Hey Darlin’,
After getting to bed so late last night, I ended up sleeping pretty late this morning, on a mattress that is still holding up, thank goodness! Didn’t really do much today, finished a book, did some more research on microwaves. Seems they have some that need an inch to open the door, which, if I cut the cupboard where I think I have to, it won’t work. Some have a 90 degree door that doesn’t need the extra space, but they’re hard to find, and finally, I found one that is made for lefties, where the door swings left to right, which would solve the problem but be really weird, though I supposed I’d get use to it. So suffice to say, I still haven’t solved the problem. Spent a couple of hours taking the online ATV course that’s required for state certification as a volunteer, though I wasn’t planning on using an ATV, I figured I would more likely be using a side-by-side, which is completely different, so I’m not sure how useful it’s going to be. Not much else going on. Got a bunch of stuff I ordered from Amazon, including something called a Firestick, which is like a portable wifi for the TV, that replaces the smart TV aspects of my TV, which was an inexpensive alternative to the wifi problem I’ve been having, though it’s been working fine for the last few days. Just wanted to be prepared for when it goes again. I don’t like having to take the TV down and open the back, put it back together and hope for the best, even though so far, it’s worked. The Firestick does the same thing, plus has a voice function, and it was pretty cheap, so I figured it was worth the fix. Taking forever to update the software over my cell phone hotspot, but I guess it will work better once it’s done. We’ll see. Otherwise, a pretty boring day! I’m going to bed earlier, though, I’ve been gradually getting to bed and getting up later and later, and I really don’t like that, so tonight I’m heading to be earlier. I’m sorry to say that your sister is in the hospital, and she’s basically in hospice care, so she’ll be joining you soon, wherever you are, the last of your generation of the family. Her daughter Sue has been keeping me updated. I thought about calling her, but from the sound of it, it would have been too much of a strain on her, so I just gave Sue a message to give to her if she’s awake enough to understand it, and have her in my thoughts. Anyway, heading to my shower and bed soon, as soon as I get this Firestick up and running. Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hi Sweetie,
Absolutely delighted to report that my air mattresses seemed to hold up overnight, I was most definitely NOT on the ground like I’ve been for the last several nights! Hooray! I guess that means I can hold off buying a new mattress for awhile. Not so lucky with the microwave, though, it’s still giving me fits, though I think tomorrow I’ll try it with the generator, just to make sure it’s not an AC electrical problem. Spent most of the morning trying to find a new microwave that will fit, but naturally, the specs have changed. Whereas my old microwave fit’s beautifully in a 22″ width cabinet, all the NEW microwaves are a minimum of 24″, which means I have to cut into my cupboards to make it fit. Not something I really want to do! Still working on the problem, though. Tried to do some more polishing on the front cap of the trailer, but nothing I did seemed to help so I gave up. Did a little housework, then decided to be spontaneous and go to a free concert in Carlin Park out by the ocean in Jupiter. It was a Chicago tribute band called Solid Brass, and they did a pretty decent job. A good two hour plus concert with a short intermission, did some other period artists, too. Met a very interesting couple who I ended up sitting with, Lori and Mark, and after the concert, we chatted at a picnic table for quite awhile. Fascinating how much we had in common! Hoping to hook up with them soon, I’ve invited her to go riding, they’ve invited me to go boating, could be the beginning of “a beautiful friendship!” I was just looking up the cost of getting a diving certificate, and she’s a diver, so this might be a good in for me. We’ll see how it goes. It was almost 10:30 by the time I got home, a very pleasant diversion from my mostly mundane days lately. Fingers crossed by bed holds up again tonight! Meanwhile, shower and bed for me! Good night, babe! Love you!

Hey Babe,
Woke up to fairly, but not entirely, flat mattresses, so I spent a good portion of the day trying to solve that problem. First I spent some time on the internet trying to find a replacement, but the one mattress I really like doesn’t carry the full short anymore. I currently have a queen but it’s so cramped I though that a full would be a better choice, but I may not be able to find one. I finally ended up stripping the bed, again, and looking for leaks. I found an old, unopened vinyl repair kit and used that to make a bigger patch around the previous hole that I had found, because I discovered there was still a small leak on the edge of my previous fix. But when I came back a few hours later, the whole patch just fell off, so apparently the tube of cement isn’t good anymore, even though it was unopened. So I used some more Airstop to try to plug it up, hoping that does the trick. Then I took out the second mattress, changed into a bathing suit, and took it to the pool to try to find the leak, which I FINALLY did, once again along a seam, and put Airstop on that, too. I sure hope it works, because replacing the mattress is looking to be a real PITA! Several layers and some dry time later, I put it all back together again (I’m getting really tired of stripping down this bed and making it up again!), so tonight will be the test. Airstop has never let me down before, so I’m hoping for small miracle. Seems my microwave is on the fritz, may have to be replacing that soon! Spent some time cleaning Jeff’s pool, it was a real mess, and he’s been so busy fixing the Bronco the pool has gone to pot, but it’s much better now. Watched an intriguing movie with Michael Keaton about the history of McDonald’s, and a quick Remington Steele, now I’m ready for shower and bed, fingers crossed the fixed hold up! Good night, my darlin’! Love you!

