Hey Darlin',
Another day that got off to a slow start, though eventually I got around to puttering a bit. Decided to clean the junk drawer, it had so much stuff in it I couldn't find anything, though that didn't take me too long. Ranger Rick stopped by to tell me they would be out to clear the new host site of trees in the morning. Talked about a bad accident that happened as a result of fog coming in, creating an iversion layer that held down the smoke on the big burn they had on Monday (3300 acres!), and visibility was so low a car ran through a stop sign and a barricade and plowed into a highway worker who died later in the evening. Seems it took over 90 minutes for him to get airlifted, so I heard. After that I ran over to Jo's to pick up a package of stuff I had ordered yesterday, a pair of pants (I've never bought clothing over the internet, except a bathing suite, and was astonished when they fit perfectly!) and a Dremel-like tool. I've always wanted one, and with several projects coming up, I decided it was time. I peeled the sealant out from around the bathroom sink, it needs replacing, and I figured this little grinder would help. I alway am turning a large suet holder into a mineral block holder that I can hang on the highline. The holes were too small for the horses to lick through, so I'm cutting out some of the framing, and I need to grind down the pointy bits so it doesn't hurt the horses. I'm also considering using it on the horses hooves. I watched Jo work on hers, and it sure looked a lot easier than using a rasp! Something to try anyway. There have been many times I thought it would have been helpful to have one, and now I do! I bought a rechargeable cordless one, too, since that seemed to be more practical for me. Finally settled down for the evening to a good movie with Cuba Gooding, Jr., playing Dr. Ben Carson, who, of course, you worked with back in the day. A bowl of soup for dinner, and ready for an early bedtime! Good night, babe! Love you!

Hi Babe,
Still had a little pain in my back, and I didn't have anything pressing to do today, so I just relaxed and spent most of the day either reading or working on my Morse code practice. Improving, but it's definitely going to take awhile to get really up to speed. At least it's keeping my mind active! Not much else to report, just a mundane, uneventful day! Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hiya Sweetie,
Had a great night sleep, though I woke up around 7:00, got up real quick to turn the fireplace on, and went back to bed to let it warm up. I read a little, then I heard Flash nickering a couple of times, something he only does when Apollo is on walkabout, and sure enough, when I looked out my bedroom window, he was right outside munching on some hay he had pulled out from under the gooseneck. I put on my robe and parka and went out to find him standing at the back of the trailer, got him hooked back up and threw them each a flake of hay to buy me some more time in bed. Ended up dozing off a bit, then finally got out of bed and dressed just about the time Ranger Rick got here to take trash, which I helped him to do. Finished my chores, and spent the day quietly. I pulled some muscle somewhere and my back was hurting, so I figure a day off is in order. I've been reading a couple of books on the women codebreakers from WWII, and one of them taught Morse code to the troops in Australia, and she had a fascinating way of helping folks learn it, by using mnemonics. I've always wanted to learn it, so I decided to give that method a try. I found a Youtube video explaining how it works, "Morse Code in less than ten minutes," and amazingly, I really was able to get a good start on it. Then I found a website that has audio practices, and I did that for a bit, too, and it was very interesting! I'm going to try to keep that up, it just seems like something we should all be able to do. Anyway, between that, reading, and watching a fun movie, it's been a nice quiet day, exactly what I needed. Just have to finish off with dishes, shower, Spanish and bed! Good night, my darlin'! Love you!

