Archives for 2025

Hey Sweetie,
I'm exhausted! But had a great, busy day, got tons done. I had started the hot tub draining last night, so my first chore was to get that packed. I took down the screen room, and the skirting around the hay under the gooseneck, rinsed off the awing, which had lots of leaves and other stuff on it, I pumped up the trailer tires, which were all down a little bit, and had a little trouble with one that didn't want to take in air, but eventually got that worked out. Rinsed off the screen room rug and generally got the whole area cleared out, pretty much all done by noon! Amazing what you can get done when you get up early! Did some more chores for awhile, then finally stopped for awhile, took a shower because it was 97 degrees with a heat index factor of 104 and I was overheated, then relaxed in the afternoon. I finally heard from Angela and Reuben, the mechanic who is going to work on my Buick, and we made it down to Yvette's, where I found the gate locked for once, but managed to locate the key and get in. I was amazed that the Buick started pretty quick once we jumped the battery, but it was a challenge to keep it from stalling out. Of course, I know Panther better than anyone, so I finally managed to get him steady enough to drive, and I drove him back to their house rather than Helen's, because he wants to work on it on his own time, which I can appreciate. I'm so happy to find someone who likes to work on old cars! And he is intrigued by the fact that it's a very rare car, he'd never seen one before, and seems excited about getting it up and running more reliably! Whoo hoo! I'm sure hoping that when I get back in the fall, I'll have a nice reliable runaround car! Of course, that all happened late in the evening, so it was just about sunset when we got him parked. Then I took a respite over to Helen's, where she plied me with the first alcohol I've had in months, a glass of merlot, and we chatted for awhile, and I dropped off the hot tub and picked up a couple of things I had forgotten before. Finally managed to make it back to camp where I poured myself another merlot (why not, I'm hardly taking any painkillers anymore, and I feel great!), can't decide if I want to take another shower or not, but I'm definitely heading to bed early because I have so much to do tomorrow. Really looking forward to heading to cooler temps, can't wait to be able to open windows and get fresh air! Skipping tea, heading to be shortly. Love you, darlin'! Good night!

Hiya Darlin',
Whew, another busy day today, but I got a lot done, adding and subtracting and checking things off my list. Put a lot of stuff away, got my tractor moved to its' new and more appreciated location, arranged to have the car moved as well, though we couldn't get it done today, but we're on the books for tomorrow. I think I may have found a mechanic who might actually be helpful in getting Panther back on the road reliably enough for me to drive it next season, whoo-hoo! Fingers crossed! After my hot tub tonight I started it draining, so getting that put away will be on the books for tomorrow, along with a a few other items. Making good progress, though. It's already brutally hot down here, in the mid to upper 90's, but it looks absolutely perfect where I'll be headed for the weekend. Granted, I'll have to get back to boondocking mode, and not living in luxury like I am now, but that's not really any hardship, that's just another way of living! Can't wait! Love you, babe! Good night!

Hey Babe!
Woke up before my alarm, got up and fed the animals and me, finished in time to get ready for my newest hoof trimmer, Jocelyn, to arrive just after 8:15. Gotta do stuff early before the heat gets to be too much! She did a fabulous job, and we had a great chat the whole time, and even chatted afterwards. Very nice lady, did a great job! Probably spent too much time, but we had fun. Then I got busy starting to check things off my list. Got my eight bales of hay moved into the front stall, check. Managed to sell of five bales of hay, leaving me with just enough to get us through departure, with maybe a bit leftover just in case, check. Put a bunch of stuff away, check. Took down the highline, check. And the list goes. Suffice to say it was a busy day. Then I spent an hour training a woman to drive my tractor (which I've already done twice this week with other folks), potentially to do Yvette's mowing, only to end up in a fight with Yvette which will likely call the whole thing off. Not the way I wanted to end this otherwise spectacular week. Tomorrow is going to be even busier than I had planned, for reasons I don't want to discuss right now. Anyway, I got a lot done, with a lot more left to do, but I'm well into "departure mode" right now! 'Nuff said! Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hey Darlin'!
With the fantastic news that I've been cut from the bonds of further PT, I've started to make plans to get out of Dodge asap. I managed to secure an appointment at my horse vet today at 2:00 to get the travel paperwork started so I can leave when it's ready, I had a brief interview with a gal who might possibly take the mowing job at Yvette's, and spent much of the morning reaching out to various endurance rides to volunteer for them if they needed it, just to help shape my summer schedule. Several that I had hoped for don't need anyone, so I'm still looking. Footloose and fancy free, I can go anywhere! I just need to get out of the deep South, it's getting ridiculously hot already. The vet appointment went great, got all that done, and I had my usual evening, nothing special, just very excited about moving on! Tomorrow, I'm going riding, so I'm very thrilled about that! Another busy day planned for tomorrow, trying to get this battleship moving. Off to bed! Good night, babe! Love you!

