This is what we've got. 1. House / hobby farmfor sale that we like and would like to buy. 2. 2 acres 3. Sold privately by "Lola" and "Bob" 4. Adjacent 12 acres that belong to Bob's parents. 5. Seems like either Lola and Bob are separated / divorced or at least Bob is away on a job and there's friction (but very civil) between Lola and his Parents (in their late 70s). 6. The Parents are well off. They have a camper on their 12 acres and they come once week to ride their 3 horses. 7. The horses belong to the Parents, but Lola takes care of them. The Parents bought the 12 acres after Lola and Bob bought the house--to have a place to go to on weekends and ride their horses. 8. The Parents are worried that they won't find a good boarding place for their horses and therefore were worried about Lola and Bob selling the house. The horses are very important to them. Enter us, farmers wannabes, with great horse experience that philosophically matches the Parents' (and rare to find in our area). The Parents are in awe of our horse keeping and training experience. They think that if we bought the hobby farm, and boarded their horses, their horses would be continuing with the excellent care they have been receiving. The Parents allow Lola and Bob the use of their land. Some of it is already fenced as horse paddocks (small portion), the rest is used for pasture and riding. Both us and the Parents acknowledge that we can only board their horses if we can use the extra 12 acres. They have no intention of selling the land and at the moment we are in no position to buy it (but hope to be in the future.) This is what we actually want, brutally honest: 1. buy the 2 acres hobby farm 2. board their 3 horses (in addition to the two of our own) 3. train their horses and use them as a promotion to our horsemanship (videos) 4. have the use of their 12 acres in the process 5. build a grass riding ring on their 12 acres (well, ideally a sand ring, but yeah lol) 6. give lessons with our horses on their 12 acres. 7. use their 12 acres as pasture / paddocks 8. have the opportunity to buy the 12 acres in the next 5 years at market value. The Parents do want us to board (and possibly train) their horses. We had one meeting with Lola, and one with the Parents when we suggested that we would be interested in boarding their horses. We are to meet with them next weekend "to discuss further." We see a small training facility there--matching THEIRS and our training philosophy. We see a business opportunity for ourselves, but we also feel that this could actually be in their interest as well. Personally, I'm would feel bad bringing up what we actually want. Like, seriously? We want to BUILD A RIDING RING on their property??? Yeah, I know this sounds insane. But that would be our ideal. Are we CRAZY??? (I know we are lol) Other details--horribly slow market for sellers; very idiosyncratic house / property; poor Lola probably wants to get out of this mess with her Bob and the in-laws. Well to do elderly Parents who have other children and grand children. The 12 acres on its own is nothing--not very picturesque, not close to anything of interest. In other words--not a cottage material. Can this potentially be worked out?

Do you think a mom and pop store would rather I didn't come in at all? Their entire existence depends on someone still willing to go to their overpriced shop. If they are unhappy with people wondering into their store, what are they doing running a store?

Considering moving to be in a "better" school district and asking about it on a homeschooling board. Rather ironic. I wouldn't move unless it benefited the family in many other ways--better house (that we didn't strain to afford), or a cheaper house , or better commute, etc. From personal experience, whenever we seriously considered moving closer to DD's primary activity, thinking that the location of the activity was "secure", we had some kind of an major issues coming up in that location, forcing us to change the location. Which was like a lesson / reminder for me--not to move based on singular factors like this. For me schools would be the same.

Congratulations! What a phenomenal experience. When Special Olympics Wolrd Games were in my city 20 years go, I volunteered as an interpreter. Meeting the athelts was such an incredible inspiration. I loved every moment of it.

This is my personal anecdote about homeopathic remedies. When I was pregnant with DD someone gave me a box of various homeopathic remedies for pregnant women, one of them being something called "be ready for labour." I didn't believe in it, but didn't disbelief either. I was having a lovely natural pregnancy, and I thought, what the heck, it won't hurt. Interestingly, I interpreted the "ready for labour" as a mental preparation. If anything, I was expecting some meditative feelings of peace. On the second day of taking it, I started experiencing braxton hicks, and they kept increasing in intensity and frequency for the next week. Finally it dawned on me that the "ready for labour" homeopathic remedy could be triggering actual physical labour preparation. I stopped immediately and the contractions stopped. To me this was enough proof that it worked--I got the result which was the opposite of my expectation. And if that was something like a complicated reversed placebo--wow. Good enough for me. This said, I haven't taken homeopathic pills in years. I hardly ever take anything but Elderberry syrup for viruses and herbal teas for relaxation.

Just banter about donuts. Seems like they are special to you, so enjoy! Why does it matter what other people think? I like Tim's donuts. I wouldn't put anything green which isn't a vegetable in my mouth. No hate.

