Archives for 2022

Hey Darlin’!
I love a productive day! Despite getting a late start (it was after 10:00 by the time the four of us, Ray Williams, Petra Grimm and John K got on the trail), we managed to install 31 posts, almost all of the posts in the western half of the property. The only ones we missed are two by the road and one down the teal trail, which I can do just fine with my tractor, probably tomorrow. Fabulous effort by all! We made a big dent, now I’m going to have to do what I can over the next few days and weeks to finish it, though I suspect there are sections in the southeastern part of the property that are too deep under water. Unfortunately, we missed our window of opportunity during the dry season, but if we need to wait until the fall, that’s what will have to happen! When we came back for lunch and for more gas for the auger (it leaked, and Ray hadn’t brought his fuel tank with him), the mowers had arrived, thankfully. They did a good job mowing everything, I asked them to do all the campsites, which they missed last time, and one paddock that they missed but that had ragweed in it, so I wanted to slow down that seeding process a bit. I had thought I was going to have to bushhog camp tomorrow, but now that they’ve come, I can do posts tomorrow instead. So glad to be making progress! But a long way from finished. Once I get the posts out, I still have to prepare the cross pieces and screw them into each post as well, which will be a long job if I had to do it on my tractor. Hoping Ray will be available with his side by side, that baby really cruises, so we could get it done in a day, I’m sure! What took the time today was the augering and post placement, and he was exhausted because of the physical requirements, but simply chauffeuring me around wouldn’t be any strain on him, and he’s already said how he enjoys driving around, so I think I might be able to persuade him when the time comes. Anyway, a good job today, looking forward to my shower and a good night sleep! Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hi Sweetie,
Had another very productive day! Up at 6:30, first job was to organize the posts into sections. I’ve created routes through different segments of the property that I’m hoping to cover tomorrow, so I wanted to get all of the posts in order for each segment. I’ve been doing that on paper, this morning I did it in reality. The exercise revealed an inconsistency or two, which I remedied, plus I moved them all over from the very tall grass that’s been growing in the septic field to a place the mowers don’t do anyway, so it got them out of their way. They were due today, and a lot of my weed-pulling strategy counted on them arriving today, but they never showed! Not good! I can’t mow tomorrow, so now I’ll have to do it Sunday and hope that there aren’t any ragweed ready to pop seeds. I pulled a bunch when I fed the horses in the evening, but probably not enough. Anyway, after breakfast, I decided that to make the day tomorrow more efficient, it would be a good idea to get as many posts out there as I could, and place them where I wanted them as much as possible, so I loaded up all of the western sections on the truck and headed out. I dropped off posts strategically so they were in the right place, and a few that would need to go further into the trails with the proper equipment, which I’m hoping we’ll get tomorrow. At one point, which I couldn’t believe, I got stuck, right on the road. I was trying to turn around, and I kept my back drive wheels well on the gravel grade, but at one point, my front wheels went down a few inches into a ditch, and next thing I knew, my back tires started spinning. Dang it! I tried everything to get out, but it was a no go. I was completely blocking the road, so I had to call old James, and once again, he didn’t answer me back on my text or my voicemail, he just showed up within minutes! He put his winch on my back hitch and managed the pull me, mostly sideways, enough to get me free. He’s my knight in shining armor, and I’m fast becoming his biggest PITA! Well, that what becomes of trying to do this job without the right equipment, I supposed. Anyway, I finished staging the posts, took a quick break, then decided I just had to try out my now working post hole digger and 3-point hitch, so I loaded up a couple of posts for intersections near camp and headed out. I got the tractor in place, put on my PTO and bam! I dug a 4+ foot hole about ten seconds! Incredible! Everything worked perfectly! I dropped the post in, tamped down the sand, and it was done in no time! I managed to put in five posts in practically no time. Just as I was wrapping up it started to rain, and it felt wonderful! I felt like a kid again, playing in the dirt, in the rain, fantastic! Got back to camp before 2:00, took a shower, then relaxed for the rest of the day. Finished off the last season of Supernatural, I’m really going to miss the boys, Sam and Dean Winchester! They’ve kept me entertained for some weeks now. The later seasons were a little slow, but still, fifteen years is a long time to be on the air, and they kept it interesting for the most part. Anyway, started a British law limited series, now I’m ready for another shower (which I need because I had to pull weeds since the mower never showed up today, which means I’ll be bush hogging on Sunday), then off to bed, nice and early, since it will be an early start tomorrow. Good night, my beloved! Love you!

