Miller Farm Friday Archives - Page 21 of 47

5 04, 2019

Duck Containment

By judythemorgan|2019-04-04T18:28:52-05:00April 5th, 2019|Friday on the Miller Farm, Miller Farm Friday|0 Comments

A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara

In our quest to reduce the number of chickens we have, we sold the Welsummer flock (one rooster and four hens) to some friends who are starting over with chickens after building a more secure coop.

That left an empty space which I decided was perfect for the ducks. I moved the “pond” into the new locations and Rachel helped me corral the ducks.

Before I could even close the gate, they had escaped through a loose spot in the fence. They were getting along fine with the chickens so it was not a big problem. I simply wanted to separate them so they would only make a mess of their own waterer.

I secured the fence and decided to wait until dark to capture the ducks and put them in their new home. I learned that ducks do not roost at night like chickens do. I ran around in the dark chasing ducks until I remembered the turkey incident — I fractured my ankle when I stepped into a hole in the chicken yard while chasing a turkey.

I gave up and decided to try in the daylight.

After about a week, I was able to coax Lucy and Ricky into their new home. I filled the “pond” with fresh water and they immediately splashed in.Everybody is happy – especially me. I like everything to have its own home – including the animals.

29 03, 2019

Another Travel Buddy

By judythemorgan|2019-03-28T20:43:24-05:00March 29th, 2019|Friday on the Miller Farm, Miller Farm Friday|2 Comments

A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara

Bill went to San Antonio last week and brought me back a round, plush frog. My first thought, naturally, was a song “Frog in The Middle.”

I considered using it in my music class. However, I found a better use. Since Brian has two travel buddies in his car, perhaps I need two in mine.

So now I have a fat, friendly frog on one side

and a happy eggplant on the other.

That gives me a reason to smile in both directions!

With state testing at the school on the horizon, I need as much help smiling as I can get.

23 03, 2019

Travel Buddies

By judythemorgan|2019-03-16T16:57:10-05:00March 23rd, 2019|Friday on the Miller Farm, Miller Farm Friday|2 Comments

A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara

My husband and I both drive Honda Fits. Mine is white, his is yellow. It was not an intentional thing. We just like Honda Fits.

Rachel and Brian both commute an hour each way to a nearby town for school and work. For a short time their schedules worked out so they could ride together.

The next semester, when Rachel had to drive herself, she found a stuffed bee to be a travel buddy for her dad. It fit perfectly in the side front window.

Then she found a stuffed dachshund that she couldn’t resist. So now Brian has two buddies to keep him company:

I travel several blocks to work each day. In fact, I could probably walk if I didn’t have to drop Bill off at school.

Even though I spend much less time in my car, I still felt lonely without a travel buddy. My front window was very empty.

Recently I found a stuffed eggplant in the back of Rachel’s car. I loved it but, alas, it was a dog toy belonging to Rachel’s boss’s dog.

When she told her boss how much I liked the eggplant, her boss bought one for me. So now I have a happy eggplant travel buddy!

It makes me smile.

15 03, 2019

Farewell Kaboodle and Custard

By judythemorgan|2019-03-14T19:24:28-05:00March 15th, 2019|Friday on the Miller Farm, Miller Farm Friday|2 Comments

A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara

Although we call it Miller Farm, we actually live in the middle of town on 1/3 acre lot one block off a major street. The pie shape of our backyard has allowed us to keep the various birds and stay within city ordinances – until now.

Apparently some city dwellers are not happy with crowing roosters. The latest ordinance that has passed the first reading bans all roosters in the city limits. This is sad for us.

Most of our roosters are nameless and so I’m not attached. Kaboodle and Custard, however, are in another category. Not only do they have names, but each one has his own blog post.

Read Custard’s blog here.

Read Kaboddle’s blog here.

A piano student’s mom posted about Kaboddle and Custard somewhere and we got a message from some friends of ours who were looking to replace their rooster. They live outside city limits and have 4 children living at home.I explained to the boys that they would be moving to a new home with lots of room and no crowing restrictions. They were not impressed but hopefully they will settle in. I’ll check on them later.

