Sunday, August 15, 2021 – Laundry, Mending and Prep Day

Hey Darlin’!
Had an absolutely fabulous night sleep last night, temps were perfect for that! After chores I started my first load of laundry, then went and filled up the tank again because I had three more loads to do. It was a perfect day, no clouds, lots of sun, nice breeze, and since I had full propane tanks I decided to get all of my laundry done, four loads total. It was very busy in the campground but there were sites across from me that were empty to I put my laundry line up across the posts in both of them, enough space for everything! I had one last mending job I wanted to do, on the hay bags. The grommets where the string goes through came out ages ago, shortly after I got them, and they were getting progressively worse, so I decided to sew all the grommets back in to make them last a bit longer. Not an easy job, a lot of the grommets where horribly squished into weird shapes, and it took awhile to get the job done, which I did in between putting up and taking down laundry. Just as I was taking down my last bit of laundry, Dan showed up unannounced, but I finished that job and went back to grommet mending while he chatted away. He brought a couple of pasties, he heard I liked them from the UP last time we were here, and I was going to heat them up for dinner when he got a call that he had to pick up his ex-wife from a hospital (mental, I think) and take her home. He has a lot of family problems I won’t get into, way too much negative baggage, not a lot of fun, sorry to say. Anyway, he asked me to wait until seven-ish for dinner, so I had to have a snack of carrots since I hadn’t eaten since breakfast. Then at seven he texts me to say it’s now more like eight and I said don’t bother, I had too much to do. I just can’t eat that late anymore, especially not something heavy like a pastie. Meanwhile, I finished a lot more of my packing up, got most everything put away, and got the truck lined up and partially hitched (stopped when it was level) so I had no intention of having company after eight. We might meet up after I move to Brighton, but it doesn’t really matter one way or another. Finally settle down with some shrimp ramen instead, watched a bit of TV, now I’m exhausted and ready for shower and bed. Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Saturday, August 14, 2021 – Busy, Productive Day with A Comedy Night!

Hello, my love!
I ended up going to bed after 12:30 last night, fell asleep reading and woke up around 8:00. Did all my chores and had breakfast, then spent almost two hours doing my egoscue and other exercises. I felt a lot better after doing them the other day, so I’m trying to do them more often. I still feel lopsided, and these exercises are helping me get back in balance. After finishing that up, it was almost noon, and I decided to give Flash’s saddle a really good cleaning and conditioning. I’m embarrassed to say I cant remember the last time I did it, and I know I’ve only done it once (if that!) Since you did them right after I got Flash three years ago. Figured it was about time! There were also a number of seams that were starting to come apart on the stirrups, and one of the rings on the saddle bags had torn off, so I had my work cut out for me! It took the better part of the afternoon to get it all done, including sewing some new elastic on my lamb’s wool saddle cover so it will be a bit more secure. I had to get my sewing box down from the attic, so when I put that away, I also put away the ice machine that I got for my knee and haven’t used in months because it’s too much of a pain to try to store ice to use it, and I’ve found using a baggie full of ice is just as effective anyway, plus, the swelling is practically gone so it seems like surplus to requirement right now. I’ll do it occasionally when I remember, but most of the time I only do it if it hurts, which isn’t very often any more, thank goodness! I finished up just in time to grill a piece of chicken and have dinner, feed the horses, then head over to a place called Fisk Farm about 5 miles away. I had seen a sign that they were having a “clean comedy night” tonight as a fundraiser for the local heritage society, so I thought I’d do something different for a change and headed over there. It was an outdoor venue so I took Lola, and I ended up throwing the frisbee for a while just to keep her busy. I thought the show started at seven so showed up at a quarter til, only to find that seven was when they opened the box office, the show didn’t start until eight. I was glad I listened to the little voice in my head to put my empty propane tanks in the back of the truck, because I decided to run over to Tractor Supply and get them filled to kill some time. He was so fast filling them, though, I was only gone ten minutes! Thus the frisbee play to wear down Lola. Eventually the show started, it wasn’t too bad, though not exactly highbrow. It still ended up with large portions of bathroom humor, a lot about kids and parenting, so not very relevant to me! It was different, though, and for a good cause, but that’s about it. Got back around ten, watched a brief hour of TV, now I’m off to the shower and to bed! A busy and different kind of day! Cheers, my love! Good night!

