Hiya Darlin',
Another day of getting up early, doing all the chores, and getting down to the Tidewater Trailhead just before 9:00. Helped with cleaning up the area, cleaned the restrooms, collected all the trash, helped drop down a tent, and generally did whatever needed doing. Once that was mostly wrapped up, I went out and closed up the gates I had opened, thinking the buckets had been collected (they weren't), dropped the trash off at Apex, met with my supervisor for a couple of minutes, stopped at Jo's to drop off some stuff she had forgotten plus a bale of peanut hay she had bought, then finally back to the house where I spent some time cleaning and vacuuming. Out at the barn, the mats were covered with sand from the rain, so I rigged up some hoses and washed it all down. Just as I was finishing that, I heard from the water bucket guy (Eric), learned he hadn't collected the buckets yet, so I had to drive back down to Tidewater and open one gate for him. The rest were okay for him, the buckets were close enough to the gate for him to get. Went back to Tidewater with my manure rake and spent a little time cleaning up a couple of sites that were left in bad shape, once again marvelling at how inconsiderate some people are when it comes to leaving a mess behind. Did they not notice that everyone else was cleaning up after themselves? Why do they think it doesn't apply to them? Did they not see the multitude of signs asking them to spread their manure into the woods? Jeesh! Hard to understand some folks! Took a roundabout route home so I could fill up with fuel at a station with reasonable prices, then finally got back to the house. Put the hoses back the way I found them, and by then it was time to feed the horses, so I did that job, and proceed with my evening, supping on the leftover equivalent of my Christmas dinner. I'm looking forward to a day when I don't have to get up at 7:00! But that won't be happening for awhile yet, I don't think. Continued my usual hot tub, shower, movie routine, and it looks like it will be another early evening! Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hey Sweetie,
Another early morning, another fairly busy day, though not quite as bad as yesterday. The biggest highlight of today was when a very strong thunderstorm came barreling through, blowing over one of the FEI crew tents, which apparently hadn't been the least bit pinned down, and moving Carol's buffet area into the pavilion in the nick of time. A few things got knocked over, and a lot got wet, but it only lasted a couple of hours. I spent the day working on the computer with Art, and a lot of restroom cleaning. It's a good thing I was able to get into the supply closet, because if all we had was what was left in the box, we would have run out of stuff yesterday! As it was, there wasn't any soap bags, and I mopped the floor half a dozen times this weekend. Heading out a little earlier since there wasn't any registration to do, and the rest of the night will be waiting for riders doing 75 and 100 miles to come in. I picked up a bale of peanut hay Jo had bought from her neighbor and stopped at HQ to throw another half a dozen bags into the dumpster, which is as full as I've ever seen it, almost overflowing. Stopped at Black Prong to lock up the well house, then back to the house for the rest of my chores. Watched a Gerald McRaney movie, took my hot tub and shower, and won't be long out of bed. Good night, baby! Love you!

Hi Babe,
I was very happy that volunteer Art agreed to do the early morning registrations, meaning he would be there at 6:00 in the morning, so I didn't have to work around feeding the horses. I still got up fairly early, got the chores and breakfast done, then had to meet Eric, who was refilling all of the water troughs along the ride route, at the Black Prong well so that he could refill his tanks. I did a quick clean of the restrooms while I was there, then managed to get down to Tidewater shortly after that. Spent the day helping out wherever I could, mostly with registrations, cleaning and restocking the bathrooms and whatever else came up. Jo got pulled after two loops on her 50 mile ride, suspecting it was the glue on boots she used, which apparently, her horse Luna detests. Left around 4:40, with a stop at Apex to drop off garbage and Black Prong to pick up more garbage bags, then back to the house for feeding and the rest of my evening. Not a busy day, but a full one. I seem to be going to be earlier and earlier these days, which is probably a good thing, except I'm waking up two hours before the crack of dawn, which may not be a good thing. Still deciding... I'm sure once I get back to my dark, cave-like bedroom in my trailer, things will get back to normal! Meanwhile, good night, my darlin'! Love you!

Hiya Sweetie,
Woke up around 4:30, read for awhile, worked on my shoulder, and finally got up at the break of dawn, did my chores, and was heading down to Tidewater before 9:00. Spent the day opening gates, parking trailer traffic, helping with registration and generally doing gofer stuff until I finally headed back to the house, did more chores, and settled down for the evening. Just another non-riding day! Love you darlin'! Good night!

Hey Darlin',
A good night sleep, chores, then I met DeDe and Jo down at Tidewater to do some prep work for the upcoming Goethe Gallivant. I stopped at HQ on the way to see if they had any duplicate signs for the trail intersections I needed, but none were to be found. No worries, DeDe and I managed to move the sign that was out there, put up the rest of the trail markers on the new section of trail taking folks off the road, and do some general trail clearing. It's still rough, and we'll no doubt get some complaints about it, but that's the way it goes! Stopped at Black Prong on the way back and did some tractor work, filling in potholes and washouts with gravel, and added some sand to my "patio" area where it was a bit thin. Got back to the farm mid-afternoon and relaxed the rest of the afternoon, more holiday movies mostly, and tried to relax as much as I could since the next few days are going to be extremely hectic. My now usual routine, I had an early dinner, hot open-faced turkey sandwich and salad, and finished off my little apple turnover with eggnog ice cream. Ready for another good night sleep! Good night, babe! Love you!