Hi Babe,
Woke up a little later, got my chores and breakfast done just shortly before James and his boss Dan showed up, and spent two hours with them going around the campground looking at all the work that needs doing, and in particular, where to put the new “equestrian host” campsite! They’ve decided that this place is so busy during the season that one person really isn’t enough to handle both the equestrian and the non-equestrian campers, and that it would be useful for them to have someone who is actually a horse person to handle any issues that might arise. Now that since they’ve seen everything an equestrian camp host can do, they’re willing to foot the bill to have another full hookup built for such a person. Of course, that would be me for as long as I want the job, it would seem! I can think of worse places to be in the winter! Of course, I’ll still want to travel as long as I’m able, just not this year since I’m getting so close to getting this trail marking accomplished. After they left, I spent some time preparing for the work day this Saturday, making sure I had the right posts ready, organizing which sections to do first, etc. It started to rain pretty heavy, so it was a good way to spend a rainy afternoon. Finally settled down around 5:00, had dinner, watched a little TV as usual, now it’s close to shower and bedtime, so good night, my darlin’! Love you!

Hey Darlin’!
Another wonderfully productive day! After chores and breakfast, Lola and I took a drive to Jeff’s to pick up the post hole digger for the tractor. I had to wait for him (as usual), but once he got there, he and I and his tenant James serviced the whole thing, added thick oil, cleaned it all up, and got it ostensibly working. Loaded it up on my truck and got it back to camp. Rather than try to unload it and hook it up myself, I contact “old” James from the WMD, and asked him to bring me some diesel and some manpower to help me hook it up. He was there in five minutes! We got it unloaded, and had it almost completely hooked up when we hit a snag. The PTO shaft was seized up. I knew that it had a problem, just couldn’t remember exactly what it was, but with some PT blaster, a hammer and a crowbar, we managed to get it off the frame, then they took it over to the shop and got it loosened up, greased up and back over here in no time. We finished the installation, including changing the height of the frame because it wasn’t high enough, and now it’s working perfectly! Whoohoo! It’s in such perfect balance, and with the 3-point hitch going up and down so easily, I should be able to dig holes on my own with ease! I’m starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel on this job! So grateful for the help from the WMD guys, not to mention Jeff and James, couldn’t have done it without them! Wasn’t long before I finished my rounds and was settling down for the evening. I love days where I get good stuff done! So satisfying. Now I’m just about ready for shower and bed, so good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hi Sweetie
What a day! Had a pretty good night sleep, got my chores, breakfast and some computer work done, then started hunting down the tiny o-ring I suspected I needed to fix the 3-point hitch on the tractor. Unfortunately the marina in Indiantown didn’t have one, but a place in Stuart did, so I drove all the way there, with stops at Glenn’s house to pick up some juice I left over there yesterday, and Allapattah just to see their campsites, which I’ve been meaning to do, over 25 miles to the store, and sure enough, he had the part. Unfortunately, despite being the exact number that’s in the parts manual, it was WAY too big! He hunted around for another one, with no luck, then suggested the NAPA store, so I went down there, and the guy there searched through half a dozen boxes before he came up with a couple we thought might work. When I asked him what I owed him, he said, a smile (which is the usual expression on my face anyway), then said, no charge! See, most people ARE good! Stopped at a lawn mower store, too, just in case, since the same part is used on Cub Cadets, but they had nothing. Made a trip to Walmart to do some intermediate shopping, got back to camp around 3:30. Once I got everything put away, I went out and installed that little bugger, which took less than a minute, I started up the tractor and the 3-point hitch arms moved up and down, just like they’re supposed to, even when I moved the loader bucket up and down. Then I hooked up the bush hog, and even with the weight, it worked exactly like it’s supposed to, but never has. We should have done this YEARS ago! Who would have thought that for the lack of one tiny o-ring, that tractor would have been that crippled for so long and is now fully functional. Crazy! I think they must have missed that when they first serviced it in the U.S. after bringing them over from Japan. So tomorrow, I’m going to go pick up my post hole digger from Jeff’s to see if I can get that working the way it’s supposed to, and then I’ll be ready to REALLY get some trail work done! Whoo hoo! Not to mention how much easier it will be to do the mowing as well. What can I say, it doesn’t take much to make this girl happy! A good horse, a working tractor, a paintbrush, I’m in 7th heaven! Another bit of good news, the stalling problem on the truck has been resolved, I tightened the nylon bolt on the fuel filter the other day, and that seems to have done the trick! With all the stops in the heat today, not a single problem. So a good, productive day. Finally relaxed after my rounds today, a little TV, time for shower and bed. Good night, babe! Love you!