Hey Darlin’,
Woke up to flat air mattresses again this morning, obviously a problem I have to deal with quickly. Pulled out the mattresses after filling them with air and took them to the pool to find the leaks. Once had about a two in break in the seam, the other, I couldn’t find, but may have to do with the clamp around the pump, but who knows! I put some Airstop sealant on the big split, but even though it was brand new, never opened, it was clumpy, which it’s not supposed to be, so I don’t know if it’s going to work. Supposed to let it set for 10 hours when the hole is that big, so I left it out to dry. Started a load of laundry. Got dressed to go out to brunch, managed to fit into a pair of capri pants I haven’t been able to wear in awhile, so I guess I’m losing a little weight. Of course, having brunch at the Seminole Inn, with its all you can eat brunch buffet, didn’t help! Sure I’ll be gaining a few pounds today! Jeff’s has been working on his Bronco, and it’s really looking good, so we drove out to Indiantown in that. After a fabulous brunch with the family, we ran over to Glenn’s for a bit, cleaned the pool, though that’s a losing battle today because it’s very windy and the leaves just keep falling in. His house is looking pretty good with all the renovations, but it’s still a bit austere, since they haven’t brought too many personal items over yet, that’s to come. Jeff dropped me back at home before he headed out for a service call and a trip to the Turtle Tavern, his favorite hangout, albeit 30 miles away. I worked on my bed, brought down both camping air mattresses from the “attic” in case I need those tonight. Turns out I had a big queen mattress, actually too big for the space, but it has a leak, so that won’t work. Put the two side mattresses back in, and at the moment, they seem to be holding air, surprisingly, considering I wasn’t sure the adhesive would hold. We’ll know by morning! Did some research on a new non-air mattress, but naturally, the one I want is out of stock, don’t know when they’ll have them back in. Reinstatement Petition is up to 152 signers, supposed to be submitted tomorrow, we’ll see what happens after that. So, a busy day, finally settled down to a movie and a Hart to Hart, fussed with the mattresses for a bit, now I’m ready for shower and bed! Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hi Sweetie,
A good night sleep, though I woke up a couple of times to a flat mattress, so obviously, I haven’t solved my problem. Pretty sure it revolves around where the mattress attaches to the pump, though, so after breakfast, I stripped the bed again and tightened both mattress, hoping that solves the problem! Spent a little time cleaning the front camp again, though I need a few other cleaning agents to finish the job, I think, so the job still isn’t finished. The TV still wasn’t working, so I went through the whole troubleshooting process again, which didn’t change anything, Until I finally took it down and took the back off, cleaned it up, straightened out one circuit connector, and put it back together again, and viola! The wifi worked again. Crazy! No idea what I’m doing, but it seems to be working. The rest of the day was pretty mundane, not much else but reading and a little TV once I got it going. Thought about sitting by the pool for a bit, never got around to it. I feel like I’m in limbo, not ready to leave yet, not really needing to stay, just passing the time, which is not something I’m used to. I always have a project, and right now I don’t have one, so I’m just hanging around. Anyway, I am starting to plan for the trip north, contacted my friend from Michigan who has a place by Suwanee, as well as the Goethe Forest about their ATV certification program, which I figure is a good step, and they’re having one sometime in March, so that gives me a destination to begin my move north. Anyway, I can’t sit still for long without something to do, I’m sure things will play out soon. Meanwhile, shower and bed for me! Good night, babe! Love you!

Hiya Darlin’,
Been pretty much the same routine for the last couple of days, puttering around doing small jobs on the trailer, reading, watching TV, pretty boring at the moment, actually! Petition is up to 136, should be sending it in soon. Not much to report on anything else, really. Life is pretty mundane at the moment! Hoping to go riding a bit tomorrow, just to get the exercise, feel like I’ve been doing nothing but sit in my chair most of the time lately. That’s about it! Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hi Sweetie,
Woke up a little early and read for a bit, did my morning feeding and wormed the horses as well, gave Lola her heartworm pills, trimmed her nails and gave her a flea prevention treatment, then after breakfast started to try to find a leak I have in one of the air mattresses in my bed. The side I don’t usually use has been going flat, so by halfway through the night I’m rolling downhill. Couldn’t find a specific leak, but it may have just been that it needed to be tightened at the pump, so I did that. I also took the top of the mattress outside, sprayed it and aired it out, double checked the other mattress as well, and fixed a problem with the vinyl that surrounds the egg-crate liner, it had gotten all bunched up. Hopefully now all the issues have been fixed, we’ll know by morning! Then I turned my attention to the front end of the trailer. Rust is starting to seep through along the top girders, so I treated those with a rust stopper, preparing to paint it over tomorrow. Also tried to get some of the adhesive off where the front panel connects to the roof, it’s always shifting and coming out and making a gap where rain comes in, but I still haven’t figured out a way to fix it. I’ve tried tons of sealant, but that doesn’t seem to help, it just keeps shifting. May have to just resort to duct tape or something. A productive day, though, and I still got in some reading, TV and a movie. Heading to shower and bed, fingers crossed there aren’t any more leaks! BTW, up to 122 signatures on the petition, pretty impressive! Good night, babe! Love you!