Friday, August 13, 2021 – Another Ride and Hay Day

Hi Sweetie!
Woke up to a nice morning, temps aren’t quite as hot as they’ve been, and it looks like it’s going to stay that way for awhile, thank goodness! After chores and breakfast, I was just starting to get Apollo ready, because Dan was supposed to be coming over for a ride. I was actually going to let him ride Flash today for a change, but at the last minute he texted to say he couldn’t make it because of a serious family problem. I put Apollo back and saddled Flash, and we had a nice 7.69 mile ride. The bugs were still bad, but the heat and humidity weren’t as bad as it’s been, so it was quite nice, and Lola enjoyed herself, too. I was careful not to let Flash drink from any streams on the trail, just in case that’s what set off his colic the other day. Got back to camp, made a few phones, learned that my order for feed had come in at the Tractor Supply (they neglected to call or email me, sorry to say), so I went to pick that up. I forgot the propane tanks, though, that had been on my list, so I’ll have to do that another day. I also went to Meijers and stocked up on Joint Juice, should have enough for the rest of the year now. Came back to camp and unloaded, then left a while later to go pick up hay at a farm about 16 miles from here. It’s supposed to be about 40 percent alfalfa, which is more than I wanted, but I haven’t been able to find any anywhere else, I just keep missing the timing, everybody is getting sold out in a hurry. It’s been a weird year for hay, some areas having a drought, others too much rain. I got eight bales, though, so it should last me for most of my stay at the next place, hopefully I’ll be able to pick up a good load sometime in the next couple of weeks. Got back to camp, grilled a burger, and settled down for the evening. I’ve been having to cover myself with insect repellent the last few days, I feel like the trailer stinks of it, but it’s probably just stuck in my nose for now. Hope it’s not as bad at the next place, though I’m prepared for it now. Heading off for a shower and bed shortly. Good night, babe! Love you!

Thursday, August 12, 2021 – Shopping Day

Hi Babe!
Was delighted to see that Flash seems to be back to his normal self this morning, so I didn’t have to worry about him when I went shopping today. I took Lola with me, she made a lot of people smile, as she always does, and we got into several conversations throughout the store. The longest was in the checkout line, there were only two registers open and the lines were really long despite it being a quiet day in the store. Michigan is still paying Covid unemployment, I think until September, so there’s a real shortage of help right now. Glad TN and FL dropped it earlier! Otherwise, it was pretty quiet day. Those plastic drawers in the back of the trailer finally gave out, so I picked up another set with an extra drawer to replace it. That helped organize things a little better, but these new ones aren’t clear, so I may have to look a little harder for things next time :-). Remember awhile back we bought some hay that had pink baling twine, and it was so original I decided to hang on to a bunch so that I could braid them into ropes for miscellaneous uses? Well, I finally did that yesterday! They were just taking up space in the drawers, so I finally braided them up and hung them on a bar in the tack area. It’s nice to get a job that’s been sitting there for years finally done! The rest of the day was pretty slow, not much going on, which is fine, I’ve been staying pretty busy this week. So I’ve settled for my usual evening routine! Love you, darlin’! Good night!

