Hey Sweetie!
Had another lovely night sleep, once again leaving the fireplace on because it was a very chilly night! Did a bit more work on the ride planning for the upcoming endurance ride at McCulley Farms, then met with Kaleigh, the ride manager, and the Fusion Buffet restaurant in Live Oak, where I showed as much restraint as I could in a buffet! It was a good meeting, we chatted for over 2 1/2 hours. She approved of my trail plan and otherwise had a grand time. She gave me all the markers she had, plus some extra ribbon, but I tend to use more markers than some, so I ran down to the dollar store and picked up some more clothespins so I can make some more. A quick stop at Walmart for just a few items I needed, then back to camp. An otherwise uneventful day. Settled down for the evening, watched a Pierce Brosnan movie, off to shower and bed! Good night, babe! Love you!
Tuesday, October 17, 2023 – Ride Day on Flash
Hi Babe!
Can't believe how much sleep I'm getting. I must have read later than I thought last night before falling asleep because it was nearly 9:00 when I woke up this morning. Crazy! Well, I did do a lot of physical work yesterday, and I do feel fully recovered, so I guess that's a good thing. When I went to feed the horses, I found the top wire in Apollo's fence was hanging down. I had noticed yesterday he was leaning up against the fence, rubbing on the wire, now I know he was testing it. He pulled all the caps which held the hotwire off the tops of the fenceposts, just like he used to pull the portable fence posts right out of the ground. So I had to put the hotwire on, glad that I got it fixed last week. Spent the morning working of the planning for the McCulley Farms endurance ride in a couple of weeks. There's a large section of forest that is still closed after the hurricane, so we're trying to come up with some interesting alternative routes. Meeting with the organizer tomorrow to get trail markers and discuss options. Finally got far enough along to stop and take Flash for a ride. After yesterday's exhibition of running around the pen like a mad horse, I figured he needed the exercise, and so did Lola, so by 1:00 we were saddled up. I headed over to the river trail, thinking it had been mostly cleared by the Spirit of Suwannee folks, but I was certainly wrong about that! I was barely a mile out when I came across a couple of big trees blocking the trail. I had my mini-chainsaw with me, so I cut enough limbs to clear the way to step over the biggest log, and a few other small ones further down, but it soon became clear that no clearing had, in fact, been done on that section of trail. Since the point of the day was to get Flash some exercise and not do trail clearing, I managed to bypass a couple of bad spots and finally get to the old bridge stanchions, and the trail was completely blocked right there. I turned back to the wide trail and we ended up going on the hard-packed sand road all the way down to the Allard tract, about two miles down and two miles back. Then we cut back toward the river for a ways before heading home. A rather boring ride, but the point was exercise, and it's clear that I won't be able to reach any of the eastern trails any time soon. We gaited most of the way, so it was a pretty good workout, we did about nine miles. When it came time to feed them dinner, it was obvious Apollo had tested the fence and learned his lesson, because I couldn't even get him to the gate to put his feed bag on! I had to go in the paddock to do it. Surprised it took him three weeks to push his luck, he's always been a pretty good Houdini. Anyway, had a pleasant evening, ready for a quick shower and bed. Good night, my darlin'! Love you!
Monday, October 16, 2023 – Back to Work
Hiya Darlin'!
Despite going to bed early again last night, it was well after 8:00 when I woke up this morning, even though I almost slept through the night! Guess my room-darkening drapes are doing their job! I felt completely well and refreshed, though, which is a good thing! David dropped off the little gas chainsaw while I was having breakfast, so it wasn't long before I was out the getting to work. Took me awhile to get it started, but once I did, off I went! I cleared out the wooden pens on the east side as much as I could, did a little burn of the small stuff, cut a bunch off the big tree that was still in the back yard, all into firepit size logs, which I stacked next to another stack of firewood that looks like it's been sitting there for years! No shortage of firewood for visiting campers, that's for sure! The good news, not a single long board on the pens have broken! The only broken board was a face-plate on a corner. Those parts of the fence came down because the posts shifted from the weight of the trees coming down on them. It should be a fairly simple matter to manhandle the posts back into place, shore them up, and re-screw the boards back in, I'll just need a little brawny help to finish it off. I quit just after 3:00, but certainly got in a full day of exercise. Speaking of exercise, a couple of hours later, I heard Flash running around the paddock and watched him running and jumping for about five minutes! This is what happens when we don't go riding for ten days! I'm going to have to take him out tomorrow, for sure! Settled down for dinner and a movie, took a long hot shower early, hoping to get to bed early, too. I don't think I'll have any trouble sleeping tonight after all the physical labor I put in today. At least, I hope so! Anyway, a quick Spanish lesson, my cup of Sleepytime tea, then off to bed with me! Supposed to get quite chilly tonight, down to the mid-forties! Fireplace is on! Good night, sweetheart! Love you!