Why???

Just hoping not to spend $1500 on a "more hypoallergenic" cat. I read some conflicting info and would love to hear more personal stories.

:hurray: :grouphug:

Some friends! I'm so very sorry. For an introvert, though--she might enjoy her spring break working much more than having that kind of "fun." I hope she finds her niche soon. Hugs.

Sneaking food and lying about it??? :confused: This doesn't seem normal to me at all.

See, for me, the main "hang out with adults" area is the eat-in kitchen. So definitely not a cocktail-type party :lol: . I'm toying with the idea of DH and myself sleeping in the living room but having all of our clothes etc in the master bedroom. And having DD1 to temporarily sleep in the master bedroom while her bedroom in the basement is being done (which would be about a year.) In any case, I'm super flexible with how to use the space. But am trying to figure out wheather my vision of an Ikea room would fit a smaller room with typical ceiling. Which might not work at all.

Yes :o But also trying to figure out if this will match my vision in a smaller room with normal height ceilings...It might not work out, but a girl can dream!

Yes, a studio apartment setup. We would use those beds for either guest or an alternate sleeping arrengment / reading nooks. I can't imagine having company over and having problems with this--when we have company we either all stay up, kids included, or we just made do. :coolgleamA:

Are they ever clean if you don't wash them? I do love the look, and I really don't htink my hardwood floors are actually "clean" but I'd be nervous to never be able to wash them? Or can you steam them or something? It will take some convincing DH to have unfinished floors! I just barely got him on board with painted floors! lol

I like this! Why unfinished floor is easier to keep clean the painted white floor? Just visually? We'd have the same problem with tracking dirt it.

Imagining the set-up in the house that we'd like to buy! :coolgleamA:

That's a good point. I guess I'd like to have a bedroom with a sitting area and a craft area and an office area in the room that is intended as a living room, and therefore has no door. And I'd like to use this room as a family room / activity room, but also to have a bed in it.

I actually want to have a bunk bed in it. And a writing dest. And two craft tables. So not a typical living room but more of a multipurpose room. Sort of like this: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/bf/69/59/bf69597f137444c0579e89ce0aaf0b2c.jpg Only the room itself is not very big and doesn't have a high ceiling. I find that those rooms with "stations" always look much better with very high ceilings.

Thank you! Did you stain Ikea furniture white as well? What do you mean by crisp *and* warm? What about the floor? I'm thinking to paint the floor white as well? Currently hard wood floors with a yellowish tint. Do you like your room? Is it all literally Ikea or Ikea-style? How big is your room?

Especially with normal height celings? (i.e. not super high). How does it work for you? Do you have photos? I'm not sure I'm brave enough. But I always feel living rooms are such a waste of space. We hardly ever use ours and it ends up a disorganized dump (I guess we are not very formal folks ha-ha. Our large kitchen is the family hub). And the kids are only just now old enough not to have all of their toys in the living room. So I'm imagining having a reading nook around the window; a loft or bunk bed insread of a sofa; a small desk / table / craft station. Those IKEA rooms look so awesome. But I won't have such a high ceiling. Can I pull it off?

:grouphug: This does sound as depression.

She could be narrow minded. Or she could be awkward at expressing herself while trying to summarize the situation. Or she is used to over-simplifying for clients. I know you are under a tramendous amount of stress and you are facing a situation that I wouldn't even know how to start handling, but I still think the towel incident was heavy-handed, even if the case worker wasn't very eloquent in expressing the reason. I really wish there was more support for you and the NA. :grouphug:

This doesn't seem to me to be about gender conformity at all. It is about an emotionally fragile child having a choice in something very basic and very important to him and having a modicum of control over his life. Educating him on gender neutral towels is not anywhere close to being a priority.

*My* 8 year old (never been to school and raised not to care) would not have cared. But he also has long hair and despite being a very boyish boy would easily wear his sister's purple and pink rain boots (but that's also his choice, and I wouldn't make him, obviously). *Your* new arrival obviously cared, and cared very much. I've also met quite a few 8 year olds (mostly those who go to school, but maybe it doesn't matter) who would also care quite a lot, and I don't think it is wrong of them to care. If my child cared that much, I'd give him a choice whether to take a damp towel or a "girly" towel. Or thrown the damp towel into the dryer for 10 minutes. I certainly wouldn't force a young child who is just figuring out how the world works, his identity, his place in the society and his family, family and school rules etc use an article of clothing or a towel he felt uncomfortable using in a social situation. I don't think you should be comparing how a typical homeschooled child would've behaved to how your new arrival behaved.