Overtime At Work Pays Off

 I've spent so much of MY time working that now its finally paying off. Over 60 hours overtime in June, then 40 in July, now I've already gotten 10 in August. Summer is the time of plenty but in winter its a time of drought and us on-calls will struggle to get hours. The state requires we get 40 hours each week but they don't do it until we beg for it.

I got a nice check again today and I'll be putting a significant amount into the safe for hay and our fall trip to Pioche. I've already got an envelope overflowing with cash & think I need to get another way to hold it all.

We're heading to Pioche September 25th till October 3rd. 

There are many ways to get there and we try to go a different route each time.

This is the most direct & fastest (16 hours drive time) route and the one we'll probably take this trip due to only 1 week off.

But look at all the options, we could go thru Vegas but we hate Vegas.

We could go thru central oregon which is beautiful but seems like such a long drive.

Thru California to Tahoe & then over...

We only have a week so it'll be the direct route.

And we HAVE to have a plan on exactly what we're going to do while there. I'd LOVE to put in another window, get rid of the old one with the built in A/C unit that Lan broke on our last visit. We can take another unit, that's not an issue, but I'd like to get a window in.

We also need to prep for next spring when we're going to rent an excavator for a full week and remove the back two rooms and the old bathroom and then we have to make new outside walls. Or something, not sure on that yet. We WILL need a lot of wood, nails, screws, saw blades, etc, etc. We might need to take more than 2 weeks for next springs trip.

And we HAVE to have a plan in place for a roof over it.

I LOVE planning trip and things to do on the house while we're there.

Horse News:

Ambleside now has a properly fitted saddle and its XXXX Wide!  That girl needs to lose weight.

Saddle Fitter Sarah found:

 an older Wintec for $330.30

Gullet system $140

3rd saddle fit $50

And me riding alone for the first time in the new to us saddle

Two days later this became available, a Gypsy Gold 'Appleby' saddle for $1,200.

I'm supposed to haul Amble over to The Riding Place on the other side of town tomorrow to check it out. I do have the cash for it but then I'm stuck with the wintec too. Oh well, I might never get another chance to purchase a saddle like this while I have money to buy it.

This would be a great saddle for Amble if I can get her down in weight, right now she's a tank.

Oh yeah, I took her to a show last week & she got 2nd in Halter

Sigh

We drove the hour to Shelton for the tack sale, minutes before we arrived I got a text from the saddle fitter, she was there and had her eye on a Tucker saddle so when we arrived the first thing we did was use the cut outs to measure and it looked pretty dang close to a fit. So Lan & I drove all the way back home, loaded up Amble and hauled her to Shelton to check.

And it didn't fit.

I mean, it fit really well but Amble is just so round that the saddle rocked side to side, no matter what pads or shims we tried. Two hours. And still no saddle.

Don't laugh, we were changing the stirrup length.

I will hold onto the cash ($900) and put it toward a cart but I still need to ride so I'm thinking its going to be with a bareback pad. 

I'll Ride Anyway

I don't have a saddle but I'll try to ride anyway.

 

Feeling Defeated

I had the saddle fitter out today and I learned a lot but mostly I discovered I might never find a saddle that fits Amble. Shes SO flat and wide that nothing we tried on her would work, theres no way to ever get any of them to fit. I'll have to look for a draft horse XXWide. The tree can only be 16" long and overall length can only be 23".

 

Feeling Better

 I'm feeling better about my recent life decisions. I KNOW Ambleside won't be ready to go on a 2 week trek across the state, I'm not going to be ready and I don't feel like Lan is too excited about it. Even as I was planning on the ride, I was dreaming of being in Pioche and working on the house.

I've started watching a LOT of YouTube renovation channels, there and thousands to choose from. What to do in a bathroom, what not to do in a kitchen, how to change this for that, how to make this better or hide that. It's all available at the tips of our fingers. Most of the people are flippers and I'm really not interested in their cheap changes, I really like watching the people who are going to live in their homes once they are finished. 

