The biggest news of course, is the birth of our new grandson last Sunday. My daughter is doing well, and seems to be getting her strength back quickly... and little "K" is doing well.
It also looks like we'll be getting a new horse soon... I got a phone call last week from R and M's former riding instructor at the therapeutic riding program where they used to take lessons. They haven't taken riding lessons since last summer so I was surprised to hear from her. She was calling to let me know that they are "retiring" the horse R used to lease, Grant. Grant is an ornery appaloosa gelding that R has loved since the first time she saw him. She rode him in a couple of horse shows and he is incredibly special to her.
The situation at the riding stable that owns him had deteriorated dramatically since the kids first started riding there, and I kept them in lessons much longer than I was comfortable with because of R's bond to Grant. As things went downhill at the stable I tried to talk the instructor (also the owner) into giving or selling me Grant. But she wouldn't. Finally it became clear that I just couldn't continue taking the kids there and we stopped going. When we left I told the instructor that if she was ever going to get rid of Grant, we wanted him.
Well.... she's ready to get rid of him, and she wants to give him to us! I haven't told R yet because I want to make sure he's really ours before I say anything.
I'm so excited though, I can't wait to see the look on her face when we unload him from the trailer and she knows he's really hers! Here's a picture of R and Grant a little over a year ago...
Unfortunately, we won't be able to keep Stormy though... I just don't have room for two horses, and don't want to have to buy all the extra hay to keep her. I called the people who own her and they will be coming to get her next Saturday. In a way I hate to see her go.... but two horses and two goats is too many for me!
Our other exciting news is that I have found a program that provides services for kids like Michael, who are developmentally delayed and mentally ill. It's taken dozens of phone calls, and countless dead ends.... but this program really sounds promising. I spoke to the director of the program at length on Friday and he really seems to "get it" in terms of the difference between someone who is "just" mentally ill and someone who is developmentally delayed as well. They have a day treatment program, which I'm not interested in (which is good because it's only open to ps students), but they also offer a lot of other services and supports for families, AND our insurance will pay for it!! On Thursday we'll go visit the facility, meet the staff and observe some of what they are doing. I'm really hoping it turns out to be something that will be really helpful for M and all of us...
We spent today cleaning and working outside. We still have huge drifts of snow in the most inconvenient places, so I keep going out and shoveling paths through them. (which the wind promptly fills full of snow again!) We have a 6' chain link fence between our big and little pastures, and this evening as I was walking through the trail that runs along the fence from the barn to the house I realized that the icy winds of the past couple of days have left the snow with a crust solid enough for me to walk on. As I softly walked across the top of the snow (trying to walk "lightly" enough to keep from suddenly breaking through the crust and finding myself buried in snow!) I saw that the snow is so deep that the 6' fence only comes up to my knees. I love the snow... but I really don't think it's ever going to melt!
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