What do I do with my Day?

Every weekend I phone my mum to find out how she is and ask what she has been up to, then for at least the next half hour she tells me about the lunches she has had, the meetings she has attended, the reports she has written, the sewing she has done, the people who have visited and the bills she has paid.  Once I have heard about the week that has just gone, she always asks me the same question..."so how was your week, what have you been up to?"  Of late I have been wondering myself what have I been doing and what have I been up to?????  Do I really spend my time doing nothing?????  Am I turning into one of those people who wile away their days achieving nothing in particular????  So I decided I was going to make a list of the things that I spend my week doing, so next weekend when I talk to my mum I can tell her quite emphatically exactly what it is that steals my time....

As most people who know me well, know, I am up at 3.30 in the morning. Yes, I know it is early and believe me I also wish I could lie in bed and sleep just a few more hours, but believe me if I don't get up at that time then the Lucas household would come to a standstill.

So, I'm up at 3.30 come winter or summer...my days all begin the same and I now know that I am the kind of person who likes routine.  Routine means that I can go about my business almost in a trance, with my mind occupied elsewhere...always thinking about other people, wondering how they are, remembering conversations, saying a quick prayer.   If I mess up my routine I am lost, absolutely lost, I can't think and my mind becomes a mass of sludge where nothing can be found.  So the first thing I do is feed Rolo and Smokey...food, fresh water and milk.  Then I fill and switch on the kettle for my first cup of tea.  While the kettle is heating I pack the dishes that have drip dried overnight.  Then I sterilize all the surfaces in the kitchen ready for the mornings work.  I set out Johan's breakfast dishes, put coffee ready in his cup and pack him lunch and snacks for the day.  Then I wash the extra bowls that came in from the aviary the night before when Johan locked up for the night.  I strain the mealies and rinse them then put them on to cook ready to add to the parrots food.   Next I strain the soaked fine seed and oats and mix it in to the laying mash, egg food and garlic, cut up the apples, adding some to the squirrel mix and the rest to the sunflower seed for the parrots. By this time, amazingly it is 5am and with my second cup of tea I sit down in the lounge in front of the TV to watch whatever preacher is on for the next half hour, while I grate more apples, carrots and beetroot.  This usually takes half an hour and I know it would be so much quicker if I did it all in the magi-mix, but if I did that then first I would wake both Johan and NiQi and second I wouldn't be able to listen to Angus Buchan or Creflo Dollar or any of the others that are on at this time, because of the noise it would make...so hand grating is the best for me at this time.  5.30am and the grated vegetables are thoroughly mixed into the mash and soft food.... I feed William, who, because he is blind, eats in the kitchen, then unlock and let the 3 pups outside.  Next I let Trinity and Purdy out from where they sleep, feed all the rest of the dogs, get the horse food and feed all 6 of them...separately and routinely....they all know who is fed where from the first to the last.  Once they have been fed I open up the shed and bird room, switch on the lights and make my way to feed the peafowl and chickens, turning on the tap so the hose will top up the horses water as I go past....switch off the water, fill up