Hiya Sweetheart!
While I've missed you every Christmas since you've been gone, I have to say that holidays alone are underrated. No stress about gifts (giving and getting!), family and friends that don't get along, everybody walking on eggshells to avoid conflict, and all the other negative issues that seem to occur around this time of year. Well, in my experience anyway. I was quite happy spending my day alone watching Christmas movies with Lola. It was especially nice being in a house with a big full kitchen, and I took advantage of it and cooked a full size 15.5 lb. turkey, stuffed! I had cranberry sauce and a nice salad to go with it, and an apple turnover I've had since November, but that I kept frozen until a few days ago. That heated up with a little eggnog ice cream, and I'm all set! I'm thinking I'll retrieve my super big soup pot from storage and making a big turkey soup, and since all I had was one thigh, I have plenty of leftovers I can freeze and use later. Very efficient! I was all finished up, dishes included, by the time I had to feed horses. I gave them all half an apple with their dinner, just for fun. A hot tub, shower, and finishing off with our annual viewing of "It's A Wonderful Life", and I am one happy camper! It doesn't matter how many times I see that movie, it always gets me! Of course, I miss you, but you're still here with me in spirit, for sure. Good night, my dearest darlin'! Love you forever!

Hey Darlin',
Had a great night sleep, it was a pleasure not to have someplace I had to run off to first thing in the morning! Had a relaxed morning with just the usual chores, then around midday I went over to camp to clean up the restrooms and check on my mail. Back to the house, where I made a batch of sugar cookies, which I pigged out on most of the day, and did nothing but watch Christmas movies. What a luxury! I feel like I've been so busy that it's lovely to just have a day when I do nothing. The horses were having fun out in the field, I saw Flash trying to snuggle with Apollo, until Apollo finally had to run him off, so funny to watch! Looking forward to another slow day tomorrow, with nothing but cooking, eating and watching more Christmas movies. Love you, babe! Miss you! Good night!

Hey Sweetie,
After going to bed before 10:00, I woke up at 5:00, and spent the next two hours working on my shoulder, which feels incredibly improved today. Got up and did my morning routine, which is getting faster and I get more used to what I need to be doing. There was a tremendous frost all across the fields this morning, looked quite lovely! I didn't take the horses' blankets off right away, I waiting until it was about 45, instead of 34 like when I got up. Looks like the last night they'll need blankets for a while, thank goodness. I spent most of the day working on the trailer, packing up everything, moving stuff around so it's easier for them to work on, then finally, after about four hours, hooking up and driving it up to the trailer repair place. All very tiring, but necessary. I had a couple more bags of things I had to transfer, but hopefully I have everything I need now for the duration until I get my trailer back. Fingers crossed it gets back before the homeowners I'm farm-sitting do! Had an early dinner, got my evening chores done, took my hot tub and shower, and settled down to a Christmas movie. Ready to go to bed! Good night, my darlin'! Love you!

Hiya Darlin',
Slept pretty well, considering I wasn't in my own bed. Woke up to a chilly morning, in the 30's, had to bundle up before going outside. It took me over an hour to take care of the critters, what with having to take their blankets off and everything else. I'm still getting used to the routine. After breakfast, I went back over to camp to pick up the list of things I needed and had forgotten yesterday, plus put some things away in advance of moving the trailer over to the trailer repair place. Got back in time to see the Steeplechase neighborhood Christmas parade, where residents get together and follow a route around a few blocks. Unfortunately, some of them made a different turn, so even though I was on the parade route, I think I only saw a small portion of the parade. It was pretty short, in any event. I sat in the truck at the end of the driveway, feeling pretty Christmas-y considering it was only 50 degrees! Decided to watch a movie, decided on Diehard, having heard someone mention somewhere (in another movie, I think), that Diehard was the best Christmas movie ever. It's been decades since I've seen it, and couldn't remember it at all, so it was a good choice. Getting back into my routine of feeding the animals, taking a hot tub, showering, then dinner, except I only had time to watch a one hour TV show rather than a movie. Won't be long out of bed, I have a busy day planned for tomorrow, even though I'd much rather have a whole day off. One of these days! Good night, babe! Love you!

Hey Babe,
Spent the day moving most of my stuff over to where I'm farm sitting, took multiple trips. Started with the horses, fed them as they were tied to the trailer while I fed all the rest of them, then got my guys settled in and fed as well. Additional trips added more stuff, and of course, draining, moving and setting up the hot tub at it's new location. I was glad to see the heater worked so well it was almost to full temperature by the time I finished with dinner, so I was able to enjoy it, though a little cooler by a couple of degrees. Temps are forecast in the 30's overnight, so I'm leaving the hot tub heater on, and I blanketed the horses at dinner. Pretty well settled in now, it should be a nice stay. I heard my axles are due on Monday, so I'll be moving the trailer over there, then keeping my fingers crossed they get it finished in time. My list of things that need to be done has been getting longer and longer, but this is the best chance I have to get them all done. Settled down to a new Christmas movie with Dwayne Johnson (I remember you really enjoyed working with him at a convention one year!) and JK Simmons as Santa. It was pretty fun. Heading off the bed shortly, hoping the mattress is comfy. Brought my own pillow, just in case. Good night, sweetie! Love you!