Hi Babe,
Finally slept through the whole night, woke up reasonably refreshed, then after chores got busy replacing the two vent covers for the fans on the roof. Had watched a couple of videos on Youtube, but they didn’t really address my exact problem, so I had to do a little configuring to get it right, but in a couple of hours, I had two new vent covers and a much cleaner vent area. Actually, the bathroom vent was in fine condition, until I accidentally kicked it and broke a corner off of it. Just the universe telling me not to be stupid, I had two new vent covers, so just change them already! Took me longer than I figured (what else is new!), but not really too much trouble in the end. I also tried to fix the tire cowling as well, I had bent it a little when I left Dupuis, but I couldn’t put a rivet into the steel frame, so not much I can do there. Might try to liquid weld it at some point, but not sure even that will hold. Read for awhile, watched TV for awhile, finished Bloodline, though the end was pretty unsatisfactory. The last two episodes were so disjointed, it was like once they got canceled, they couldn’t figure out how to tie up the loose ends, so they just left them all hanging. Hate it when they do that! Petition reached more than 100 today, very thankful for that! Weird, though, because some of the signers aren’t even members of the group, but I’ll take what I can get! Ready for shower and bed for sure, hoping I can sleep as well as I did last night. Love you, darlin’! Good night!

Hey Darlin’,
Woke up at 4:00 to sound of rain pouring down on the roof, but read and dozed a bit until almost 9:00 before finally getting up. Did a load of laundry, decided to take the day off, something Hubby and I used to love to do on a rainy Sunday! Watched a couple of great movies, True Spirit, the true story of the 16 year old Australian girl who sailed around the world, my heart was in my mouth and tears were in my eyes on many occasions, brilliant! Also watched Burnt, about a chef trying to earn his 3rd Michelin star, also a really good movie. Once the rain stopped and the sun came out, brother Jeff and his friend Jeff came by in the evening and managed to get my two new Trojan batteries in. Very difficult to do, considering each battery weighs 72 pounds and they have to be tucked up in the gooseneck, not an easy feat! Well, getting the old ones out was the hard part, not enough room. I’ve been struggling with the old batteries not holding a charge, they were really bad, but the new ones topped off their charge in no time, and I’m back in business. Just have to be more careful about maintaining them, I slipped up with the other two and killed them, let them get too dry too many times, not going to do that again! Not at $500 for the pair! Finished off with an episode of Bloodline, heading to shower and bed shortly. Lovely restful day, just what I needed. And the petition has 90 signatures on it now, pretty sure we’ll be over 100 by tomorrow. Whether it makes a difference, I don’t know, but at least I’m still swinging for the fence! I know you’d expect nothing less from me! Good night sweetheart! Love you!

Hiya Sweetie,
Woke up around 4:00 this morning and never really did get back to sleep, mostly read until sunup. Easy feed horses here, just throw out some hay, Flash was already here for his feed and Apollo close behind. No clean up here! After breakfast I headed over to Glenn’s, they’re coming back from their cruise today, and the plan was to have it nice for them by the time they got here, but they were earlier than I thought. Wasted half an hour looking for the tire inflator for the air compressor, it had been tucked behind something and I couldn’t find it. Anyway, had barely started when they got home, then Glenn pointed out that the deck on the mower was too high. I don’t know how it got moved, but I knew it wasn’t mowing as close as it should have been, but I thought it was dull blades, even though I’ve sharpened them quite a few times. Figured the deck was where he wanted it, but evidently it got moved up somehow, I don’t know, but this mow definitely looks better than previous mows! Cleaned the pool as well, moved a bunch of fronds and branches from out of his driveway to his burn pile. Got back to the house mid-afternoon, hoping to get the batteries in, but Jeff had gone shopping, so that didn’t happen. Petition is more than double what it was last night, so we’re making progress. Settled down for the evening, the usual, still bingeing on Bloodline, though I’m in the final season now. Cool and cloudy day today, lots of wind, so it will be a cooler night again, supposed to get some rain, but who knows? Anyway, won’t be long before I head for the shower and bed! Good night, babe! Love you!