Sunday, October 15, 2023 – Recovery Day
Hey Sweetie,
Got to bed early last night, probably too early, woke up around 4:00 and didn't get back to sleep until the roosters next door were crowing. Deb texted me at 8:00 to see if I needed help, and I told her I didn't think so, but she stopped by at 9:00 and I had gone back to sleep, so she was kind enough to give the horses some hay for me, and open the door for Lola. I finally crawled out of bed around 10:30, feeling quite a lot better, but not 100 % yet. It felt like if I did anything quickly I might get dizzy, so I did everything in slow motion. I did managed to do a couple of loads of laundry and to vacuum, then later I moved the horses back into two new paddocks and gave them a bit more hay. By late afternoon I felt much better, back to almost normal, so it was a good thing I took the day off. No idea what that was about, but I hope it doesn't happen again! So I read and watched some TV the rest of the time while resting, very glad I'm feeling better. Lola was off roaming the neighborhood like she always does and one time she came back with, I kid you not, a hot dog bun and a whole corn on the cob in her mouth! I don't think she picked them up that way, I swear it looked like someone put them there. Which is highly possible, there are a few strange neighbors nearby... Of course, I threw them out, but I have a feeling the neighbors dog will probably come digging through that garbage tonight. Anyway, going to bed early once I finish my Sleepytime tea and taking my shower, I still feel a bit tired from fighting off whatever this was. Good night, baby! Love you!
Saturday, October 14, 2023 – Oil Change on the Truck, Odd Dizzy Spells
Hi Babe,
Slept really late this morning, didn't have too much to do today. Don't have a chainsaw back yet, so I decided to change the oil on my truck. I bought what I needed shopping the other day, though it took me a few minutes to find the oil, because Rotella now comes in a wine box type container! Ran the truck up onto the Jiffy Jack just to get it a little higher, then did the job. Lubed most of the zerk joints as well, though I was a bit low on grease so I'll have to go back and redo them once I get another tube. Read for awhile, then had dinner and was just about to go out and feed the horses when I suddenly felt very dizzy. I stayed in my chair for awhile, and it seemed to improve, but as soon as I tried to get up, it came back. Broke into a sweat as well. I stayed in my chair another hour hoping it would improve enough to feed the horses, but it didn't. Thank goodness Deb was around, she came and fed them for me. I thought maybe I picked up something shopping the other day, so I did a covid test, but it came up negative. I also thought maybe it was artificial sweetener in the juice I've been drinking, sometimes I get a reaction to aspartame if I have too much, but that wasn't it either. No idea. I'm heading for a shower (thank goodness I still have that shower seat in there!), and heading straight to bed, where I'll stay until I feel better. I may have to get Deb's help again in the morning, though I'm hoping I'll be better by then. Sucked on a zinc tablet, that usually helps. Anyway, I'm off. Good night, my darlin'! Love you!
Friday, October 13, 2023 – Electric Fence Finished
Hey there, Darlin',
A good night sleep, chores done, then I started on the electric fence around Sheila's four 50 X 100 ' paddocks. Some of the insulators broke when a variety of limbs and trees fell on them, but they had several bags full of spares, so I went around and replace as much as I could. Then I found the source for their electric and plugged it in, checked it with handy fence tester, and viola! It all worked! Checked every paddock, and everything was working fine. I had hoped to get one of the chainsaws back that Dave took for another job, but since I didn't, I spent several hours on the phone with Verizon trying to fix a weird problem I was having with my text messaging on my new phone. Every time I sent a text to David, the contact name would revert to 22000. I tried everything and couldn't get it done. I finally got an American on the line, and eventually we resolved it by changing message apps to Verizon's. Didn't really want to do that, but Gina convinced me it was the best system for what I needed. The end result was that it worked, that's all I really wanted to do. It was after 5:00 by the time that was done, so I fed the horses and settled down to dinner and a movie. It's warm and muggy today, but hopefully getting cooler in the next few days. I should go for a ride tomorrow, but I don't want to cross over Spirit of Suwannee property on the weekends, sounds like they have activities going on over there. Flash really needs some exercise though, he's been kicking up his heels so high he's practically hitting tree limbs! Anyway, time for shower and bed. Good night, sweetie! Love you!
