JANUARY 2022

Ark, thank you for keeping this board going. I would hate to lose track of the people who show up here.
I love the pictures you put in the header, too.

I just watch part of the Rose Parade on RFDTV. They always have the best coverage with very few ads, and they show all the horses instead of going to commercial whenever horses appear, like some of the other channels.

So here we are...2022.  Kinda hard to believe.   2022 HAS to be a better year, we all deserve it.  The world deserves it.


ELLEN:
 I never heard of that heart condition either, but I sincerely hope it can be regulated easily.   It is kind of amazing what can be done for hearts these days.  

GRAYMARE:
 I hope the new year brings you peace.  You sure have been on my mind!  

TRUDY:
 Congrats on having your grandson over the holidays!  That had to be nice.  I am sure he loved seeing you and George.  

INDYAPP:
 The holidays are over!  I hope things settle down for you and your brother now and he gets the medical help he needs.  

NANCY LEE:
 How are things in the frozen north?  Riding lately?  

SVET:
 I heard about your snow.  Ouch.  Stay warm up there!

BEECH:
 How are the beauty shop girls doing?  I hope you have fun with your woodworking project.   Donnie is collecting tools to make a small boat.  That should keep him busy for a few years.  

RICK:
It sure has been nice seeing you lately! Post more!

LURKERS:
 Happy New Year to you, too!!


It is 70 degrees here today.  I have to get on Ivan for a few minutes this afternoon to help set my path thru the new year.   Last year I rode my horses 40 times,  I need to ride more. I have joined a facebook group that encourages members to ride 100 times over the next year.  Gotta try!.....  Cold weather will return in a day or two, but this winter so far has been pretty nice here.    It rained a lot over night, but it is sunny this afternoon.

ARK I echo Ellen in thanking you.

And cheers to Donnie for the boat project! I want to hear about that! What kind of boat? How big? Plans??

ELLEN Thank you, too, for the explanation and update. A friend here suffers from the same complaint. I may have mentioned her here before because she's quite remarkable - she's a nurse at Maine's largest hospital but also maintains a herd of beef cattle, doing all the work for that pretty much on her own. I haven't talked to her lately but gather that the med(s) she's on are working. Her a-fib attacks, I know, used to be utterly crippling. An irony: her nursing specialty is the heart, so she's pretty knowledgeable. At 60 now, she's cut back on the nursing schedule. Next time I see her I will pick her brain for you.

New Year's Day 2022, but just another nondescript day for me here. A very, very foggy one, with 40-plus warmth fast-melting the snow cover. My trickle-charger brought the car back to life, so, after much hesitation, I took off for the supermarket a day late, i.e., yesterday, when the place was mobbed. Disturbing that many, many customers were maskless, with Maine now experiencing the highest rates of infection thus far, and the National Guard being called upon to help out at overwhelmed hospitals. Got my t.p. and a bunch of other stuff, and escaped unscathed. (I hope.)

ELLEN:
 No problem,  I don't mind keeping up the forum and it isn't really difficult.  I am just happy to see everyone!  

BEECH:
 Donnie has the plans now for a Bo-Jest,  a pocket cruiser that is 18 feet long.  It's very efficient and can go 500 miles without refueling.  He wants to do the Intracoastal Waterway rivers, lakes and canals.  It will take a couple of years to build....at least.   First he has to find the floor of our garage/shop.  




We live near Claytor Lake, so that will be where it is used locally. It is small enough to be hauled on a trailer by our truck.

Ark, what kind of engine will the boat have? I'm curious to know what can go that far on so little fuel.

ELLEN:
 The boat can have different engines, but Donnie wants to get a small diesel engine.  It's not the cheapest engine out there, but very efficient and easily maintained.   Our blue truck has a diesel engine and gets very good gas mileage.  Donnie wuvs his truck, LOL.  Diesel engines have gotten cleaner and more efficient than they used to be, no more  stinky billowing smoke like the old ones.   He wants an inboard motor on the boat, not an outboard one.  (I have never had much to do with boats and am learning a new language...)  

We needed to run into Kroger's yesterday to get some milk, etc.  The place was packed, half of which had no face masks on.  Of course, we ran into a couple we hadn't seen in 15 years who wanted to catch up on aisle 4.     They weren't wearing masks and she was coughing and said she just had a cold.  Right.  I'll let you know if I get Covid.  I was wearing a good mask, but the new variant seems to be sneakier than the Delta Covid.   We got out of there as quick as we could.   I should get a milk goat.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE. Praying 2022 is a better year for all. 2021 was a difficult year all around.
I can't imagine living in a big city where things were 10 times worse than up here in hillbilly land.

