Hey Babe,
A very restful day, lazy girl! Got a late start to the day, but before I even had breakfast, I did put up a temporary paddock for the boys, giving them a lot of room to roam around, and just as I was getting it finished, a young couple camping near me came by to visit with the horses, and to ask for a jump, as the battery on their little Toyota had died. I gave them peppermints to feed the horses, then took my little jump starter up and got them going. Did a little bit of housekeeping, but spent most of the day reading. I look out once and found that despite all of the new space for my horses to wander, Flash was back in the paddock with the open door, just standing there! Silly boy! Horses can be so funny! Did a little mending job, but other than reading, it was a pretty uneventful day. I'm finding it hard to find a reason to take a walk now that I don't have a dog, but I expect at some point I'll get back to it. Finally settled down to TV for the evening, won't be long out of bed! Good night, sweetie! Love you!
Archives for 2026
Friday, October 30, 2026 – Some More Little Chores and Another Ride at Woods Ferry
Hiya Sweetie,
Had a great night sleep, did some more chores and computer work this morning, then Flash and I headed out for a nice ride. Because the orange trail is closed for some kind of creek restoration, I decided to take a different route, which didn't exactly turn out as planned. I thought I saw a turnoff for the small family cemetery that's not far from the camp, but after going up the road for more than a mile, I realized that what I saw was a road called Buck's Grave, which was NOT the way to the cemetery. Then I remembered that the last time I went there, I had to go cross country for a bit to get to the road, as there really wasn't a trail, at least not one you could find anymore. We turned on Buck's Grave anyway, because at least it seemed like it would bring up back to the green trail eventually, after making another left turn off that road. Turns out that's where they are doing major construction, right where the green trail comes out! There were numerous large pieces of equipment, a portapotty, and a large semi box trailer. I passed a truck leaving on the way out, but there wasn't anyone at the site when I came through. Following the Avenza map, I managed to fine a way around the fencing and picked up the green trail, though it was cordoned off coming from the other direction. Oh, well! We continued on the green trail to the yellow, then took the yellow all the way back to camp. Then I put Apollo on a lead and we ponied him down to the boat ramp and around the picnic area, then the campground loop, just to get him some exercise. He jogged most of the way, just to keep up with Flash, and they had a short munch on the nice grass down by the river. Once again, the weather was gorgeous, even felt a little hot as it got to 80 degrees today! Guessing all these cooler temps have made me used to riding in the 60's! Didn't mind it though, I only needed one layer today. Gave Flash a rinse, then put them both away. Settled down for the evening, more Aussie Heart Guys, will be off to bed soon! Good night, my darlin'! Love you!
Thursday, October 29, 2026 – Lots of Little Chores
Hi Darlin',
I had planned to ride my riding buddy Pam, whom I had re-met at Biltmore, but she became ill overnight and had to cancel this morning, so I spent the day doing a lot of little odd jobs that have been piling up. A load of laundry, fixing Flash's boots with a layer of rubber mat that I bought the other day, a little housekeeping, and just some odds and ends, so it was a productive day, albeit fairly relaxing. In between jobs I read, then finally settled down in the evening as usual. So nothing terribly exciting today, but I did get some things done! Nothing else to report! Good night, baby! Love you!
Wednesday, October 28, 2026 – First Ride Day at Woods Ferry
Hiya Babe,
Once again got to bed ridiculously late, and slept in since the sun doesn't hit me until about 9:00! Started the day with chores and a load of laundry, did a few things on my computer before saddling up Flash and hitting the trail. I only wanted to take him for a fairly short ride today, didn't want him to think every day would be a long ride like last week! He was a bit sluggish getting started, but was fabulous after he warmed up, and of course, as we turned and headed back toward camp. We took the yellow trail to the blue trail and then came down along the side of the river, which is one of my favorite trails out here. It needs some TLC, but it was passable, though a bit tricky in a couple of spots. The fall colors are nowhere near as vibrant as usual, likely because of the serious lack of rain this area has been having for the last few months. It seems the leaves are just drying up and falling off, with barely a hint of color. But it was still a gorgeous day, perfect temps in the mid-70's, partly cloudy, just fabulous! We only went about 5.8 miles, so short and sweet, but just about right for what we wanted to do. Got him settled, took my laundry down, and settled down for the evening. A wonderful day, hard to ask for much more! So grateful for this life! Good night, sweetheart! Love you!
