Today I am grateful for:

Sleep. Precious sleep.

Starting the day kinda lazy.

I talked with Trainwreck, and she seemed to be doing okay. An ex of hers that has kind of been at the periphery of her life all these years (they had a kid together thirty years ago), who has become closer to their son as of late, is diagnosed with cancer.

She lost her partner (they had been together a long time, not sure how long, over 15 years) a few years ago to cancer, and likely she's having some feelings about this person also having cancer.

It sounds like she's sort of trying to be "there for him", but I'm not sure why, or if her involvement is welcome. I mean, they broke up thirty years ago and pretty much were only connected by their son. It wouldn't be that weird for her to visit him to be supportive, but she has this weird thing about being with men who are not healthy because they "need her".

Right after her partner died, she got into a relationship with a man who was also dying from cancer, and she kind of nursed him for a year before he died, and I think she enjoyed being needed so much. It's creepy.

Well, none of my business.

Then I talked to Sister S, the one who is having trouble walking. She is starting to accept that her life is changing, though not acting on it.

She knows she needs to move, or do some serious changes to their home to make it possible for her to keep living there. She needs to move the washer and dryer upstairs, but is so....indecisive about it. She's kind of..."well, we could maybe use one of the other bedrooms..."

She's thinking that the washer and dryer should be directly above where they are in the basement to be able to use the plumbing for them, which would mean their master bedroom would have to be the new laundry room...I told her that with PEX pipe, it could be any of their bedrooms. It's not that much of an issue; it's not anything like how things were with old copper pipe (very expensive, hard to install, easier if there are no bends). PEX is as easy as hooking up a garden hose; it can go almost anywhere if you don't care about having the hose showing in the basement.

I also said that while she's thinking about changing the house, to maybe consider a ramp for their front stairs. Even if she is walking a bit, stairs are a LOT more difficult that a ramp, and you can use a walker on a ramp. She says "she's not there yet".

I think she is actually hoping to move somewhere smaller that already has the laundry on the main floor, I don't know if she means a condo since she no longer wants a yard or any maintenance.

BUT, it sounds like her husband, who is maybe not ready to make these kind of changes (he's younger, not much issue with mobility yet) seems to be dragging his heels and not doing anything about any of this.

Sister S says she "keeps seeing places that might work", but then "no one" acts on it, and the thought passes.

I think that it's time she got serious about things with her husband, who is maybe in lala land about her health challenges. My sister says he doesn't do ANYTHING on the house anymore (he's not even 60 yet, but talks like he's too old to paint a room or mow the lawn, and doesn't like doing the laundry for them since he's the one who is still okay to go into the basement).

Personally, I'm disgusted with him. If he can't man up and start taking on more responsibility for household chores himself, then he could be more active in finding solutions, including being ready to move to a condo if he doesn't want to do any maintenance any more.

The big sore point is that if they moved, they would have to really get serious about down sizing, and apparently he has an enormous collection of CDs and Records and tapes that he doesn't want to get rid of. Seriously. He never listens to the music in physical form since he put it all on the computer, but he won't get rid of the boxes and boxes of hard copies.

If they weren't in this situation, I'd think "fine", but what is he going to do? Insist that they stay in that house until it falls down around them? Until my sister gets hurt trying to manage things there?

She could literally be maybe five years from needing to just be in a senior's home if her mobility doesn't improve, and he isn't seeing it.

Anyhow. I can't do much to help with any of that, other than tell her I think she needs to crack down for her own safety.

I decided to get going on emptying out the garden shed that will become the pottery studio. If I don't, I know it won't be a priority for my husband.

So, I took out a lot of things and looked at them critically as to whether or not they are all that meaningful. Some of what's in there can go to a smaller shed we have, some of it can go to the shed where I have horse related things; some stuff for electric fencing and some rope.

There's a big pile of stuff that I honestly think could just go. I still have a lot of aquarium/reptile accessories from when we had fish and more turtles, but I don't think I want more turtles, and if we do end up starting an aquarium I would probably just want to buy new pumps etc. So, maybe a lot of that can just go. I tossed a box of stuff like that earlier this year, and last fall I tossed several old huge canister style pumps that no longer worked properly but maybe could have been repaired, but part of me said "just let them go".

