Miller Farm Friday Archives - View from the Front Porch

22 09, 2023

Puppy Love

By judythemorgan|2023-09-20T16:14:47-05:00September 22nd, 2023|Friday on the Miller Farm, Miller Farm Friday|0 Comments

A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara

It has been 8 years since we had a puppy in the house and at that time, we had both Max and Penelope who would entertain each other.

Honor has no siblings in the house so when I get up with her in the morning, I become one big chew toy.

I have been trying to start my day with some stretching exercises and am usually successful until I get down on the floor on my mat. The extra weight on my back as I do planks is fine. But the mess she makes of my hair – not so fine.

I’ve thought about introducing a new hairstyle “Teased by Honor” but I’m not sure anyone else would like it. There is also the fact that she gets stuck in my hair and is no fun to extract.

This week her antics inspired a poem:

Honor’s Toys

My hand’s not a chew toy

Nor is the chair.

Don’t chew on the rug

Or play in my hair.

So many things

Are not to be chewed.

Only your toys

And always your food.

Your bone, not the cords

Not the box but your keys

You have lots of options

Choose one of them, please!

Thank you!

Because she is so cute, I don’t stay frustrated for long!

15 09, 2023

Unwelcome Visitor

By judythemorgan|2023-09-14T20:43:23-05:00September 15th, 2023|Friday on the Miller Farm, Miller Farm Friday|2 Comments

A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara

Our neighbors recently told us that something had gotten into their chickens and killed three of them and a rooster. Based on the damage (headless chickens) they believe it was a raccoon.

I have heard tales of raccoons and their persistence and tendency to destruction. I was not happy.

We discovered one of our chickens had been a victim and had not survived. A rooster escaped to a neighbor’s yard, and there were a few more ducks in our yard that I imagine fled the attack. One of them has an injured leg,

We have set live traps and so have our neighbors to try to catch and relocate the villain.

So far, we have had no success.

My neighbor sent me a picture the other morning. Their oldest daughter is home from college for a visit and fearlessly chased off the raccoon one night. It hasn’t been seen since.

I’ll crown her Raccoon Wrangler. I’m not interested in that title.

8 09, 2023

Silly Turkey

By judythemorgan|2023-09-07T08:17:36-05:00September 8th, 2023|Friday on the Miller Farm, Miller Farm Friday|1 Comment

A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara

The grumpy turkey continues to provide entertainment on Miller Farm.

Friday morning when I went out to check on everyone, I found him roosting in the chicken coop.

He stayed there all day leading me to believe he was unsure how to get down.

I must confess, it was much less stressful to be in the chicken yard when the turkey was in the coop. But I was a little concerned he would starve to death so Beekeeper Brian tapped him and he jumped down.

A few days later he was back up on the roost. This time he figured out how to get down on his own, Silly Turkey!

He must think he is a chicken.

1 09, 2023

My New Title

By judythemorgan|2023-08-29T08:40:39-05:00September 1st, 2023|Friday on the Miller Farm, Miller Farm Friday|0 Comments

A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara

Last Friday I looked out the kitchen window to find that Mr. Grumpy Turkey was on the wrong side of the fence.

My first thought was “Who can I call to help me?” Beekeeper Brian was at work as were both children who live in town.

My next thought was “Who is available to take me to the hospital?” Mr. Turkey is not fond of me and the feeling is mutual. I was imagining a fierce battle.

I came to the conclusion that I would have to wrangle this turkey on my own. I started the coffee brewing, grabbed the rake, and prepared to face my nemesis.

He was much less brave when he was on my side of the fence. I was able to guide him back into the chicken yard through the gate. It was almost anticlimactic.

Feeling triumphant, I returned to the kitchen to enjoy my coffee and new title as Turkey Wrangler.

25 08, 2023

Extracting Honey

By judythemorgan|2023-08-24T08:19:19-05:00August 25th, 2023|Friday on the Miller Farm, Miller Farm Friday|0 Comments

A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara

Beekeeper Brian’s bees have been pretty productive this year so we were able to get honey for the first time in several years. I had forgotten what an interesting process it is.

We decided to move the extractor into the kitchen instead of using it out on the driveway. The Texas heat has been oppressive.

First Brian removed the frames of honey and comb from the hive. He used a special spray designed to drive the bees away. This was especially important since we were bringing them into the kitchen.

Then the very edge of the comb is cut to remove the wax caps.