Janna Phipps has been great, for a young girl she's fun to watch and her disposition is funny. She can take a down turn and make it UP. She can cry and then sees the bright side.

In other news...

I have paid for 1/2 a beef and we should be able to pick it up in a couple weeks I guess. I'm not asking for them to do anything extra, mostly steaks. I'll be glad to not have to go buy hamburger at the grocery store.

Amble and I will be having another driving lesson with Stephanie, she will be here in an hour. She texted that she wants to drive Amble in her halter and since I did that myself last week I know Amble will be OK with it. I might need to use a better halter, her regular one has squared metal side thingys and the long lines don't hold onto it well.   I just grabbed one of the leather halters thats been hanging on Bucking Brown and washed it up really quick, that might work.

I need to go open the gate for Stephanie, take some boxes out to the barn for her and sweep the barn aisle. I'm looking forward to this lesson.

Friday the 13th, 2026

 I thought we could just sit at home & avoid any bullshit today but 

NOOOOO, 

bullshit came to our door, quite literally, via USPS.

On February 2nd, I complained to my boss about my back hurting so I got off work early and I went directly to a chiropractor. He doesn't do L&I claims and told me DO NOT tell them you saw me at all, so he is now out of the equation.

The next week my supervisor encouraged me to fill out a 'Green Packet', our departments on the job injury paperwork. You fill it out, turn it in and when you go to a doctor they give you a claim number. I found a chiropractor who does L&I and I've seen him about 4-5 times already. Meanwhile, I got a letter saying L&I WOULD cover my injury. Now, today, on FRIDAY THE 13TH, I get a shit-ton of letters from L&I saying they are reviewing my claim and might not cover it.

My boss told me LOTS of people in our business get this exact injury and that's why she wanted me to fill out the green packet. She thought I'd be out of work for a long time but I came back on my next scheduled day because I don't have an unlimited amount of PTO and I certainly wouldn't want to waste it on a work injury.

Heres a photo I took of one of the many xrays the doctor took, this shows how my hips are rotated, the left one looks smaller and my butt crack isn't in line with my tail bone. 

I didn't get a photo of the head so I borrowed one from the internet, this one has teeth missing, lol.

The head xray of me was awesome and next time I go see him I'll ask if I can get a photo of it.

And, in horsey news, I have received the neck strap retainer strap attachment that goes to the saddle on Amblesides harness and I have ordered the noseband hangers, the new crupper and a browband. I bet that fucker doesn't work or is too big or whatever. with the amount of money I have had to pay for all these new/missing parts & pieces to the harness, I could have ordered a brand new custom Comfy Fit harness made FOR AMBLE from Chimacum Tack.

I've also had to order about $300 of parts for the wooden cart.

Seasonal Greetings

 Winter starts tomorrow.

Three days later it's Christmas Eve.

One day later it's Christmas.

Five days later its New Years Eve, aka our Anniversary.

One day later its New Years 2026 Day.

Two days later we fly to Las Vegas.

One day later we drive to Palm Springs.

Two days later we drive back to Las Vegas, catch a plane and come back home.

135 days later our vacation begins and we SHOULD be hauling Ambleside to Hyak & North Bend area to begin my bucket list ride across the state. If she or I am not ready then we will be hauling the truck & sxs down to Pioche for a nice three week long vacation.

Busy times ahead.

Another Year Older

and deeper in debt.

I turned 63 years old yesterday.

I've never been so far in debt in my entire life; first ever brand new car payment, a second home that's a total rehab, medical bills like I've never had before and a horse in very expensive training.

But the brand new car is our truck and its a tool much needed on the farm. We've hauled/pulled trailers more miles than without, its got 4x4, A/C that works, 4 doors for ease of access, 12 cup holders and already its got 10,000 miles. 

Our second house, in Pioche, Nevada

And medical issues

Ambleside is now ridable but I have to upgrade my tack to go forward. 