There's stuff that it doesn't DO ANYTHING for us, other than it's sat in that garden shed for the whole time we've lived here. Literally. We put things in there when we moved here 18 years ago that have never been used for anything.

So, if that's what is standing in the way of having a pottery studio, it can go. I'll be fine without it. One day when we leave this property, it would likely still be sitting in that shed, and I would have to get rid of it then, so it might as well go now.

When my Sweetie got home, we rearranged all the wood (meant for burning in the wood stove) that has just become a disorganized mess in the quonset (that we will also be replacing). We picked it up and re-stacked it and took everything out of THERE to decide what we're keeping. A bunch of it went into the "get rid of it" pile.

The area around the quonset was becoming one of my husband's signature messes because he took down trees there, and has been trying to level the ground for the shed that will replace the quonset. That means cut up trees meant for firewood lying all over the place, things that just got tossed everywhere and impeding my ability to mow or use that area properly (seriously, he just flings stuff everywhere, like the wheel barrows and bits of lumber, and big lumps of torn up sod, and stuff just EVERYWHERE).

So I worked with him to clean it all up. He literally wouldn't do site restoration if I didn't stand right beside him and make him do it. We picked up the logs, we put away tools, we put things back where they belonged, and I was able to mow again in that area and make it tidy and functional again.

I had several things from the garden shed that he needed to take to the garage. Things that never should have been in the garden shed in the first place. Things like endless boxes of nails, tins of all the old rusty nails and screws that should have been recycled long ago, odds and ends of hardware from things abandoned ten or more years ago. Literally those nails have been sitting at the very back of the garden shed for ten years, where he would never go to get them if he magically needed nails. No, he would go buy new ones rather than use those, since he probably didn't even know they were in there.

There was a brush for chimney cleaning in the garden shed. Machine oil, drill bits and special screw drivers all still in packages, and they've likely been there for ten years.

He was upset that I wanted them IN HIS WORK SHOP. They are TOOLS, where else would they go?

Now he's all frustrated because he's got a big pile of stuff that he has to put away somewhere. I don't know, maybe get rid of some of it?

He kept bringing things back to put away again in the garden shed, but I said "no, these don't go here anymore. It's not a garden shed anymore, remember? It's a pottery studio. We agreed. So, your tools and camping gear don't go here anymore, we have to find a new place for them."

I will keep saying it, "this is now a pottery studio, and these things don't belong in a pottery studio, when you build the new shed it can go in there".

The new shed is to replace the crappy quonset, it will have a little shed and a firewood overhang.

Well, a lot of things were moved out, and I'm not letting them go back in. I need to gut the big shed to get rid of the old, yucky insulation full of dead mice and the rotten floor, so it has to be empty.

I am glad I was firm about cleaning up the area where he took down the trees and so on.

I am the reason why our yard stays nice and fairly free of crap. I HATE the "farmer piles" of crap that build up for no reason other than pure laziness. It just gets so easy to pile up lumber and other garbage "for later", and it just sits there. My husband would have left all the crap from tearing down the trailer all over the place if not for me.

Then, he will sometimes look around and muses "we really do have a nice yard", and it's hard to be nice about that, given how hard I've pushed to keep it that way, mostly against the piles of garbage that HE LEAVES THERE.

After bringing the horses back in, I did still manage to find the grit to spend some time working with Dandy, and that little pony is so clever that he is moving ahead even though I have so little time to spend with him. He's adorable, and smart.

We came in, and settled for canned soup for supper, and watched two episodes of "The Silo".

Shortly after that, I realized that it is our anniversary week, and we are likely going to be busy with his cousin and her family on the actual day of our anniversary, because we both forgot.

Sigh. I talked with him, and we will find a way to do something nice to celebrate.

I started talking to him about my birthday, even though it is next month. I am pretty much the one who remembers important days, and it's MY BIRTHDAY, so I guess if I want it to be special, that's up to me too.

Today I am grateful for:

Sleep, sweet sleep. I am truly grateful to generally get a good night's rest. No, not every night, but many of them.

It was pouring rain today, which is really good because we've had several dry years in a row. We need a few wet years now to refill lakes.

It's wonderful not to have the air clogged with smoke from forest fires, and I'm sad that parts of Canada DO have ongoing fires.

I picked more raspberries to take to R at the barn, because her family does freeze them and use them. I am happy to have enough to give to others.

