Hey Sweetie,
Woke up before the alarm, no doubt because I got to bed a bit earlier last night, and after chores and breakfast, was up at vet check by 8:45. Had a busy day scribing in the pulse box, running around doing odd jobs, jumping a dead battery, checking riders in at the finish line, and generally being a go-fer. There was a big controversy over who finished first in the 50, but all the GPS evidence finally gave us our answer, so that edged out the conflict. There were actually a lot of people that seemed to miss markers, though I know they're there. I think a lot of these folks are so busy chatting, they just don't pay attention! Just after the awards ceremony, where I was tasked to hand out the prizes while Julia read off the winners, we started to pack up, and would you believe, it started to rain! A good two-plus hours ahead of the forecast (big surprise, the weatherman was wrong), so we got soaked getting things put away. Once that was done, I drove back to the trailer, put on my rainsuit jacket and went out to feed the horses in the heaviest rainfall. Just about the time I was done, it started to let up, naturally! It was after 9:00 when I finally finished, so no TV tonight, just a hot shower and an early bedtime. Good night, baby! Love you!
Friday, October 25, 2024 – Another Long Ride on Flash
Pix to come.
Hiya Babe,
Another beautiful day, when most of the riders will be coming in. I wanted to do one last check of the entire red trail, as Patsy and I aren't in agreement with how long it really is. I've been doing it piecemeal and putting it together in post-production, but with such a discrepancy, I decided I needed to run the whole thing again in one go. First, though, I had to run into town for my package, which had FINALLY arrived, via Morriston to Jacksonville to Charleston to Columbia to Jacksonville to Charleston to Columbia, and FINALLY to Patrick, where the postmaster called and texted me to let me know it had arrived. Weirdly, they claimed it was held up by weather delays! Considering we've had cloudless days for two weeks now, I have no idea what kind of weather delay it was. I think that must be their catch-all phrase when priority mail is mishandled. Anyway, after I picked it up, I stopped at the Forest HQ to fill up my water tank, then back to camp. Got Flash saddled up and off we went around 11:30. This time we did the entire Red trail, no stopping. I was a bit concerned about the lack of water on the trail. There was a tiny brook about six miles out that is considered a water stop (I wouldn't have thought of it that way, it was so small), another water stop at a lake about ten miles out, where I tried twice to get close enough to the edge to drink, but the first was too slimy and muddy, and the second had a very steep drop off about a foot off the beach, and I was afraid Flash would end up swimming there, which meant the next water was at 13.5 miles out, which I thought was way too long. He drank his fill there, and at another creek about another mile later, and skipped the final water by the railroad tracks which were only about 2.5 miles from camp. Suffice to say, I had both GPS systems, cell and satellite with me, and they both indicated the length I had figured was correct, 18.5 miles, more than a mile less than what Patsy had figured. Too late to do anything about it this time, but good to know for the future. Got back and put Flash away, sat in my chair for a minute and was dozing for a couple of minutes. Headed back over for dinner and the ride meeting, which went on a bit longer than usual. Got back to the horses at 8:00, fed them, made myself some tea and settled down for a short evening. Ready for a break from all this riding!! I'm sure Flash feels the same! Off to shower and bed soon, so good night, darlin'! Love you!
Thursday, October 24, 2024 – A Ride on Flash
Pix to come.
Hey Darlin',
Had another beautiful cloudless day, but the package with my mail, which was sent out priority on Saturday, still hasn't arrived. I had planned on going to the Post office this morning and getting it, but by 11:00 I called, and confirmed it wasn't coming. Saddled up Flash and headed out to finish off the section of the Red Trail that I missed the other day, which was indeed quite squiggly, then Flash found his own way home when he took a hard right off a road we were on, and he was determined to take a trail instead, so I let him. He wasn't quite as anxious to move out as much, and I didn't push him to, so it wasn't as fast, but still a lovely ride sixteen mile ride. Ran into Patsy just as we got back to camp, and invited her over to dinner. She came over after 5:00 and brought the ride managed Julia with her, both brought there own food, so we just chatted. Settled down after they left after 6:00, fed the horses, watched a couple of episodes of Terra Nova, ready for bed shortly. Just another day in the life, living the dream! Good night, sweetie! Love you!
