January 5, 2023
Knowing my intentions and allowing everyone else to be how they want to be.
I woke at 5:30 a.m. I checked on the indoor dogs I was pet sitting. They were doing well. I wrote my blog until Angel woke up. She was excited to play with the dogs. I cleaned up and packed our bags. When it started to get light outside, I went out and fed the farm animals. I thoroughly enjoyed myself. The air was cool and damp from the rain we had overnight. I felt so peaceful and alive. I greeted the animals and talked to them as I fed them. When I came back in, Angel finished getting ready to go. I checked to make sure everything was how it should be and we headed out.
I picked up my grandson Finn on our way to town. He was excited to spend the day with us. I drove to the library. I was hosting First Friday Coffee for my Master Naturalist chapter. When I arrived, I got the kids settled into an area to play quietly and started getting things set up. Other Master Naturalists arrived and quite a few other people came. First Friday coffee is held once a month at the library. A local group hosts it each month, provides snacks and promotes their group. People show up to visit and eat and it usually draws 30 or more people every month. I love going to it and seeing everyone. I signed up all the groups I’m involved in for a First Friday coffee, Master Naturalists in January , Music Club in May and The Kay Theater in November. It’s a great way to do indirect community outreach and it’s a lot of fun.
When First Friday Coffee was over, we cleaned up and I got the kids rounded up. I stopped at the grocery store and we listened to a The Famous Five audiobook on the way home. At home, the kids ran off to play. Christopher helped me bring in the groceries and we chatted about what we had planned for the day. I got Chance off of his lead line and did training with him using his new training collar. Christopher said that he bolted yesterday with his training collar on and chased the neighbors cows and was completely unresponsive to the collar. I noticed the collar was loose, so I tightened it up and turned it up to level 10. I worked with him the rest of the day. He bolted a couple of times but came back when I activated his collar. Interestingly he responds to the vibrate and beeping settings but doesn’t seem fazed in anyway with the shock setting. He is improving though, he’s got hound dog instincts and sometimes he forgets to behave and loses his mind but that will get better as he gets older. He’s still young at barely a year old.
While I trained Chance, I walked him around our little farm and took pictures of some of the animals. I called my mom and then my sister and we had great conversations. I sat in the sun and enjoyed the warm day when Chance took a nap. Angel and Finn ran around playing. They get a long really well together. When the sun started to get low in the sky, I started a bath and sat in the banana hut chatting with Christopher while it was filling up. I brought up needed a different heater in the banana hut and started shopping online for one. That took a while since I like to read the reviews but I finally made a decision and ordered one.
Christopher had turned off the water for the bath since it was overflowing. Thankfully outdoor bathtubs can overflow 😁. I took a short bath and got the kids in when I got out. Christopher got supper ready and I ate a big salad with mixed greens, celery, cauliflower, broccoli, tomato and pumpkin seeds. The dressing was tahini with lemon juice. As we ate we shared what we were grateful for. After supper, I went in the banana hut, the kids joined me shortly and while waiting for Christopher to shower and join us, I got really sleepy. I was going to read Hank the Cowdog to everyone but when Christopher came in, I was too tired. The kids played games and I laid down next to Christopher and fell asleep. A little bit later, Finn’s parents came to get him. I woke up as everyone was leaving the banana hut. I crawled under the covers and went back to sleep.
Thank you for reading my blog and being a part of my life. I dearly appreciate you.
Love,
Victoria
January 6, 2023
I woke at 12 a.m. and wrote my blog until 2 a.m. I went back to sleep and woke again at 5:30 a.m. I like waking up early. I wrote more of my blog and goofed around on my phone until 7:30 a.m. I went in the house and greeted Christopher and Angel. I made tea and a smoothie and got dressed. We all got ready to go to an estate sale together and then get groceries.
The estate sale was fun. I enjoyed looking around at stuff and I bought some good rain boots for Angel. We ran into Christopher’s mom there and we stood outside conversing with her for a while before going to the grocery store. At the grocery store, I splurged and bought a dragon fruit and lychees. The dragon fruit cost $15.53 and was worth it. Angel and I split it when we got home and it was perfectly ripe and delicious. I felt grateful to have abundance to splurge on fun fruits once in a while. It also got me thinking of growing my own dragon fruit in the greenhouse.
At home, Angel showed me how high she could climb in a cedar tree. She is good climber and can climb really high. My mom instincts want to be scared that she will fall but instead I encourage her to use her wisdom and climb smartly. When she climbed down we went for a ride with the dogs in the side-X-side over by the railroad tracks. We looked for treasures and I took pictures of plants. It was a beautiful warm sunny day and we had a wonderful time.
The rest of the day I spent alternating between doing chores and sitting in the sun. Angel joined me while sitting in the sun and brought a stack of books for me to read to her. I love reading her stories and read her the whole stack. I had fun making up different voices for the different characters in the stories. Then Angel got out her math workbook and we did a bunch of pages together. She’s more motivated to do schoolwork since I made the rule that she gets to pick out a movie to watch when she finishes 50 pages. My hearts desire is to stay home and raise Angel but I haven’t been shown how to create money to live and also be home with Angel. I do have a wonderful self employed career and am able to have Angel with me, which I am grateful for. I love being successful at self employment. It fits me.
When the sun starting getting low in the sky, I started a bath. While I waited for the bath to fill I started brainstorming ways to add a lean to bathroom with a composting toilet onto the banana hut. I really want a bathroom for the banana hut as well as a little kitchen. With my new porch I figured I could add the bathroom to the side of it. I researched ways to build one and discussed my vision with Christopher. Then I thought maybe I would buy a little 5×3 shed. I looked at those but didn’t find what I was looking for. Finally I decided to pause my research and get in the bath. Angel was already in there and I joined her. We chatted while we bathed. Supper was ready when we got out but my stomach was feeling grumbly so I skipped eating and went to the banana hut instead. When Angel finished eating, she joined me and brought some books for me to read to her. I read her books and we jumped on the rebounder and talked while we waited for Christopher to join us. When Christopher came in I read aloud 2 chapters of Hank the Cowdog book 6. We said our good nights and Christopher went in the house. Angel slept next to me on the trundle bed and we fell asleep at around 7:30 p.m. listening to The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.
Thank you for reading my blog and being a part of my life. I dearly appreciate you.
Love,
Victoria