Miller Farm Friday

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!

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.

16 02, 2024

Self-Control

By |2024-02-15T19:31:55-06:00February 16th, 2024|Friday on the Miller Farm, Miller Farm Friday|0 Comments

A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara


I went to TMEA last weekend (Texas Music Educators Association) conference. It is the largest music conference in the country.

There were over five hundred workshops to choose from and that was only the elementary and general sessions. There were also vocal, orchestral, and band sessions.

To top it off, the exhibit hall is amazing.

Our oldest daughter was working at a booth there so I would stop by to check on her regularly.

 

I told myself I would not spend all my money on materials for my classes. I needed to buy kazoos for my 3rd and 4th grade classes, things for my music store, and bulletin board materials.

I did very well. The only extra thing I bought was a wolf puppet. There is a game involved and I had promised my students I would learn new games to teach them.

I’m impressed with my self-control!

Not so sure about how good it will be at the upcoming Bookfair😉.

9 02, 2024

Google Eyes

By |2024-02-08T17:14:09-06:00February 9th, 2024|Friday on the Miller Farm, Miller Farm Friday|0 Comments

A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara


Google eyes are magical. They turn ordinary objects into whimsical characters. I bought a giant set of Google eyes to go with my collection.

I’m using them in my classroom this year since I have a room to decorate.

In December, I tried to put a Rudolph on my door. The wind kept blowing him off.

For January, I put a snowman on my bulletin board. The students loved it!

This month I have put a giant heart.

2 02, 2024

Music Sweater

By |2024-01-26T10:49:26-06:00February 2nd, 2024|Friday on the Miller Farm, Miller Farm Friday|0 Comments

A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara


When I was in college, my parents bought me a music sweater for Christmas.  It is a cardigan, so I wear it every winter as my coat.  Living in Texas it is usually all I need.

I have never seen another one like it at all the music conventions I have been to through the years.

Over time, the button holes stretched out and it no longer stayed buttoned.  This year I decided to remedy that situation by replacing the buttons.

While I was working on it, I decided to remove the shoulder pads that had been popular when I got it in the 80s but now just got in the way.

Now my sweater stays buttoned, and I am not fighting the shoulder pads.

I’m ready for another 35 years of Texas winters!

26 01, 2024

The Dragon

By |2024-01-19T10:47:01-06:00January 26th, 2024|Friday on the Miller Farm, Miller Farm Friday|1 Comment

A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara


There was a dragon In our front yard recently.

I heard it roar as I was studying at my desk. I looked out the window, but it was dark, and I didn’t see anything.

When Beekeeper Brian woke up, I told him about the dragon. He bravely went outside but didn’t see it. I figured it was probably an invisible dragon.

I was very cautious as I got into my car to go to work.

When I got home, Beekeeper Brian announced he had slain the dragon, which was just a plastic bag full of cans that the wind blew through. He put the bag in the back of his truck to take to the metal recycling center.

I am glad to have a knight in shining armor to slay my dragons. Even if they are just a plastic bag full of cans blowing in the wind.

19 01, 2024

Baking with Bill

By |2023-12-31T09:07:48-06:00January 19th, 2024|Friday on the Miller Farm, Miller Farm Friday|0 Comments

A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara


Bill, the Chinese student who lived with us through high school has now graduated from college. I drove up to his school to bring him back to Miller Farm for Christmas.

On my way, I stopped at a bakery and picked up some of our favorite cookies. I had asked the bakery for the recipe but they said no. I tried to duplicate it on my own but did not have the results I wanted so I resigned myself to buying them.

Bill was able to find a recipe online very quickly. He was shocked that I had not searched for it online. We went to the store to get the ingredients and soon had a pretty close replica of the cookies.

Bill was so excited that he decided we should try more recipes.

So, we made Key Lime cookies.

Next, he wanted to make Snowball cookies to complete the Christmas color scheme.

 

 

I thought we were finished. After all, we had three different cookies.

But then we bought coconut macaroons at a local farmers market and Bill wanted to try to make those.

I made the mistake of mentioning that Black and White cookies were part of our Christmas tradition so…There was one more recipe Bill wanted to try – Thumbprint cookies.

What started as a quest for the perfect Cherry Icebox cookie ended with six different cookies to share with many happy family members.

12 01, 2024

Another Playground

By |2023-12-30T16:16:05-06:00January 12th, 2024|Friday on the Miller Farm, Miller Farm Friday|0 Comments

A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara


My grandsons (and their parents) were in town for a family gathering the week before Christmas. We continued our tour of playgrounds by visiting the playground on our church property. When we arrived, there was a digger working on the pavilion so I knew it was going to be a great time.

The boys explored the playground for a bit then decided to walk around the property. It was a beautiful day so we started walking.

Along the way, we discovered a large pile of sticks. Alex had to find just the right one. It was a lengthy process. Theo had to have his own stick.

When it was time to leave, Alex decided to take his stick to the playground so it would be there “next time.”

He left it at the bottom of the slide.

As we were leaving, a bulldozer had joined the digger.

It was like a double feature to end a glorious day at the playground.

15 12, 2023

Ugly Christmas Sweater

By |2023-12-13T14:55:54-06:00December 15th, 2023|Friday on the Miller Farm, Holidays, Miller Farm Friday|0 Comments

A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara


Our school is doing a dress-up theme every day this week. Thursday is ugly sweater day.

I have the perfect sweater. And it has a story. The story first appeared in my December 2014 blog.

Twenty-one (now thirty) years ago, my parents gave me a Christmas sweater. It was something they knew I would never buy for myself but would love.

They were right. I wore that sweater for many years starting with our daughter’s first Christmas. This very same daughter has borrowed the sweater not once but twice to enter her “tacky Christmas sweater” contests. This year she’s loaning it out.

I would be offended except for two years running, my sweater has won.

I think I deserve at least some kind of prize for having held on to that sweater long enough for college kids to think it is tacky.

I can’t wait to wear it on Thursday. I hope people are ready to hear the story. It is what makes the sweater the most interesting ugly sweater on earth!

~Read the original blog here: https://judythewriter.com/don-we-now-our-ugly-holiday-sweaters/

8 12, 2023

Old Dog New Tricks

By |2023-12-07T20:34:21-06:00December 8th, 2023|Friday on the Miller Farm, Miller Farm Friday|1 Comment

A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara


We got our first dog, Marv, from the vet school in town. He was a lab mix and lived in our backyard. We got him a food bowl but the first thing he did when we put food in it was to sling it all over the ground.

We decided to save him from that step and just dumped his food on the ground instead of using the bowl. He was happy.

Now we have smaller dogs that live inside. They each have their own bowl and their own spot in the kitchen.

None of them can pick up their bowls and dump them out but Max has learned a new trick. He flicks the pieces of food out of the bowl with his tongue.

They end up all over the floor. It is impressive. I guess you can teach an old dog new tricks!

 

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