Wednesday, October 23, 2024 – A Little Bit of Shopping
Hiya Sweetie,
Loving the quiet nights here, had another good night sleep. After chores and breakfast, I headed out to the nearby little town of Patrick, thinking that the package Jo sent me on Saturday would surely have arrived by now, but it still hadn't gotten here. Even the postmaster was surprised it was taking so long. After that I drove down to Hartsfield, the nearest town with both a Tractor Supply and a Walmart. I filled up three propane tanks, obviously I've been using a lot of energy running the furnace on these cold nights, though it's been warming up the last few days, so not so much now. Was happy to pay only $2.99/gallon! Picked up some horse feed, plus a couple of bales of hay just so I wouldn't have to crack open the stuff in my stud stall yet, and they wanted almost $13 for bales that were significantly smaller and lighter than the ones I bought from the haymaker last week. I would have bought more if it had been cheaper or heavier, but this will help. Then I spent some time running around trying to find a brake controller harness. My brake controller has been on the fritz again, and it's been killing my truck battery, showing a power loss when I hit my brakes. I've had the problem before and been able to fix it, but I think this time it's given up the ghost. I finally managed to find the right harness, and they were kind enough to let me try it out before charging me for it, but as it turned out, it didn't solve the problem. I'm thinking the brake controller itself has a short or something in it, and the guy at the auto parts store concurred. I had found another brake controller in a box during my deep cleaning the other day, so I may try wiring that in, just to see if it fixes it, though I don't particularly like that model, or I may just get a new one if I can find one I like. I think as long as it's not plugged in when I'm not using it, my truck will be fine, and I think the lights still work when it's plugged in, but I'll have to check on that. Anyway, once I came to that conclusion, I ran down to Walmart for a few things, then back to camp. I sat in my lawn chair in the screen room and actually dozed off! Don't know why I felt so tired, I wasn't that busy today! Tried to repair the broken leg on my solar panel again (the first time didn't take, not sure the second time will either, but it's worth a try!), then settled down for the evening. Patsy came by after she put most of her signs out and we chatted for a few minutes, then I watched a silly rom-com, now I'm ready for shower and bed. USPS Tracking says my package should arrive tomorrow (the postmaster said he would call me when it came in), so I'll go in and pick it up in the morning, as well as stop by and fill up my truck tank at the Forest HQ. Anyway, that's tomorrow, right now I need to finish off today! Good night, babe! Love you!
Tuesday, October 22, 2024 – Another Fast Ride on Flash
Hey Babe,
Another beautiful day here at Sandhills, it's amazing how many days of cloudless sky we've had since I've been here! Got a late start getting on the trail today because I spent over an hour on the phone with Cigna trying to secure a new health insurance policy. At least I found one that actual reduces the amount Medicare is taking out of my monthly Social Security check! I didn't know about it until one of the agents told me about it, not sure why anyone wouldn't want to do that! Once I finished that lengthy call, I saddled up Flash and we headed off on the red trail, picking it up where Apollo and I left off yesterday. Flash was full of beans again today, not only gaiting for most of it, but cantering and galloping as well! There were several miles when we were doing better than eight mph! Unfortunately, I was following the markers and not my GPS (since that was kind of the point, making sure the markers were sufficient), but I didn't realize that the red trail Patsy uses here isn't exactly the red trail as marked. It turned off at one point, but the markers were still on the trail, so I ended up missing the whole east section. As a result, my anticipated 16 mile ride turned into a mere 10.8 mile ride, which, at the increased speed we were going, we finished in just 1:45!! Of course, I realized something was wrong when we got back to camp that quickly, but it wasn't until I downloaded my GPS data that I could figure out went wrong. Guess that just means I'll have to go out riding on another day to pick up the rest of that trail. I am so impressed with Flash, he just seems indefatigable these days. If I weren't so ticked off at the AERC, I'd be tempted to actually enter him in some of the upcoming rides! But no, their behavior regarding Jo and the Goethe Benefit is inexcusable, so they won't be getting anything from me. Anyway, got back to camp and settled down for the afternoon and evening, watched an interesting film called The Good Traitor, about the Danish ambassador during WWII. I've been reading a lot of WWII historical fiction lately, it was a remarkable time. I have lots to do tomorrow, so I'm heading to bed! Good night, my darlin'! Love you!