River and I had our lesson today, and it was nice to get to the barn to see that R had brought him in to dry off a bit. I was also happy to see that he wasn't coated in mud; he was actually pretty clean.

We had a good lesson, working on hip yields in motion at the walk from the ground and mounted.

Then I asked if we could record for another YELO virtual show, a fairly straightforward rail class. Walk, trot, canter in each direction.

The next rider was in the barn getting ready, she's a teenager. We had a fun, jokey exchange about her celebrity crush.

Then I came home and my Sweetie and I let everyone out for a while, and ate and chatted about our day.

His job is somewhat "middle man" like, in that some of his work for the time being is a lot of ordering things for people in the various departments (i.e. electricians, pipe fitters). He says lately it's been very stressful as no one seems to understand that generally speaking, they can't order some specialized part or material and expect it to arrive the next day, but that doesn't stop them from taking out their frustration on him.

Last night I watched most of "Avatar: Way of the Water" and will try to finish it tonight.

I thought it was beautiful, it makes me impotently upset about the whaling industry (I hate feeling bad about these huge issues that make me feel like there's nothing I can do except maybe donate money to some organization that may or may not be doing anything useful).

However beautiful it is, there are so many dumb things about it, like the humans are just absolutely THE WORST...nothing in between here. Na'vi are PERFECT, humans are EVIL. No grey areas.

Na'vi women look amazing when pregnant, and can still jump onto the back of some flying fish creature to go to war.

Having four babies doesn't change any of their bodies. The women all look perfect, no saggy skin, no stretch marks, no reduction in athleticism. Perfect.

All Na'vi are perfect looking. No fat ones, no bald ones, perfect skin, teeth, not even missing a finger from an accident or anything. Perfect. No illness either.

They are also perfectly in harmony with nature. PERFECT.

For all that, the kids are dumb and keep trying to get killed.

Well, I could go on. Lots of things in this movie make me roll my eyes. It makes me think there's no one left who can talk to James Cameron about trying to make a movie with actual plot and believable characters. He probably lives in his own little bubble.

Today I am grateful for:

Very nice weather today. That sort of bright, mid-warm clear day that I love.

I was not too pleased that the farrier cancelled today again, at the very last minute. She said she wasn't feeling well and needed to just stay home and rest.

Well, my animals at home are overdue, Wonder has one foot that is starting to flatten out and distort from being over-long and she chipped one side of her hoof, so she's unbalanced. I did mention that to the farrier.

She says she can come this Friday, we'll see.

She's been doing this more and more now, moving our appointments, cancelling, I wonder what is going on with her.

She IS reasonably priced, she's gentle with the animals, and does a good job. It's also not easy to even get a farrier to come out to our place for only three equines. Most farriers want to do barns, where they can go to one place and do twenty or thirty horses in a day and make the big bucks without driving all over.

Then I went to town for my physio appointment, and I was EARLY for a change. It was nice not to be rushed and flustered.

That went well, and we went through new exercises I have graduated to doing, and since I have not been experiencing pain in my lower back and have not had problems doing the exercises, this is a good maintenance level to work at.

I can go back if I need to, so it's good to have done this.

When I was doing the 'farmer's carry' I was aware of the sound of my ankles and toes cracking a bit. I don't normally hear that. I mentioned it to the physiotherapist and he quipped "well, your ninja days are over". Hilarious.

After that I went to the pottery studio because at this point every year when most people aren't throwing much, they ask people to take all of their stuff home so they can clean off the shelves.

It forces people to throw out the bits of stuff they might otherwise just keep hoarding, to make decisions of whether or not to finish a piece or recycle the clay, or toss the cracked piece that won't be glazed, etc.

There was another potter there, and instantly we jumped into the same cycle of conversation that has driven me mad for the last year or so. What S is doing...taking over the studio...too many new people...no one is going to stand up to her...wonder what new atrocity will pop up this year...the executive bowing down to S's will because she controls everything...

It just makes me want our own studio. We're working on it. The work with building a car port and replacing our other quonset with a permanent shed is all part of this. We are now looking at using an existing building, currently a garden shed, to become the studio. It just takes having somewhere to put the contents of that shed.

Some of it will just go away, some stored elsewhere, and so on. It'll work, but it isn't going to happen in a day.

