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25 03, 2024

A Reminder: Back Up Your World on March 31, World Backup Day

By |2024-03-24T17:15:10-05:00March 25th, 2024|Make Me Think Monday|2 Comments

 We’ve heard news stories of data breaches at corporations.

Too many of us have had at least one notice of our secure data being captured by the ever-increasing threat of ransomware and viruses.

Yet, most of us haven’t ever heard of World Backup Day unless we’ve worked in a tech field.

Way back when computers were first entering the world of education, I taught computer literacy.No, not computer science. I’m not a techie. I have no formal computer science training.

I taught seventh and eighth-grade students word processing, databases, spreadsheets, and basic programming. That gave me a healthy appreciation for backups and protecting data.

In the early onset of computing, we used external discs for storage, and I promise there is nothing sadder in the world than a twelve or fourteen-year-old whose disk went missing or became corrupt and all their work lost.

To this day, I have backups of backups following the  3-2-1 rule.

  • Three copies of everything
  • Stored on two different pieces of media,
  • One of which is off-site and immutable.

I back up daily. All my published books have a zip drive along with at least one hard copy. Personal files are saved to an external drive. I use multiple cloud storage services, zip drive USBs, and print critical files.

Like I said, I believe in backing up and not just one day a year.

Do you back up your data?

We can’t be responsible for corporations or other places where our data resides, but personal computer data is our responsibility.

That’s why I’m sharing this infographic about World Backup Day from the University of Washington.

22 03, 2024

Lifelong Learning

By |2024-03-19T17:54:31-05:00March 22nd, 2024|Uncategorized|0 Comments

A blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara


Our church recently hosted our annual Spring Break Bible Camp.  It has evolved over the years, and now we meet at the land where our building will be. This year we have a pavilion so the threat of rain was not worrisome.

One of the activities is run by a family that has developed a science curriculum.  Actually, it is more than just a curriculum.  They have renovated an Airstream to be a mobile science lab.  It is really neat to see this program expand. https://www.sciencebetweenthepages.com/homepage.html

They planned projects to reinforce the concept taught at the beginning of the evening.

Tuesday night we talked about how we cannot see God but can see evidence that He is there.  It is like the wind so for our science project, the younger students made wind socks. The older kids made anemometers.

That was a new word for me and I have tried to use it as often as possible.  An anemometer is a device that measures wind speed.

We used two straws, four small dixie cups, a pencil, and a straight pin. It was so  fun!

I was reminded of our principal who always encourages students to be lifelong learners.  I, for one, am taking his advice to heart.

18 03, 2024

Wearing of the Green

By |2024-03-16T12:20:37-05:00March 18th, 2024|Writer's Life|0 Comments

On St. Patrick’s Day, everyone is Irish for a day. I count myself Irish for the other 364 days too.

My Irish heritage can be traced through both my mother and father’s parents. Mama Callahan Smith, my daddy’s grandmother, and my mother’s mother Oma Johnson Ulit. Both families’ heritage can be traced to the Emerald Isle.

I still remember the first time I felt my Irish genes. I’d tagged along on my husband’s business trip not thinking about the family stories of Irish heritage.

When I looked out the airplane’s window as we descended for landing, my blood truly began to tingle, and my heart sang at the site of the green fields below. I dipped my hand in the River Shannon and knew I’d found home.

After ten trips, those roots solidified and my love of all things Irish grew deep.

It’s why you’re likely to find characters with an Irish background in my books. There’s even an entire book set in Ireland, Claiming Annie’s Heart.

Something else happened when I went to Ireland – a very native-sounding brogue surfaced. It filtered into my writing so much that my copy editors must correct syntax when proofing my books for publication.

I wore my green yesterday and celebrated Ireland’s patron saint, Patrick, who, as you may know, wasn’t even Irish but English. Still, he’s credited with bringing Christianity to Ireland … and if you believe the Irish folklore, chased all the snakes away.

I hope your St. Patrick’s Day included a wee bit of green too. After all, 38,597,428 people claimed they were Irish alone or in any combination during the 2020 Census. That’s 16.4% of the overall population.

Happy Day After St. Patrick’s Day!

15 03, 2024

Forest of Figs

By |2024-03-15T09:21:55-05:00March 15th, 2024|Friday on the Miller Farm, Miller Farm Friday|0 Comments

A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara


Beekeeper Brian loves figs. His grandmother made fig preserves and I have been able to replicate the recipe. I’ve also found a recipe for a fresh fig cake that we both love.

