December 26 & 27, 2023
I woke up at 5 a.m. I had slept through the night. I prayed my thanksgivings and gratitudes
- Thank you for winter. I am grateful for cool weather.
- Thank you for sisters. I am grateful for mine.
- Thank you for farms. I enjoy them.
- Thank you for peace. I am grateful for the feeling of serenity.
I went in the house, greeted Christopher, made my tea and a smoothie. My smoothie was 5 bananas, homemade almond milk and fresh pineapple juice. I got ready to experience today’s opportunities. Angel stayed home with Christopher and I left at around 6 a.m. I drove up the road to where I am farm sitting. As I arrived, the dog that was missing last night came running up to me. I was happy to see her. I gave her lots of pettings and told her to not run off like that. I fed the animals and enjoyed watching the day start to become light. I loved being out in the cold moving my body doing farm chores. The air felt invigorating and crisp.
I drove the back roads to town and was lead there by the bright full moon. At my first house, my clients were gone and I enjoyed making their home a clean beautiful place to come home to after vacation. My next house was the same, they were also out of town. I sent out happy thoughts and good energy while I cleaned. My client was home at my next house and we had some great conversations. She is getting ready to leave for a month to go to Antarctica. I look forward to hearing about her adventures when she gets back.
When I finished cleaning all my houses, I stopped by the home where I am starting a caretaking opportunity next week and we figured out how to fit it into my schedule. Then I stopped at the grocery store and got a bunch of produce. I received word that an acquaintance who gets almost expired produce for free had some available. I drove to her house and picked up more produce. I was full of produce!
My friends Debbie and Carla had a dog bed that fits on a car console they were giving to me. I stopped by their house and shared some fresh produce and picked up the dog bed. They also gave me a car seat pet carrier. From their house, I drove home on the back roads, always on the look out for the dog Fletcher we lost the week before Christmas. At home, I talked with Christopher, then he left to go spend time with his friends as I started juicing a bunch of the produce….pears, strawberries, carrots, raspberries, blueberries, apples, cucumbers and zucchini. I mixed them all together into one juice. It took an hour or so to get it all juiced. When I had everything cleaned up, Angel and I bundled up in warm clothing and drove the side-by-side down the road to take care of the farm sitting animals. It was great fun going in the side-by-side. Angel talked and talked. I listened to her tell stories and kept an eye out for Fletcher. It was a beautiful evening and I felt grateful to be alive.
The dogs greeted us when we came up the driveway. Angel had a great time helping with the farm chores. She took over and wanted to do them all by herself. She’s a tough little thing. I admire her determination. When we got the chores done and secured the animals for the night, we rode back home. Angel sang as we rode and it was a fun drive.
At home, I did chores, we ate and took a bath. Angel slept on the trundle bed next to me and we fell asleep at around 8 p.m. listening to The Boxcar Children.
I woke up at 12 p.m. and read my new book Christopher got me for Christmas The Secret Life of Plantsby Peter Tompkins and Christopher Bird. I really like the book. It has some wonderful information in it. I went back to sleep around 2 a.m. and woke up again at 5:30 a.m. I prayed my thanksgivings and gratitudes.
- Thank you for books. I am grateful for the joy they give me.
- Thank you for horses. I am grateful to connect with them.
- Thank you for a warm bed. I am grateful for the luxury.
- Thank you for community. I am grateful to be united with other humans.
I went in the kitchen, made my tea and drove to the farm sitting property. I fed the animals and let everyone out for the day. Then I went to my one and only cleaning opportunity of the day. I conversed with my clients while I cleaned. I took my time and did an extra good job. When I finished, I went to the car wash, which was closed for some reason but I vacuumed out my pickup anyway. It needed that done more than any other cleaning. Next, I stopped at Pruett insurance to get bond insurance in order to get a bonded title for my pop-up camper. Amazingly everything went well at the insurance office. I had brought all the right paperwork and all should be well for me to get the camper registered and licensed.
With my errands completed, I went to the Rockdale Reporter to wait for the papers to arrive. I had fun conversations with friends that work there while I waited. The papers arrived and I did my route. I took my time and everything went smoothly. I stopped at Debbie and Carla’s house on the way home and dropped off a quart of fresh juice that I had made yesterday. Then I drove home on the back roads, enjoying the slow paced drive and watching for Fletcher.
When I arrived home I got a tag on Facebook that someone in Rockdale found a lost lab mix. I messaged the person to get more details. Then I messaged Fletcher owner to see if he could get there to go look at the dog before me. He messaged back a few minutes later that he had gone to look immediately and the dog was very similar to Fletcher but wasn’t her. I had hoped it would have been Fletcher.
At home, I greeted Christopher and Angel and laid down in the banana hut for a while to decompress. When I got up, I sat out in the yard with the dogs and my yoga mat. I stretched in between petting the dogs. Angel came over with her pot holder loom and starting weaving one together. She asked if I wanted to join her. I said yes and she went and got my potholder loom. We talked and watched the animals while we weaved. When we finished, Angel rode with me in the side-by-side to do our last night of farm sitting. She insisted on doing all the chores herself while I supervised. I kind of liked that arrangement. With all the animals fed and secured for the night, we rode back home.
At home, we ate supper. Christopher had made me a big salad and I had 3 helping of it. I was extra hungry. We all shared what we were grateful for around the table. I have such a wonderful home life. After we ate, I took a long hot bath. I stretched and did a breathing meditation. When I got out, I took a cold shower. I used to take daily cold showers but then I got soft and quit doing them. They have a lot of benefits such as improving circulation and mental clarity as well as strengthening self discipline. It takes a lot of will power to take a cold shower but worth the feeling I get afterward. I feel stronger energetically, mentally and physically.
After surviving my one minute cold shower I got ready for bed and went in the banana hut. I wrote on my blog and got Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer queued up on my lap top for the family to watch. Angel took a bath after me and joined me in the banana hut. She was excited to watch the show. Christopher arrived and I started the movie. I fell asleep about halfway through. When it was over, I woke up long enough to crawl into bed. Angel was on the trundle bed next to me. I turned out the light and we went to sleep around 8 p.m.
Thank you for reading my blog and being a part of my life. I dearly appreciate you.
Love,
Victoria