Archives for 2021

Hi Darlin’!
Well, we weren’t in bed very long before there was a pounding on the door, Bubba telling us the creek was rising and that we ought to move the horses. I went and looked and I didn’t think they were really in any danger, though one fence post was starting to get water around it. I took off the fence charger and debated a bit, but then saw on the radar that another big band of weather was coming, so rather than spend the night getting up and down to check on them, we figured it would be easier to just put them in the trailer, so that’s what we ended up doing. It was after midnight by then, and we were all pretty exhausted by then. I got up with the alarm and fed the horses, then finally woke them both up in order to get to breakfast on time. We were a little surprised that there were so many folks still going for a group ride what with all the rain, and it rained a bit after they all left, but Maggie and Sandy decided not to ride today. The creek was slowly receding by the time breakfast was done, and we all got back to the trailer, and before long, we were all napping, Sandy outside, Maggie inside, and me up in my bed. I didn’t wake up until 11:55! Needed it though. After lunch we watched the Extreme Trail Competition for a couple of hours, then had dinner (still eating way too much!), listened to a great band that Anthony had brought in, sat through the awards program, stayed a bit for the music, then finally came back to the trailer about 9:30, pooped! Can’t wait for my shower and bed, which I’m off to do now. Good night, honey! Love you!

Hi Babe!
Hard rain for much of the night, so sleep was fitful for everyone. It had already been decided that no one would be riding today, so we slept in a little bit, then decided to do spend the morning doing the tour through the Butcher Holler cabin, the mansion, and the museum, though I also did laundry off and on all day. We headed over after breakfast, managed to get the first two guided tours done, went back for lunch, then came back to the museum and main street for a couple of hours. Came back for dinner, then stuck around for the horseless rodeo for a bit before another hard storm came in, then we all (including Callie) retired back to the trailer, then eventually INTO the trailer because the rain got so heavy and the wind was pushing the screen room in. I had just pinned down the screen room the other day, and bought new and better clamps to attach the screen room to the awning, and despite the strong winds, everything seemed to hold just fine, thank goodness! Then we lost electricity for a little while, then when the lights came back on, spent the rest of the evening chatting and playing Euchre, after teaching it to Maggie and Callie, who had never played. By about 10:00, the rain seemed to have stopped, Callie and I won the game 11-2, and we all broke up for the evening. We all took out showers and headed off the bed. With all the rain, Maggie decided to sleep inside in one of the recliners, but Sandy was still dry enough to sleep in her cot-tent, which we had put under the awning before the rain. Now I’m off to bed, at last! Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hi Sweetie!
A good night sleep, though we got to sleep an extra half hour this morning since we had less tack issues to deal with. Had another big breakfast (I’m going to have to go on a serious diet again when I’m back on my own!), then got the ladies ready for their ride. I did a bit of running around, too the spray pain that I had bought for marking the trails back to the coop since we didn’t use them, then headed to Tractor Supply for some feed, though they didn’t have Balancer, but also found a breast collar, since Flash’s saddle keeps slipping on these steep hills. Then off to Walmart for a couple of things, then back to camp just after the ladies got back. Checked out the breast collar, looks like it will fit, so we’ll try it next time. After lunch, the ladies went down to watch the horse training clinic, but I started delving into my washer problem, and realized that I had been looking at the wrong component on my machine, and that, in fact, the part was correct. Since that was the case, I decided to go ahead and fix it, and managed to get it all put back together, got a neighbor to help get it back in place, put everything back in it’s place and voila! The machine was working just fine, yay!! Started a load, then sat down to rest for a minute, and not ten minutes went by when Sandy showed up, wondering why I hadn’t joined them at the clinic. Glad the job is done, though, a great relief, and now I can relax because all my chores are done. Of course, there’s rain moving in later tonight for the next 36 hours, so who knows what we’ll be doing till it’s gone. Went off to dinner (eating WAY TOO MUCH!), Sandy did a bit of line dancing (another great turnout!), I came back and fed the horses, Maggie was chatting with some other folks, we all got back together about 8:00, chatted, I did my Snowy River for them, but now it’s getting close to bedtime, and I still need a shower. We’ve brought Sandy’s tent cot into the screen room because apparently it’s not exactly waterproof (I hope the tent Maggie is in will be!), and we’ll all soon be off to bed. Good night, darlin’! Love you!

