Archives for January 2016

Saturday, Jan. 16, 2016 – Doctor And Website Day

Had morning appointments with our acupuncturist for our final, pre-cattle drive treatments, we’re both feeling much the better for it! Then had a meeting with a guy to help us add the book and a few other things to the website, looking forward to upgrading that to something much better than my attempts at it! Stay tuned, the book should be available online by Feb.1! Later in the day the storms starting coming in, lots of rain and wind and even some thunder, it’s promising to be a loud night!

Friday, Jan. 15, 2016 – Computer Switch and Heavy Rain Day

With some rain overnight, and more on the way, I received my new computer by 10:00 this morning, and spent the day transferring stuff over from my old computer. My new computer is a lot lighter in weight than my older one, even though it has everything that I need. After working with Windows 10 on the last computer, and realizing that a lot of it only functions when you’re connected to the internet (which is NOT a good solution when you’re out in the boondocks as much as we are!), I stayed with Windows 7 on my new computer. It may go obsolete in a few years, but at least I’ll be able to use it off-line, and I won’t have a long learning curve for W10 either, so it’s a double plus in my book. I’ll switch when I have to, and not before! The keyboard is laid out a bit differently, so that will take a bit of getting used to, and for some reason, all these laptop manufacturers insist on making the keys flatter and flatter, which isn’t as comfortable or accurate for a touch typist like me, but I’m sure I’ll get used to it. Going to have to cut my nails shorter, though, they keep hitting bottom when I touch the keys. Anyway, glad I have it, hope it works better than the last lemon I had!

Thursday, Jan. 14, 2016 – Another Great Ride in Jupiter

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Since the forecast was predicting rain coming in this afternoon, Hubby and I got up a little earlier and were out on the trails by 11:00 (okay, that may not be early for some, but we want to make as many deposits in our sleep bank as possible, since we'll be getting up around 5 a.m. during the Cattle Drive!) This time we took a slightly different route, heading east on the canal that heads to Mack Dairy Road before going out to the gazebo, adding some extra mileage, though not extra time because we spent a lot more time jogging and cantering along the way. Dogs enjoyed it as well, and we managed to get back by about 1:00, the time when rain was supposed to be moving in. Of course, it didn't, but it was getting cloudier. Hubby and I had some shopping to do, for clothes for the cattle drive and a few other odds and ends, so we headed out after putting the horses away, getting back just before the rain finally DID arrive. There's a major front coming through that looks like it will sock us in all day tomorrow, which is fine, because I'm due to receive my new new computer (I sent my old new computer back earlier this week, too unreliable), and that will be a few days to get that up and running and everything moved over. Settled down for a pleasant evening of dinner and movies!

Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2016 – Second Ride of the New Year

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After a rainy day yesterday, it was back on the trails again today, once again weaving through the neighborhood, down to Hungryland. This time, instead of going to the gazebo, we had noticed they had opened up a pass-through gate along the canal on the southernmost edge of the WMA, which had previously been blocked off. We didn't know how far we could go, so we went exploring. It was a good mile from the gate to the corner of the section where the canal turned south, and we followed that nearly another mile, almost to Route 706. Down and back fit the allotted time frame we had set aside, and we did a huge amount of jogging and some cantering as well, to up the condition of the horses and us. Hubby's back is still doing fine, the dogs had a great time, and the horses, of course, we once again brilliant! Another gorgeous day in Florida!

Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2016 – Book Cover Complete!

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After several attempts, my graphic artist and I have finally come up with the cover for the book! I think it really captures the essence of why we are into horse camping, for those moments of pure peace and freedom, seeing this great world like every generation of our ancestors did for thousands of years, from the back of a horse. I trust you'll agree! Books will be available at the 2016 Great Florida Cattle Drive, and on the website after February 1. Stay tuned!

Monday, Jan. 11, 2016 – First Ride of the New Year!

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Monday, Jan. 11, 2016 – First Ride of the New Year!

After a week of recuperating from completing the book, plus doing a bunch of other mundane stuff, the weather has finally turned perfect and Hubby and I have, at last, been able to take a ride! With the Cattle Drive looming, we simply have to get ourselves and the horses fit before we head up to St. Cloud. Hubby's acupuncture has been doing wonders for him, he's feeling much better, and we have high hopes that this will solve his back problem, if not permanently, at least for a long time. So under gorgeous skies, we saddled up the frisky horses and headed down the driveway. We decided this time to take the dogs, as we'll only be going past a few houses before reaching the canal, then heading back out to the Hungryland WMA. It's not a thrilling ride by any means, but it's nice, and it gets everybody back into the swing of things. Apollo was brilliant, he was so frisky yesterday when I trimmed his feet I was afraid he would be hard to handle at the beginning today, but he seemed so grateful to have something else to do, he was fabulous. The last few days, the horses have been hanging out at the gate, looking longingly down the driveway, so I know they were ready for a change of venue! We did a bit more jogging than we've done in a while, for conditioning as well as to check out Hubby's back, and he was fine when we got back. He's feeling so much stronger, and he's able to sit his horse so much better now that he has improved his posture considerably. Acupuncture seems to be doing the trick! Anyway, another very nice 2 hour ride to start our conditioning, we have plans to do at least 2 more rides this week. We'd love to ride every day, but there's some nasty weather in the forecast, and until it's absolutely necessary, we're still fair weather riders for the most part! And the dogs finally got some exercise, too, Lola's been going crazy with only tennis balls and frisbees to catch!

Monday, Jan. 4, 2016 – BOOK IS DONE!!!

After months of preparation and weeks of finalizing, our latest book “The Best (and Worst) Horse Camps Across America – Triumphs and Tribulations of Living the Trail Rider’s Dream” is COMPLETE! Having submitted it to the printer, and discussed cover art with them as well, we’re finally able to take a breath! Whew! Now all we have to do is get the cover design complete and we’ll be good to go! Other than a few odds and ends, we spent the day crashing, which I suspect we will do for a couple of days before we’ll feel rested enough to do much else.

Friday, January 1, 2016 – Happy New Year!!

As we begin the New Year, we will be heading into our SEVENTH YEAR on the road with our horses!!! Never did we imagine when we left home on Dec. 30, 2009 that we would still be doing this for so long, but it has been more than just a great adventure, it has become our way of life. It’s been fantastic! What’s more, I don’t see any reason to stop doing what we’re doing, it’s been working out so incredibly well. Meanwhile, we’ve been holed up for the past 10 days slaving over the book, The Best (and Worst) Horse Camps Across America. After speaking with the printer, it became clear that to meet the deadline of receiving the finished book in time to take them with us to the 2016 Great Florida Cattle Drive, we would have to submit it no later than Monday, Jan. 4th, so this weekend, we will be putting all the final touches on the book so that we can get it in on time. So stand by, folks, we’ll be out of our hibernation soon!