The house is coming along, the truck is holding its own, my belly is all better and Amble needs a few tack changes before I can attempt to ride again. Her bit isn't big enough, she needs a 6" and her saddle needs to fit better.  I had a gal, a trainer, come give her a lesson and she got bucked off. I thought it was her just asking too much too fast, now I think maybe the saddle hurt or the bit pinched. 

Planning

I'm planning my 2026 and it includes learning how to drive my mare.

Ambleside has had 6 months of professional training by people who know what they're doing but unfortunately I live 200 miles away from them so it wasn't easy to go there for MY lessons. 

So I've made arrangements for MY lessons with a local gal, Stephanie. She's actually the first person who let me drive her own pony and is the one who got me hooked. Our first lesson will be her coming here to check out my harness, to teach me more about it and tell me what kind of parts I need (tugs, I think) and what I might need for the cart. I also have the wagon and I'll need to make sure I've got the correct attachments for that as well.

This is my harness but in these photos I wasn't 100% sure how to fit it to Amble. Our trainer, Will, made it fit correctly and he is the one who pointed out what is missing.

Also for 2026, I'm going to be taking riding lesson as well and those are starting this week, 

December 5, 2025 with another local lady, Liza, who will come to our farm to teach me. I'm pretty sure I've got all the gear I need but I hope if there's anything I'm missing that she can tell me about it. 

This photo was taken before I cleaned the saddle. Its old and beat up but after all the saddles I tried on her, this is the best fit. Maybe we can upgrade in the future but for now I'm happy enough with it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

More travel plans have been thought about: traveling to Palm Springs in January.  It is now cheaper to fly into Las Vegas and rent a car than it is to drive our own car down there, plus gives us a LOT more time with Michelle & Guy. 

 

Next Trip

 We've got 3 weeks of vacation next May-June and we have several choices of what we'll do:

1. Ride Amble on the John Wayne train cross state BUCKET LIST ITEM

2. Go work on Pioche house

3. Travel anywhere and do whatever happens

4. Stay home & save money

5. 

1. I've been wanting to ride Amble (had planned on Joey but that didn't happen) cross the state for eons and now I actually have the means to do it. I've got the horse, she's trained and will get more training before then, I have a job that pays me well enough to afford it, we have the truck and horse trailer and there are the John Wayne Trail folks who put this event on every year. I have two choices, ride or drive her since I've got the covered wagon.

2. If we choose working on the Pioche house it will be that much closer to being livable. We could rent the excavator and get the bathroom, utility room and kitchen removed and a new exterior wall put up. We'd need (guessing) the excavator for 3-4 days at about $300 daily, new exterior siding and the wood to make the walls, building plans, patience and so much more. I don't even know all the stuff needed for this job. You don't just go knocking down sections of a house and not foresee issues. What if we accidently knock down the entire house? 

3. If we choose to travel, I'd like to go see parts of North America that we haven't seen before. Driving along the Trans Canadian Highway might be fun, or all along I-90 from beginning in Seattle to the end in Boston, or travel more of the mid west. The options are endless.

4. Staying home... hhhmmm... We could still go do daily trips, go to Mt Rainier or the Olympics, go on some trail rides. There are so many things we haven't done in our own state. Staying home allows us to repair fences, work on cars, house repairs, visiting family.

5. I could simply leave it up to Lan and see what happens. 

Vacation Days

 I keep thinking all my time off for the year has been taken but then more and more things come up. Yesterday we got an invitation to go to a family gathering on the Saturday after Thanksgiving in Centralia with Lans dads family, then last night Lan told me his dad invited us to go Merrys house for Thanksgiving, and Lan agreed, telling me after I got home from work. 

I just want to be home. I don't want to go to work but I must, so I go. Right this minute I'm sitting here thinking about going back to bed but that's not happening either, since I have to get into the shower in 15 minutes. 

I have a part time shift at work right now with Thursdays and Fridays off, so Thanksgiving, my birthday, Christmas and New Years Day, all the holidays off. That's great, till I WANT the extra pay to pay bills and have enough to save for expenses and feed us. I'll have to find out what time Merry is thinking about having Thanksgiving and if its later int he day I could work a morning shift then COMP the free 10 hours of holiday pay to use at a later date.

