Schoolwork, Seashells, and Saving Jezebel

Today began at 4 a.m. I was up, dressed, and ready to start the day. I reached for my Herbalism Astrology deck and pulled Gotu Kola—a sign that the day might hold something interesting.

hermit, solitude, soul searching, realization, greater knowing, enlightenment

I moved on to editing and posting yesterday’s blog entry. With that out of the way, it was time for the daily weather check. The forecast showed a high enough chance of rain that I decided to keep the shop closed, but the goats could still graze. Dameion planned to take Lily out today, and they’d work on the chicken coop together—unless the rain arrived early. I still had a pile of baking recipes to get through, but dinner would likely be a leftover night, so at least that part of the day was decided.

Next was prepping schoolwork. By 7:20, I had finished getting everything ready for the girls. Along with the usual folders and clipboards, they were wrapping up their Summer Bucket List packet, so I needed to print and organize their new Fishing packet. I also laminated and ring-bound three books they made yesterday—one for each child. Once that was done, I placed my Walmart order for the day, cleared the stand camera, and fed my sourdough starter.

snappy

Then it was on to the animals, starting with the turtle and then moving to the dogs. Once the walks were done, I began cooking breakfast for the girls. In the middle of cooking, Charlie woke up to help—only to discover his bag had sprung a leak overnight. He headed for the shower while I stripped the sheets, started laundry, and stashed the pillows, all while finishing breakfast. It was a big one today: two types of sausage (links for me, patties for the girls), scrambled duck eggs, and toast. Once the girls were fed, they got dressed and headed to their room.

While the girls cleaned, Dameion woke and began tending to the rest of the animals. I started my daily cleaning routine. Once their room was tidy, we gathered for our morning book, worked on a honey locust pod worksheet (I think), and made moth brew. The girls had lunch next, but before naptime, Lily started feeling sick. After a couple more bouts of vomiting, she was sent to nap with the others while a bigger emergency took my attention.

Moth Brew: bananas, beer, pineapple gelatin, molasses

Dameion called me over—Jezebel was lethargic. I tried baking soda first to rule out bloat, then oil in case it was choke, but nothing helped. We rushed her to the vet, where they diagnosed aspiration pneumonia along with what appears to be a preexisting respiratory illness. She was treated with injections of Draxxin, Banamine, and B Complex.

on the way to the vet

When I got back home, the girls and I worked on their seashell flashcards. Then we cut out and baked our seashell cookies, though I was too tired to make the icing tonight. Dinner was simple, and afterward we all laid down, checking in on Jezebel regularly. Before heading down to his sleeping area, Dameion let us know she had finally taken a bottle.

Today was a hard one.

at the vet