Hello my Darlin'!
Had a good night sleep, checked on Flash's legs when I was feeding (where I slipped him a little extra nice alfalfa Jo had given me), and all looks good. It's been such a long time since we had a Sunday with rain predicted, so I decided to make the most of it. Splurged on blueberry pancakes just to round out the day. Art came by and took Lola for a walk, then chatted a bit. Afterward I battened everything down in anticipation of the storm coming in later. It's been windy all since early this morning (and yesterday as well), so I covered up the hay, closed up the awning, put the porch chairs in the back and the tupperware around my electrical connection. Finally settled down, read for awhile, nodded off a few times, then watched a couple of good movies. Started a new TV mini-series based on a John LeCarre novel, and had a wonderful, relaxing day, which I really needed! Of course, Lola didn't like the thunder, but she finally settled down. We had a few good downpours, so I'm looking forward to seeing some greening tomorrow, though I don't know how long that will last, since there's no more rain in the forecast, other than a slight chance tomorrow. It has been incredibly dry this year! Everything is so brown. Anyway, it was a lovely day, just a little more of my usual routine and it's off to bed! Good night, babe! Love you!

Hey Babe,
My usual morning of chores and breakfast, though it was a bit delayed due to the fact that Lola, who begged me to go out late last night, apparently dug up a whole section of sandy garden along the edge of the house, so I had to get that cleaned up after I fed the horses. Finally had breakfast, then got busy with a couple of repairs. I replace the tie bolt on the trailer, which I could have sworn I had a leftover from the last packet of two that I bought, but couldn't find it, so I had ordered another pack of two. When I finished putting the one on and putting the extra away, lo and behold the extra from the first pack, which I had searched for high and low, jumped out at me. Crazy! I also worked on the ramp hardware, which I had tried unsuccessfully to rivet back it, so I had to use my generic Dremel and impact drill to get the old rivets out. Just need some screws to finish the job. By then, it was time to collect Flash for the vet, and the timing was perfect, I was just tying him to the trailer when she arrived. A couple of x-rays later, we decided he needed a couple of steroid shots, one in each of his hind hocks, to alleviate problems from arthritis, darn it. Apparently that's not uncommon in Pasos, and even though he's been doing okay, he's not 100 %. According to the vet, though, he should be back to his normal self within two weeks, and the shots should last his lifetime, we hope. Once we were finished, I hurried out of there down to Tidewater, as I had promised Jo I would help her break down after the Gator Run, where she was running her first 50 mile ride on her new horse Nikki. I was running so late she actually completed before I got there, so she was flying high! Probably enough adrenaline not to need my help, but I was there, so I did. Art was there vetting, and he sweetly gave me a Valentine's card, being that it was that day. Got back to camp as the sun set, fed the horses (Flash got an extra nice treat of a little alfalfa Jo had leftover) and settled down for the night. Feeling very tired, ended up falling asleep watching TV. I had forgotten to take something out of the freezer, so I ended up eating a bowl of cereal, and would you believe? My new temporary tooth cap broke into pieces! Looks like I'll be having another date with the dentist next week. Finishing my tea, then shower and bed! Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hiya Sweetie,
My arms were still a bit sore this morning, though not as bad as last night, but by the end of the day they were almost back to normal. Surprisingly, I got an email saying my labs were back already, even though I was told it would be midweek next week before I'd get them. From what I can tell from the lab report, I have immunities already for all of the things I was tested for, including chicken pox, which surprised me a little. So it seems I don't need any additional vaccinations! Yay! My big chores today were to pick up hay and my small horse trailer. I got hay at Triple J, not quite as nice as previous batches, but still pretty good, and since I'll be here awhile, I got the 21-bale bundle. Then I headed over to J&S and picked up my small trailer. Tracy went above and beyond to make up for the delay in getting it back to me, for which I'm very appreciative, so it didn't end up being quite as expensive as I had feared. At least now I know I have a solid trailer with no leaks! Looking forward to taking my first trip with it, whenever that will be. We had to break open the hay bundle and move six bales to the trailer so I could close the tailgate, and the guys there helped me out with that. I also got some palettes to put them on as well. I had picked up a couple of badly broken ones at Triple J, but then I saw some much nicer ones in a burn pile at J&S, so I switched them out. Perfect for putting my hay on in the shed! Relaxed the rest of the day, waiting to get bit by the "gotta do stuff" bug, which has been absent the last few days, but I thinking now that the weather is warmer, it's going to break out any day now! Anyway, settled down for the evening, feeling like I made some progress today! Good night, my darlin'! Love you!