Tuesday, October 27, 2026 – Busy, Tiring Runaround Day
Hey Sweetie,
Had the place all to myself last night, so I slept beautifully and let myself lie in for a bit in the morning, since I'm so deep in the forest the sun doesn't really hit me until after 9:00. Finally got up, did my chores, had a quick breakfast, did a load of laundry and hung it out, finished my ballot and put together a book order, then finally headed out to nearby Chester, with stops at the post office, then Tractor Supply to get some horse feed and to refill three propane tanks, having finished emptying one while I was doing laundry. The next stop was Walmart for some essential shopping, then finally went to pick up 15 bales of hay at Ricky's the same place I got hay last year when I was here. He was advertising $7 a bale, which was the cheapest I've seen later, but when I arrived, he remembered I had bought from him before, and he gave me last year's price out of loyalty, he said, so only $5 a bale! I bought 15 bales, which I'm hoping will get me through the next two weeks and still leave a few bales leftover for Broxton. Nice bales, not quite as green as Steve's hay, but nice enough that I don't think the horses will have any trouble eating it. Heavy bales, too, so I may have more leftover than I think, but we'll see. By the time I unloaded groceries, propane and hay, it was 4:30 and I was exhausted! Still had to feed the horses and clean the corrals, so it was even later when I finally settled down for the evening, reading a bit and then bingeing on my latest Aussie series. Off to be soon, for another good night sleep, hopefully! Good night, my darlin'! Love you!
Monday, October 26, 2026 – Travel Day to Woods Ferry
Hiya Darlin'!
Enjoyed sleeping in a bit this morning, no hurry leaving Biltmore since I only had a few hours drive today, and I've done enough battling with the cold for awhile! Got up around 9:00 when the sun finally appeared over the trees, then made short work of packing and cleaning up the horse pen, though it was nearly 11:20 when I finally got on the road. Made a stop at Mountain Energy Truck Stop, which I discovered last time I was here, it's the best fuel prices around. With my Shell discount, I paid "only" $5.26/gallon for diesel, which, while outrageous, was considerably less than any other state I passed, with some over $6 a gallon! Anyway, the rest of the trip was uneventful, though I made a couple of questionable decisions on the route, but still managed to make it well before 2:30. I splurged on the group site this time, because I wanted the space, and because I wasn't sure I'd be able to get a clear view to the north for my Starlink at my usual spot, and because last time I was here, the group spot was full of noisy people that ran their generator all night and had a barking dog that never shut up all day and half the night, so I figure for my peace of mind, it was worth buying it out for the two weeks I'm here. Had no trouble getting set up, and was happy I had my new 100' ZeroG hose, because I needed it to reach the nearest spigot, but was glad it reached easily, which will make my stay here all that much better. I put the horses in the corrals, there really wasn't enough grass to warrant putting up their fence, but I may put up a highline just so they have a bit more room, maybe. We'll see how it goes. The forecast for this week is stupendous, warming up a little so it's only in the 50's at night, so hopefully I won't need to use my furnace quite so much. Finally settled down for the evening, watched some of my new binge series, and will be happy to be in bed soon! Good night, babe! Love you!
Sunday, October 25, 2026 – Another Busy Day at Biltmore Plus Packing
Hey Babe!
Had another busy day at Biltmore, though not so much at the finish. Today it was Ride & Tie and Equathon, and they had enough volunteers to handle it, so I mostly was chatting with a nice young lady named Taylor who is new to horse events and camping, so she was picking my brain about my experience with that. Always happy to share! Then I got involved with a couple that had a horse that was in the 50 yesterday, and for some reason, apparently uncharacteristically, refused to get in their trailer. They said they'd never had a problem with her in four years, so it caught them by surprise. To make a long story short, they tried the gentle approach for over and hour, then we tried the Clinton Anderson approach for another hour, and the stubborn mare just wouldn't give up! Tina rode her for another hour, she still refused, then her hubby finally went home, which fortunately was only about 15 miles away, and brought back a more open livestock trailer. She didn't even want to get in at first, but after I tried to give her a peppermint (she refused, silly mare!), she might have thought I may be there to make her run around again, or maybe just decided it was time to come, she finally hopped into the trailer with no issues. Very weird! Once they left, and I had done as much volunteering as I could, I started packing up my stuff so that I can leave in the morning. The horses are loving the new green hay that Steve let me have, it is SO MUCH BETTER than the stuff I bought in TN. I'm hoping I can find some good stuff in SC once I get down there tomorrow. I rinsed the truck off, as it was covered in dust from all the traffic on the dirt road in the equestrian center, and put some water in the tank, which I had run dry, just in case of emergency. Finally settled down for a quiet evening, working on a new binge, an Aussie show call the Heart Guy, looking forward to a good night sleep, and to sleep in tomorrow morning, since I'm only going about 100 miles, so an easy drive day, hopefully. Looking forward to a nice stay at Woods Ferry! Good night, sweetie! Love you!
Saturday, October 24, 2026 – Ride Day at Biltmore
Hi Sweetie!
Had to get up before the sun this morning in order to get to my assigned post at the bridge over the French Broad River to the West side. Art walked up from the rider camp, and after doing chores and breakfast, we drove over to the bridge to start our work. The 50 miler riders were already coming through, and we let them pass, then settled into the job of spotting the 25 mile riders over the bridge and back again. Once that was done, Art went back to camp for other duties, while I spotted the 50’s on their second loop. It w as all done by 1:30, so I headed back to camp and helped in the vet area for a bit, then just floated for awhile. I only stopped at my camper to take the horses’ blankets off, then on again as the sun went down. Sat through the awards ceremony, then came back to the camper and settled down for the night. I offered to help tomorrow, just trying to earn my keep, so I need to be down at the vet area by about 8:45 tomorrow, so I’m off to bed early! Good night, my darlin’! Love you!