Wednesday, August 11, 2021 – Ride on Flash, Then A Scary Moment

Hi Sweetie!
Another night when I couldn’t get to sleep, probably because it was so dang hot and humid, I had to run the fan and keep the inverter on even after going to bed. So it took me awhile to get to sleep, which ended up with me sleeping late, so I got a late start today. After chores and breakfast and a few computer jobs, I saddled up Flash around noon and headed out. I figured it would be a fairly fast ride, though Flash wasn’t particularly feeling it, probably because of the heat and humidity. Lola came along and plopped down into every mud puddle we came across. Flash took a drink on a particularly muddy creek (after Lola had stirred things up), but since he does that all the time, I didn’t think anything particular about it. We did about nine miles, including one short new trail we hadn’t done before, and when we got back to camp, he started to behave strangely. He buckled his back legs a bit when I took off the saddle, but when I checked his back it seemed okay. He did a lot of fussing when I was taking his tack off, wouldn’t stand still. Once I put him in the paddock, he laid down and started rolling, which isn’t that unusual, but then he stayed down for a long time. Then he’d get up and lay down again, over and over. I thought maybe he was dehydrated, so I tried to give him some water with electrolytes in it, but he wouldn’t drink, nor was he eating any hay or grass. He was also very shy of me when I approached him, like he was afraid, very unusual. I got online to see what it might be, and it seemed possible it was early stage colic. Best remedy recommended was to walk him around, so I put him on a lead and started walking him around the campground loop. I knew I had to get him to poop, since colic is essentially a stoppage in the intestinal system, so when we got back to our site, I tied him up to the trailer. He usually poops as soon as I do that, but not this time. So I took some advice from my friend Trish, who had told me a story about someone else who was worried about her horse not pooping, and someone else suggested that she put him in the trailer, because, as everyone who has ever trailered a horse knows, the FIRST THING a horse does when he gets into a trailer is to poop! Weird, I know, especially to non-horse people, but it’s the truth! So I cleared up a few things out of the back of the trailer and led Flash up into it, and sure enough! In less than a minute, he left me a nice pile. I got him out and put him in the paddock, and he immediately went for his hay bag and started eating. Suddenly, he was behaving normally, no more laying down, it was like nothing happened. I kept an eye on him for some time just to make sure he was okay, and everything seemed fine. I had planned on going shopping, but changed my mind, I wanted to keep an eye on him. Meanwhile, when I left at noon, the forecast said no rain until the middle of the night. When we got back around 2:45, I heard thunder and saw dark clouds, checked the forecast again, and it had changed to rain starting in 15 minutes and lasting a couple of hours! So I put everything away and sure enough, we had a terrible squall and then some steady rain for the next hour plus, which was really a good things, washed all the dirt off that Flash had accumulated. So I finally settled down for the evening, feeding the horses late so I could keep an eye on them, then watched a little TV, now I’m ready for shower and bed! At least it cooled down a little after the rain came through, hoping to sleep better tonight. Good night, my love!

Tuesday, August 10, 2021 – Fixed Three Windows

Hi Babe!
Tried to sleep without earplugs last night, but the rain woke my up in the middle of the night, naturally the bedroom window leaked again, but had a towel handy to dry it up. First thing after chores I started calling around for the ribbon seal that I needed, and none of the auto parts chains had it, but I finally found it at a local parts store just a few miles away, and they happen to be right next to a True Value where I was able to get the denatured alcohol I needed as well. My order from JC Penney also came in, and I picked that up as well. That was strange because the parking lot was FULL of Canadian geese! I guess that might be normal around here, but it was fun to see anyway. Then I went and picked up Dan, he offered to help with the main window, and I needed an extra hand, though it was a bit out of the way. Got back and got to work, took us about two hours to get the whole job done, fortunately we didn’t have any real problems. Took a bit more to get off all the sealant I’ve been spreading onto it, but it eventually came off. Fingers crossed it work this time! Then I took Dan to lunch as a thank you and got him home, then when I got back, I remembered another window problem I was having. You remember on the dinette window, the handle on the edge with the lock on it came off? Well, I haven’t really done anything about it, and then the window behind the recliners did the same thing to me yesterday, so I got online to see what suggestions there were, and the one I tried was using a board and a rubber mallet to tap it back on. That seemed to work, at least for now. It was suggested that I could use some glue, and if these come off again, I’ll do that. Meanwhile, that makes three window repairs today, so I guess you could call it a productive day! Did a few more French lessons and settled down for the evening. It was quite hot and humid today, and it’s supposed to be like that for a couple more days before it cools down. It’s supposed to rain off and on tonight and tomorrow, so I guess we’ll see if our window fix really did the trick! Sitting outside cooling off again, I ran the AC for a bit, didn’t do a thing against the heat out in this wide open park. Looking forward to getting in some shade next week. Anyway, time for my shower and bed! Good night, darlin’! Love you!

