Archives for November 2022

Hi Sweetie,
Kept busy with some little stuff today. A cold front came in last night, and I got back so late I left the horses in their paddocks, but then I moved them into a stall because the mowers came today. I spent some time trying to figure out the correct firing order on the Buick, not exactly sure I had put the spark plug wires back correctly, and perused the shop manuals for a long time, still couldn’t really find it. So I went back to the motor to see if I could establish a pattern, and lo and behold, the order was actually stamped on the ignition coil, so problem solved. I put the screen room back up, finally, then headed off to Glenn’s again, still trying to get his pool in order. I did managed to download the app on my phone so now I can control it without having to go all the way out there, but it still needs some work. Stopped at the hardware store on the way back to pick up a nut and washers for his lawn mower, lost a nut on the steering control awhile back, finally got the parts to fix it. Got back to camp and settled down for the evening, so I didn’t get as much done as I hoped, but still kept busy. Off to shower and bed here shortly! Good night, my darlin’! Love you!

Hi Darlin’,
Had a good night sleep, though Lola was restless throughout the night and woke me several times, despite the fact the door was open and she could go in and out whenever she wanted, on her cable. After chores and breakfast I did a quick wash of both the truck and the Buick, then headed out with the truck to pick up pool salt for Glenn, then to the Kane center for Wednesday euchre. This lovely girl at the front desk brought over an adorable crocheted pink blanket for Lola, who fell in love with it immediately, so she wouldn’t have to lay on the hard floor. After euchre I tried to return it to her, but she insisted it was a gift, so Lola would have it every time she came. Wasn’t that wonderful? So generous! It’s the perfect size and Lola laid quietly curled up the whole time. Did pretty well today, too, won every game! Then went shopping, with a stop at CVS then Walmart, and the sun had already set by the time I got out, and almost dark by the time we got back to camp. Put all the groceries away, then settled down for the evening. Ready for shower and bed! Good night, babe! Love you!

Hey Babe,
Woke up right on schedule at 7:00, but laid in for awhile reading, then falling asleep again until almost 9:00! Seems to work that way, I do a lot of physical stuff for a couple of days, then my body protests and I have to take some down time to recover. Did my chores, had breakfast, and still felt tired so I crawled back into bed, reading and napping until after noon. Finally got up because I had a couple of packages come in, including the 25′ extension cord I ordered so I can finally have 50 power again, at last! I took the Buick, but before I left, I had been meaning to check to see if the spark plug wires were all tight, because it’s still running so rough. I had checked the ones in the front, but I never remembered until it was too hot to check the back ones, so I did it this morning, and would you believe? Two of the spark plug wires were completely off! No wonder Panther’s running rough! I wasn’t sure which way they went, so I took a guess and pushed them back on, and, not surprisingly, she ran much better! Still a bit rough around third or fourth gear, so I may still have a transmission problem, but the engine is definitely running better. Picked up gas in Glenn’s tank for the lawn mower, stopped at the post office for my power cord and a new feed bag for Apollo (he chewed through the bottom of the other one), then went to Glenn’s again, cleaned out his Navigator of some junk, but everything was still in the green, even though it apparently turned off again at some point. Then, just as I was about a mile or so from camp, the hood medallion that says GS on it came flying off. I quickly stopped and searched for it, and spent the better part of an hour walking up and down the road looking for it, FINALLY found it just as I was about to give up, thank goodness! Going to have to do some research to see how to best put that back on! I figured trying to find a replacement for something that rare would be nearly impossible, and delighted I finally managed to find it. Got back to camp and immediately went to plug in my new extension cord, only to discover that the electrician had put the outlet in upside down to what I need for my extension cord. It’s always something! I got out my screwdriver and turned it up the way I needed it, but then the cover box wouldn’t fit correctly, but I didn’t care at that point, at least I had 50 amp power! I told James about it, hopefully he’ll get the electrician out here to fit it properly. It looked great, it was just upside down. Anyway, I finally settled down, got the horses put away, played with Lola for awhile, grilled chicken for dinner, watched a good movie, Where the Crawdads Sing, now I’m heading for shower and bed. It’ll be a busy day tomorrow, too, so I’m glad I took half a day off today. Good night, sweetheart! Love you!

