Archives for May 2022

Hey Darlin’!
A busy day, with a lot of it solving problems! Woke up early, then after chores and breakfast I went out to do some mowing, and the tractor wouldn’t start. Not quite sure what’s wrong, could just be corrosion on the battery, or I may need a new battery, but in any event, I jump started it with the truck and it started right away, so I headed out. I did the entire green trail, and this time I had the bushhog sitting a lot lower than yesterday, which meant I was dragging a lot more, but was doing a more thorough job. After I finished the green trail, I decided to go back and do a few sections of the yellow trail with the lowered bushhog, and was doing just fine with it until I accidentally let it stall out once, something I had managed to avoid all day, and naturally, I couldn’t start it once it stopped. I ended up walking 1-1/2 miles back to camp in the blazing afternoon sun and humidity. Fortunately, I had brought extra water with me and was wearing my Ariats, so I managed to get back okay. Rested for a few minutes, then decided to ask one of the regular campers to help, and started to drive my truck back there, though I wasn’t sure how I was going to get it all the way to the tractor. It became moot, though, when I got stuck on one of the firebreaks about halfway there. We had so much water and the grass was so long I didn’t see how soft it was until my wheels got hopelessly stuck. I managed to acquire the number for the older James, who’s been working for the district for decades, and he came out with a big truck and managed to quickly pull me out. Then he came back with a UTV and picked me up back at the trailer after I dropped of the camper, and I grabbed my little BeatIt! battery jumper (I should have thought of it sooner!) and he took me out to the tractor. It started right up with the jump. I finished that section of trail (it was less than 100 yards to where I was going to end anyway!), and took the same firebreak back to camp. Once there I took off and cleaned the battery terminals, topped off the cells with distilled water, and put the charge on it. Hopefully, that will solve the problem, though I’m sure that battery is very old, so I may have to replace it anyway, we’ll see. In any event, I’ll be carrying that little charger with me just in case! Once I did all that, I did my rounds, then pretty much crashed after having dinner and feeding the horses. I’m exhausted! And my back is sore, too, though I’m not sure from what, maybe just bouncing around all day, some of the ground out there is really rough. Anyway, it all ended well, no harm done, and I got lots of unscheduled exercise which I probably needed anyway. But tomorrow, I’m taking the day off except for laundry! I’m so tired, not to mention dirty, so I’m heading to my shower and bed early. Good night, babe! Love you!

Hey Babe!
Not one to waste time hanging around when there’s a job to do, I got up early for chores and breakfast, James was here right on time, even early, to open up the gate at 8:30, so I was on the trail with my tractor before 9:00. I mowed the entire yellow trail today, it took until about 1:30 to get back to camp. I wanted to get that one done first because that is the one that had three separate sections that had previously been mowed wrong and was very confusing, so hopefully it will be a bit easier to navigate, though there are still several difficult intersections that will need posts to clarify, eventually. We had had a lot of rain early this morning from about 4:00 on, so there were a lot more puddles than we’ve had in a long time, but I had no trouble getting through anything. Once or twice the grass was so deep I almost stalled out (and once, I did!), but it looked so much better after I was done. I’m a lot narrower than the usual mower, but I like it better as a single track anyway. It wasn’t long after I was back to camp when it started raining again, and it’s still raining now, with more continuing overnight. That’s going to make it a lot more complicated mowing tomorrow, as I’m sure the water levels are going to be up everything. Makes me double made that I wasn’t able to get my tractor out here earlier. We had two weeks of beautiful weather before this week while I was waiting for the contractor mower, now the forecast is more rain and temps in the mid-90’s for the foreseeable future, so the job’s going to be a lot tougher. Not to be deterred, though, I’m determined to get this done! Spent most of the rainy rest of the day binge-watching Supernatural, now it’s time for shower and bed, as usual. Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hi Sweetie!
Woke up to an early alarm, got my chores and breakfast done, then headed off to Jeff’s to pick up my tractor. Whoo hoo! I guess you know what kind of girl I am that gets excited about having her tractor nearby, huh? Can’t WAIT to get out and start mowing these trails! When I got to Jeff’s, he told me to just back up and hook up the trailer, but had forgotten there was a tree that had fallen down and was blocking the only way in, so I cranked up the tractor, which started almost right away (good tractor!) and I quickly got a chain around the tree and moved it out of the way. Boy, have I missed being able to do jobs like that so quick and easy! It wasn’t long before we got the trailer hooked up and the tractor loaded on and strapped down. I had to add some air to the tires, but that didn’t take long, than off back to camp! I stopped at the gas station to fill up the 5 gallon diesel tank and the tractor (over $40 just for a bit over eight gallons! Ridiculous!), so now I’m ready to rock and roll! All I need now is for James to come over and open the gate and put a combo lock on it for me, and I’ll be up at the crack of dawn every day until all the trails are mowed to my liking, which shouldn’t take me too long. I’m only doing the horse trails, leaving the rest to the contractor who’s actually being PAID to mow. Sorry, but I’ve run out of patience. We were supposed to do this for the last two weeks, when the weather was perfect, now it’s over 90 every day and the humidity is rising, and the afternoon thunderstorm summer pattern is about to start, and I’m not waiting any longer! Can’t wait! Once I off-loaded the tractor, I couldn’t get the truck started, once again proof that my fuel filter needs changing, despite the fact it doesn’t have the recommended 15K miles on it yet. Must have got some bad diesel somewhere. I waited until almost 6:00 to try it again, and still had to manually pump it to get it going, but managed to finally start it, moved the trailer and disconnected, then parked the truck and the tractor in the car port, since now they’re saying there’s a chance of rain tonight that wasn’t there before. Settled down for the evening, a couple of Supernaturals, now headed to shower and bed, ready to get up with the alarm again tomorrow! Good night, darlin’! Love you!

