Glad you decided to play again.
Bloodstone quest is a little criptic, but there are atleast three ways to get one. The hint is in the book you get in the library. You should be able to use it in the inventory, which will add an entry to the book section in the menu. If not, then I broke something. One solution requires the dynamite, other requires a lot of money and last one just needs a good strong party.
The bigger picture is handled by the cutscenes, which are gated by location and time. First story cutscene triggers after about 60 days when you visit the beach. Second takes place after about 100 days in the forest area with the bear. The rest of the story cutscenes triggers automaticaly after some time passes so you can't miss these. Dialogue system is very barebones, but you can ask certain NPCs about some quests or topics.
John pretty much serves as an extended tutorial, but the way he works right now is not ideal. He gives you some tasks that can take quite a bit of time to achieve and he explains next mechanic only after you finish the previous task. Thanks to that, it can take more than hundred days before he explains to you how wellness or mood works.
I will rework him in some way. Probably allow the player to select what chalenge he wants to finish first and also allow to have more of them active at the same time. Still have to think about that.
As you said in the edit, you unlock more ways to handle mood and wellness as time goes on. Also, playing with other children is somewhat already in the game, since you gain more mood when talking to them. I want to add more half day activities though, since there is not that many of them that are really useful.
Again, thanks for playing the game. Hope you enjoy the story dungeon.