Hey Darlin',
Woke up to my alarm this morning, chores, breakfast and out the door by 8:30, just in time for my 9:00 dental appointment. They got all the preliminary work done, and left me with a temporary cap. Walked over to Publix to check on the vaccines and learned a few things, most importantly that the smallpox vaccine has to be kept frozen, and Publix pharmacy doesn't have a freezer (kind of amusing, since it's a grocery store with a huge freezer section :-)), but had everything else that was ordered. I decided that since I couldn't remember whether or not I had chicken pox as a kid, and after my discussion with Chelle about her MMR wearing off, I decided I best get a lab test to see exactly what my immunities are so I get what I need and don't get what I don't need, so I had my doctor's office order that for me. Checked my mail, met Jo for a quick meal at the Breakfast Station (my mouth was still numb, so I just had a lovely soup), then shopped at Walmart for a few things. Picked up the Rx at the doctor's, headed straight to the lab for a blood draw, which fortunately didn't take long despite not having an appointment, then back to Publix to get the rest of the vaccines that I knew I needed. A flu shot and TDAP in one arm, and Hep A&B and Typhoid in the other. Just a little sore at first, but much more sore by evening. Just got back home and got my groceries put away when Art popped by, chatted for a bit, then finally settled down for the evening, sore arms and all! Won't be long out of bed, that's for sure! Good night, babe! Love you!

Hi Babe,
Finally managed to have a little quieter day today, though not quite as much as I had hoped. My dentist appointment was cancelled at the last minute, so I ended up having lunch with Art and Helen at Willard's, then I spent a little time researching travel insurance, since that seems to be a requirement of the outfitter. I've never seen such a disparity! Policies ranged from under $20 to thousands of dollars, even though the coverage didn't seem to be all that different! Very confusing. I did end up getting one, just to meet the requirement, from what I guess is one of the bigger companies so the premiums were lower. I've never bought travel insurance before, but hopefully I won't have to use it. Anyway, once I finally got that done, I relaxed for the rest of the evening, so I feel like I got a little rest. Won't be long out of bed, since I have to get going early in the morning for my postponed dental appointment at 9:00 tomorrow. Good night, sweetheart! Love you!

Hiya Sweetie,
A pretty good night sleep, chores and breakfast, then spent most of the day sorting out my airline tickets and getting them paid, figuring out which vaccines I need and get them lined up, getting my dental work scheduled, working on putting together my Tanzanian visa, etc. Very excited about making this happen! Glad it's mostly done now, though, so I can get started on the many repairs and improvements I need to make on my truck and RV. I really did a number on my ladder this last time, so I have to start that job from scratch. So much to do, and I would really have liked to have a day of true rest before I got started, but it's not going to happen right away. No worries, I'll live! And now, by being able to stay in one place for awhile, I should be able to get a lot done. Tea, shower, bed! Good night, my darlin'! Love you!