Hi Baby!
What an unbelievable day! I went to see my surgeon today for my two week post-surgical appointment, and the impossible happened. He gave me a full discharge!! No more appointments, no more PT, I was free to go and do whatever I can handle, including riding! After 15 days! Unbelievable! When they took the bandage off, I couldn't believe it. I had teased him a little on the morning of my surgery about making sure the scar was just as good or better than the one the "boys" down at Cleveland Clinic had done on my right leg, and believe me, he took that gauntlet and ran with it. This is one beautiful seam. No puckering, no scabbing, it was lined up perfectly. It will be almost invisible in a year. Gorgeous! I left there a very happy camper indeed! Stopped at Walmart on the way home and picked up a few things, then managed to get them put away before Darlene, my night nurse from West Marion Hospital arrive with her daughter, and we proceeded to move the horses over from Chelle's back home. Great to have them back, and I can't wait to try to ride! They groomed and spoiled them for over an hour before they had to leave. Now that I'm free of PT, which I thought would keep me here until at least June 16, I can look at my schedule and see how much sooner I can get out of here. The temps are in the 90's now, definitely time to head north!! I managed to make a vet appointment for tomorrow to get updated Coggins and health papers, and glad I could get it because she's going on vacation all next week and it would be June before I could get them. Don't want to stay here any longer than necessary! Tried to do a little planning but ran out of time. Had a pleasant evening, and was thrilled to take a shower where I didn't have to wrap my leg up with cling wrap. It looked so much better when I finished my shower than it even does in the picture. SO HAPPY! Can't wait to get back on the road again! I have a bunch of stuff to do next week, but I could easily get out of here by the following week, maybe earlier. I have a few things to check on first, but it's all happening so quickly, which is just the way I like it! Finishing my tea and cookies and heading to bed forthwith! Good night, sweetheart! Love you!

Hi Sweetie!
Another good night sleep, all systems getting back to normal! Had Troy show up to do PT and he worked me pretty hard, telling me to ice down right after our session, but I had a job to do first. Because there was rain in the forecast, I knew I had to finish resealing it, and considering it was supposed to be over 90 today, I immediately climbed up to the roof, swept it, wiped all the sealant with alcohol and proceeded to put a nice thick layer of new sealant on. Good thing I ordered eight tubes of lap sealant, because I used all of them plus two others I still had and just managed to finish the job before running out. SO GLAD to have that job finally done. Hopefully,
I won't have any more leaks! Just as I was finishing the job, my friend and neighbor Helen dropped in for a visit, and we chatted for over an hour, so it was after 1:00 before I was finally able to start icing my leg. Because the sealant takes four hours to become water repellent, I couldn't put on my AC because that runs all over the roof, and even with all the fans on, it was pretty toasty in the trailer, so I was pretty happy when I actually dozed off very quickly after sitting in my recliner. Woke up about 3:30, managed to hold out for another fifteen minutes or so before finally switching on the AC, and was thrilled when the trailer started cooling down. Way too hot down here already! Anyway, spent some time starting to plan my exodus, with an emphasis on speed to get as far north as fast as possible! I don't typically stay at the horse motel listings, but because they're generally pretty close to the highway, I'm seriously considering it for this trip, running up to NY asap, then hanging out until it's time to go to Maine. June 16th is my anticipated departure date, if all goes well with PT. Looking forward to my appointment with the surgeon tomorrow, and getting this bandage off. Can't wait to take a shower without having to wrap up my leg like leftovers! Also want to see if the red light treatment has helped heal it faster. Finally settled down for the evening, feeling like I had a productive day. Love you, darlin'! Good night!

