Honest People, Pet Sitting, Great Conversations and Missing Ducks

Wednesday March 13, 2024

I woke up at 1 AM and wrote my blog until 3 AM. and posted it. My mind was going over everything I needed to do to get ready for my trip to Utah and I finally starting drifting back to sleep at 4:30 AM. Then I heard Christopher’s dog Jake throwing up. He had come in the doggie door and promptly threw up on my throw rug. I instantly jumped up and sent him back outside. I tossed the throw rug outside and finally fell back asleep at 5 AM. I woke up again at 6:30 AM. I woke Angel up and we quickly made our beds. I let the chickens out and we went into the house. I fed the dogs, made tea and smoothies and got ready to go. Angel ate breakfast and got dressed and we were out the door by 7 AM. 

We listened to a Bobbsey Twins book on the way to horse riding camp and arrived at 7:30 AM. I chatted with the instructors for a few minutes and headed to Rockdale to clean a house. I briefly talked with my client and got started cleaning. When I finished making her house beautiful I went and picked up Ms. M. Usually on Wednesdays, I have Angel with me and we all go to story-time. This week Angel was at horse camp and story-time was canceled for spring break. So instead, Ms. M and I, went to the store to buy dog food for one of my pet sitting clients dogs. He is a truck driver and didn’t make it home to buy his dogs more food after I told him they were out. So he asked, if he sent me some money to buy for dog food for them would I be willing to do that, and I said yes. The money hadn’t arrived yet but I knew it would. I used my own money and would reimburse myself when the money he sent arrived. After I bought the food and sent him a picture of the receipt. He texted back saying he would sent me more money to cover my time. I really appreciated that. 

After leaving the store, we went through the car wash and got gas. I paid cash for the gas and gave the attendant $22 to put on pump 1. I waited but the $22 never showed up on the pump. I walked back to the attendant to see what was going on. She said she accidentally put the $22 on pump 2.  There was someone on pump 2 putting gas in their tank. It was a teenage boy putting gas in for his grandma while his grandma was sitting in the front seat. The attendant ran out and told him that he was putting gas in their car that I had paid for. He was very honest and said he was confused about why there was money on there and why he didn’t have to use his grandmas card. He told his grandma what happened and using her card he put $22 in my tank. I was grateful for his honesty and thanked him. 

With gas in my truck we went to the Rockdale reporter to wait for the newspapers to arrive. I informed the editor Kyle Cooke that I would be leaving to help out my son for a week and wouldn’t be able to deliver papers on March 27 and he was fine with that. While waiting for the papers to arrive, Ms. M read the paper while I re-wrote my route list and made it more organized for when Kyle and Mary Lou (the advertising salesperson) do it for me when I’m gone. The newspapers arrived and I headed out to do my route with Ms. M. My first stop was the bookstore. When I went inside there were a couple of other homeschool moms there that I hadn’t seen in a while because they don’t attend our homeschool co-op. I was happy to see them and one of them greeted me by saying, “hello Inspiration”. What a lovely greeting and I thanked her. I chatted with everyone briefly and left to do the rest of my route. The route went good. Ms. M and I listened to uplifting music and enjoyed the great weather. When it was over, I took Ms. M home and drove to my friend Rachele’s. 

Rachele and I sat on her back patio and had a great conversation about having expectations and the suffering it causes. We talked until it was time for me to pick up Angel from Horse Riding Camp. I picked up Angel and went to do the pet sitting job I had bought the dog food for. I usually go on Thursday mornings but I needed to empty my truck out and did it Wednesday evening instead. I fed the dogs and played with them a while. The mean goat that tries to butt me if I don’t carry a big stick around, is for sure becoming friendlier toward me. I had forgotten to get my stick from by the gate and he didn’t come at me. When I was getting ready to leave, I called their owner to tell him how the animals were doing. We had a good talk and continued talking most of my drive home. He can be cranky at times but I was able to get him to move past that and got him laughing. I really enjoy conversing with people, I’m good at it, it’s one of my gifts. 

I got off the phone right before I arrived home. When I pulled up I noticed there were only 5 ducks out and about. I thought that was strange because we have 12 ducks and they like to stay together in a group. Christopher was gone to spend the evening with his friends in the woods and after checking the ponds and looking all around I messaged him about the missing ducks. He messaged back saying they were all there yesterday. I had a feeling a predator got to them but to have 7 gone in one night was strange. Usually a predator will only take one or two at a time. The ducks haven’t been going in their coop at night and have been sleeping down at one of the ponds instead. I knew it was only a matter of time before something got to them because we live in thick woods full of raccoons and foxes and coyotes, as well as owls and hawks. I wasn’t going to let the 5 remaining ducks sleep at the pond. They had already gone out to the pond so Angel and I waded through the pond water and herded them back up to the house and into their coop for the night. Their coop isn’t as tightly secured as the chicken coop but up by the house the dogs help keep predators away. 

Angel and I ate dinner and took a bath. We jumped on the trampoline for a while, then went in the banana hut. Angel read aloud Hop on Pop and I read one chapter of A Wrinkle In Time. We fell asleep at around 9 PM listening to Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carol. 

Thank you for reading my blog, and being a part of my life. I dearly appreciate you.

Love,

Victoria

P. S. This blog post was inspired by the Holy Spirit.  

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