Many people who have fig trees do not like figs. This has been to our benefit as we have picked many figs off other people’s trees. Alas, those trees have died, or the people have moved on, so we are left to produce our supply.

This is not easy. We have tried multiple times to plant a fig tree in our yard, but the scorching summers are too much for it.

This year Brian has a renewed determination. He has researched different varieties and has six pots with a couple of different varieties of fig trees growing in them.

They made it through the winter, and we are hopeful to be able to plant them in the ground at some point this year.

Three will go to the community garden that our church has nearby.  The others will stay on Miller Farm.

Brian recently visited his father 2 hours south of here and brought back a different variety of fig tree.

He has put the cuttings in water and sealed off the tops hoping that they will root.

There are seven potential trees. If they all grow into trees, we will have our own fig forest.

I may be looking for more fig recipes!

11 03, 2024

The Sayings of March

By |2024-03-11T08:53:34-05:00March 11th, 2024|Make Me Think Monday|1 Comment

March always brings two sayings to mind. The origins and meanings of both fascinate me.

The first is  “March comes in like a lion, and goes out like a lamb.”

Old Man Winter doesn’t want to turn loose which is why March is said to come in like a lion—roaring with snow, ice, blustery winds, and cold temperatures—and end on a gentle, spring note.

While the adage most likely refers to the weather, other sources trace its origins to the stars. In the night sky, you can see two constellations on the western horizon – Leo the Lion and Aries the Ram (or lamb).

Leo rises in early March, coming in “like a lion.” By the end of the month, Leo is overhead, while Aries is setting on the western horizon. Hence, the month goes out like a lamb.

Another theory claims the saying is biblical and the animal references are symbolic. The problem is that conjecture is theologically inaccurate. Jesus came to earth as a lamb and will return as the Lion of Judah, backward from the myth.

Around here, our March arrived with temperatures soaring to the eighties and high winds! No snow, no cold. Kinda contradicts the saying.

Perhaps the best solution for what the saying means is to take it at face value. March may start with fierce weather, but it’s always a clear signal spring is coming.

Next, “Beware of the Ides of March.”

I first heard the saying while studying William Shakespeare‘s Julius Caesar in high school. You’re probably familiar with the soothsayer’s warning too.

Not only did Shakespeare’s words stick, but the date, March 15 became branded with a dark and gloomy connotation.

But the origin of the phrase was not sinister. March 15 was a normal day in the Roman calendar meaning halfway through the month and coincided with the rise of the full moon.

Ides comes from the old Latin verb iduare, which meant “to divide.” Every month has an Ides. In March, May, July, and October ides fell on the 15th, and in the other months, it came on the 13th.

During Roman times, the March ides was the deadline for settling debts. So perhaps, some Romans did consider the date ominous even before Shakespeare dramatized the 44 B.C. assassination of Julius Caesar.

Unfortunately, the soothsayer’s warning in Shakespeare’s play forever linked the date with bad luck.

Check out these things associated with March 15:

  1.  Smithsonian list of historical events that have occurred on March 15.
  2. The UK’s Independent’s five worst events that have happened on March 15

Terrible things can happen any day. So can good things:

11 Wonderful Things That Have Happened on the Ides of March

If I should receive any warnings about the Ides of March, I’m going to side with caution. I don’t want a day like the one Julius Caesar had.

8 03, 2024

Movement Help

By |2024-03-06T09:20:08-06:00March 8th, 2024|Friday on the Miller Farm, Miller Farm Friday|0 Comments

A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara


I started a fitness program offered by my insurance that involves mostly stretching. It allows you to target a particular area, so I have been able to get relief from chronic neck pain.

It also encourages movement in any form to help keep pain in check.

I think the birds in the backyard have heard about this component as they have required more movement in the mornings lately.

The turkey has become increasingly grumpy and now will jump at me requiring some special movements I call the “turkey dance.”

It is like the chicken dance but with less arm flapping and more foot moving.

The ducks have also joined the campaign. They have decided to run out of the door of their coop when I go in to feed them.

This means I get to “herd” them back into their space.

I quickly learned to leave the chickens and turkey locked in their coop until I have fed the ducks and herded them all back to their home.

That way I am not trying to do the turkey dance while herding ducks.

There is no place on my fitness app to record turkey dancing or duck herding. I just call it movement and leave it at that.

I’m not sure any of the coaches who monitor the site would understand the life of a chicken wrangler/turkey dancer/duck herder.

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