Archives for 2025

Hi Sweetie,
Today was pretty much a repeat of yesterday, just killing time before moving over to Woods Ferry on Monday. I guess I didn't realize how much time I spend riding every week, and now that I'm not doing that, because there are no decent trails here and because I'm hoping the Flash's foot will recover with enough rest (it's been getting much better, it seems, but I won't know until I do ride him), it seems there not much else to do but read, play computer games, and watch TV. I'm afraid my life is pretty boring at the moment! Can't wait for my next challenge, whatever that might be! Guess I'll have to look for more adventures, now that I'm fully recovered from my Yellowstone trip. Time to start planning next year's vacation! Meanwhile, I'll just every day as it comes, and be grateful for every minute of it! Love you, babe! Good night!

Hey Darlin',
You know what they say about objects in motion tending to stay in motion. Well, I woke up today feeling determined to keep moving, so I decided to take care of the long overdue job of finishing off sealing the roof (hopefully!) While I did the complete roof seam earlier this year, as well as the vents and bathroom sunroof, I didn't finish off the refrigerator vent and stove pipe, and with several very nice days in the forecast, I decided to get myself in gear and take care of that today. Climbing up to the roof was a much easier process than before when my knee was bad, and it was only the two protrusions, so it only took me a few hours to do. I still had a leak during the last rainstorm, and I'm really hoping that this will resolve it, because I'm not sure where else it could be coming from. Fingers crossed this takes care of it! After it was done, I made a call to the local historical society about booking a tour through a famous local plantation house, the Cross Keys Farm and learned that they are all scheduled by appointment and there were no other groups scheduled that I could join, but the gentleman was kind enough to say he needed to go there this afternoon to retrieve some sunglasses he left behind, and turn off the main water valve, and that he would be glad to take me through. I met him at 4:30 and we spent an hour together going through the house and outbuildings, which was fascinating. It's reputed that Jefferson Davis had lunch there one day! The house was built between 1812-14, and it's still in pretty good shape, though there have been many modifications and additions. Feel like I finally had a change of pace today! Got back, then spent an hour+ chatting with Amazon, because they ignored my specific delivery instructions about sending my multiple packages via USPS so that I could receive them as General Delivery, but instead, they sent everything UPS, which the post office won't accept. Amazon's customer service (overseas) swears they can resend it USPS and still get it here by tomorrow, but I don't believe it. I've had overseas customer service make me promises before and never kept them, so I will be shocked if they do, in fact, arrive tomorrow. Anyway, I can't worry about it, but it does mean that my generator service will be delay, which is not really a big deal, just an inconvenience. Finally got off the line with them, fed the horses and made dinner, much later than usual, and settled down for the evening. Apparently no progress on the government shutdown, but I'm still planning on moving over to Woods Ferry on Monday. Hope they haven't closed the gates! Considering the National Forest Service put a very strong pro-Trump statement on their webpage, I have a feeling they're not going to do anything to interfere with people's enjoyment of the forests. At least, I hope so! Won't be long out of bed tonight! Good night, sweetheart! Love you!

Hiya Sweetie,
Finally had a day that required some physical activity! Though it was a quiet morning, I headed out around noon and stayed busy the rest of the afternoon. I wasn't able to find a haymaker (well, one that responded to my communications), so I went to a feed store for hay. First, I went to Bubba's, all they had was coastal for $10 a bale, and it was okay, but I was hoping to give them something better than coastal until I didn't have a choice. Then I went to another place north of Union called Down South Outdoor Supply, and they had really heavy bales of nice green fescue for $12 a bale. While that's more than I usually pay, the size and quality convinced me to get that instead. Besides, I'm trying to not be so skimpy on certain things, it's not like I can't afford it! Next stop was Tractor Supply for propane and horse feed, then Walmart for a few things I missed the other day, and finally, two auto parts stores to get fuses (which Walmart quite carrying for some reason) and the second because the first, like Walmart, didn't sell Rotella oil in quart sizes. Note to self, O'Reilly DOES carry quarts of Rotella oil. I had ordered a new oil and air filter for the generator, and I needed the oil so I could do an oil change, hopefully this weekend. With all that done, I headed back to camp, and put everything away, which took some time and energy. Putting the propane tanks away is always good arm exercise, and putting those heavy bales in the front stall was even more challenging. I wasn't sure I would be able to get the last two very heavy bales on top, but I finally managed. With everything put away, I was finally able to settle down. Sorry to see that the government shutdown started, but the gates here are still open, and I figure, if they're not working, then they won't be able to come around and kick me out, right? Fingers crossed they get it resolved soon. Binged on some more Hart of Dixie's, be heading to bed soon! Good night, baby! Love you!