Our weather has been so crazy 55 yesterday. Works for us and our barn clean out.

ARK: Ditto on the thanks for keeping us in touch with each other after all the years. So sad no one knows what happened to CB and some of the other friends.

ELLEN: Praying for your doctors to locate and fix the heart issue.

It was a Christmas miracle to spend time with Chad, Anna and baby Bo. I'm so glad he has figured out that we weren't the bad guys his mom made us out to be.

Here we go into the new year of who knows what. Hang on tight as we ride though the storms.

Ark, we have an old paddle wheel boat that runs on a nearby lake. It actually uses the paddle wheel for propulsion. It is powered by a diesel engine. The tour of the lake takes about an hour and a half to complete, and it uses about a gallon of diesel fuel for that voyage. So, the idea of a diesel inboard sounds really good. It won't be high speed but should be great for exploring the waterways.

We got a blast of cold air and snow last night. It's going to be a very cold week but normal for this time of year. It will help to kill off the bugs for next summer. When the wind drops, there will probably be ice on the lake.

This is a little later.
Some people just have no sense at all. It is 22°, and the water is probably "freezeable". Two guys were out hunting geese in kayaks. One of the kayaks tipped over and dumped the guy in the water. He got hold of his buddy's boat and was towed to shore at my neighbor's house. He was able to walk out of the water, thankfully. My neighbor called 911 and got the paramedics on the way. They got here in about 4 minutes.
Meanwhile, the buddy went back out to retrieve the decoy and the other two kayaks. One was for a person, the other was for all their gear.
We had three deputy sheriffs, an ambulance, and a couple of volunteer firemen show up within minutes. They were not needed, but it was certainly nice to know how fast they can get here.
If they are married, I hope their wives will raise heck with them about hunting from a kayak in this kind of weather.

Oh brother ELLEN,  almost sounds like that's a whopper.  I wonder what went through his mind.  Holy
cow, he was lucky.  We have good responders all over the U.S.  It makes me proud.  They really
are heros.

Remember I said the water was "freezable"? Last night, the wind dropped. This morning, most of the lake has a skim of ice on it.

ELLEN:
That guy was lucky. Hopefully he learned from it.


It is snowing here and going to snow all day. 70 degrees a couple of days ago, going to be 13 degrees tonight. The snow is the heavy, sticky kind. Horses didn't leave the barn overnight, so that's a mess. We'll put their blankets on this afternoon. Fun times!

ARK .... same here with maybe 1 1/2" inches. Thankfully nothing on roads. As of 1:00 PM the sky is blue.

Stay warm FOOPS ... don't need anybody frozen. Also stay vertical / upright as I know from several personal experiences that its not fun to fall out !!

Love to all ... Rick

ARK .... same here with maybe 1 1/2" inches.  Thankfully nothing on roads.  As of 1:00 PM the sky is blue.

Stay warm FOOPS ... don't need anybody frozen.  Also stay vertical / upright as I know from several personal experiences that its not fun to fall out !!

Love to all ... Rick

The wind is blowing and the temperature is DROPPING. When I got up, it was 36°. An hour later, it is 30° and headed down to about 16°. It's gonna be a miserable cold day. Good day to stay inside and look outside.

I am working on my second cup of hot tea after running out to feed the horses and chickens this morning.  Donnie makes breakfast while I feed the herd.  Good deal! It's not too bad out right now,  35 degrees,  but tomorrow night the temps will drop to mid-teens and the next night to single digits.  That's cold.   Blankies for horses again.  


We didn't lose power from the snow storm and didn't have as much snow/ice as eastern Virginia.  That was a mess over there.  Imagine coming up from a Florida holiday and getting stuck on the interstate for over 24 hours in an icy snowstorm.     One of our senators was in the midst of that.  He said people were sharing their food and water with other cars as they sat there for hours.   Good people.


I have two rides on Ivan, so far.  My goal is 100 for the year.  I am on schedule. Ivan was good. I appreciated that since I was riding without a saddle.

Ark, I saw that mess on I-95.  It was very late in the afternoon yesterday before they got the road open.  On the news, they were interviewing a truck driver.  She was telling people to talk to the truckers if they needed anything.  Most of them are pretty well supplied with water and food.  
I think it took Senator Kaine 27 hours to make a 2 hour drive.  
With the weather we are having right now, I'm staying home.  My refrigerator and pantry are well-supplied.


