Archives for April 2025

Hi Babe,
Very grateful for another good night sleep, woke up before my alarm, did my chores and breakfast, then started tacking of Flash as soon as Jo texted me that she was on her way. She arrived about 9:30, and we were out on trail about 10:00. I managed to persuade her to let Lola come along, and Nikki grew very accustomed to her very quickly, and she turned out to be a great help at water crossings. For the first time, we let Nikki take the lead on all the water crossings, with only Lola going first, and she never hesitated, which is a giant step forward! It was just under five miles, which is a good distance for Lola, and it was a very nice ride. Bugs are starting to come out with the hotter weather, but that's to be expected. Afterwards we chatted a bit, then she left and I did a couple of chores, like emptying and refilling Lola's dog pool. I put a chunk of bromine in there to hopefully keep down any mosquitos, which will soon be a problem, if not already. Then I settled down for the day, more scrabble and a little TV in the evening, soon off to bed! Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hiya Sweetie,
No alarm this morning, so I laid in bed reading for awhile, finally got up and did chores, cleaned and mopped the camp restrooms, finished reading my latest book, Hillbilly Elegy by our new VP. A fascinating and deep look at some of the problems we only saw the surface of when we lived in Tennessee, very insightful, and significant in that he was able to escape that, barely. Then I spent the afternoon with my new addiction, Scrabble. I decided it was time to work my mind a little bit, and after days of frustrated searching, finally found a platform where I could play against the computer. I thought I had to be online, but it turns out I don't, which makes me very happy. Good exercise for the brain! Anyway, it was an incredibly relaxing day, and I keep hoping if I rest enough it will help my knee, but nope, it was just as stiff after resting all day, though the hot tub and subsequent shower always helps. Getting hot enough to have to run the AC in the late afternoon now, though I'm sure it will soon be on all day. I don't mind so much when the power bill is being paid by someone else, but once I leave here, I'm going to have to make a beeline for as far north as necessary to back into my beloved 70 degrees! Anyway, a very lazy and restful day, hopefully I won't be up half the night because of it. At least in bed, my knee usually doesn't bother me. Good night, my darlin'! Love you!

Hey Darlin',
Woke up before the alarm, to the sound of the horses snorting and the peacock cawying, then got a text that my morning laser treatment was delayed because the unit was being used elsewhere, so I had a leisurely morning before finally climbing up on the roof to finish the two vent covers. Only had one little problem, but nothing that will really hurt anything. Glad to have that job done! But I have concluded that I need to strip off all the old sealant on the roof and start over, as my repairs look pretty bad, all moldy for some reason. It'll be a big job, but well worth doing, I think. Finished that off in time to get to Willards and have a leisurely lunch with Helen and Jo, then got home and spent the afternoon with my latest computer game, a form of scrabble. I figured I needed to do something to keep my brain active, and after days of trying to download something, I finally managed it, though I have to be online to use it, unfortunately. But I can play it on my phone, too, which is a plus. Then I got a text from Alex that the laser was back at the barn, so I drove over and had a treatment. Shockingly, my AC worked every time I drove today, so I'm hopeful that the problem has resolved itself, but we'll see. Settled in for the evening, no dinner after that big lunch, heading to bed soon! Love you, baby! Good night!

Hi Babe,
Woke up way too early, but read for a bit before getting up. After chores and breakfast, I headed into town for my 10:00 appointment with the mechanic, dropped Lola off at Jo's, and sat around in the waiting room at the mechanic's. Two hours and over $700 later, I drove off, heading to Walmart to shop for my non-perishables. When I got back in the truck and started it up afterward, surprise! My AC wasn't working properly again. Grrr!! Since I had some time, I drove back down there, turned it off to go inside, and when one of the guys came out and I started it again, it was working again! This crazy intermittent crap is driving me nuts! I didn't have time to mess with it then, so I agreed to bring it back after my PT session, which I then drove to. Got the one and only guy today (2nd time I've had him) and he worked me pretty good. Got back in the truck to drive to Walmart, and the AC was working again. Finished shopping for my perishables, then got in the truck to drive home, and the AC wasn't working again, so I drove back to the shop and they looked at it again, made some adjustments, and it was working when I left. Then I went to Jo's to pick up Lola, and when I left to come home, it wasn't working again. Go figure. Went about my normal routine, with the only extraordinary thing happening is that a gorgeous male peacock came walking through camp. I heard a lot of snorting from the horses, though I couldn't see what they were making a fuss about until this peacock walks right by my trailer. I had some old bread so I chucked that to him, and he stuck around for awhile, until Lola came out to investigate, and he hustled off away from her. I hope he comes back, he was gorgeous! Springtime, all the male critters are on the move! Anyway, a little frustrating today, but every day there's a little more progress moving forward! Good night, sweetheart! Love you!

