Friday July 18, 2025
Morning prayer:
Good morning God,
- Thank you for this day.
- Thank you for resilience.
- Thank you for apricots.
- Thank you for love.
I love you!
Dear Diary,
I woke at 4 AM. I laid there for 20 minutes and couldn’t go back to sleep. Izzy wanted out, so I got up and let her out. I fed her and the cats and I watered all the plants on the porch and in the garden. I gave everything a long deep water.
I laid down in bed again and fully relaxed my body. I meditated for an hour and got up at 7 AM. I let out the chickens and set their food out. I harvested some zucchini and Swiss chard from the garden to sell at the farmers market. Then I put Izzy in the backyard with her doggie door to the house and drove into town. I stopped at my friend TJ’s and harvested some lavender, garlic chives and white sage to sell at the market.
On my way home, I stopped at my older sisters and asked Angel to ride her bicycle home. At home, I let the dogs out to use the bathroom. I fed them and Angel. Then I started packing up my truck with all of my farmers market stuff. Angel helped me carry everything downstairs and when it was all loaded, I drove over to the farmers market.
I attempted to try to set up my canopy that was given to me but I couldn’t figure out the legs. Pastor Amy was set up next to use and she said we could use her mini pop-up canopy. I thanked her and set it up but it was really small. Then the market manager said that we could use her extra full sized pop-up canopy. I was grateful for that and we set it up.
The farmers market went really good. I sold a lot of apricots and did quite a bit of face-painting for the kids. I enjoyed talking to people. I know a lot of people in town now and it’s fun to chat with them. When the market was over, I packed up and brought everything home. Angel helped me carry it all up to the apartment, then she rode over to her friends house.
I let the dogs out to use the bathroom and walked to the thrift store. When I got home, I took a nap. I slept hard for an hour. Then I got up and drove to my overnight pet sitting house. I fed Izzy and the cats and spent time with them, giving them some love. The cats like to be petted more than Izzy, she like her independence but the cats will let you pet them for hours.
I put Izzy in the backyard and drove back to town. Angel came home from her friends and my sister stopped by to get some apricots. Then we all went over to her house to go huckleberry picking. We waited outside with the dogs while my nephew Christopher finished playing a video game. I introduced Musik to my sisters dog Huckleberry. Huckleberry is a huge chocolate lab that is not neutered and he was excited about a female being around, it didn’t matter to him that she was fixed. Huckleberry followed Musik all around the yard, drooling all over her. She told him to back off several times but Huckleberry wouldn’t listen to her or us. My sister finally put Huckleberry in the truck so that he would calm down.
Christopher finished his video game and he rode with my sister and I followed in my truck with Angel. We drove way up the mountain and stopped at a huge huckleberry patch. We picked huckleberries for an hour or so. The dogs had fun running around. I picked a quart size bowl full of huckleberries. They are so little and you have to pick one at a time that it takes a while to get a decent amount.
Going home, my sister and I went opposite ways. I stopped at a thimbleberry patch and ate a bunch. Then a little further down the mountain, Aaron called. I wasn’t sure how I had service but I pulled over and answered. We talked for a while until I suddenly didn’t have service anymore. I finished driving down the mountain and called Aaron back.
I drove to my friend TJ’s and put the baby chicks up in their roost. I went home and put Musik and Little Bit to bed. Then I drove to my overnight pet sitting house. I closed in the chickens and put their food up. I checked on the cats and could only find two out of the three. I checked on Izzy and she was in her bed downstairs. I got into bed myself and wrote my blog notes. I went to sleep at 11 PM.
Saturday, July 19, 2025
Morning prayer:
Good morning God,
- Thank you for this day.
- Thank you for the color red.
- Thank you for Pet Sitting opportunities.
- Thank you for huckleberries.
- Thank you for love.
I love you!
Dear diary,
I woke at 6 AM. I fed the dog Izzy and went outside to feed the cats. My Pet Sitting client had messaged me to call when I got up. I called and talked to her about the missing cat. While we were in the middle of our conversation, the missing cat showed up. Yay! When I got off the phone, I let the chickens out and set out fresh food for them. I gave them freshwater and started the sprinkler going on the yard. I walked out to the garden and watered the plants there as well as the plants on the porch. Izzy followed me around while I did the watering, and I petted her here and there.
I put Izzy in the backyard where her dog door is if she needs to get in the house. I made sure she had freshwater and I headed to town. I stopped at my sisters to get Angel. My sister was awake, but Angel was still asleep, I told my sister that if she wanted, she could send Angel home when she woke up. She said that she would do that and I drove home.