In January we're going to be driving to California to meet up with Michelle and Guy and I'm excited for that, just a few days to mess around. 

I've got May 21st through June 13th, 2026 off for the cross state ride, a bucket list item for me. If I can't do that ride, I'll haul my mare with me down to Pioche and ride her in the desert.

Last night after work I went to a meeting with the 40 Something Cowgirls and they couldn't stop talking about how much everyone loves this one guy who lives in eastern Washington and is the best trainer and we should go to the cowgirl camp they have there mid-summer and only costs $1,600.  Right. I need a local trainer I can haul to that doesn't cost hundreds just so I can learn how to make my mare move forward. I don't know if this group is going to be right for me.

Vacation Begins In 48 Hours

I'm very thankful for the new truck we got in May, this 2025 F-350.

Diesel, 4 doors, 12 cup holders, 4 wheel drive, A/C. Our previous truck only had 1 of those things, being diesel,

It wasn't set up for towing like they bragged, we had to put a lot of money and work into it to get it set up for that. So far, we've hauled Amble to Yakima and back and took the sxs out to Tahuya once and I'm happy to say it hauls pretty dang nice. Now we'll be hauling the sxs to Pioche, 1,000 miles, and we're confident it will go well.

Amble came home 3 days ago and I've ridden her but it was only a pony ride, she will not move forward for me. First I tried with the cheap Cashel saddle and it was a no-go, then bareback and that was much easier to stay up there. I definitely need a 3 step mounting block.

I've posted a bunch of photos of her with a cheap Wintec saddle that might fit OK but its not going to be the one I ride her in forever. I'm really sad the $900 saddle I really like doesn't fit.

 

Vacation Prepping

We'll be leaving home to go to Pioche in about 10 days and I couldn't be more excited.

I've been gathering necessary supplies and stacking them in the living room, I have 5 old kitty litter plastic containers that I'll use to transport our stuff, those containers and uniform size and shape, have sturdy handles and are waterproof.  I've got items ready to put into the containers but am waiting to see just how much stuff I'll have all together before I start stuffing. I already have one with food in it and I'll have at least one more.  I need to freeze a gallon jug of water to use in the cooler to keep things cold. So much to plan for! 

Lan has already begun working on some plumbing things; a distribution panel from hot water to different areas of the house. This consists of red and blue PEX pipe with valves and fittings mounted on a 2x4 piece of plywood; each one will be able to be shut off individually from the rest in case we need to shut off water just to the bathroom or kitchen.  There will be hot water to utility room, kitchen sink, bathroom sink and cold to same areas plus the back yard.

Thats one of the things Lan will be working on, I need to find SOMETHING I can work on while down there. If we had insulation rolls I'd be cutting it and stapling it into the walls but thats not going to happen yet. I do have cross stitch but I'm not going to use that 'work' and work.

In horse news: 

Amble comes home next Saturday. I'm going to have her harness there and ask Wil or Teresa to help fit it to her properly. I'm also going to borrow a saddle from Terry and see if it fits her. God, I'll need a saddle  more than anything.

I suppose I should start my Christmas Wish List, on it I'll need a nice buggy whip.

This coming Friday, the day before Amble comes home, we are having a yard sale, what I always advertise as the BIG ASS BARN SALE. We have a bunch of stuff already inside the garage, need to get it set up better.  Theres stuff all around the walls not for sale and we either need to move it all or cover it.  I have a ton of crap inside the house that I'll take out Thursday night and set out. I need tables and they need to be clean.  There are 2 picnic tables here, a round patio table and a tiny cafe table. I should sell both those last ones, or take the cafe table and its 2 chairs down to Pioche since we only have a couple camping chairs there now.

 

Labor Day Weekend

 I have two appointments at 11am today, one with a new dentist office and one phone call with the anesthesia office. I hope I can wing it for the phone call.