Hey Darlin’,
A good night sleep, read for a bit, then got roused out of bed by an early-arriving camper. Surprisingly, I had quite a few campers show up here today, I keep thinking things are going to slow down, but they don’t seem to be! Pulled a few weeds, had a business conference call, moved the horses to a different paddock, otherwise, didn’t do much of anything today. I’ve arranged with brother Jeff to pick up my tractor tomorrow, I’m tired of waiting around for this contracted mower to get out here. It should have been done several weeks ago when the weather was cooler, now it’s getting up into the 90’s every day, and not getting below mid-70’s at night, so it’s going to be a much hotter job now. At least I’ll be able to get a few more things done around here! I’ll just have to get up earlier in the morning, change my schedule a bit. Settled down to a decent movie, a thriller filmed in Croatia, lots of twists and turns, and beautiful scenery. In keeping with changing my schedule, I’m going to bed early! Good night, babe! Love you!

Hi Sweetie!
Woke up early, read for awhile, then got up and started putting around. Went down and picked up my package at the “office” which is Gate 5, but I had to go in at Gate 6 and go around because the intercom wasn’t working well enough to get the gate opened. Met Marie in the office. Then got back to camp and did a few jobs, took some nails out of a long board that has been laying on the ground for a long time (and I’ve stepped on the nail once, so it had to go!) and stored it and some other leftover lumber in the storage room in Barn 1. Put salt in the water softeners, had to clean out a dirty stall in Barn 2, leftover someone a few weeks ago, though I don’t know who. They even left an empty bottle behind in the stall. Really? There are two dumpsters 30 feet away and you can’t put your empty Perrier bottle in the garbage, you throw it into a stall? What is WRONG with people? After that I started work on a campground site map, something I can use for reference since I have quite memorized where all the sites are yet. Might be useful later, too, if they ever decide to have people reserve their sites instead of first come, first served like it is now. I thought I was going to finally have the place to myself today, but two more campers came in, and unfortunately, one was that father/daughter pair that I had trouble with a couple of weeks ago. Hoping I don’t have any more trouble with them. They came in with a permit under the father’s name this time, so I think they’re in violation of the “30 days per family” rule, but I’m having the reservation guy check on it. Thankfully, it doesn’t look like they set up 20 solar lights like they did last time. I have one other quiet camper in a van on the other side, so hopefully it will stay fairly quiet this week. There was a small wildfire nearby, but they managed to get that under control before it turned into anything, guess the rain we had the other night helped. Settled down for the evening, now I’m ready for bed! Good night, my darlin’! Love you!

Hey Darlin’,
Had a decent night sleep and managed to sleep a little late this morning, for which I was very grateful. Didn’t have much on the books today, and everyone was gone by the end of the day, making it the first time since I’ve been here that the campground was empty except for me! I decided to do laundry, and ended up doing 5 or 6 loads before I was done. Did some reading, binge-watched some TV, then after dinner, started a movie that you would have loved! It was called Operation Mincement, and it had all the A-list British actors in it, led by Colin Firth, and was a story of deception and spycraft during WWII. The narrator and one of the characters was Ian Fleming, the author of the James Bond stories, so the dialogue was occasionally peppered with the inside stories of how he came to use “M” and “Q” in his later stories. It was fascinating and gripping, and a very nice diversion! It was only interrupted once by a camper that came it late (I really thought I would have the place to myself tonight!), and of course, he had a problem with his permit that had to be dealt with, but eventually I got back to the movie, and my laundry. Now all that’s left is my shower and to make the bed before getting in it for the night. So good night, babe! Love you!