9:00 PM. 10°.

Good morning everyone. It's cold here in PA but no snow, at least until tonight when we are supposed to get 1 to 3. Not too bad. It was 17 yesterday morning but has warmed up to 23 this morning.

George's checkup on his eye surgery went well. NO cancer. Praise God.

2 of our kids have Covid. Stacy, who is doing well with his, still weak and miserable but on the mend.
Melissa (George's daughter) (who has MS) is in the hospital in Maryland. She says she is doing well, but I don't believe a word she says about her health. She doesn't want to upset her dad, so she stretches the truth.

ARK: You always make me smile with your riding the horses photos. You go girl...ride for those of us who watch from afar and cheer you on.

Love & prayers...

Happy New Year Everyone!

ELLEN I snorted when I read that there were 2 kayakers duck hunting on your lake. I immediately had a cartoon vision of Elmer Fudd sitting in the boat, shooting his gun off to the side and then the boat spinning over, dunking him and then bobbing back upright. Then I read the hunter didn't bob back upright. I'm glad his buddy was able to get him to safety.

ARK, Ivan looks so relaxed. Nice long stride, ears pricked forward, pretty white background.

BEECH I've experienced the door ajar, dead battery fiasco too. I'm now paranoid about checking my door to make sure they close all the way. And it's always in the winter when it's super cold out, why is that? Way back when, when I got my divorce, I felt that Karma was out to get me and that I must have done something really bad in a previous life. Then I made a conscience decision to (try) stop looking at all the curve balls life has thrown at me and to focus on the good things no matter how small. It really has helped my outlook on life, although there have been way too many times when I've had to really look really hard for the tiny good to keep me from dwelling on the big bads.

MANYGATES Happy for your family reunion. I love seeing families reconnect.

GRAYMARE my prayers continue for you.

Indy, I would suggest that you get a portable power unit.  It will start a car, charge a phone, provide a big light, and a few other useful things.  I have one in the back of my car all the time.  They are easy to use, too.  The biggest advantage is the cure of paranoia.

My neighbor said that when they talked to the guy whose kayak tipped was that he was surprised because the kayak started taking on water and sinking for no reason he could see. The only thing I can think of is that it was so cold the plastic cracked. When it was towed to shore it was upside down and full of water. They had to empty it out before they could carry it to the truck.

It's snowing as I type at 10:30 pm. They say up to 6 inches of it this time, but it is so windy and seems to be going by faster than they said it would. Horses have blankets on, firewood is in the house, grocery shopping got done, so we are ready as we can be.

TRUDY and INDYAPP:
Thanks a bunch! I ride for you! Well, for me, too..... Ivan has been so sweet for the past year. He comes down from the upper field to hang out with me almost every day when we are cleaning up the barn. He has been very calm while being ridden, for the most part. He gets upset if we go to a ride with lots of other horses around and some walk off without him, even if he doesn't know them. It takes awhile to get his marbles back when that happens. That is his worst behavior and he isn't unmanageable even then. Age has improved him.


ELLEN:
Wow. That guy really was lucky if his boat sank because it was cracked. I bet Travis will be happy soon, the lake should freeze solid soon if this weather stays cold.

BEECH:
Acckkk!!!! They have replaced Ben Jones on Midsomer's Murders! I really liked him. The new guy is cute, but kind of clueless so far. (Not good when you are a detective.) So now none of the original cast is left on the show.

GRAYMARE:
How are things going? How are you doing with your horses and dog?

RICKSTER:
Did you get the snow? Are you and Carol going anywhere this summer?

It is 3° this morning, with the high for the day being about 10°  The wind is still blowing, so no ice.  As soon as the wind drops, it should freeze almost immediately.

Later in the evening: It was so cold today that the lake started to freeze in spite of the wind. We'll have ice very soon.

Today was beautiful in my part of AZ.............I went out to the horses, worked on TL's service, and
that was it for today.............horses were great. I forget how lucky I am in the big scheme of
things. My friends are hovering which is great, too. There's a lot of flurona going around and so far,
I'm good.

Winter storms are everywhere..............You guys stay warm and safe.

ARK:  No snow since the 3rd, but its getting colder.  As far as "going somewhere", I have no idea what may be brewing in her mind.  My mobility issues are a concern about where we might go. IF we should go anywhere, I would want to go to England and do some snooping about my family background ... mainly to find where my 12, 11, 10th  Great Grandfathers are buried.  Ratte the keys and Carol is ready to go !!

Stay safe and secure and WARM for all my Foop friends!!  Love, Rick