friends at his little cabin. Spent the day chatting away, with time just flying by! Of course, I came back smelling of cigar smoke (though I didn't imbibe myself!) and Buffalo wings. Left around 6:30, stopped at Karen's to pick up a package that came with my video camera (still in the original box, amazingly, even though it's refurbished) before getting back to camp. I was happy to see the horses still had a little bit of hay left, so these new giant hay bags are doing the trick! I had new neighbors move in right across from me, and I ended up going over and chatting for a bit before coming home, having a little ice cream treat with my tea, soon off to my shower and bed! A lovely day! Good night, sweetie! Love you!
Wednesday, July 23, 2025 – Hay Day and Ride on Apollo
Hiya Sweetie,
Getting back into my theatre schedule, late to bed, late to rise. That's what happens when I'm parked in deep shade rather than a wide open field! The horses are loving the new, giant hay bags I bought, even though they're slow feeders, and they're lasting all day, as planned. I finally decided to give up on fixing my camcorder, so I ordered the same kind, though refurbished since they don't make them anymore, at twice the price I remember we paid ten years ago! But that one gave us good service for a long time, and I need a good camera for my Yellowstone trip. The newer models are much bigger and heavier, so I wasn't interested in those, even though the pix might be a bit better. Not printing them up, so it doesn't really matter. Once I got that decision made, I then made arrangements to go pick up hay from the Mennonite family that Karen recommended, aka Tim the Hay Man. He had just baled his second cutting yesterday, and for $4 a bale, I got as much as I could hold in my trailer and use until the end of the week. Green and lovely, just as you would expect! Haymakers have been having a hard time this year, it's been so rainy, but the last few days have been perfectly dry, so fields are buzzing with activity. I picked up an extra three bales for Karen and dropped them off at her house, to replace the three she gave me a few days ago. I also stopped at the meat market for more garlic cheese curds, some lemonade, and a pigs ear for Lola. Got back to camp and put them all away, with a few under the gooseneck to finish off. Finally got around to saddling Apollo for a gorgeous four mile ride, starting on Shady Trail, then Hiawatha, Glenwood, Twin Ponds, Icicle and Blue Jog. Lola came along, and I figured she's head into one of the Twin Ponds, but I couldn't persuade her to go in. Apollo stumbled a lot, there are a lot of pine roots out here, but mostly I think it was his arthritis. I've started him on a MSM/Chondroitin routine, but it hasn't kicked in yet, I'm hoping that will help. Gotta keep this old guy moving whenever I can! Got back to camp just after 4:00, trimmed his front hooves, then settled down for the evening. My phone has now been charged four times with one of the battery banks I bought, so I'm gaining confidence that I can make it through Yellowstone with enough power to keep things charged up. Meanwhile, I've been having trouble livestreaming today, though I don't know why. I'm seriously considering a Starlink once I come back from my vacation, it gets so frustrating not being able to get online when I want. Anyway, time for my evening ablutions and bed! Good night, baby! Love you!
Tuesday, July 22, 2025 – Another Fabulous Ride at Otter Creek!
Hi Babe!
Had a fitful night sleep, until I pulled out my extra throw blanket! I was too cold to be comfortable, even with my wool cap on, until I did that! I slept fine after that. It's so shady here, it's hard to get up at the crack of dawn, so it was more like 8:30 when I finally got moving, though I did do some PT exercises and read for awhile. Spent some time taking apart my camcorder to see if I could fix it, not sure it's doable. I'm missing a screw on the door spring hinge, and don't have one to replace it handy, though I think tomorrow I might pull out one of my many old laptops and see if I can find one that fits. There might also be some damage to the electronics band that moves with that hinge, which is keeping the monitor from working. I can actually record video, which I tested from the SD card, but not photos, apparently, and the monitor is blank, so I may have more problems that that, but I'll try anyway! I'd really rather have a separate camcorder rather than do everything with my phone, so I may have to buy another one. Oh, well! Finally saddled up Flash and hit the trails about 12:20, on a gorgeous day! A bit cool in the woods, but finally warmed up by late in the afternoon. Had to wear my Red Rock denim jacket to stay warm! I decided to do the Blueberry Trail clockwise (so far, I've only done it counterclockwise once before), and it is truly a stunning ride. We took Fletcher Trail, Florence Pond Trail, Crooked Creek Trail (we had two creek crossings), then picked up Blueberry after a short stint on a road. We came across signs for Trailside Restaurant which didn't look like they were that old, so I thought maybe they had reopened it (I had heard they shut it down), and Google said they were open, so we took a detour just to see for ourselves. Sorry to say, Google had it very wrong, not open, empty, and looks like it has been for a long while. I think they shut down during Covid and never reopened. Anyway, we headed back, took a wrong turn and ended up meandering along a lot of private roads until we finally had to just about go cross country to get back on track. No worries, Flash is a bulldozer! We ended up going over 14.6 miles, and we cantered the last couple of miles, except one stop to let a couple of kids say hello, though Flash had his adrenaline up so he wasn't standing as calmly as usual. As soon as we finished there, we took off again. What a rush! Love that horse! Got back to camp, put him away, then went to visit with the gals at the end again, who then came down and had a tour of the trailer and bought a book. Went back to chat for a bit, then got a text from Karen that she had my special order Sweigels white hots (six pounds!) and a package, so I ran down there and got that, came back and had dinner and settled down for the evening. Got involved with trying to solve my camcorder problem again, there's still a couple of things I want to try tomorrow. Anyway, tea time, shower and bed soon! Good night, darlin'! Love you!
