Crows Before Coffee and Constellations by Noon

Last night was rough, I got woke up twice to help deal with aria, who was heartbroken she had lost her tv for the night due to not following the rules. But this is the 4th night in a row we havent slept and lily being here should not make us not follow the rules. Either way, by the time 4:30 woke up i was already half awake and ready to start today. I threw on somthing comfy for the day and got started with my morning tarot draw. This time using my Egyptian Gods Oracle Deck as I was gonna cry if the mometo deck gave me another mercy card again. Instead I pulled Geb, an everlasting reminder that our work shall be fruitful and prosper as long as we keep working like we are.

God of earth and all animals. He is usually depicted lying on the ground, with plants and fruit on his body, or as a bearded man with a goose on his head, the emblem representing the heiroglyph of his name. Geb symbolises wealth, fertility and abundance of nature, but also its most feared forces. With Geb you can trust in slow but constant development, such as the realization of a project or the conclusion of a program. You might experience extremely pleasant, tranquil and tender emotions, full of harmony and moral integrity.

After I sorted through all three clipboards and pulled out today’s work from the folders, it was time to tend to the sourdough. In my half-asleep delirium, I forgot to measure anything—my starter ended up thicker than usual, but it would do just fine. By then, the rooster had started his morning song, crowing loudly to welcome the sunrise. Since it was Franklin’s day off, I knew I’d be hearing his usual morning complaints about “that damn rooster” any minute now. The girls, already awake at this ungodly hour, heard the rooster’s crow for the first time in the morning and were thrilled. They’re usually only around to hear him gripe about imaginary rain, so this was a big moment.

Snappy going after food

Next came the morning animal chores. I started with the turtle, like always, and worked my way to the dogs. By the time I finished with Freya, Franklin was up and getting ready to help—thankfully, because I desperately needed to start pancakes. While he wrapped up the rest of the dogs, I headed out to scatter scratch grain for the chickens and ducks. As Franklin gave Jezebel her bottle, I took care of feeding Bushka. That left waters, colony cats, Trapper, hay, the goats, and little Harley for Dameion to handle. The goats’ tires still needed to be moved from the playground back to the front yard, and that was one task I knew I couldn’t manage today.

Chickens happy for scratch grains.

With the animals tended to (for the most part), I moved on to making pancakes for the girls while Franklin rounded up and prepped their cups. Before long, all three had a warm pancake in front of them and a glass of Lactaid to go with it. I left a plate stacked with extras in the kitchen for any hungry adults to grab. With breakfast settled, it was time to get everyone dressed and ready to tackle the day—first on the list: cleaning their room and diving into our schoolwork.

By nap time, we had already packed in quite a bit. The girls watched two videos on constellations, sorted their 2D and 3D shapes, flew through their summer flashcards, and completed both the Perfect Picnic worksheets and picnic-themed flashcards. Dameion had finished the morning round of animal chores and was heading out on the afternoon dog walk. Charlie had prepped peanut butter and jelly for lunch, which the girls happily devoured before curling up for their afternoon nap. Meanwhile, I had powered through three loads of dishes, two rounds of laundry, and managed to pick up about a quarter of the house—progress in its own right.

During nap time, I managed to squeeze in a couple more loads of dishes and laundry before finally taking a small rest myself. While I napped, Dameion tried to fix the bathroom sink faucet, but it turns out the replacement I picked up didn’t fit—so he had to put everything back together and wait for the next one to come in. Not long after, the girls were up again and snacking on homemade goldfish crackers, signaling that the second half of the day was ready to begin.

After nap, Dameion took the girls outside to play on the playground while Franklin walked the first four dogs. Once the girls had their fill of running around, Franklin brought them inside to unwind with some TV and toys while he finished walking the last of the dogs. We wrapped up the day with pizza for dinner, and Lily headed back home to Grandma. The girls settled in for their nightly movie, and not long after, I laid down myself—completely spent and ready to call the day done.