Hey Babe,
Lola was so restless last night, scratching at the floor and making a fuss, I finally put her on her chain and left the door open so she could come in and out. I did that a couple of times earlier this week when there was almost no one here, so I guess she got in the habit and liked it, so I had to do it again, she was so noisy. That happened in the middle of the night, so I lost some sleep over that. When I did get up and did my rounds, I got an earful of complaints about one of the groups of hunters who apparently stayed loud well into the wee hours of quiet time, then started up again at 4:00 in the morning. I had stuck my head out the door at 11:00 last night and didn’t hear anything, but then they were far away so I probably wouldn’t. Unfortunately, that means that tonight I’m going to have to stay up late and go over there to give them a warning. The local law enforcement guy went and had a talk with a one of them, the only one left in camp, but I don’t know if that will do any good. This is the only thing I don’t like about this job, having to deal with people who have no consideration for others. I don’t care what their cultural differences are, when you’re in a camp, quiet hours mean QUIET! Whatever. Once I got my other chores done, I took a ride into town to pick up hay, the Ace hardware that sells it had called me to tell me it was in, so I went to get some. It’s beautiful, soft green coastal, but I’ve never had to pay so much for it before, $12.50 a bale! For Coastal! I may be saving on gas, but I’m sure not saving on hay! But with diesel at $5.79/gal earlier this week, I can’t blame the farmers, they have to pay it, too. I bought 15 bales though, since it seems I’m not leaving as early as I thought, and there seems to be a shortage. I don’t want to run out. I suspect I’ll be able to put the horses on grass more often though, I doubt we’ll get that many campers once this hunt is over. I’ve been having trouble charging my phone, so I bought a 5-pack of new cords from Amazon, which, despite explicit instructions on where to deliver it, ended up at the “office,” which turned out to be gate 5, which is closed on Saturdays. I drove over there anyway, and could actually see my package on the floor inside the door, but it was locked, so I’ll have to wait until Monday. Meanwhile, my phone just won’t seem to charge, though I finally got the cord I had put with my solar panel out, and that’s working. It seems like they work for about a week, then the end stretches and doesn’t stay tight, so it doesn’t charge right. Hoping these new cords will work better, but at least I’ll have spares when they quite working. Looked into a wireless charger, might consider that if these don’t last long enough, but apparently they take longer to charge. Of course, that’s better than not charging at all! Anyway, I’m having to stay up past 11:00, probably be midnight or later by the time I get to bed, since I won’t be able to take my shower till after my final rounds, and who know how late that will be if these guys give me any trouble. Just hope I don’t have to call law enforcement. I’ll be glad when most everyone leaves tomorrow, I need some sleep! So I’ll say goodnight, even though I’ll be up awhile longer. Love you!

Hey Sweetie,
Had another day of mostly just puttering around again. I finished mowing the little patch of weedy gravel that is my “front yard” now that James brought me some gas. I put my name on the gas can, though, because it’s quite full and I can’t see me using it all up before I leave, so I guess I could just leave it here and retrieve in the fall when I come back, assuming I don’t stay the summer. Green headed horseflies are starting to get bad, though with the cooler weather we’ve had the last couple of days, not so much. I’m sure once the heat returns, though, they’ll be out here in droves. Love bugs are out in full force though! Glad they’re relatively harmless, except to the windshield of oncoming vehicles! I put the horses in a different paddock today, then when a couple of horse campers came in, I moved them further back to another paddock, let them do some mowing and cut down on my hay use. I call W&W and he told me they were supposed to be getting hay sometime tomorrow, sounded like the haymaker was baling tomorrow and would bring 100 bales by. I asked him to save me ten, since I doubt I’ll have time to pick it up tomorrow. I have a busy day planned, so I’m getting to bed super early so I’m fully rested. I was dozing off this afternoon while I was reading in my chair, must be all this physical labor, between all the digging yesterday and that little bit of mowing today. Got a call from Chester, the mower, and he tried to call me yesterday, for some reason I missed the calls, and, of course, I didn’t recognize the number since I lost my contacts. I have it now, though! He thinks he might have an angle for getting me a UTV, fingers crossed, but we’ll wait and see. It will probably only be for the one day of mowing, but you never know! Stranger things have happened! Spent some time getting ready for tomorrow, loading up the small horse trailer. I’m going up to a place in Stuart called the Savannas, which I never knew was even there, and apparently it’s quite a lovely horse trail. One of the ladies from last weekend invited me, she claims we can do a 4.5 hour ride there, plus lunch! I need a change of venue, plus I’ll be able to do my big shopping, and finally, I’ve arranged to meet brother Glenn and his wife in the afternoon for drinks afterward, since they’re leaving for Texas the next day, so it will be a busy day! It’s already in the 100’s in Texas, can’t believe they’re heading into that! Makes the mid-80’s here seem positively balmy! Anyway, I’m doing everything a couple of hours early tonight, I’m determined to get to be in plenty of time to get my essential eight hours tonight! So soon to be heading to the shower, and then to bed! Good night, babe! Love you!