Monthly Archives: October 2017

6 10, 2017

Lessons from the Morning Glories

By |2017-10-04T20:30:12-05:00October 6th, 2017|Miller Farm Friday|1 Comment

A blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara

I am a morning person. I wake up before my alarm goes off at 5:00 most mornings. I enjoy seeing the sun rise over the chicken yard and hearing the quiet before everyone else wakes up. Another thing I enjoy is seeing the morning glories in our back yard.Originally they were along the fence but this year I have noticed them out in the back yard.

Then I noticed them among the canna lilies in the front yard.

 

 

 

Next they appeared on the fence outside my classroom then on the grass close by.

 

 

 

 

I’m thinking there is a lesson in these morning glories.  They spread their beauty and cheer wherever they go.  Perhaps I should do the same.

I went to take pictures of the flowers one afternoon and discovered they were wilted.I think there is a message here also.  If every day starts at 5:00 am, it is ok to wilt, i.e. take a nap, every afternoon.  I like that plan.

4 10, 2017

Opening Doors or Gates

By |2017-10-03T10:18:17-05:00October 4th, 2017|Wednesday Words of Wisdom|1 Comment

I love this quote by Emerson. Though the picture shows a gate on an Irish path I once walked, the application is the same as though that gate were a door.

Emerson’s words can have different meanings. Simply put, when we open a door, we do two things:

  1. Invite something to happen
  2. Give someone opportunities

I didn’t have to open the gate in the picture, but I did choose to walk through and siege the opportunity. On the other side, I found a farmer with his dog, and we had a lovely conversation.

When you encounter a door or a gate will you do what Emerson suggests and be an opener?

2 10, 2017

Living in a Certified Wildlife Habitat

By |2018-05-01T15:46:18-05:00October 2nd, 2017|Writer's Life|3 Comments

We tell people we bought the massive hundreds-of-years-old live oak tree in our front yard and the house came with it.

So far, all who see the tree agree we made a wise decision.

But the wonderful tree is not the only thing that attracted us to our lovely little cabin house in a wooded development.

There was this sign.

The real estate agent explained the owners had landscaped the yard to provide a sustainable habitat for wildlife then submitted their yard design elements to the National Wildlife Federation and received the certification.

I loved that!

Coming from the Rio Grande National Forest in Colorado, I didn’t expect to see bears, moose, or fox like we had there, but a mama whitetail deer and her twin fawns can be seen in our backyard. Several other does, their fawns, and a couple of bucks are usually around on our early morning walks.Sitting on our back porch glider, songbirds serenade us, toads croak, colorful butterflies dart among the flowers while squirrels scamper in the grass. We constantly dodge hummingbirds zooming to feeders.

We recently spotted a blue jay in the front birdbath with a chickadee patiently waiting his turn on the ground below and a cardinal at the bird feeder hanging nearby—all at the same time.

And there are always birds and butterflies in the waterfall the previous owners created as a water feature for wildlife.

It’s so relaxing. It almost makes the heat and humidity of the Texas Gulf Coast bearable. Almost. I’m a native Texan, but I don’t think I’ll ever fully adjust to Texas weather.

Curious about how to invite wildlife back to your own yard and neighborhood? It’s not as hard as you might think. Your landscape must include:

Food: Native plants to provide nectar, seeds, nuts, fruits, berries, foliage, pollen and insects for wildlife. Feeders can supplement natural food sources.

Water: All animals need water to survive and some need it for bathing or breeding as well.

Cover: Wildlife needs places to find shelter from bad weather and places to hide from predators or stalk prey.

Places to Raise Young: Wildlife needs resources to reproduce and keep their species going. Some species have totally different habitat needs in their juvenile phase than they do as adults.

Sustainable Practices: How you manage your garden can have an effect on the health of the soil, air, water and habitat for native wildlife as well as the human community.

Already have those things? You might be eligible to have certified wildlife habitat status too. Check out the National Wildlife Foundation website for all the details.

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