At least we're working on it. That is what all the cutting down poplars and pouring concrete pilings is about, building up to eventually making that shed available to become a studio.

I may continue to be part of the craft center for a few years anyhow, but it will be easier to bear knowing that I could still do pottery at home, and if all goes well at home, I would likely make the change pretty quickly.

After that I went to Winner's to find picture frames to replace two that were damaged when those dumb stick-on hooks failed last night (I think one picture failed, slid down and knocked the one below it off the wall).

I did get some loose summer pants being cleared out for almost nothing.

Then I got groceries. I am very grateful to be able to get groceries. To have the means, the food available for purchase, the physical ability, and a car.

I was unhappy to discover that in the whole store, NONE of the apples were Canadian. I made a formal complaint with the manager (pleasantly, and with the understanding that even the manager doesn't always get to make the decisions about the supply chain).

In these times, we have to buy Canadian produce.

Then I went home.

My Sweetie managed to get in a bike ride after work.

He was home to help me bring in and put away the groceries.

We let everyone out into larger pastures, I brought them in later.

We watched the first episode of "Silo", based on the novels by Hugh Howey, and it was interesting.

I spent some time talking with my husband about how I could help move ahead the sheds project so we can get a studio, even if it isn't NOW. He says he's very close to having the prep work done for the car port to go ahead, and the shed to replace the other quonset.

Today I am grateful for:

Last night I told my Sweetie to just let me wake up today. Not to immediately press me with "what are we doing today" and turning it into a long day of trying to go to every possible place in the city and rush as hard as we can.

No. I got up in reasonable time, I ate, I did my normal waking routine. I took my SWEET TIME getting ready to go to the city (after doing chores) so that I could pick nice clothes to wear, and put on a bit of makeup.

Going to the city is about the only time I get to wear nice things and make some attempt at personal grooming, and far too often I have felt too rushed to spend some time on that.

I felt nice today, and I liked my outfit.

We had a few things as goals, and we did get to them. I picked up some contraption that R keeps recommending for River, hard to explain. It's supposed to help him engage his core and hind quarters. I have no idea if these things work, but like every other rube that parts with their money, I guess I'll give it a try.

I found two heavy duty sports bras at the tack place too, meant for equestrians. They were on clearance for a ridiculously cheap price, so I thought I would give them a go. They fit, and even if I wear them as NORMAL sports bras that's a good price.

My Sweetie picked up his "new to him" bike that he got from a friend (they traded bikes) and it needed some work, so nice that it's ready to ride now.

We went to Micheal's to get a picture frame for the painting I did most recently that I want to be able to display (most of my paintings end up in boxes for storage. We can't hang them all).

It's a size A3 paper, which is weird, and we found a frame with a mat that is close enough that we later cut for a better fit.

We grabbed a burrito, and I noticed that a couple who left, forgot a purse. I made sure the person working there held onto it, though I had no faith that this person understood how "lost and found" works, or what I was telling her. She spoke very little English, and it felt like she was performing the act of making our burritos be sheer memorization of the names of the toppings, because if you deviated from the script she had no idea what to do.

Well, I sort of remembered what the couple looked like, and since we were in a box mall area and the couple left on foot, I wondered if I just stood outside for a while if I would see them. I don't know why I thought that would work, but you know what? It did. Within about two minutes, I spotted them, flagged them down, and told them they left their purse inside. I don't think they even noticed that it was missing.

Well, good deed done for the day.

We found some household items that were on "clearance" at Jysk, which is closing. I don't know if those were great prices, they were okay prices, they didn't seem like closing out sale prices. Maybe this is why they're going out of business.

Then we went to get my Sweetie ice cream at the place that makes their own, and then went for a walk.

I enjoy walking on the river paths in this city. They are lined with trees, there are creeks all the way through the valley, little bridges, a mix of official looking trails and smaller dirt trails, and many points of entry where you can walk back to the streets.

We did walk through a lovely older neighborhood too, which is nice because of the yards.

I was getting a bit on edge because my husband was pretty vague about where the car was (un-feminist as it is, I let the location of our car be his job in the city). I don't enjoy thinking even for a minute that we might be lost.

We did find it after all, which was a relief.

Then we came home, worked on the mat and was able to hang the picture. Very nice.

Then we watched a very fun movie called "The Valet".