Hiya Sweetie!
Well, I've managed to make it to another year. It was busy, fulfilling and had plenty of new experiences and new friends. I can't wait to see what this next year holds in store for me! I let myself be lazy knowing Chelle would feed her own horses, and mine aren't too fussy about what time they get fed, so I didn't get up until after 8:00. Well, I should say, I woke up at about 3:00 a.m. and read for awhile before I finally fell back to sleep, so it's not like I slept straight through. I finally got up and fed the horses, read and chatted for a bit, moved my horse trailer out of their way because they had to move their other trailers off a cement pad where they've been sitting in anticipation of a builder coming out and putting a building on top of the pad. Eventually I drove over to Jo's for a play date and to relax where all the dogs get along before she brought her hubby home from the hospital. We wanted to get them tired enough not to jump all over him when he arrived home, and we succeeded in that apparently. Came back to the farm and found Chelle already dragging the pastures, though she left mine to me, which I was glad about. Then I munched on a turkey leg and finished off my egg nog ice cream, helped her solve a plumbing problem in her trailer, and retired to my room early to watch a movie on my laptop. Chelle is sick with a cold or something, so I don't want to get too close to her for too long, I sure don't need to catch anything! Won't be long out of bed again tonight! Good night, baby! Love you!

Hi Babe,
While I was hoping for a somewhat quieter day, that didn't happen. After chores and breakfast, I was just getting ready to start dragging the pastures when I got a call from the trailer repair place, asking if I could come by to chat about progress and possible return dates. Of course, I ran up there immediately. I was glad to see it in the shop with a bevy or workers inside and out, so I'm hoping their promise of having it finished by Friday will come true. We had a discussion about the linoleum for the slide-out, which ended with me spending the next two hours running around trying to get it. I went to three different stores before I found some, then their cutting machine wasn't working! I had to beg the management to cut it by hand to so I wouldn't leave empty handed. Finally got it and returned to the trailer repair shop, then raced down to Jo's, as I had agreed to let her dogs out while she was at the hospital with her husband getting surgery. I was a little late, but got it done. Then I stopped at the campground to check on things, had to sweep and resupply, and finally got back to the farm, where the owners had returned while I was gone. I had so wanted to get the pasture dragged before they got back, but it just wasn't to be! We tried to assimilate the dogs together, but unfortunately, her little dog is scared to death of Lola for some reason, and her medium dog keeps trying to attack her, so we'll have to be very careful about keeping them apart. I went back to Jo's for dinner, where all of her three dogs get along fine with Lola, and got back to the farm around 8:30. Jo had picked up horse feed for me on her way back, so I transferred that from the truck to the trailer, but decided just to give the horses more hay instead of trying to grain them in the dark. Pretty much went straight from my shower to bed, with Lola safely tucked in the bedroom to avoid conflict. Going to be an interesting couple of days! Love you, darlin'! Good night!

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!