Monday, July 21, 2025 – Busy, Productive Day
Hiya Darlin',
Had a good night sleep, woke up a bit later than I expected, about 8:30, leapt out of bed to start my first load of laundry. Strange hours here for generator use, supposedly limited from 7:00 to 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 to 8:00 p.m., but I had laundry to do, so I overextended that by about an hour. But I got my laundry done and hanging by 10:00! Did a little housework, then in the afternoon, I headed over to Karen's to pick up three bales of hay she left out for me, and to pick up my packages. They hadn't been delivered, but I was expecting them shortly, so I hung around until they came, not really that long. Once I got back to camp it was like Christmas in July, opening all those packages! Of course, most of it was for various repairs and improvements, so I started fixing things with each box I opened. I got a new connector for the hose filter, something more direct than what we had previously had which had started to leak. I got new extra large, slow feed hay bags, a new Cavallo boot for Flash to replace the stretched one that keeps falling off, and two new batteries with a charger for the old camcorder. I wasn't sure, but I was hoping a new battery would do the trick, and when I put the new battery in, sure enough, it powered up! So I put them both on charger and did a little duct tape repair on the camera, but I haven't seen anything on the monitor screen yet, so I'll have to do a little more digging tomorrow. Kept busy for awhile, watched a sweet little movie with Pierce Brosnan as an old man returning to Normandy for the D-Day memorial, then went over to the ladies camp to visit for awhile. The day flew by! Quite ready for shower and bed, so good night, sweetie! Love you!
Sunday, July 20, 2025 – Lazy Rainy Day
Hey Sweetie,
Well, the rains came early, before 9:00, so I got up earlier and got the horses fed before it started. Since I couldn't do my laundry, I decided to have a nice relaxing day, so I read a lot, watched a movie, tried to watch a couple more but had to abandon them due to bed acting or stupid and predictable plotlines, ended up bingeing on some Havens. I charged up my new power bank and waited until my phone discharged to use it to charge up again. I'm supposed to drain and recharge the phone fully 3-5 times to maximize the new battery, so I'm doing that, and testing the new chargers as well, to see how many times a single charge can recharge my phone. I want to have a good grasp on how much power all these items can handle before my trip. Thought I'd have the place to myself after everyone left by 10:00 (and I was actually woken up by my neighbors hooking up at 6:30 this morning!), but more moved in by early afternoon, ladies here to celebrate a birthday tomorrow. We had a nice chat and they welcomed Lola to the group. Other than that, a pretty quiet day, though we did take a nice walk around all the loops just to get some exercise. Something shifted in my surgical knee, which seemed to free it up a bit, so more progress is made! Anyway, not much else going on! Good night, babe! Love you!
Saturday, July 19, 2025 – Lots of Little Jobs
Hi Babe,
Spent most of the day going through my mail and packages, then a couple of hours replacing the battery in my phone. The old one was still working, though it didn't seem to be holding a charge as well, but it was only 1420 amp hours, so I found a better one, they claim 9000 amp hours, which I'm hoping will mean I won't have to charge it as often on my Yellowstone trip. At least, that's the plan! This wasn't one of those easy ones where you just take the back off and replace the battery, I had to go through a whole process of heating it up to soften the adhesive, carefully taking it apart, unscrewing about a dozen tiny screws, heating it up again to get the battery out, and finally, the most tedious part, getting the adhesive off before putting a new back on (my old one was already cracked somewhere along the line.) Difficult, but I got the job done! Looks like new! Thank good ness for Youtube, where I looked at half a dozen different videos just to get it right. I also unboxed a couple of battery charger/storage units, also many amp hours, with a solar capacity, so I'm hoping I'll have enough power to last 12 days in the wild. Put a lot of stuff away, then settled down for a quiet rest of the day. Warmed up nicely, started out around 50, up to mid-70's, but only getting down into the mid-60's tonight. It's supposed to rain tomorrow, so I guess I'll put off laundry until Monday. Karen came by with another delivery, my micro towel, also for the trip. I think I've got myself pretty covered for the trip, not sure what else I'm going to need, hopefully not much! It will all come in handy for other things, too, so it won't be just a one time thing. Anyway, it was a nice, productive day, and I'll be headed to bed soon! Good night, my darlin'! Love you!
