Hi Babe,
Had another great night sleep, this time I didn’t even use my earplugs! I did hear the birds early, but that didn’t prevent me from falling back to sleep until a reasonable hour. Did some computer work, working on a new Equity contract which I hope they’ll accept, then found some hay, well, actually, the nearest stuff was 100% alfalfa, which I usually don’t want to use, but for $6.50 for heavy, wire-bound bales, I couldn’t turn it down. I’m going to mix it a bit with the stuff they’ve got now, which they don’t really like for some reason (smells fresh, just doesn’t have that nice fermented smell to it), but I’ve only got 4 bales of that left, and I bought 10 bales of the alfalfa. It looks really good, almost as good as the stuff we used to get in New Mexico, so I know it won’t go to waste, and I won’t need to feed as much. After I picked that up, I went to a feed store called Stock and Feed, right across from the Tractor Supply, because I needed horse feed and they had a better selection there. Unfortunately, I forgot to bring the propane tanks with me, so that’s another trip I’ll probably have to make before I leave the area. Then Walmart for a few things, then back to camp, where I promptly fell asleep in my chair shortly after I sat in it. It was a lot hotter today and I think that may have been the cause, plus all the activity over the weekend may finally have caught up with me. Anyway, I relaxed for the evening, now I’m ready for shower and bed, so good night, darlin’! Love you!

Hey Sweetie!
What a beautiful day today! Despite all the activity over the weekend, I had a great night sleep and woke up energized, mostly because it was an absolutely gorgeous morning. Temps in the 60’s overnight, low 80’s in the afternoon. I got so much done today, it feels great. After feeding the horses I put up the electric fence in a nice large area so they have lots of room, something I should have done days ago, they’re loving the space without having to drag the anchors. I did a couple of loads of laundry and hung them out to dry on a line, then I changed the oil in the truck, then I sewed a ring back on the saddlebags that had ripped off, then I fixed your old helmet by putting the brim back on so now it’s a hel-hat again. It comes in handy when I take someone riding, like Callie, it was a perfect fit for her. I read for a while, just finished a three-part series, now I’m onto a new book. I cooked a nice steak on the grill and also grilled some slices of summer squash one of the Rosebud ladies gave me, which was a lovely change. Watched a movie for a change, since yesterday I binged on DS9 right till the end of the series, same with Grimm, so now I’m back to Voyager, but I don’t know how long I’m going to able to stick with that. So I watched a nice Ashley Judd movie filmed in the mountains, set in Virginia, a nice little chick flick, it would have made you cry in the end, you old softie! Took one shower already today after the oil change, but am going to do it again before going to bed since I have fresh sun-dried sheets. And that time is drawing near right now! I love a productive day! Good night, darling. Love you!

Hi Babe,
I don’t know what the heck is going on with my sleep patterns, but it just keeps taking hours to fall asleep after I go to bed. Then I wake up tired and stay tired all day, grrrr! To make matters worse, I had a horrible nightmare and I literally woke myself up screaming, and not a little scream either. I hope that doesn’t happen when I have neighbors this weekend, especially considering all the windows are open! Then I woke up early, and started working on some stuff that needs resolving. The friend I was going to stay with in Michigan has decided to stay in Florida the whole summer, so I had to start looking for someplace else near Lansing to stay where I could board the horses. I don’t have anything confirmed yet. I also had to find another campground in between, and decided on Potato Creek, which is near enough to Elkhart for me to run in and have them fix the exterior paneling issue before going into camp. I’ve heard it’s pretty nice there, and all the sites have electric, albeit only 30 amp, but it would be nice to be able to run some AC, I’m getting tired of sweating! Once I put out some feelers for a boarding place, I headed into town, mostly to get propane but also some horse feed and a few grocery items. Plus I stopped at a mechanic shop to see if they would run a quick diagnostic to see if any engine codes have come up that might account for my slow starting (though it’s been better the last few times I started the truck, so it may be nothing). Would you believe they wanted $90 just to check the codes?! I went to Autozone and they did it for free. Granted, it wasn’t an in-depth scan, but the only thing that came up is the same one that’s been coming up for a year, about the glow plugs. I don’t see how that could be the problem, but I’ll keep checking. Meanwhile, I bought supplies for an oil change, so I have to put that on the schedule sometime while I’m here, as well as a few other chores I’ve let pile up, like replacing the screen on the door, Lola’s managed to claw her way through it again, and some sealant for around the sinks. Nothing major, just regular maintenance. It was hot again, but we finally had a storm come through and it’s cooled it down wonderfully, but, of course, with no sun, I had to run the generator a bit more to charge the batteries to get through the evening. I had a little soup for dinner, watched a couple of DS9’s, and now it’s time for my shower and bed. I’m hoping I can finally get a decent night sleep, and maybe get back my rhythm again, can’t figure out what’s going on! Planning on taking my first ride here tomorrow, if all goes well and the weather holds out. Good night, darlin’! Love you!