Hey Darlin',
Woke up to a beautiful morning, so as planned, after chores, I started putting together everything I needed to do the repairs on the roof. Ranger Rick arrived at just the right time to help me lift everything up, so I only had to come down once a bit later to get a couple of additional tools. Otherwise, it was pretty well planned out as far as equipment was concerned. I managed to get the old fans out and the new ones in, and the biggest difficulty was getting all the sealant off and cleaned up enough for new sealant. They sent me more than enough sealant tape, and I ended up not using their screws, just using the old ones, because they looked a little small. Very grateful that the holes matched up perfectly! As usual, it took longer than I expected, but at least I got them in. I still have to finish putting on the airflow covers and the final lap sealing, but otherwise, it's a good job done! I was also planning on sealing the roof, but frankly, the old sealant is in such bad shape, which lots of mold and creacking, I'm afraid I'm going to have to strip it all down and redo it to get it right, which is going to take a lot of time and effort. Fortunately, there's no rain in the forecast, so I can hopefully get it done, but it's getting a lot warmer later this week, so it's going to be a hot job! Quit just after 4:00 and settled down for the rest of the evening. The usual, with dinner, a movie, a hot tub, a shower, tea, and soon to be in bed. Good night babe! Love you!

Hiya Darlin',
Had an excellent night sleep, as my knee felt better during the night, and actually pretty good this morning when I got up, so you know what that means. I had a list of things I wanted to do, so right after breakfast, I got busy. I hooked up the small trailer and moved it over in front of the big trailer, and gave it a wash (except the roof). Then I got out the small ladder and fixed the clamps on one side of the screen room which had come off during the wind the other day, and also to put some sealant on an opening in the bedroom window. It's a weird design, I think they're supposed to be drain holes (or maybe vents) but they're on both the top and bottom, and they let in the rain. I had put duct tape on them previously, but those had come off, so I just put some silicon sealant on instead. I took a quick break, then got busy washing the horses. I started with Apollo, first rasping his hooves a bit to improve on what we did yesterday, then gave him a good bath, scraping a lot of his winter coat off. Looking pretty good now! Did the same with Flash. I tied them to the trailer because I didn't want them rolling, left them with a bag of hay while I changed, then we headed off to Chi where they both got a nice chiropractic adjustment. Apollo was totally calm, but it took a few minutes for Flash to settle down, but then he was great. It's amazing that these folks look for cues from the horse when they're doing an adjustment. One guy did one adjustment, and Flash, apparently in direct response, started yawning, which was exactly what he was looking for! Amazing! Got back home, put them away, put the trailer back, then settled down for the evening. Miraculously, my knee didn't feel too bad, even after all of that! I didn't actually do that much walking, so I'm thinking that's the reason. Anyway, time for tea and bed! Good night, babe! Love you!

Hi Sweetie,
Sorry to say, but when I went to bed, my knee was screaming at me and I couldn't find a comfortable position to save my life. Finally had to take some ibuprofen, which I've been avoiding, as I'm determined not to jump on the painkiller train, but just couldn't see any way around it last night. Finally ended up with a good night sleep, didn't wake up until almost 9:00, did my chores, and some work on the computer, until I left to go to my 1:00 mechanic's appointment. The spent nearly the two whole hours and still hadn't come to a conclusion about why my AC is intermittent, so I had to make another appointment for next week, since they ran out of time. I managed to just make my PT appointment, where I was assigned yet another new therapist, who, despite claiming otherwise, had obviously not read my file, because the first thing she wanted to do was put me on the bike, which is, by far, the most painful exercise that I could do. After about halfway through the session, she mentioned partial knee replacement, which I rather tersely explained was done on my RIGHT knee four years ago, and had nothing to do with what was going on now. Grrrr! I'm not terribly happy with this particular therapy group, I obviously need to check out the others in town for my post-surgery therapy, because this group seems to just keep passing me off to someone else who I have to keep explaining things to. I don't understand why I can't have the same therapist, so they can actually see and progress (or not), all this changing in midstream is not helping! In the end, the session only lasted 30 minutes, so I left and went to Walmart for just a couple of items, filled up with fuel, and got back to Jo's (where I had left Lola for a doggie play date), and got home around 5:30. Had dinner, fed the horses, and settled down for the evening. All said and done, not a too productive day, but, whatever. Good night, my darlin'! Love you

Hiya Darlin',
First thing this morning was a drive over for a laser treatment, and today it seemed to really maky my leg feel better. Got back and gave everyone breakfast, finished putting the last trash receptacle together, then decided, since my leg felt a little better, to do some overdue tractor work. Probably not the best decision, but this is why I don't generally like to take painkillers, because as soon as I start feeling better, I do stuff I probably shouldn't do. Anyway, I spent an hour or so moving gravel from the pile over to the curve in my parking area that has been too short for when I put my rig in, and it does look a lot better now. I may put a few more loads in on another day, but for now, it was good progress. Chatted with Rick a little, then headed off to my PT session at 2:00. It was a bit tougher today, and by the time I got home, I was seriously aching, so I settled down for a couple of movies and tried to relax the rest of the day. Had my usual evening hot tub and shower, hoping to get a good night sleep! Good night, baby! Love you!