gottawonder

Today I am grateful for:

Some sleep, if not much. I was just fitful last night.

I eased into the day, and then did some laundry, put away some done earlier, put away clean dishes, fed indoor and outdoor animals.

Then I picked raspberries and very quickly filled my container, I would say about half a gallon of very ripe berries.

I brought them in and laid them on cookie sheets to freeze, as this means the berries can be easily used later as individuals, otherwise it would solidify into a solid mass that you would need to thaw the entire bag to use.

I made some communications with hay guys, about how much hay was available and when it would get here (I have two hay guys, they are related, and I have two so that if one doesn't have enough hay, I have options, but I try to buy about half of what I need from each of them).

Then it was time to go see River, about 4:30 pm, when my husband's nephew was up. Wow. I know I'm not a person to judge for a late sleeper, but I know he went to bed around midnight, meaning he slept for over 14 hours, and he slept about twelve last night. Either he's very sleep deprived and making up for lost time, or...?

Well, at least he will have fond memories of how nice it is to sleep at our place.

He worked on cutting down the trees as discussed, while I went to the barn.

River seemed okay today, so I did more or less normal work with him in the indoor arena (too wet to use the outdoor). That all went well. My Sweetie stuck his head in just long enough to say hello on his way home.

Then I took him outside to do a pasture mosey in one of the pastures that was empty, and he was all worried about his buddies, all of a sudden. He didn't do anything bad, but was very distracted and kept calling for them. That's a bit unusual for River, as we have ridden out there before, it's not so far that he can't see other horses, but there you go.

So I took him back to the outdoor arena, just to walk since it was muddy, and he calmed down in a more familiar area. Even though his friends were not close there either. Then I took him to a pasture only a little farther away, and he was fine there too.

Hm.

Then I came home, and my Sweetie and his nephew had cleared some of the trees and had the branches stacked on the trailer, and the trunks set aside to be cut for firewood.

The trees in question are not majestic trees of great age. They are poplar trees, and when you cut some of them down, it's more like pruning a larger tree, because they all come up from a common root system, and if we allow it, many more will spring up quickly. We did not cut the whole group down, just the ones that will interfere with a shed project.

Poplars make a very renewable source of firewood because of their fast growth, and the fact that cutting some doesn't kill much of anything.

I let everyone out for a while, and enlisted my Sweetie to pick more raspberries.

We came in, took out the ones I put in the freezer earlier and bagged those, and I will freeze the next ones on trays.

Then we all ate, and talked a bit.

I did stick to my guns on needing to know the nephew's plan for going home, since I figure that while this has been a pleasant visit, it's also unexpected, and already longer than I was told.

My husband at first was talking to the nephew's dad and working out a flight schedule and so on without including the nephew, and I was like...how about you get that adult nephew over here so he can be part of this discussion and in the process take some responsibility for his own trip back home?

Isn't that weird? My husband and the nephew's Dad doing everything for him without even trying to engage him in the process? The nephew was downstairs on his phone or something, and I was like "get him up here and involve him in the process, or something else won't work out between everyone".

Anyhow, I've also tried to be pleasant and chatty with the nephew. I don't want him to feel like I am overly burdened by his being here. I think he's actually been a very easy guest, and I am happy he's here.

I just did NOT like the way he ended up here, mostly by his own lack of planning. I also wanted to know how he was getting home, I was very uncomfortable with this really vague and unformed plan for leaving. If you don't firm that kind of thing up, it could easily turn into something very awkward, and maybe for a lot longer than we bargained.

Well, even though he only got up at 4:30 pm, he went back downstairs at about 10 pm, because he's going to try to even out his sleep schedule and get up earlier tomorrow. Man, I don't think I could go back to sleep for the night after fourteen hours, and only being awake for six.

Anyhow, the good news is that we now have a firm plan for him to go back to his parent's place on Tuesday evening, with a flight ticket purchased. I feel better knowing that.

I did go out and work with Wonder and Dandy again, and I am very pleased with Dandy's progress especially. He's a smart little guy.