As soon as I got out of my truck, my neighbor came up to me and asked if I had time to help her. I was planning on cleaning the church and the bank, but I could do that this evening or tomorrow morning. I told her I had time but I needed to let the dogs out first. The dogs were super excited to see me. I let them out and put them back in the apartment. Then I gave my attention to my neighbor. She proceeded to tell me about some purchases she made online that she didn’t think were valid. Just from her telling me about them I knew they were not valid. I helped her call her bank and there were no strange charges on her card. I told her to go in first thing Monday morning and talk to the bank about her options. Then I advised her not to buy anything online unless it was from somebody she knew. She started saying how this was a terrible world with terrible people. I offered her a different perspective and told her that if you look around you will see that there is more good going on in the world than bad. I pointed out that everything you see on a screen is not real. Real life is what’s happened in this moment. Real life is each breath we take. She said she appreciated the reminder and thanked me for helping her. I told her you’re welcome and gave her a hug.
Next, I walked to M&W to refresh my gratitude sign. Aaron arrived as soon as I got back. Angel left on her bicycle to go spend the day and night with her 75 year old best friend Vickie. I grabbed a few things and got ready to go on an adventure with Aaron. As we were leaving, another couple we knew were outside bringing stuff to the gift shop. The guy started talking to us about a hot springs called White Licks that is no longer useable and is thought to be on private land. I suggested we all go up there together sometime and get it going again. He thought that was a great idea to discuss in the future.
Aaron and I left and went up the Little Weiser river road. We followed it all the way over the mountain and down the other side to Lake Cascade. Then we drove north along the edge of the lake and went back up and over the mountain and came out on the Middle Fork road. It was a fun adventure that took us all day. We stopped several times to explore and let the dogs run and saw some amazing views. At one stop, I waded across Anderson creek onto an island. I attempted to explore the island but the undergrowth was really thick and it was difficult to get around. I got into a patch of stinging nettle and got it on my legs which I ignored. Then I stepped on a log that I didn’t realize was rotted inside. My foot sunk into the log and a spike from a stick almost went into the middle of my foot through my sandal. I was glad that didn’t happen. Instead my foot slide forward and the spike went between my toes scraping them up but it was nothing serious.
When we got back to Council after our adventure, Aaron dropped me off at home and I went out to my overnight pet sitting house. I fed the dog and cats and took a nap on the guest bed. I slept long and woke up at 8:20 PM. I drove over to my friend TJ’s and we hung out outside and talked while the dogs ran around. We made plans to clean out the big chicken house tomorrow.
I went to my apartment and tucked the dogs in for the night. Then I went back to my overnight pet sitting house. I closed up the chickens for the night and put their food away. I went to bed and watched a video a friend had posted of the farmers market in Rockdale, TX. It was nice to see familiar faces of people I know and hear the southern accent. I wrote my blog notes and played Wordle and connections. I went to sleep at 11:30 PM.
Monday, July 21, 2025
Morning prayer:
Good morning God,
- Thank you for this day.
- Thank you for rivers.
- Thank you for great friends.
- Thank you for this life.
- Thank you for love.
I love you!
Dear diary,
I awoke at 4 AM. I posted my blog and went back to sleep at 5:30 AM. At 7:30 AM, I woke again. I stripped the sheets off the bed and started them washing. I fed the dog and the cats and let the chickens out. Then I sat on the front porch and called AAA because I had received a a message on my phone that said my annual AAA payment had gone through for $100. I got on their website and canceled automatic payments and tried to switch my address from my Texas address to my Idaho address, but I kept getting a message to call AAA in order to get my address changed. So I called and they had to switch me to an Idaho representative who wanted to charge me for my annual membership. I told him that I had already been charged. He put me on hold to look into the situation. I was on a hold a good 20 minutes before he got back on the phone, he told me that he had transferred my hundred dollar payment to my Texas AAA account to my Idaho AAA account and everything was settled. I was glad to hear that and got off the phone.
