What a mess. It’s 9:38 p.m. and dark. Pete is moving the soiled goat bedding that’s in buckets with the tractor. Perhaps he realizes that if left there, that it might get rained on and therefore harder to lift. Inside downstairs, the kitchen is a mess because he is making preserves out of the raspberries that we picked this morning. Also juice, my favorite. And the dinner dishes are still piled on the table.

Upstairs – I said that I would sweep and vacuum up here because Pete said that if I do not, that he will. This sounded to me like a threat of sorts, an indirect shaming tactic. Yes, he does most everything in this household, and if he did clean the upstairs, well, then he would be able to say in all due honesty that he does everything in this house. So this is why every so often I sweep and vacuum up here.

I got to this onerous task late because I had other things to do. Today, after picking raspberries, we took Raudi and Tyra out for a ride. Then we came back and I got Hrimmi out. All the rides were good. The sky was overcast, and it appeared as though it was going to rain any minute, but aside from their being a bit of cloud spit, we all stayed dry. In two days, the wheelers have gone on our trails and opened them up. This is just two days into it. They may go elsewhere, but sad to say, will be back.

Next on my agenda – I cleaned the outer area of the goat pen. I’ve been tossing Sassy’s outside hay into a black rubber container that has low sides. Sassy, when the hay is clean, likes to eat just a little bit and then lie in it. The hay, being outside, gets wet. When there is hay on top, the hay on the bottom begins to ferment and smells terrible. Hay gets on the ground, so I pick it up, it is like sod, it comes up in rolls.

Late in the afternoon we went and met up with one of the neighbors. She and her husband are putting in a gate at the topmost portion of Jim’s Road, and signage saying Trail, with an arrow pointing to the left. They will put this sign at the bottom most portion of the trail adjacent to their place.

They are also going to put two signs near the base of the road, one with a horse and another requesting that those motorists who use this road exercise caution and common sense. Will people listen? I liken this to being an experiment of sorts. We’ll get a sense of the tenor of this community.

These neighbors are going to be around on weekends, in their new prefab house. Ours is the fastest growing area in the state. I think we’ll see more of the same in terms of development.

So now I have come full circle, back to it being evening. I smell like soiled goat bedding. Not a bad smell at all.

Next: 236. 8/29/23: Time Life Taffy