Friday, October 23, 2026 – Fourth Ride at Biltmore, Orange Trail Completed!
Hey Darlin',
Sleeping well out here, despite the colder weather, my new wool cap from Peru is doing a terrific job of keeping me warm! Got up slightly earlier so I could help Steve and Cam get packed up, they've decided to go home after Steve's fall yesterday. The trail gals all came by to help as well. After chores, breakfast, and helping them, I finally saddled up Flash (since I obviously can't ride Cam's horse as planned!), though it took me awhile to get a bute tab in him. He's learned all my tricks for hiding that obviously nasty-tasting pill, so I had to break it up and hide it even more before I managed to get it in him. We finally got on trail around 11:30. The whole orange trail is over 16 miles long, but several miles of it had already been checked, so I managed to cut it down to about 14 miles, which was plenty! Flash did pretty well, all things considered, even though I could tell he was tired. After all, he's done more miles this week than he has in the past two months! He's a trooper, though, and kept his spirit up enough so the last mile was at a nice fast pace, despite his weariness. We managed to get into camp about 3:20, and by 3:30, I was in the truck driving back up to Whole Foods to get my final package, a new tailgate handle for the truck, since it was nearly impossible to get the tailgate up and down with the broken one, and I'm going to need that to hook up! Wrangled with traffic, got back by about 4:30, and immediately started to do that repair. While I was gone today, the camping area really got filled up, so lots more people. I lent my truck inverter and a corkscrew to a neighbor who needed to blow up their air mattresses, finished repairing the tailgate handle, so now it works like new! Shortly after that I put a chair in the back of my truck and headed down to the volunteer supper and ride meeting, where, in addition to the usual information, they showed a nice promo video about the history of horses at the Biltmore and the families responsible for the legacy. Nicely done! Just about dark by then (and getting quite cold!), got back, blanketed the horses and gave them more hay before heading inside to warm up! Steve let me take his couple of bales of hay, much nicer than anything I've seen in awhile, so I can't wait to finish off this crappy stuff I got in TN and let them start on this. Won't be long out of bed, since Art and I need to be at the bridge by 8:00, and it will be a long day tomorrow, just like it was a long (and productive) day today! Good night, babe! Love you!
Thursday, October 22, 2026 – Third Ride at Biltmore, Black Trail Completed!
Hiya Babe,
Another good night sleep, another gorgeous day, cool in the morning but warming up perfectly in the afternoon. Just the sort of day that makes life perfect! Got my chores done, watched as my neighbors Steve and Cam headed out, had a chat with a new Ride & Tie neighbor, Sara, then saddled up Flash and headed out on the Black Trail. I seem to remember much of this was previously the white trail, or more commonly known as the River Trail, as it follows the French Broad River for quite awhile. In the beginning, there's a lot of bikers and hikers, so they all had to stop and admire Flash, who was a perfect gentleman while everyone loved on him. Once we got through the lagoon area, it's a gravel surface, so it's not my favorite, but eventually it goes through one of the prettiest sections on the north side of the estate where the footing is much nicer. I gave Flash another bute pill this morning, and it seemed to work wonders, he was much better, so whatever is ailing him, muscles or sore feet, was helped by the bute. The Black trail turned out to be over 13 miles, and we had some challenges, going under a couple of overpasses, meeting up with a bunch of cows feeding, and finally, just as we were only a little over a mile out of camp, I met up with Rachel who happened to be going by just as I was crossing by the lagoon, and she told me Steve had taken a fall and was on his way to the ER. It didn't take much urging to get Flash to canter most of the rest of the way back to camp (it was back to camp, after all!), and we did nearly 10 mph and was there in no time. I arrived just as they were pulling away from their camper, and we stopped for a minute and chatted, and I made sure they knew I would do whatever needed doing to look after their critters, and off they went. In the morning, Cam had offered me her horse to ride tomorrow, since he (Teddy) is younger and more rested than Flash, who has done more miles this week than he has all month, and I'm hoping we can still do that, since I've been assigned the 15+ mile orange trail, and I'm not sure Flash would be totally okay with that. Probably, but this is a better alternative. Anyway, since it was going to be a long ride tomorrow, I decided to run into Asheville and pick up my mail and packages, and was hoping the last package would be there, and I got everything except the last thing I ordered, which didn't show up until after 7:00! I had no idea it would be so late, so I'll just have to go back in sometime over the weekend. At least the Whole Foods, where the Amazon pickup is, is open over the weekend. I really needed my mail, and that would be closed over the weekend, so I went into town and picked that up, along with the other packages that were already there. Got back to camp in plenty of time, gave all the critters some food and water, then was happy to see my friend Art, the Canadian vet, arrive. We chatted for a minute, but it was just getting dark, so he left to go set up his trailer, I finished up my chores, and settled down for the evening. Around 9:30, Steve and Cam finally showed up, I helped get them settled, and they've decided to leave in the morning, so I guess it's just Flash and me on the orange trail tomorrow! Heading to shower and bed, it's been a long day! Good night, sweetie! Love you!