By that time, the sheets were dry and I put them on the bed. Aaron called and we talked on the phone a while. I put Izzy in the backyard and made sure her doggie door to the house was open. Then drove to town and let Little Bit and Musik out to use the bathroom. I started to walk to M&W with the dogs. They are such great dogs, they both walk right with me and do what I tell them. Suddenly, I realized that the cat Sweetie Alabama had gotten out and was following us. I picked her up and carried her with me. When we got to my gratitude sign in front of M&W, I sat on a bench next to the sign and set Sweetie down next to me. Instantly, she jumped down and ran under a van parked in front of the store. I jumped up and tried to catch her but she was too fast and climbed up underneath where I couldn’t reach her. I ran around to the other side of the van and she jumped back onto the sidewalk. The dogs and I chased her down the sidewalk towards the apartment and all was going well until she jumped off the sidewalk and ran under another van parked on front of Seven Devils Cafe. I quickly ran to my truck parked in front of the apartment and put the dogs inside. Then I ran back to the van that Sweetie had gone underneath. She was coming out and I was able to pick her up before she could run. I was grateful that drama was over with. I let the dogs out of the truck and put all the animals in the apartment. Angel came home from my sisters and I made her breakfast. I made myself tea and a smoothie. I realized that Sweetie was out of food, so I walked to M&W again. This time all by myself. I got some dog and cat food and fed the animals. Angel got in the truck while I let the dogs out to go to the bathroom. Then I loaded them in the truck and we picked up pastor Amy from her house.
Before leaving town to harvest some fireweed, we stopped at the coffee shop. I got a chai latte with coconut milk and Angel got a hot chocolate with coconut milk. I saw a friend in there and we talked while waiting in line. When we all got our drinks, we hearted (headed) up the mountain.
I drove the same route that Aaron took me on the other day, just backwards. We went up Middle Fork road all the way over the top of the mountain and down to Lake Cascade. We saw some small patches of fireweed along the route and harvested some. We drove south along the edge of the lake until we got to the bridge that goes to Donnelly. We decided to go eat at the Chinese restaurant there. I ordered broccoli tofu and it was good other than my jaw still hurts when I chew and I have to chew really slow. I prayed and asked God to give me clarity on how to heal my jaw. The answer I got was to let my jaw rest for a while, eat a liquid and soft food diet until my jaw heals.
After we ate, we checked out the coffee shop and continued driving south along the west side of Lake Cascade. We came upon a huge patch of fireweed and Pastor Amy was very excited. I pulled over and we harvested a whole bunch of fireweed. Our rule is to always leave 1/3 of the plants but there were so many fireweed plants that when we finished, you couldn’t even tell that we had harvested any.
Satisfied with our bounty, we continued along Lake Cascade until we got to Anderson creek road. We followed that up the mountain and over the top. Eventually the road turned into the Little Weiser river road and we drove through the area where the Lava fire had burned last year. That was one big hot fire. All the trees were burned to a crisp for miles but the awesome thing is that plants and baby trees are already starting to grow all over in that area.
We came out in Indian Valley and drove into Council. I dropped Pastor Amy off at her house and drove home. I rested for a few minutes. Then I drove out to my overnight pet sitting house. I fed the dog and cats and sat outside with them for a while. The dog isn’t into getting a lot of attention but the cats were rubbing all over me wanting lots of love. After an hour or so, I drove back to town and cleaned the bank. I walked to M&W and got a few things. I fed the dogs and let them out. Then I drove back out to my overnight pet sitting house. I put the chickens up for the night and wrote my blog while I waited in the house for the pet owners to get home. They said before that I didn’t have to wait for them but I sent them a message to make sure. They wrote back a while later saying that their plane just landed and to not wait for them. I left them a thank you card and drove home.
I read 2 chapters from Tornado Jones and Angel and I went to bed. She slept next to me on the trundle bed and we went to sleep at 11 PM.
Tuesday July 22, 2025
Morning prayer:
Good morning God,
- Thank you for this day.
- Thank you for mountains.
- Thank you for laughter.
- Thank you for grace.
- Thank you for love.
I love you!
I awoke at 6 AM. I let the dogs out and wrote my blog. I relaxed and meditated for an hour until Angel woke up, in was nice to be home in my own bed. Angel was hungry, she always wakes up hungry. I made her breakfast and made myself tea and a smoothie. Then I walked to M&W to refresh my gratitude sign. On the way home, I walked over to the vet’s and made an appointment to get Sweetie Alabama fixed.
When I got home, I packed up to go on a day trip with Aaron. He arrived right as a finished getting ready and we loaded up in his truck. We drove to Ontario and I got some groceries at Walmart and did some other shopping. The fun thing about buying things in Ontario is that Oregon doesn’t have any sales tax.