Monday, October 21, 2024 – Slow Ride on Apollo
Pix to come.
Hi Darlin',
Another good night sleep, late rising, did some planning on the computer, then took Apollo and Lola out for a ride. He was particularly sluggish today, topping out at barely 2.8 mph. Not sure if he's feeling bad, or was just not in the mood. We did around 5.5 miles, so it was about two hours. What a completely different ride than the breakneck ride we took of Flash the other day! Well, at least he got some exercise, and so did Lola, who was again, way out front. She wants to go faster, but I can't take her on a long ride on Flash, that's just too much for her. Oh, well, we'll do the best with what we have! Didn't do much else today, just a quiet afternoon after we got back, a quiet evening with a good movie, and undoubtedly, a quiet shower and bed! Good night, sweetheart! Love you!
Sunday, October 20, 2024 – Beautiful Day for Laundry
Hiya Sweetie,
A good night sleep, morning chores, then a couple of loads of laundry hung out to dry on a perfect, cloudless, warmer, slightly breezy day. Drove down to HQ to refill my tank, and did a little housekeeping when the generator was on doing laundry. Otherwise, a fairly mundane day! Just my usual evening of dinner and a movie, and soon off to bed. Good night, babe! Love you!
Saturday, October 19, 2024 – Quiet Day With A Little Deep Cleaning
Hey Babe,
Had a better night sleep, managed to make it until morning without waking up, yay! Unfortunately, when I got into bed last night, I realized that Lola, who has been relentless in finding ways into my bedroom when I leave her behind when I'm riding, not only managed to get past all my defenses, but when she roughed up the bed to her liking, she managed to make a nice long tear in my flannel sheets, right at chest level, darn it. So this morning, I was online trying to find a replacement, but trying to get queen short sheets delivered within the next week has proven to be impossible, so I'm just going to have to live with it until I get to Florida. This is the second pair of sheets she's done this to, but at least I was able to patch the last one and put it at the foot of the bed. This one is too big, I think, though I haven't tried. Besides, I feel like I'm overdue for a couple of nice new sets of properly fitting sheets. The last ones I bought were regular queen and they don't really fit that well, so I think I'll get one of each, flannel and regular. Anyway, after spending time doing that, I finally started to tackle the last cupboard in the bathroom above the laundry on my deep cleaning sweep. Glad to have that done! Now I guess I'll start at the front and work my way back again! I haven't done the storage areas in the bedroom for a while, so I'll be starting there, I think. Other than that, a pretty quiet day in camp, until this evening, when I started hearing loud engines, sounds like someone doing drag racing nearby or something. Peaceful here until that happened! Well, to each his own, I'm sure they won't be going all night. Watched a fun romance with Colin Firth, and calling it a night! Good night, my darlin'! Love you!
Thursday, October 17, 2024 – Another Deep Cleaning Day
Hi Sweetheart,
Woke up to quite a chilly morning, but I had the thermostat set so the furnace came on just a couple of times, and that helped take the chill off before I crawled out of bed. Spent the day doing some more deep cleaning, a perfect chore when it's this cold outside! Didn't warm up until late afternoon when the north wind finally calmed down, but even then, I left the blanket on the horses all day. Not much else going on today! Ride day tomorrow! Good night, baby! Love you!