I have no plans other for the weekend, not even working, yet. This last 2 weeks I've gotten 15 hours of OT with OT the week before as well and that's straight back from surgery and extended medical leave. My check will be nice but it's exhausting working so much.

We had a shift bid for the Fall season (September 21-December 21) and I have chosen a 30-hour PT selling shift instead of being on-call this time around. I can sleep in every day, still feed all my animals and get home in time to feed them again. There is potential for a few more hours and I could potentially work another shift on my days off. If this doesn't work out financially for me, then its only 3 months and I can go back to oncall but I'll be expected to do graveyards a lot. If thats all I would have to do it wouldn't be so bad but mixing them up with 4am and 2pm starts is fucked up. I've offered to do the graveyard if they extend it to five 8's but 'we can't do that'. Well fuck you then, no one will do it.

Next Friday I have the procedure to remove the stent from my bile duct and there's probably no issues to be expected. Unless my stomach decides to over react to the non regulated bile or something?? That will be done on Friday September 6th. The following week we will need to go pick up Ambleside from her 3 months of training. I'll probably get a lesson with Wil at that time. I will FOR SURE ask them to help me fit the biothane harness to Amble so I wont be guessing.  I should ask what size shafts Amble will need so I make sure the ones on the cart are alright. I did tell Wil that they should sell me one of their marathon carts since they have so many. 

 Clay Maier is the trainer and I heard the other day that hes really sick and the lessons have been totally cancelled. He got sick in Boise and was admitted to the hospital where he had a stroke. I do hope that he's going to recover and continue as he had been before.

We drove 190 miles to see Amble and pay for her final month of training, the final $1,100. I've now got $6,600 paid into her for training, not counting the cash I paid Nina since she didn't do shit for/to/with her anyway. It was already 93* in Granger so I didn't take any lessons, we just gave her some loving.

Then we were on our way up north 200 miles to Leavenworth and beyond, to Index. There, we left the road and drove up to a gold mine and explored that. I don't recall the name of the mine but like all Washington mines, it had water in it, everything was slimy and it was chilly inside. We did see lots of Iron Pyrite so it had shiny stuff.

After we explored that mine we tried to find another trail to a second mine. We knew where the mine was but it was high up on the side of the mountain, only a mile as the crow flies but probably 2-3 with the downs and ups and switchbacks. It was already 6pm, it was only about 73* here but I was getting eaten alive by bugs so we decided to return another day.

That lead to another 100 miles to drive home. We had left at 8:45am and got home at 10pm. A long, nice day spent with Lan. 

My pay check showed up Friday and I was glad to see it was the full amount.  I have another procedure in 10 days to get the stent removed from the Gall Bladder issue and I'm hoping I wont have to miss any work due to that. 

Black Orchid Ambleside

This was the trucks maiden voyage with the camper and I'm happy to say it did OK.

We got a late start and arrived at the area we like to boondock well after dark, so it was a bit difficult to find a spot. We did check out Kaner Flats but it wasn't on the river side of the road, and they wanted $10 to camp and I almost paid $40 because it was dark & didn't notice till the next day that I had put two 20's into the payment envelope. It's a good thing we didn't stay at that campground.

So this is the view we woke up to.

Our morning lesson with Amble turned into an afternoon lesson so we had 6 hours to use. Lan decided we should go check out Boulder Cave (it's only $5) and after the Ranger said it's reservation only, he said there was an opening so took our money and let us go in. There were only 2 other families there the whole time. It's a short cave, maybe 100 yards long and pitch-black inside. Its got bats but we didn't see a single one, since we forgot to take flashlights and my phone light sucks. But we still enjoyed the trek.

This little guy was on the hand rail of a walkway and we're sure he was trying to not get eaten by the Garter Snake that was hanging out below him. We left them both alone.

And, at 3pm, we got to see Amble. 

I got to drive my own horse!!!!!

I have a long way to go with driving but I hope I don't do her, or me, any harm. I definitely need to begin to use weights, my arms and hands were sore after I was done. And my feet were tired after being on the back of the cart for most of the hour from leaning to the outside of every turn.