Hey Babe,
Managed to get to bed a bit earlier, but still slept late, guess laziness is starting to take over! Without a riding schedule, I really don't have much else to do but read and do a few odds and ends before I settle in for the evening. I ordered a few things from Amazon, hoping they'll follow my instructions to send it USPS, since I'm having them sent to General Delivery. About the only other thing of note is that I met the Rec Director here, who was off last week, when she came out to finally empty the trash bins (they were so full, I haven't been able to put anything in them for a week!) We chatted for a bit, then she informed me that there's a possibility that they will be ordered to shut down the campgrounds because there is an impending dispute in Congress about the budget, and the Federal Government may have to shut down! So I spent some time looking for a Plan B, which were state-operated campgrounds, but they were either full or ridiculously expensive, state forests, which might be a possibility, or possibly to a friend's farm, which I haven't reach out to yet. I'm hoping either the shutdown won't happen or won't last long, or the rangers will just not show up and law enforcement will leave us alone. Worst case scenario is I'll get ticketed, hopefully not even that considering the circumstances. Fingers crossed it doesn't screw up my plans, considering the next three weeks were all supposed to be in national forest campgrounds! I did take Apollo for a walk around the campground, but didn't get much more exercise than that. Sigh. Can't wait to get back to riding! Good night, my darlin'! Love you!

Hiya Darlin',
Yup, another lazy day! I went to bed too late last night and read much later than I usually like, but the rain came in this morning and made it easy to nod off in my recliner despite that. So I spent the day reading, took both horses on a walk around the campground loop, and finally bingeing on Hart of Dixie for the evening. Not much else to report! Good night, Sweetie! Love you!

Hi Sweetie,
Been having some good nights of sleep here, despite my neighbor running their generator into the wee hours. I did have to close a window last night to cut out the noise, but slept like a babe after that! They left in the morning, so I imagine I'll have a quiet night tonight. I did some laundry, including, Lola's bed, which has taken on a rank smell since she's been on some medication, but she's finished that now, so hopefully it will stay smelling clean for awhile. I let the horses graze most of the day, and enjoyed the peacefulness here, mostly reading again. Temps were fine most of the day, until the sun really came out late in the day, but I'm trying to not be so stingy using my generator for luxuries like air conditioning, so I managed to cool it off as the sun went down. I had a little problem with the generator again today, I'm convinced it's overheating a little, because once I let it cool, then leave it open, it works fine. I checked my maintenance schedule and saw that it was time for an oil and air filter service, so I ordered those from Amazon. I only hope they follow instructions and send it USPS, otherwise the post office probably won't accept it. It was a nice day, can't complain about enjoying the peace and quiet! Well, except for the two trucks that just drove in and parked in the site across from me, hopefully they'll respect the quiet! Good night, baby! Love you!

Hiya Babe,
And the theme continues, except today I didn't even really do a small job! Rain came in last night and persisted off and on through the night and into the morning, so I lazed around a bit, put the horses out on anchors, let one of the neighbors' kids say hello to the horses, played video games, read, and watched TV all day. I took Apollo for a walk around the campground loop just to get him moving a bit more, but other than that, had a totally quiet and lazy day! Trying not to feel guilty about not doing anything, and so far, I'm succeeding! Hoping it will be nice enough tomorrow to hang laundry out, but other than that, have no plans for anything else tomorrow, either! I'll be busy soon enough, so I'm enjoying the peace. Good night, my darlin'! Love you!

Hey Darlin',
Starting to sense a theme here? One fairly small job followed by a lazy day? That's becoming my pattern for the time being, which is fine with me, I needed a little "retirement" quiet time before I get busy with my winter events. In addition to doing some bookkeeping, I let the horses out on their anchors (though Flash kept escaping, so whenever Apollo started to whinny I knew I had to go find him, though he was never far), filled the water tanks (glad that I have enough hoses to reach the spigot, so much easier than filling the truck and using gravity feed), read for a few hours, watched TV for a few hours, filled out a form for another volunteer position farther south for January and February, and otherwise had a normal day. Flash is still favoring his right hind foot, so I'm not going to try to ride him here anymore, I'll wait until we get to the next place, which actually has some nice trails, and only if he seems better. He's got me a bit worried, not sure what to do about it, except give it time to heal, which I hope won't be months! Had a nice evening, we finally got some rain in, which has cooled things down a little, thank goodness! Heading to bed soon! Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hi Sweetie,
Didn't do much today except finish off my housekeeping by wiping down all the wood more thoroughly than yesterday. I put the horses out on their anchors for the afternoon so they could much on fresh grass and move around a bit, but otherwise has a pretty lazy reading day. Flash is definitely favoring his right hind leg, so I'm going to just let him rest for awhile, since there's not much in the way of trails here anyway. The generator cut out once again today, not sure why, but it feels really hot, so I guess the heat is getting to it. Need to do some research on that. Trying to sort out my schedule for the winter, now that my usual wintering place has decided not to have a camp host anymore, which frees me up for other things I want to do, which is a good thing. Other than that, a pretty lazy day! Didn't get the rain yet, so it's still pretty warm, though I did put up the front panel of my screen room to keep the direct sunlight off the trailer, which helped, as did the bit of cloudiness we had. Hoping for rain overnight to cool things off! Heading to bed shortly! Good night, baby! Love you!