Friday, July 18, 2025 – Fabulous Ride on Flash!
Hiya Darlin',
A cool morning, down in the low 50's, a refreshing change from the heat wave we've been having! Decided to run my couple of errands this morning to let it warm up, so I drove down to town, dropped off another return to Amazon, picked up a bag of All Stages (which the Tractor Supply was finally able to get in from another store, as they didn't have any, despite their website saying they had forty bags! Not a very well managed store!), then got back to camp just after 11:00. Had Flash saddled and out on the trail before 11:30. I decided to follow the trails where I might find the missing halter one of the ladies from the parade had lost, down Icicle and Erie Canal, but no luck. Ran into Carol and her friend, they hadn't seen it either. We reached the river and crossed it, then headed west on Eatonville Trail, crossed over Otter Creek and too the trail of the same name, then turned north on another loop and left the forest to go along a road until we picked up Hiawatha trail back to camp, just under fourteen miles in all. I had forgotten how rocky it was on some of those trails, not to mention the gravel roads, and felt bad that I hadn't brought Flash's boots along, but one is so stretched it keeps falling off, and the new one I ordered isn't due until next week, so there wasn't much I could do. I'll check his feet tomorrow and make sure there isn't any (or much) stone bruising. He'll get a couple of days off anyway. Today was absolutely gorgeous, perfect weather once it warmed up a bit, and it was a fantastic ride, as always here at Otter Creek. Got the horses settled, and even played a little fetch with Lola. I've been giving her Cosequin since Tennessee, and it seems to be working, she's moving around better, though she only retrieved the ball a couple of times. Still, I'm happy to see any improvement at her age! Had myself dinner and a little TV, won't be long out of bed! Good night, sweetie! Love you!
Thursday, July 17, 2025 – Rainy, Quiet Day
Hey Sweetie,
Had trouble getting to sleep early, so ended up getting up late. The day was cloudy for the most part, with a few showers in the afternoon. I had already decided not to go riding today, so I just spent most of the day puttering. I'm returning the camcorder I bought, the quality is just too poor, but it finally occurred to me that maybe the reason my old Sony camera wasn't working was because the battery finally gave out. Considering how long I've had the camera, I'm amazed I think of it sooner! So I've ordered two new generic batteries with a charger, figured I'd give that a chance before I spend hundreds on a new camcorder, or just decided to use my phone anyway. I like the separate camcorder, though, always have. Anyway, it was a day spent mostly on my computer, with just one quick venture over to Karen's to pick up my mail and a couple more pacakges, so got some more stuff to check out over the weekend. Not much else going on! Settled down to dinner and a movie, which I realized after about three quarters of the way through I had seen already. Guess it didn't make much of an impression the first time! Anyway, won't be long out of bed. Good night, babe! Love you!
Wednesday, July 16, 2025 – Short But Sweet Ride on Apollo, Shopping
Hi Babe,
I keep waking up at the crack of dawn, and when I'm lucky, manage to fall asleep for a little bit longer, though not too much this morning. That's okay, I had a busy day. After chores and breakfast, I saddled up Apollo, and Lola and I headed out for a short ride. Apollo was stumbling a bit for awhile, but eventually loosened up enough to do a little jogging. I took him on mostly flat trails at first to get him warmed up, which I think helped. We did cut it shorter than I had planned, though, because Lola seemed to be struggling a bit. We ended up going just over three miles. At least the big guy is still moving! Once I got him put away, Lola and I headed into town to do a bunch of errands. I'm returning some pants I ordered from Amazon, dropped of the final check to the Yellowstone outfitter, got fuel at the ridiculous price of $4.19/gallon, picked up some joint stuff for Apollo and propane at Tractor Supply, but once again disappointed in the management there. Their website said they had 40 bags of the All Stages that I feed Flash, but they actually had NONE. Now we're back to getting some sent over from another store IF they have someone available to do that! Very poorly managed. Then to Walmart for some of my usual items, then a stop at Millers Meat Market for some garlic cheese curds (my new favorite snack whenever I'm up here), and a last stop at Mary's Dairy Bar, where they have superb frozen custard, which I've been looking forward to ever since I crossed the Mason/Dixon line, but haven't been able to find yet. A small twist cone (chocolate and vanilla swirled) was all I needed, and I called that dinner. Well, except for a couple of slice of bacon and a few cheese curds later, anyway. Had some visitors come by, a lady named Carol whom I had met several times previously around different horse camps in NYS, including Sugar Hill and Phillips Point, and we had a lovely chat along with another of her friends. Small world! Finally fed the horses and settled down for the evening, later than usual, but still daylight! Headed to bed shortly. Love you darlin'! Good night!