After we finished shopping, we drove the back roads on our way back to Council. I saw some rugged dry country I hadn’t seen before. We stopped a couple of times to let the dogs run. At one point we stopped at a high point and you could see for miles and miles. Another stop had an old manual water pump that I showed to Angel. It hard to pump but eventually water came up. It was really neat.
When we got to Council, Aaron dropped us off at our apartment and I took a long nap. After waking up, I went to my friend TJ’s. I checked on the chicks and gave them more food and water. Then I cleaned her house and borrowed her water bath canner.
When I got home, I walked to M&W to buy pectin and canning lids. Then I made fireweed jelly and canned it. It looked like it might actually be fireweed syrup since it didn’t set but the instructions said to wait 24 hours, so I will see. I cleaned up the kitchen and Angel and I got ready for bed.
I soaked my feet in apple cider vinegar and hydrogen peroxide while I read Angel a couple of chapters from Tornado Jones. My toe was getting infected where it got cut up by a spike I stepped on in the woods the other day. After soaking my foot, I scrubbed it with a wash cloth and it looked much better and will heal up fine now.
Angel and I went to bed. I wrote my blog notes and went to sleep at around 10:30 PM.
Wednesday July 23, 2025
Morning prayer:
Good morning God,
- Thank you for this day.
- Thank you for insects.
- Thank you for discernment.
- Thank you for my health.
- Thank you for people.
- Thank you for love.
I love you!
Dear Diary,
I awoke at 5 AM and let the dogs out. I wrote my blog and went back to sleep. I awoke again at 8 AM. I let the dogs out again and fed them. This was my last day of watching Musik and I will be sad to see her go. Her and Little Bit are good friends and she is such a well behaved dog. I’ve grown quite attached to her.
Angel woke up and I made her breakfast. For myself, I made tea and a smoothie. I walked to M&W and refreshed my sign. Then we left to go to a cleaning opportunity. I arrived at my clients right on time and he had company visiting. His daughter and 2 great grandsons were there. The boys were young, I’m guessing 4 and 6 years old. Angel played outside with the kids while I cleaned.
When I finished, I had an hour before my next cleaning, so I went to the thrift store. While I was there, I saw Aaron. We were standing there talking and he reached over and picked up a bidet that was brand new in the box and asked if I wanted to get it. I did want it! I was glad he saw that. I bought it but didn’t have time I install it before going to my next cleaning opportunity.
When I got to my next cleaning house, Angel did her schoolwork while I cleaned. My client showed Angel a really cool kaleidoscope that she had. Then she told me that she needed to switch me from coming weekly to once a month. She is getting ready to move to Horseshoe Bend in the spring to be near her son and is cutting back on her spending. I will miss her when she is gone, I really enjoy her.
Next, I drove to my last cleaning opportunity. My client started me out watering all her outside plants which I love doing. Then I did some cleaning inside and Angel finished all her schoolwork for the day.
We got home and shortly after, Musik’s owner came and got her. She didn’t want to go with him at first. She was enjoying her life with me. She really liked going on adventures in the mountains. Her owner called her over a few times and she decided to go with him after all. I hope they have me watch her again. I really liked having her.
I got busy installing the bidet and everything went smoothly. It was easy to install and I am thrilled to have a bidet now. I feel so much cleaner using one of those. Toilet paper isn’t enough and I usually hose myself off “down there” in the shower after going poop. Now I won’t have to use the shower. Yay! I’m living the luxury life.
I walked to the bank and cleaned it. Then I walked to my older sisters. My younger sister was there too. I visited with them for a few minutes but I got the feeling they wanted to visit without me and I had crashed their party, so I didn’t stay long. I don’t think my sisters like me that much and that’s ok. I’m different and I think differently but I like me. I enjoy my own company and I am secure in who I am.
I walked home and Angel and I got ready to do another overnight pet sitting opportunity in New Meadows taking care of the dog Lucky. We take care of Lucky quite often. It was a nice drive to New Meadows and we saw some elk crossing the highway. It’s the first time I’ve seen elk since I’ve moved back to Idaho. I look forward to hearing them bugle in the fall. It is such an amazing sound.
Lucky was happy to see us. She ran around with Little Bit while we got settled in. We went to bed and I finished reading Tornado Jones to Angel. I wrote my blog notes and we went to sleep at 10:30 PM.
Thank you for reading my blog and being a part of my life. I appreciate you.
Love, Victoria
P.S. this blog post was inspired by the Holy Spirit.
P. S. S. This was Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. A lot has happened since then. Stay tuned.