From Sunrise to Funnel Cakes

I was up by 4 a.m. this morning—though I’ll admit, it took a good 30 minutes to convince my body to start moving. By 4:30, Franklin was out the door and off to work, and the quiet of the house settled in.

I reached for my tarot deck—the Momento one today—and drew the Charm card. It left me with one of those cryptic little riddles that sticks in your brain, nudging at you all day, asking to be unraveled. A soft reminder that magic tends to whisper, not shout.

a gift. whimsical. decoration. an amulet. something pretty. a trophy. magical powers

I pulled up the 24-hour radar to check the weather. There was a slight covering on the map that hinted at afternoon storms, but nothing certain. Still, my gut told me to play it safe. The goats would stay in today, and the stand would remain closed. I reassigned Dameion to the gardens—there’s always something to be done out there—and told him that if the rain did come, he could shift to the endless indoor repairs we never seem to catch up on.

With a white chocolate Starbucks in hand, I tracked down the original cracker recipe I used last month and sent it over to Charlie. Yesterday’s batch hadn’t passed the taste test, and I’m convinced it’s because he used a different recipe. Some things just aren’t meant to be improvised.

Dinner was already planned—thankfully. After last night’s pizza cheat and a visit to the parental units, I had pork fried rice planned for tonight. It’s simple, filling, and something everyone here will happily eat without fuss.

Now it was time to wake up my little helper for the day. Aria had her turn yesterday, so today it was Sephy’s. After getting her dressed, she joined me to help with the sourdough starter. She carefully counted the numbers on the scale and gave it a good stir once everything was added. I had to go back in after her to finish mixing it properly, but her effort was adorable all the same.

sephy feeding snappy

Next up was feeding the fish. Sephy’s still so tiny I had to lift her up so she could drop the food into the tank—something she always looks forward to. Then it was time to walk the dogs—or rather, I walked the dogs and Sephy walked with me. I timed it this morning: it took us 35 minutes to walk all six dogs, which included me carrying her for nearly all of Alister’s walk since he insisted on smothering her with affection the entire time.

sephy and harley

After that, I prepped a bottle for Jezebel, and Sephy happily joined me to feed the baby sheep. She was over the moon—she loves that part of the day. Meanwhile, Charlie had woken up with his ostomy bag leaking again and in a fair bit of pain, so I sent him off to take a shower. While he was getting cleaned up, Sephy and I finished the morning animal chores, and I got a fresh bag cut for him.

sephy feeding jezebel

Then it was off to feed the chickens and ducks. Sephy tossed in the feed and even got to pet a chicken, but after that brief interaction, she was ready to make a quick exit from the run. We made our way over to visit Bushka next, where she got in some kitty cuddles before heading off to the room to watch TV with Aria. I still had about an hour left before breakfast time, so I took the chance to make the bed and get a jumpstart on the day.

sephy feeding chickens

Once Charlie was out of the shower and settled with a new bag, I dove into my daily cleaning routine. I managed to knock out a couple of loads of dishes, start a load of laundry, and even give the bathroom a quick clean while Charlie made breakfast and filled cups for the girls.

sephy and bushka

After the girls ate, they went to their room to make sure it was tidy while Charlie and I prepped their first school assignment of the day—handmade wind chimes. While gathering supplies, I also prepped a fresh gallon of lamb’s milk and tucked it into the fridge for later.

egg wind chimes

Not long after, Dameion was up and the house was officially in full swing. We finished making our wind chimes and Charlie hung them up in the girls’ room. Sephy wrapped up her glitter feather project, and the girls moved on to coloring their India-themed sheets while enjoying some popcorn for their morning snack.

Sephys glitter feather

Dameion headed out for the midday dog walk while the girls and I worked through their shape flashcards. Afterward, we pulled out a shape cutter and some tortillas to make fun tortilla chips, topped with melted cheese for a quick, creative lunch.

shape tortilla chips

Soon enough, it was nap time.

While the girls rested, Charlie got to work on the laminate pile for the day while I continued cleaning. He prepped dinner, and I placed a small Walmart order to restock a few things. Before long, it was time for the girls to wake up.

Once they were up, they nibbled on some leftover tortilla chips while we eased back into schoolwork. Franklin took the dogs out for their third walk of the day while we tackled a full list: shape stamp painting, summer flashcards, the watermelon seed counting game, sea shell flashcards, a conch shell "by twos" activity, and we wrapped up with our picnic flashcards.

Dinner turned into a few simple bowls of plain rice for the girls—they decided to pass on the fried rice—and then it was off to bed for the night.

After they were tucked in, I returned to the toy corner I’ve been trying to finish. If it’s not done today… well, tomorrow’s another chance. I could feel myself starting to run on empty, but I pushed through a bit longer. Charlie, meanwhile, was in the kitchen making funnel cakes for the girls to enjoy with breakfast in the morning.

Soon, the storms rolled in—and honestly, I was ready to be done for the night.