Hi Babe!
Got up with the alarm at 6:00, knowing there would be issues with getting the saddles right for both ladies today, fed the horses, went to breakfast, then got back and started making those tack adjustments. Just managed to make it in time for the group picture and to leave in time with the organized rides. They opted to both go on the slow ride today, and the group had 85 people! I think it might have had something to do with the fact that in the information sheets we prepared, it was strongly recommended the newbies and folks who may not have the fittest horses should take that ride, and they certainly did that! Bubba’s group actually came in early, around 12:45, partly because one girl broke her arm when her horse slipped, so he didn’t add any extra trails like he might have done. Meals were all pretty good today. I spent the morning doing a lot of extra jobs that needed doing, like putting new clamps on the screen room for better bug protection, running the extra spray paint down to the office, also mailing a book order out (though I forgot there’s no mail today), and lots of odds and ends before I finally settled down to take the big job, fixing the washing machine. I couldn’t remember how we took it out last time, and I pondered and tried several different approaches, none of the worked. Sandy and I finally brainstormed and figured the only way was to take the two screws out of what was the top of the washer, which needed to come off anyway, and set the dryer on it’s side out of the way. We didn’t have the strength ourselves, but Sandy managed to wrangle a couple of burly guys to come in and move it for us, very grateful for country boys! It was shortly after that I realized that the part that they sent me was completely the wrong part! Way different, I mean, not even close! Their part had a Whirlpool sticker, and my machine is an Ariston, which is also Hotpoint in some countries and Splendide in others, but definitely NOT Whirlpool. So of course I called them, before once again realizing it was a holiday and everything was closed, dang it! So I ended up having the leave it, though I put all the closet stuff back in, which I’ll have to take out again when the time comes, a lot of extra work just because these clowns sent me the wrong part. I truly hope they’ll send me the right one overnight (at their expense) and not be one of these places that insist I send the old part back, and them receive it, before they’ll send me the new part. That will take WAY too long! I’ll have more answers tomorrow, hopefully. Anyway, we went down to the horse clinic and watched Randy work with one three year old mare and solve a whole bunch of problems with various campers’ horses, and he did a really great job. Maggie and Sandy both learned a lot from him. Eventually we went to dinner, then Sandy went off to line dancing, a new activity that we thought was a great idea (but that many of the old-timers rolled their eyes at) and I followed once the horses were bedded down for the night. I got there a little late to learn the dance, but then I saw Anthony and he waved me over so I joined him for a while watching them all shaking their boodies. It was a good turnout, at least 25 folks dancing and another 30+ watching, so I think he was happy with his decision. He also admitted to being more relaxed because we got so many other things under control and he was actually able to enjoy the activities rather than handling crises all the time. I headed back to the trailer after the line dancing, though Anthony stayed to set up impromptu karaoke, which is apparently pretty popular as well. We all took showers and headed to bed, ready to start all over again tomorrow! So that’s where I’m headed now, my love! Good night!

Hi Sweetie!
Woke up bright and early with my alarm ready for a productive morning, headed straight to the nearby coop to pick up some hay, then back to the trailer to do chores and have breakfast. Sorry to learn that one of Bubba’s mules keeled over dead during the night, they seemed to think it was a heart attack, but he was only fifteen, so it makes one wonder. They were hauling him off while I was feeding. Sigh. Was ready to go out trail marking by about 9:00, as that was the time we thought we might be heading out on the trails. One thing led to another (sigh), and it was after 1:00 before we actually got on the trail. Callie and her family were kind enough to dog-sit with Lola so she wouldn’t be alone all day, again. We somehow managed to mark and clear both the green and the blue trail, though some sections looked like they hadn’t been used in a long time (probably because the markings on some were so bad no one could find them!), but I think we’ve got a decent plan now. It will definitely be easier to follow now, though the map will need some changing because we had to reroute a number of trails because of downed trees. It was almost 6:50 by the time we got back to my trailer, so I rushed to feed the horses, do my usual cleanup, and then additionally put on their blankets as it’s supposed to get down into the 40’s tonight! Had the fireplace on last night when it was only down to the fifties, so it’s definitely going on again tonight! Well as soon as I rushed around and did chores I headed up to Callie’s because we’re having our 2nd annual steak dinner (yes, apparently it’s become a Linville tradition!), arriving just 23 minutes late, which is usually unforgivably late in my book, but they knew I was with Anthony, and that we started four hours behind schedule, so were almost surprised I was only that late. We had a lovely evening, didn’t get back until well after 10:30, barely enough time to write to you, take my shower and get to bed before 11:30, maybe later before all is said and done! So enough from me, I need to get this day done, so I can be up and ready for another tomorrow! Good night, babe! Love you!