Thursday, October 12, 2023 – Rainy Shopping Day
Hi Sweetheart,
Well, the rain finally started last night around 9:00 and kept going all through the night. Had to wear my earplugs, but slept really well. Woke up and read for awhile, then got up and fed the horses. The rain was supposed to be gone by 10:00, but instead it rained for several more hours, finally quitting around noon. Took a ride into town to do a little grocery shopping, then got back and had a quiet movie and popcorn afternoon. Too wet to do anything outside, so I just mostly relaxed the rest of the day. Will get back out there tomorrow! Good night, baby! Love you!
Wednesday, October 11, 2023 – Productive Day
Hey Babe,
Got up bright and early today, started a load of laundry and was out raking and burning by about 8:00. Finished some piles in the second paddock from yesterday that didn't quite get done, then got busy raking fire breaks in the next two paddocks. Moved the horses to the first paddock, since that was the only one I didn't have fires going in, there was even some grass left in there! I wanted to get done before the rain was supposed to come in (calling for 100% chance), which was around 4:00, and now it's after 8:00 p.m. and I haven't seen any rain yet! Radar is showing a lot of moisture in the air, looks like rain, but it's fake signals, all I've seen is a couple of drops. Looks heavier to the west, heading this way, but we'll see! I hope it does rain, it will be the perfect finish for my burning job, melting all the ash down and getting rid of the smell of smoke. I'm going to close up the windows, just in case, can't trust these weather forecasts at all anymore! Had to switch out my shoelaces on my boots, decided to fix an eye rivet that came off a long time ago, I remembered I had some in my sewing kit so I did that. Don't know if it will hold, but it's worth a try! Settled down to an intriguing Spanish movie about a woman who has to survive a month in a ship container floating in the ocean, giving birth, and a whole lot of other survival stuff. Tense but inspiring! Ready for a shower and bed soon. Good night, darlinl'! Love you!
Tuesday, October 10, 2023 – Another Busy Work Day
Hi Darlin',
Got busy again today, this time tackling the first two big paddocks. As predicted, it was a bit tougher, made worse by the many vines my rake kept getting caught in, but I managed to get the first paddock done pretty well, and got a good start on the second paddock. Because the horses had been in there, there was a lot of manure, which slowed the burn down a bit, and I'll have to do it again at some point, but it does look a lot better. The weather was perfect for burning again. There's rain predicted to start mid-afternoon tomorrow, so I'm going to bed early and setting the alarm, I want to get as far along as I can on the last two paddocks before the rain comes in. It'll be another busy day! Settled down in the evening to a good movie, American Made, with Tom Cruise, all about the behind-the-scenes events of the Nicaraguan/Iran/Contra affair, very interesting, assuming it's based on somewhat of a true story. Or great fiction, if that was the case! Anyway, I enjoyed it, Tom Cruise always knows how to pick a good script. Heading for a shower and early bed! Love you, sweetie! Good night!
Monday, October 9, 2023 – Back To Work!
Hiya Sweetie,
Managed to get another eight hours sleep last night, so I guess I'm all caught up! After chores and breakfast I got busy raking, and since it was a perfect day for burning, decided to do that instead of hauling it all out to the side of the road. That's just too many steps! Rake it up, load it on the tarp or trailer, drag it out to the road, unload it again, only to someday in the future have the government come by, pick it up, haul it off somewhere, unload it, then, what? Burn it? Chip it? Haul it all to a landfill? I don't know where it goes. It's just a lot easier to rake it and burn it, in small doses, period. As long as I'm really careful, I don't see the problem. Besides, we have rain coming in Wednesday afternoon, supposedly, so I'd like to get as much done before that as I can. I did manage to get almost all of the rest of the back yard done, plus the round pen. Tomorrow I'm going to start on the big paddocks. These will be tougher, it's not just raking leaves on level ground, there's a lot of weeds and branches still out there, but it's about the only thing really major left to do. There are four paddocks, my horses are in two of them, though I'll put them back together and rotate them around to get this job done. Spent most of the day doing that, though I did get my new credit card today, so I put some time into updating a few automatic payments with that. That was pretty much my day! Looking forward to my shower to get the smell of smoke off me, then off to bed! Good night, babe! Love you!