Monday, August 9, 2021 – Another Ride at Highlands

Hi Sweetie!
Had a little trouble sleeping last night, read for quite awhile, but finally dozed off and slept through the night. Woke up to my alarm since I had arranged to ride with Dan today and didn’t want to sleep too late. Chores, breakfast and have both horses saddled up by the time he got here, a little later than I expected, but we got out nonetheless. It was hot, muggy and buggy today, and there was rain supposed to be coming in by 2:00 and I wanted to make sure we got back on time. We did the long loop on the west side of the property going in the opposite direction than when I went last week just for variety. Other than the muggy heat and bugs, it was a nice ride. We did get back shortly before it started raining, though it came in earlier than was forecast. Once it started, it really rained hard, a real gully washer. It was the perfect opportunity to check out where my window was leaking from, so I excused myself and took off the window frame. It’s definitely dripping around the window, but I still can’t figure out exactly where it’s coming in. After Dan left, I did some research about it, and discovered that there’s a seal around the inside of the window that could be the problem. Looks like a fairly straightforward job if I can get the kit somewhere. I’ll need a little help getting the window out, but other than that I think I can get it done fairly easily, assuming that’s the problem. I know I’ve sealed the outside of the window pretty thickly, so I don’t think that’s it, so process of elimination, it has to be the inside seal. I’ll do more research tomorrow. It rained very heavily for a bit, some flooding around the trailer and the yard I’m in, but didn’t last too long. I got my proposal off to my prospective client, hopefully that’s something that will come through in the coming weeks, maybe a job by the end of the year, that would be nice! Finally settled down for the evening, now I’m ready for shower and bed, I have to get all the dang bug spray off me, I stink! Love you, darlin’! Good night!

Sunday, August 8, 2021 – Another Low Key Day

Hi Darlin’!
There was another bout of rain overnight, so it was wet and a bit foggy this morning. Considered riding, but you know me, I’m a fair weather rider, so I decided to do some other things instead. Once it looked like it was going to clear up I did a load of laundry, and got that hung out to dry. Spent most of the day reading, working on the computer, doing some French lessons and so on. So a quiet day overall. Pretty warm today, I had to turn the AC for a few minutes to blow the hot air out of the trailer in the evening, it’s not cooling down quite so much tonight, but still not too bad, not like further south. Still glad I’m above the 42nd parallel! Sitting outside in the screen room trying to cool off before going to bed, already had my shower, but will be heading inside shortly. Good night, babe! Love you!

Saturday, August 7, 2021 – Some Rain, Some Housework, Some Computer Work

Hi Babe!
A pretty good night sleep, and we had some rain overnight, so it was really overcast this morning. I decided to use the day to get caught up on a bunch of little things. Did a proposal for my potential client, topped off the batteries, made Lola some Satin Balls, did a bunch of housework, went through a bunch of French lessons, and kept busy in general, just a regular, mundane day. Settled down in the evening, watched a fun movie with Susan Sarandon, now it’s off to shower and bed. Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Friday, August 6, 2021 – Third Ride at Highland, With Company

Hi Sweetie!
Another great night sleep, woke up to my alarm to make sure I didn’t miss a business call at 9:00, though at the last minute she was delayed so it was twenty minutes later when we finally got to talk. No worries, I got my chores done and had my breakfast beforehand anyway. It was a good conversation, looks like I might have another job before the end of the year, which would be great! After I finished and did the dishes, I started to saddle up Flash, and waited to saddle up Apollo until Dan arrived, we had settled on today at 10:00, he was a few minutes late, but as soon as he arrived I started to get Apollo ready. He changed into jeans (he rides his bike in shorts, understandably) and before long we were headed out. I essentially did the same trails I did yesterday in reverse, a little under five miles, I didn’t want him to be suffering, since you know that when someone doesn’t ride for a long time, 60-90 minutes is about all they should try to do. It was just at 90 minutes, so it worked out well. He really enjoyed himself, he hadn’t been on a horse in a long time, and these are pretty nice trails here, just wish they had more of them. He was good company, we chatted amiably throughout the ride and afterward in the screen room. Then we decided to go to lunch, and we drove to the White Lake Inn, a nice little waterfront restaurant where we sat on the deck and enjoyed a wonderful lunch. It was after 3:30 by the time we got back to camp, and headed out shortly after that. He’s working over the weekend (he does part time at Lowes, just because he’s bored just hanging around), but he’ll probably come and ride again next week sometime. He lives in Costa Rica, would you believe! So that was part of our conversation, of course. Anyway, I went back to the French lessons I’ve started to take online, because it feels more productive than just playing games, which I’ve been doing a lot of lately. I’ve been considering doing a riding trip in France, so that kind of got me going, but I figure it’s good exercise for my brain regardless of whether I actually go on that trip. Haven’t done any French since high school, forgot most of it, but it’s been fun to get back into it. Well, time for shower and bed! Looks like it may rain a bit tomorrow, don’t know if I’ll ride or not, we’ll see. Meanwhile, good night, darlin’! Love you!