Hey Sweetheart,
Not a great night sleep last night, either, read late, than woke up early, though I read in bed and may have dozed off. Fed the horses then got them out on their anchors, several DNR trucks have gone by and no one’s said a word about the horses being not tied to the hitching post, thank goodness. My estimate of where to put the solar panel last night was dead on, it was getting full sun when I looked out first thing. Last night when I went to bed the inverter was registering 11.6v, and it was up to 12v by the time I got out of bed, enough to easily start the generator once I recycled the inverter. Apparently once it gets to the low battery signal (which it does whenever I leave the inverter on overnight, which I have to do to keep a fan running in the bedroom, and I really needed it last night!,) then I have to turn it off and turn it back on again. But that worked! I was able to start the generator without getting out the BeatIt charger. It’s all a learning curve solar-panel-wise at this point, but I’m getting there! I still can’t believe it’s in the 90s for most of the week, I never thought Indiana would stay this hot for this long, so I am a bit uncomfortable with the heat and humidity, but maybe it will sweat a few pounds off me! I just want to conserve on propane, see how long it lasts, and hey, it’s not that bad, I can handle it. It took all day to upload all my photos and diary posts, because even though the signal is pretty good, I’m limited by my slow data rate, since I used that up weeks ago, but at least I got it done. Once I got everything uploaded, I decided to go check out the lake, so I loaded Lola in the truck with her floating frisbee and we drove down to the beach, although pets weren’t allowed, so I went off to one side away from the beach and we fetched for awhile. Water was really warm, like bathwater! I also checked out the boat ramp, thought I might inflate my kayak so I could paddle around once in awhile. The truck started, but sluggishly again, I need to have it checked out, probably tomorrow. I’m down to my last tank of propane, and I certainly don’t want to run out, so I’ll go into town tomorrow and see what I can find in the way of truck repair. Relaxed for the rest of the evening, had to run the AC for bit to blow out the hot air. There was some thunder nearby, I was really hoping for some rain to cool things down, but it never got here. So I’m off for a shower and bed once again, with just a small fan in the bedroom to keep me cool, relatively speaking. Good night, babe! Love you!

Hey Babe,
A good night sleep, then chores, then I put the horses out on their anchors for the day. Last time I moved, I did housekeeping on the Saturday and packing up on the Sunday, but I learned that if I pace myself, I can do all of it on the Sunday before I move. So I started doing outside packing until it got too hot (and I got hungry!), then after breakfast I did inside chores before it got too hot in the trailer. There’s a transition period where the trailer is a lot cooler inside, then by mid-afternoon it’s hotter inside than out, so then I switched to doing outdoor packing. It worked out beautifully. I would also take my time between jobs, stopping to rest and read for half an hour, then I’d get back to it. Surprisingly, I felt terrific today after that 25-mile ride yesterday! Of course, that may have been assisted by the two ibuprofen I had before I got out of bed this morning. Hey, whatever it takes! Anyway, it was all done by 8:00, all I have left to do is take down the portable fence, hook up the trailer, load the horses and stop by the dump and we’re off! We’re heading to a place called Salamonie Lake about 2 ½ hours north of here. I’m hoping it might be a little cooler, but I’m not holding my breath. In future, I definitely need to be above the 42nd parallel before mid-June if I want to avoid the 90’s, maybe even by mid-May! I liked everything about this place except the harassment I got from the rangers that one day, but they’ve stayed away all week, at least I haven’t seen them, and it was unfortunate and unnecessary, and sadly, will be the only mark against this place, except the gravel on some of the trails. Oh, and the hitching posts instead of highlines, that would be a huge improvement. Anyway, I still need to take my shower, have my ice cream and relax with some mindless television for a bit before heading to bed, so here I go! Love you, sweetie! Good night!