Hey Darlin',
Had a busy morning getting packed up and moved over to Chelle's, but managed to get over there by 10:00. Challenging to get into her driveway, it as a pretty narrow entrance with a culvert on each side, so I had to take a couple of passes at it, but managed it, just barely! Got parked in a good spot, though, near the horses' pasture, close enough for water and electric, though I may have to either get the sewer tank out of the attic or maybe borrow and extra sewer hose from Chelle to reach her trap. Either way, I'm settled in. Took a quick trip back to get my mangled ladder and to turn off the power at the host site at the trailhead. There's some hardware I want to get off the ladder, if I can, or I may just start from scratch. The ladder has been bent so many times now, and it's been needing to be repaired for a while, so it will be a good job to get that done. Once I got settled at noon, started some laundry and got on my computer, I was delighted to see an invoice from the African safari folks, so I was able to wire my payment to them, thus securing my Serengeti trip! Yay! Spent most of the rest of the day trying to work out the best routes to fly there from Gainesville, since it seems like I'll be staying here for the duration. Thought I might have some better alternatives, like flying out of Miami or Atlanta, but none of the connections made enough sense, so it looks like the DFW connection will work the best. I'm having to make it two separate flight reservations, unfortunately, because the direct flight I wanted wasn't available for points, meaning I would have to take more time and an extra stop in order to use them. Too bad, it would have been super cheap if I could have, but that's not important. I'm using points to fly from Gainesville to DFW first class, so that will help. Anyway, I put those on hold just so I can double check it all tomorrow before I make the purchase. I was just wrapping up when Art came by for a visit, staying until it was suppertime for the horses, then I settled down for the evening, hoping for a more restful day tomorrow! Good night, babe! Love you!

Hey Sweetie,
Another early morning, on my way by 8:15, picked up Art, arrived at Apex, dropped him off to help, and was out on the trails nice and early. Followed my plan for checking out trails and putting out the stuffed safari animals, and made it back to camp by 10:30. Did a trail talk at 11:50, everybody out by noon. Had to deliver some pizza to Station 1, which was difficult because it was after everyone left, and there was a crowd, but we managed. Everything seemed to go smoothly, we ended up with a pretty good crowd, even though the pre-registrations were down a bit this year, but we had a lot show up today, not surprising since the weather finally took a turn for the better. Gorgeous day! At 3:00, Art and I went back on the trails to take all the markers down, and managed to do all but the bike trail before it got too late, and the bike trail is only a couple of signs that can be taken down by a regular vehicle. Got all the stuffed animals back except the black bear, which was the farthest out, and the rattlesnake, which was right at the start of the rider's trailhead, but maybe one of the volunteers took that down, I don't know. Went to dinner at Willards because I was too tired to cook, and we chatted for quite awhile. Didn't get back to camp until 8:00, fed the horses, and discovered that the rope I had Lola tied to had come loose, though she was comfortable ensconced inside the trailer. For the first time in a week she hadn't torn the place apart, so at least I didn't have to yell at her for a change. Settled down for what was left of the evening, but I'm going to bed shortly, as I have plans to ride with my friend Bettina in the morning. Feeling very tired, but content that most of the plans (except parking, which I don't even want to get into!) went off pretty well. That said, good night, my darlin'! Love you!

Hiya Darlin'!
Woke up even before the alarm, but had a good night sleep because I went to bed pretty early, and glad I did! Off and running, running by Chelle's to pick up the signs, picked up Art hitchhiking :-), and were on the trails in the Gator by 9:30. Chilly morning, but I had my long johns and four more layers on, so it wasn't too bad except when we were heading into the wind and going fast on the road. We finished our first circuit just before 1:00, checked in with Chelle at the trailhead, then back out again for round two. I think we're in good shape. I just need to check the signs tomorrow and get the stuffed safari animals out, and I've made a plan that should be relatively straightforward to accomplish that. Arrived back at the trailhead in time for the volunteers meeting at 4:00, and managed to be on our way by 5:00, with a quick detour to Meg's to pick up the stuffed safari animals. Dropped Art off, came home to another mess, thanks to Lola. Don't know what's gotten into her lately, but she's ruined the trellis gate I had blocking the dining table and has been scratching the leather, making new tears, flipping over the garbage and sending it all over the place, and today she even managed to somehow push the welcome mat all the way into the laundry room! What a mess! She's been doing versions of this every day lately, and she's not responding very well to my anger about it, so today I put her outside and made her stay out there for a couple of hours, hoping I've made my point. We'll find out tomorrow. Anyway, as soon as I got back and got the horses taken care of, I quickly finished a couple of things on the computer, printed off a few more signs, settled down to a soup dinner and a little TV to relax, then got back to making the plan for checking the trails and putting the safari animals up. All done, so now it's tea, shower and bed, and a busy day tomorrow! Good night, baby! Love you!