Hiya Darlin’!
So yesterday, another explicable thing happened. Remember a few days ago, when the tractor lug was in my pocket and I couldn’t find it for hours, then suddenly it just reappeared? Well, the same thing happened yesterday with my credit card. A few weeks ago, I had used it at a gas station, and thought I had put it in the pocket of my jeans, but when I went to look for it, I couldn’t find it there, or anywhere else. I searched the truck, the trailer, everywhere I could think of, and didn’t find it. I already had a spare so I activated that, figuring eventually the other one would turn up, though I don’t know how. Then yesterday, while I was grooming Apollo, it suddenly appeared on the ground right in front of me. I have no clue. I wasn’t wearing the same jeans, of anything other of the same clothing, and unless it was tangled in Apollo’s mane, which is impossible, I have no clue how it appeared on the ground beneath me. I must be going crazy! Those dang gremlins! Well, that was yesterday. Today was a busy day. After chores and breakfast I headed into town, stopped at the IGA for four gallons of bleach, then headed to brother Glenn’s. First, I had to deal with his pool, a breaker on his pump had snapped, and I had to go through the process of cleaning and starting it up again, but it’s a real mess. I’m convinced his salt water chlorinator isn’t working right, but I’m no expert. I put in two gallons of bleach and some muriatic acid and got it started, then I tried to sharpen the blades on his mower with a hand sharpener, which helped a little, but not as much as I was hoping, mowed the lawn, stopping several times to check on the pool and had to clean out the filters on a couple of occasions. It hasn’t been getting the full flow for the last week, but I managed to get it again by cleaning his big filter and all the little filters, again. Everything was in slow motion today. Sharpened the mower blades again afterward, hoping next time it will cut better. Finally set the pool to run continuously for the next few days, hoping that will finally make some headway on clarifying the pool. Good news is, I drove the Buick all the way here and back! Still bucking quite a bit, hoping it’s just the premium fuel and fuel injection cleaner working it’s way through the system, and nothing anything else more serious, like the transmission or something. Anyway, I made it, and it seems to be improving, albeit marginally, and I’m hoping it will eventually clear itself out. Didn’t get back to camp until nearly 5:00, so not much rest today! Finally settled down for the evening, managed to finish one load of laundry. Had a few rain showers, so things have cooled down nicely. Looking forward to my shower and bed! Good night, babe! Love you!

Hiya Sweetie!
What a busy day! Was up at the crack of dawn raring to go, since I’ve done almost nothing for the past two days, so right after chores and breakfast I headed over to the tractor, which I’m now parking in the alcove of Barn One, took off the auger, since I’ve put all the posts out I can until it gets REALLY dry out there, then started picking up all the palm fronds that came down with this last storm, which wasn’t even a tiny fraction of what came down with the LAST storm, thank goodness! Still, it took me most of the day to do all the paddocks and the equestrian half of the camping area (my side, as it were), and other than a quick break for a yogurt, I was at it from about 8:15 to about 3:00. Thought the mowers might be coming today so I wanted to make sure it was done, but they never showed. Going on three weeks now, don’t know what’s up with that! I was going to try to take the Buick over to Glenn’s, I needed to check his pool, and even though it started fine, it was running so rough I decided not to chance it, so I ended up taking the truck over. He’s really got a problem with his pool, it’s just not working the way it’s supposed to. It’s turned out to be a lot more work than I bargained for, I’m only supposed to have to put in a bag or two of salt occasionally and it’s supposed to make it’s own chlorine, but I can’t get the chlorine level up no matter what I do, even added four gallons of chlorine in the last ten days and it’s still not showing up on the test strip. Pump isn’t working right, his navigator that cleans the bottom and sides isn’t getting enough flow to work, and the guy who installed it won’t work with Glenn anymore, so it’s a mess, pool keeps turning green, and I’m having to brush the sides every time I go over. Of course, there was a lot of leaves in it after the storm, so I had to clean those out, too. A lot more work than I was told it would be! I need a raise! Anyway, it was 5:00 when I got back, and just for fun, I tried to start the Buick again, and this time it sounded a lot better. At least I was able to put it in gear without it stalling, and managed to put it back in the barn. I think I just need to keep running it every day until the new gas flushes out the system well enough to run smoothly all the time. I sure don’t want to be on the road when it sputters and dies like it has been doing! Exhausted from all the activity, settled down for the evening, and I’m planning on getting to bed really early again. No plans for tomorrow, though I’m considering taking Apollo for a ride, he hasn’t been out in a long time, getting out of shape, though I should take Flash to keep conditioning him for the upcoming cattle drive. Decisions, decisions! Wish I had someone who could ride Apollo and come with me at the same time, that would work so much better! Maybe someone will show up and help me decide. Anyway, just need to do a Spanish lesson, take a shower, then I’m off to bed! Saw a rainbow in town today, then a beautiful sunset as the clouds in the east turned to fire as the sun went down in the west. A fulfilling day! Good night, my darlin’! Love you!

Hey Darlin’,
Well, like in so many other instances, the hype didn’t live up to the reality. I was in bed around 9:00, read for awhile, put my earplugs in and slept almost straight through to the morning. Even when the wind shifted from the south, the gust were insignificant. I couldn’t tell if I was getting hit by a gust of wind or Lola was just scratching her ear, it was that much of a nothing. Wonderful to have such a good, long night sleep, though, felt very refreshed in the morning. It was still a bit blustery and rainy throughout the day until late afternoon, when rainbows came out and it was all over but a few sprinkles. Even got my solar panel out before the afternoon was done, and absorbed some rays. Spent most of the day catching up on bookkeeping, hadn’t realized just how long it had been since I had done it last. Ordered a couple of things from Amazon, too, like another new air compressor (which I’ll probably not even try on my trailer tires, just too unrealistic), and a solar charger/battery pack for my phone so I’ll be able to keep my phone charged during the cattle drive and whatever other trips I might take. Did a walk around and found no damage, just some palm fronds down, and nowhere near as much as the last storm, shouldn’t take too long to clean up. Management reopened the properties at 5:00 today, though I didn’t find out about it until later, as James was a little late sharing that information, not that it mattered. Settled down for the evening, ready for my shower and bed. Good night, babe! Love you!