Beneath an Uncertain Sky

I woke around 4 this morning, the house still tucked into darkness. After getting dressed, I drew my tarot card for the day: The Pedestal. A reminder to look upward, to seek something worth striving toward. I’m hoping the card holds some truth for me today.

something of value. looking up. feeling important. aspiration. lonely at the top.

The weather was unsettled — one of those days where the clouds can’t decide if they’ll keep their rain. In the end, I chose to keep the goats in and the stand closed. The air felt too unpredictable, and I wasn’t willing to risk it. My first small victory was tackling the girls’ folders. Without the mountain of laminated sheets I’d dealt with earlier this week, it went quickly — no towering stack of fifty pages slowing me down.

Once their work was sorted, I shifted into my cleaning routine. Between rooms, I turned to labeling the tins of lemongrass salve, taking my time with each one so every label was smooth and centered. I set my peach pot from last night in the sink; Charlie had been kind enough to get the peaches into a freezer bag, where the cold would help the sugars break down more. Once that pot was clean, I’d be able to start the elderberry gummies.

I changed up my dog routine today, starting with Ali. He got his own quiet bowl of food before I paused to fix the girls a little breakfast — a cup of milk, a muffin, a piece of sausage, and their morning gummies. While they set about cleaning their room, I took Luci outside and gave him a bowl of food. By then, Dameion was up and took over the dogs for me.

When the girls’ room passed inspection, we settled in for school. We began with our read-aloud, then seashell flashcards, followed by a classification sheet, a “count the spirals” activity, and a shell match-and-trace. We learned about hermit crabs and then the lifecycle of the queen conch, complete with a matching worksheet. From there, it was onto zoo flashcards, tracing the number four, and learning our four tables before nap time arrived.

elderberry syrup

During nap, I moved between cleaning and making elderberry syrup, the warm, rich scent filling the kitchen. Then, exhaustion caught me and I gave in to a short nap myself. When I woke, tooth pain had crept in — sharp, insistent, and impossible to ignore. Charlie stepped in and took over with the girls, letting them spend the rest of the evening in play. Dameion finished moving the chickens, and I retreated to rest, the rest of the day slipping quietly past me.

better housing for the poultry