Hi Babe,
It rained most of the night, and I had a decent night sleep though I woke up early, and had a lot on my mind so I went ahead and got up. Did my chores, then went into town to do some errands. First I stopped at the mechanic’s shop to let him test drive the truck to see if it really needed a power steering pump. It’s been behaving just fine for the last few weeks, so I thought maybe it wasn’t as bad as I thought, and he agreed, saying that nothing seemed out of the ordinary, so that was a good thing! Then I ran out to Walmart for a few things, filled up with fuel, then headed back. My plan was to get hay at the Coop, but it was still raining on my way past, so I figured I’d come back later. When I got back to the trailer I saw that I had an email from Anthony to come by the office, so I drove back down there. We did a bit more work on the trails on the computer, then he said he wanted to run the yellow trail on his side-by-side and did I want to come along, of course I said yes. He seems quite receptive, even eager to try to understand the needs of the horse riders, and he seems quite willing to learn. He had a few things to do first, and a while later he came down and picked me up and we proceeded to head out. I’ve NEVER YET been able to get all the way around on the yellow trail, though I’ve tried numerous times, the markings are so poor. Well, it took a few hours to manage it, we stopped and did some clearing with loppers and a chain saw, made notes on his GPS where we had to reroute some things, and where the markers were particularly poor, but we worked together well and I actually had fun. This is exactly the kind of stuff I love to do! He was quite a speedy driver, and his vehicle is quite a number, with really high clearance and a lot of power. Good thing I’m not the faint-hearted type! Got a lot of good work done, though, it was very satisfying. We have two more trails to do, and we have to settle on how we’re going to mark them. He thought he had some markers but hasn’t been able to find them, we might just have to resort to spray paint for the time being. We’re already talking about doing a better job in September before their Fall ride, getting the right markers and doing it up right. We’ll see. It would be great to keep this place open for horses, they just don’t really have the knowledge in-house to do it. Evidently he hired a forestry guy a while back, paid him an outrageous amount of money for a week of work, but I wasn’t quite sure what was accomplished, especially considered I’m still getting lost all over the place! Anyway, he’s got me cheap enough, and I’m more than happy to do it, I’d love to see them get more horse campers in here. Anyway, we didn’t get back until nearly 6:00, so I fed the horses and settled down for the evening pretty quick, and now I’m off to bed because we’re supposed to be getting an early start in the morning, and I still have to pick up hay before we do, so the alarm’s getting set! So I’m off to shower and bed now! Good night, darlin’! Love you!

Hi Sweetie,
Had a really good night sleep, woke up raring to go, though there were a few sprinkles in the morning. After doing my chores, I once again went out with my garbage bag and trusty picker upper and cleared up another bag full of trash. I’ve pretty much covered the whole area now, not perfect but a whole lot better than before! This time I brought Lola with me, just to try to keep her busy and involved rather than locked in the trailer, and also to give her a little remedial training. She hasn’t been coming when I call lately, and it’s starting to become a bad habit, one I need to get on top of. A few horse trailers came in late yesterday and more this morning, but the trail bosses are supposed to get here tomorrow, so I’m going to take Callie on a ride in the morning, as it may be my last chance. I got back from trash pickup just before the real rain came in, and it continued most of the afternoon. I did manage to talk to an Ariston technician about the washer, and we determined it had to be the circuit board, naturally since that’s the most expensive part of the machine, but it’s I could replace all of the components and it would still be cheaper than buying a new one. Not to mention, I don’t know how I’d get it in, since the washer is wider than the door frame! They must have put it in before they put the outside walls on when they built the trailer, that’s the only way I can see them doing it! Or dropping it in before putting the roof on! In any event, I have to keep it going where it sits, and I’m NOT going to live without a washer! Not a difficult repair, just inconvenient and awkward. Anyway, Callie and her mom came down to visit and we spent several hours chatting. It’s always easy to talk to those two. After they left it finally quit raining, I fed the horses, played frisbee with Lola for a bit, then settled down for the evening, which had now cleared up nicely. Going to be a beautiful day tomorrow! But for now, shower and bed! Good night, Babe! Love you!