Hi Babe,
A good night sleep, though I woke up early, read, fell asleep and woke up a bit later again, though got up this time before 7:30. After chores and breakfast, I did a few outdoor jobs. Despite putting in a new fuel filter in the truck last month, I’m still getting the same symptoms occasionally, where the truck won’t start when it’s hot without pumping the fuel canister. It looked like maybe the nylon bolt at the top of the canister might not be tight enough so some air is getting into the system, so I tightened that up a bit. Not sure why the bolt is nylon, it wears out faster, but I supposed there’s a reason for it. Next I printed up the diagnostic sheet for the tractor, disconnected the bush hog and tested some of the things it suggested. As soon as I took out the shutoff valve, the hitch arms dropped like they’re supposed to, but unlike what the sheet said, there was no little valve that I was supposed to make sure didn’t fall out. Makes me think that part disappeared when they did the first U.S. service on it all those years ago, and that’s the cause of my problem. Emailed a guy at a Tractor place in Texas that specialized in Yanmar, but didn’t get an answer back from him, though he sent me a parts blowup of the whole control valve, which is the next thing it might be. Still thinking horses, not zebras though, pretty sure I just need that little plunger that seems to be missing. Got on a forum, hoping to get some guidance there. Anyway, I couldn’t do any more on that yet, so I painted a few more posts. After riding the green trail last week, there were a few spots that needed some more markers, so I did those. The rest of the day was pretty much a bust, binge-watched Supernatural most of the afternoon. We had a couple of horse campers come in for the weekend, but that was about it! Only one woman left in the non-equestrian camp tonight, and she’s leaving tomorrow. I did do a few things on my computer, some business stuff mostly, and arranged for the return of the phone, which my camper has agreed to drop off in a UPS box for me. So a quiet evening, ready for shower and bed! Good night, my darlin’! Love you!

Hi Darlin’,
Woke up in the middle of the night and couldn’t get back to sleep for a long time, so I ended up not getting out of bed until almost 8:30, don’t know what was up with that! The good news is, the dog bitch was gone this morning, evidently one of the other campers persuaded her that it would be cheaper and easier to just take an Uber home (to the tune of $350) than to waste another day waiting for a tow truck, when the dealer said it would be $600 just to make her two new key fobs, with towing extra, so that what she did. She managed to get packed up on her own after all, though I think she might have had her son or someone with her, and they departed camp at 1:00 in the morning. So that made it a much happier morning for me! After chores and breakfast, I hooked up the little horse trailer, loaded up Lola and all my phone stuff, and went into Verizon to return the A42 that I hated, and got some good advice about not sending in the Nokia return until it’s confirmed they’ll refund my money when they get it. Then I did some shopping at the Walmart next door, and timed it perfectly to get to Lola’s vet appointment at 2:00 for her annual exam and shots. I have lots of leftover heartworm tablets that Jeff had, expired but I figure they’re air tight so they’re probably still good, no sense wasting them considering how much they cost! All clear for worms, though, so she’s as healthy as she can be! Headed from there out to the other vet for the horses, got their annuals and blood taken for their Coggins, a bit overdue, but since I haven’t been traveling, I haven’t worried about it. Rain built up all around us but we missed most of it. One last stop at the IGA for a few frozen items, then back to camp around 5:00, got the horses put away, the trailer unhooked, the tractor turned around so I can unhook the bush hog for some further 3-point hitch diagnostics tomorrow, if I’m up for it. Grilled a hot dog and settled down after rounds, the camp is empty now except for one woman in a tent who’s been perfectly charming and very patient with the dog bitch, actually counseled her for a while yesterday, but I expect she’s too old to change her ways. Anyway, time for ice cream, then shower, then bed! Good night, sweetheart! Love you!