The frames are then placed into the extractor.

Then it is a matter of physics – specifically centrifugal force.

The metal tub containing the frames is spun forcing the honey to vacate the comb.

The liquid gold is then put through a sieve to remove large pieces of comb and collected into a five-gallon bucket.

The last step is to put it in bottles to be used in tea, on yogurt, or just licked off a spoon. At the end of the process, there was sticky honey everywhere in the kitchen including on the heads of two dogs.

But having honey from our own front yard makes it all worth the effort.

18 08, 2023

New Music Room

By judythemorgan|2023-08-16T09:14:15-05:00August 18th, 2023|Friday on the Miller Farm, Miller Farm Friday|1 Comment

A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara

For the past 5 years, I have taught music for a small charter school. Most of the classes meet in portable buildings while the rest of the campus occupies what used to be a church.

Music class has been held in the sanctuary which is also used for morning and afternoon assembly. All the musical instruments and materials are stored in what used to be the “cry room” at the back of the sanctuary.

It was cozy, to say the least.

The classes met in an area partitioned off at the back of the sanctuary. I made it work.

This year I have my own music room!

I am ridiculously excited! This will be the best year ever!

11 08, 2023

Odd Duck

By judythemorgan|2023-08-10T08:19:38-05:00August 11th, 2023|Friday on the Miller Farm, Miller Farm Friday|0 Comments

A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara

Over the summer we hatched some duck eggs from our next-door neighbors. They have some breeds that we do not, so it added to the gene pool.

Among their ducks, they have some crested Khaki Campbells. One of these eggs hatched so now we have a very interesting duck.

It reminds me of something out of a Dr. Seuss book which makes me smile!Dr

28 07, 2023

Community Effort

By judythemorgan|2023-07-26T16:31:29-05:00July 28th, 2023|Friday on the Miller Farm, Miller Farm Friday|1 Comment

A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara

I received two different texts yesterday offering things for my chickens.

A former colleague wrote to say there were two bags of leaves at her house. She knows our chickens like to dig through leaves. It keeps them entertained. We were on the way home from Lake Jackson, but I told her I would get them later in the day.

I’ll unload them when it “cools off” to below 100 degrees.

Later in the day, I got a text from another friend who had watermelon rinds for our chickens. She dropped them off on the front porch while I was teaching lessons.

The chickens were thrilled

I never really thought of owning chickens as a community event. I’m glad I was wrong.

21 07, 2023

Duck Report

By judythemorgan|2023-07-19T18:36:52-05:00July 21st, 2023|Friday on the Miller Farm, Miller Farm Friday|1 Comment

A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara

It has been a while since I’ve talked about the ducks and they are feeling neglected. In fact, someone asked me this weekend how many ducks we have and I couldn’t give an exact count.

I have since counted and there are fifteen ducks.

Part of the challenge to knowing how many ducks we have is that we have hatched two different sets of eggs and sold four ducks to a friend so the number is in constant flux. But yesterday I moved the final ducklings out with the big ducks and so they are all together – for now.

I used the travel cage to move them, put them in the duck yard, and opened the door to the cage.

As expected, they huddled in the corner, terrified.

The bigger ducks were also terrified and ran to the opposite side of the yard.

Eventually, they realized that they were all ducks and had nothing to fear from each other.

Minimus Dachsamus, on the other hand, has to be watched diligently.

14 07, 2023

Old Ladies

By judythemorgan|2023-07-12T09:14:37-05:00July 14th, 2023|Friday on the Miller Farm, Miller Farm Friday|0 Comments

A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara

One of my favorite things about my job is getting to read to children. I have a vast collection of children’s books, most of which are songs. In almost every class I will read (sing) one to the students.

A friend of mine owns a children’s book and toy store in our town called Whimsy & Wild Emporium

I asked her if I could come read for Storytime during the summer and she said yes!

The first week I took my old lady puppet and sang “I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly.”

The puppet includes all the animals that she swallowed so it is great fun. It has all the animals except the spider which “wiggled and jiggled and tickled inside her.”

I took it out to use it while singing “Spider on the Floor” and it must have crawled off. I explain to the children that we will have to pretend to make a spider with our hands. It is still great fun.

What was even more fun was introducing our grandson, Alex, to the old lady. He loved taking the animals out and then having her swallow them over and over.

It is like reading to my classes multiplied 1000 times. He particularly liked the “tickle spider” part.