Hiya Babe,
Had a terrible night, just couldn't seem to get to sleep for hours, so when my alarm went off, I was barely rested with just a few hours sleep, but I had too much to do to think about it. Got the horses fed and chores done, had a quick breakfast, then got busy setting up the area for the event today. Filled up both water tank, with thanks to the camper that helped me wrestle the fire hose, then started organizing the crews that were arriving, followed by the vets and the volunteers. Jo was signed up for the 75 mile ride today, but arrived a good half hour earlier than expected, as she tagged along with some other 100-miles riders. Everything ran smoothly at the vet stop, so much so that I finally decided I could free myself up to go check on water. At the first stop, there were two 100 gallons tanks, one was down to about a quarter, the other was still full. I brought the first one up to about halfway, figuring that would be enough for the returning riders, then check all but one of the other stops, only to discover they had barely been touched! While it was a hot day, there was still lots of water on the trail, so I guess most of the horses were happy with that. After I finished my rounds, I went back to Tidewater and hung around for the afternoon. Jo showed up early again, she was really pushing to keep up with the other horses, and unfortunately, the result was that she got pulled. Her horse Luna just wasn't metabolically stable enough to justify her continuing, sorry to say. Jo knew she should have slowed down, but failed to listen to the little voice in her head. Anyway, she did manage to get 50 miles in, so she was pretty whipped. I helped her break down, then headed back to Black Prong, which looked pristine. They did a great job cleaning up, you'd never know all those horses were here today! Settled in for the evening to an episode of Eureka and a rom-com movie, sure hoping I get a good night sleep tonight! I better, I have a lot to do tomorrow, as I offered to help with ribbon removal, and the ride managers finally seemed more enthusiastic about how I can help, so I'll be busy. It's supposed to rain a lot tonight, and we already had one ten minute downpour, but it should be clearing up tomorrow. Met a lot of folks who now know me through the Friends of Goethe Forest Facebook group, including one of the group's founders, who all seemed to be grateful the updates and information I've been posting. Nice to be appreciated! Anyway, quite ready for my shower and bed, already did my Spanish lesson earlier today, so I'm ready! Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hey Sweetie,
Slept well, got up a little earlier than usual (which I hope continues) and had a list of some things I had to do, which mostly went out the window when Rick asked me to be his navigator to fill up the water tubs that had been spread around the forest in anticipation of the ride. I did manage to get a couple of things done first, like clean the bathrooms and finish cleaning and filling the galvanized tank here, but then we headed out, first to headquarters, then on down to the various tanks. Turns out the tanker trailer was only 500 gallons, so we had to fill it several times, and it took all day to finish it, but I got to see parts of the forest where I'd never been, including stopping long enough to take a walk down to the Big Cypress Tree, a 900+ year old tree that has a boardwalk to it. It was a beautiful part of the forest, very old Florida, just lovely. We finished up just in time for me to jump in my truck, run down to Jo's to pick up a couple of things for her, then down to Tidewater to meet her. She bought me dinner from Bob, a spectacular chicken alfredo, with a salad, beverage and dessert, so I was fully satisfied after not eating all day. Jo gave me a few things to bring back to Black Prong to crew for her in the morning, and then I had Scotty help me move Tom G's water tank out of his truck and headed home. Quickly cordoned off a big area for crewing, talked to some of the campers, fed the horses, and finally got settled for the night around 7:00. Whew! Busy day! Probably will be even busier tomorrow, but I kinda like it like that, always something to do! You know me, I like to keep busy! Good night, darlin'! Love you!

Hiya Darlin',
Had a good night sleep, woke up to beautiful weather, did my usual chores and breakfast, then sat out in the screen room and started doing some bookkeeping. Ever since I lost my credit card back in September, I haven't been able to download my account to my bookkeeping program, and it's been a nightmare trying to fix it. I did a workaround, but it needed some help, and neither my savings account (for some unfathomable reason), nor my credit card account was balancing properly, so I had to go way back and research things, make a few adjustments, until finally I was able to get everything balanced. Whew! Then I got caught up on all the transactions since September with receipts, until finally, I was done getting caught up. During the afternoon, I heard from one of the organizers of the big Hokey Pokey ride this weekend, Tom, and he stopped by to drop off some 100 gallon water tanks and to arrange for my help to refill the water tanks along the trail. Evidently the forest service is too short-handed (or they're just passing it off to me, since I'm here anyway), so do that. Only problem is I can't drive their water truck, so I'll have to take mine with my 110 gallon tank, and Tom has another tank about the same size I can use, so hopefully it won't take too many trips. Should be an interesting day on Saturday! Meanwhile, we put the tanks out here, and I spent the next two-plus hours filling them up, as well as scrubbing the usual galvanized tank here at the trailhead just for giggles, so we're set here, except for cordoning off the crew and vet check area, which I'll have to do first thing Saturday morning, or late Friday night, more likely. Finally settled down for dinner and a little TV, a glass of wine, a shower and soon to bed! Good night, baby! Love you!

Hey Babe,
Got up to an alarm this morning in anticipation of going out with Ranger Rick and repairing a section of Geomat, a plastic webbing they put down in creekbeds to reduce erosion, that had been torn up and was all clumped up and, to my mind, hazardous for horses and needed to de-clumped somehow. We hadn't set a time, but I wanted to be ready. It turned out to be a bit later than I thought, but that was fine. I met him down at Tidewater trailhead, after stopping by Jo's and picking up a pair of her husband's waders, and we ventured out. I wasn't sure how difficult it would be to get there, though I had dropped a pin on it so I knew where it was, but none of the road maps indicated how we could get there, but it turned out to be right on Ten Mile Road, which was also part of the yellow trail, and was suitable for his truck with no problem! Once we got there, it only took about 15-20 minutes to cut out the worst of it, and it was much improved! Took a detour to look at the old Red Lodge, something that should have been preserved as a landmark but instead has been let go to the point of it being way too dilapidated to repair at this point. They should rebuild a new one, but I doubt that will happen. Anyway, it was a job well done, and glad of it! Got back to Tidewater, then drove into town to do a little shopping, then back to camp by 4:30. Settled down for the evening, looking forward to a good night sleep! Love you, sweetheart! Good night!