Hiya Darlin!
Having started my acetaminophen only regime, I still had no trouble sleeping, and woke up bright and early to meet with Tim B., a resident of nearby Steeplechase, who has come to drive my tractor and do some trail work. He showed up early for his 8:30 start time, having checked all the fluids on the tractor. I had just finished giving him his orientation when DeDe arrived in her UTV (also early), so he ran around the back yard a bit to get the feel of it, then we all headed up the trail to do the long overdue trail cleanup of the trail along E. Levy St. and between the Equestrian Center and the trailhead. It felt so good to be back out in the woods doing something constructive! I mostly helped move limbs, and we got the job done in short order. We were back in camp by about 11:00. We chatted for a minute, then went our separate ways. I then climbed into my truck and drove over to Chelle's to pick her up. So good to be back behind the wheel! From there we drove up to Bailey Mine and Watermelon Pond to put plaques on the mounting blocks we had put in, but I had forgotten my drill bits, so we only did it with construction glue, which I think will be enough, but we'll have to check on that later. Then we went up to Trenton so I could pick up some more hay, hopefully enough to last me until I head north, with enough to put into storage for the trip. Chelle helped load that up, then we tied it down well before heading back down to camp where we unloaded most of it. We took two of the bales back over to her place because my horses were running low. The plan is to bring them back over on Thursday after my surgeon appointment. That all took most of the afternoon. It felt so good to have a normal day! I forgot to do my PT this morning, but I did take my walk and worked at all my "stations," so at least I did most of them once today. Settled down for a dinner and a movie, back to my normal evening. And even with all that exercise and activity, I never felt any pain today, so the acetaminophen is doing the trick! Yay! Heading to bed shortly, my love! Good night!

Hey Sweetie,
Started the day with PT again from Home Health, with the addition of a few more exercises, spent the day icing and the usual read/TV/game schedule. Finished my oxy this morning, so it will be straight acetaminophen from now on, or at least until I change to ibuprofen for the inflammation, after doctor's approval on Thursday, though it may not even be necessary. Rick brought me another bunch of ice, and a guy named Tim came by in response to getting help with the tractor. More on this later. My movie of the day was the sequel to Hawaii, called the Hawaiians starring Charlton Heston, so that killed a good part of the day. Otherwise, same old, same old. Ready for bed! Good night, baby! Love you!

Hi Babe,
Another day of recovery with some regular chores mixed in. Walking, doing my PT exercises, icing, etc. Reading a good book, watched a nice long movie, Hawaii, based on Michener's book from 1966, did a couple of loads of laundry and even managed to get some housekeeping done, dusting and vacuuming. So all in all, progress is getting made. It will be all about pain management from now on, I think, balancing between exertion and painkillers, because I seem able to do most things, though a bit slower and more carefully so I don't lost my balance. Was just reading on Facebook that they had a terrible tornado go right through the Horsemen's campground at Brown County, Indiana, actually flipped four or five trucks and trailers on their sides! One horse and a couple of dogs were apparently killed, but no humans had fatal injuries, though there was an unbelievable amount of damage. That's one of the things I never liked about Brown County, there is zero cell phone signal at that campground, so there was no warning. I also don't like that horses have to be tied to an immovable hitching rail, rather than a more flexible highline, which would have given the horses a better change of getting out of the way without breaking their neck, which is apparently how this one horse died. So sad. Anyway, just finishing off the evening with my usual tea, some Oreo crumbs, and will soon be heading to bed. Good night, my darlin'! Love you!