Miller Farm Friday Archives - View from the Front Porch

26 04, 2024

Hanging On

By judythemorgan|2024-04-25T08:42:49-05:00April 26th, 2024|Friday on the Miller Farm, Miller Farm Friday|0 Comments

A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara

The stump our birdhouse sits on is starting to tilt. The base is rotting away. The birdhouse is nailed to the stump so it will not fall off. It will just fall over with the stump unless we remove it.

I can relate to this poor bird house as I am sure most teachers can right now.

We are securely attached to our jobs but feel like all of life is tilting. Everyone is tired, kids are grumpy, teachers are ready to quit.

We are all just barely hanging on.

I wonder if it is time for me to remove myself from my job before my whole life falls over. Or maybe everything will straighten back up during the summer…

19 04, 2024

Favorite Book

By judythemorgan|2024-04-18T09:00:54-05:00April 19th, 2024|Friday on the Miller Farm, Miller Farm Friday|0 Comments

A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara

My current favorite children’s book is From Head to Toe by Eric Carle.

I heard about it at the Music Teacher Convention in February. I bought a copy on a recent trip to Barnes and Noble with our daughter. She bought several books of five hundred pages or more and I bought one children’s book. That’s how it usually goes.

As I read it to my classes last week, I realized what a marvelous book it is! Each page has an animal with a corresponding motion. Many of the motions are the same as the stretches I do.

There were head turns with the penguin.

Head nods with the giraffe

And back arches with the cat.

Now when I run out of time in the morning to do my stretches, I read my favorite book to my classes.

It is a great use of multitasking!

5 04, 2024

Perfect As They Are

By judythemorgan|2024-04-04T09:13:54-05:00April 5th, 2024|Friday on the Miller Farm, Miller Farm Friday|0 Comments

A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara

I really enjoy going to the grocery store. I know that is weird. I plan my menu, make my list, and check the sales and coupons.

Many people take advantage of the curbside pickup including both of our daughters. Not me. I like to go up and down every aisle and see what is available.

Recently there was an Oreo display in the frozen food section. I guess they thought Oreos and ice cream go together. There were several variations of the iconic cookie. I’m not sure why it needs any variation.

One package in particular caught my attention.

I picked it up and started to put it in my basket. Then I put it back and walked away.

I circled back and looked at the package again. There was something not right about this.

I consider myself a connoisseur of Black and White Cookies. My best friend in high school worked at a bakery that sold them. I visited the bakery regularly. After graduation, I moved to Texas where they did not have any equivalent of Black and Whites. Good Housekeeping magazine printed a recipe in a Christmas issue, and I have made them every year since.

I could not bring myself to buy a cookie that combined “my” Black and Whites with anything, even an Oreo.

Some things are perfect just as they are.

15 03, 2024

Forest of Figs

By judythemorgan|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 judythemorgan|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 judythemorgan|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 judythemorgan|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 judythemorgan|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 judythemorgan|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 judythemorgan|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.