Had a good weekend. My nieces and brother came for the weekend, as is the custom ever since my brother's divorce and custody issues were settled.  It's been many years now that they have come almost every other weekend and also the weeks that are my brother's vacation time.  His kids seem to love to come here because #1 We have other children the same age for them to play with and #2 There are plenty of things to do around here. Playmates, toys, trails to explore, a pond to catch frogs and tadpoles in, an island in the center of the 5 acre lake to camp out on, horses to ride through the woods and around the property, playing in the crib barn that has been made into a play room, or the real barn that has a hayloft, and seemingly a hundred other things to do here.  My nieces are the products of a very dysfunctional family, and have gone through a lot of divorce issues that children these days often are unfortunately forced to go through. 

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It was a beautiful day on Sunday and was expected to also be the same warm and sunny weather on Monday.  Then, it was reported that the weather would turn to cold and cloudy on Tuesday.  My dh told me that it would be a good day for us to get out and enjoy the weather while we still had a day left. 

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So, Monday morning the children cleaned their bedrooms. I started Joshua on some desk work, but given the weather report and the coming winter weather, I decided it was a good day to have Equestrian Class.  We groomed the horses and then saddled them, which took more time than usual because a strap had broke from the halter and we were trying to replace it and figure out how the new one tied on.  I was glad I had designated the day, if need be, for this class. However long it took for us to figure it out, so be it. It felt great not being hurried, spending time together in the sunshine and warm weather, enjoying our horses. 

When we went riding it began to get very windy. This seemed to put our horses on edge.  Rachel had a particular hard time as there was a very small stream of water running down a hill that we needed to cross in order to go trail riding through the woods.  Major seemed deathly afraid to get his feet wet, and refused to cross over.  My daughter was determined that she was going to win this battle, but Major was just as determined to not cross over. After about half an hour of struggling with him about this issue, he turned around and started galloping up a steep hill, at the same time, bucking her the whole way up the hill.  Rachel held on and handled it real well, but I could tell she was shook up. 

When Major was acting so terrible, my horse, Gretta, started to get shook up too. The two are very bonded and cannot be separated for any distance without them getting very upset.  Gretta began to take her hoof and dig into the ground making loud noises that were very defiant sounding.  I've never had a problem with her, but I was beginning to wonder if I was going to see a new side to my usually  sweet Gretta.

We did ride around the lake, through the woods, and meandered within the large pastures some, but we called it quits earlier than usual.  I could tell Rachel was really bummed by Major's behavior.

Now, today, we will get back on schedule. I woke around 3:00 a.m., so around 3:30, I got up to pray. Had a wonderful time communing with Him about several issues that seek to weigh on me. It so awesome to be able to talk with the Creator of this universe, and the Lover of my soul, about anything and everything, big or small, in my daily life.

Not a person is awake in my home yet. I started breakfast and as I sit here blogging, I have turkey bacon in the microwave, Bob Evans seasoned hashbrowns cooking in the skittle, and eggs straight from the farm ready to be scrambled.  I will toast Cracker Barrel sour dough bread and spread on it butter that I've bought from the Amish farmers.   The day of October 31st is starting out well!