Farewell Custard and Kaboodle!

1 03, 2019

Crazy Weather

By judythemorgan|2019-02-28T17:03:27-06:00March 1st, 2019|Friday on the Miller Farm, Miller Farm Friday|0 Comments

A blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara

The weather in Texas has always been a little unpredictable. I’ve learned to carefully watch the forecast and then step outside to see what is actually happening.

Lately it has been warm and sunny – almost like Spring. In fact our bluebonnets have started to bloom.

They were planted in 2015 and they have spread nicely. We are hoping to cover that half of the yard.

This morning when I let the dogs out I was completely taken aback by the frigid air. I knew it was going to get cold, but I thought it would be next week.

As I walked past the bluebonnets I thought “I hope they make it through this crazy Texas weather.”

I also hope I make it through.

22 02, 2019

Ducks Take Two

By judythemorgan|2019-02-22T07:16:41-06:00February 22nd, 2019|Friday on the Miller Farm, Miller Farm Friday|0 Comments

A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara

We used to have ducks. We got them when they were ducklings and they all turned out to be male. This was not good for our farm so they went to live in a pond with lots of weeds to eat.

We have ducks again. This time there is a male and a female.

I named them Lucy and Ricky. Lucy has been laying eggs since the day we got her.

We put them in a separate run. They kept escaping which necessitated chasing them around the chicken yard. They get along fine with the chickens so we’ve just let them cohabitate.

I do have to search for the duck eggs among the hen eggs now.

The other problem is they make a mess of the chicken waterers. I’m not sure how they do It but there is now a layer of mud in each chicken waterer every day.

I was really frustrated by this today and then I found a beautiful purple feather. Then I found another one.

It turns out Ricky has purple feathers under the black ones.

It makes me smile. I guess we’ll keep these ducks for a while.

8 02, 2019

A Three Shirt Day

By judythemorgan|2019-02-07T21:52:15-06:00February 8th, 2019|Friday on the Miller Farm, Miller Farm Friday|1 Comment

A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara

Wednesday was a three-shirt day. It started out fine. I made it through five classes and lunch with a clean shirt.

Then I decided a cold drink from Starbucks sounded great so I mobile ordered, but my card didn’t have enough money. I tried to add money but couldn’t remember my password.

After several attempts I gave up and went home. There was coffee in the fridge so I just added chocolate milk to make my own iced mocha. In the process I splashed coffee down the front of shirt number 1.

I changed shirts and went to the high school to pick up Bill. On the way I dumped coffee down the front of shirt number 2.

Fortunately, the skirt I was wearing had many colors so I was able to find shirt number 3 to match so I could look a little professional as I taught piano lessons.

Today was Happy Hour at Starbucks. I was able to reset my password and reload my card. Bill and I got cherry mochas after school.

I am also happy to report there is no coffee on the front of my shirt today. There may be chicken footprints on the back.

1 02, 2019

A Dog and His Raccoon

By judythemorgan|2019-01-28T07:53:02-06:00February 1st, 2019|Friday on the Miller Farm, Miller Farm Friday|1 Comment

A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara

Tucker (first of our six dachshunds) loves toys, especially if they squeak. He has been known to pull the squeaker out of a toy in 5 minutes flat.

Rachel made it her mission to find a squeaky toy that can outlast Tucker. It looks like she has succeeded: Meet Raccoon-

Raccoon actually has two squeakers – one in the middle and one in the tail. Both are still working which can get annoying first thing in the morning.

Raccoon regularly goes outside with Tucker. He likes for someone to throw the toy but it doesn’t really go far.

Sometimes he leaves Raccoon outside and it rains and Raccoon has to get a bath. Tucker is quite distressed to be without Raccoon, so Rachel has several back-up squeaky toys that help distract him.

Tucker is always happy to see Raccoon again. He really didn’t understand why it had to be clean.

Now when he comes in without Raccoon we tell him “Go get your toy” and he goes back out to find it.

After all, a dog needs to have his raccoon with him at all times.

25 01, 2019

Hope for the Future

By judythemorgan|2019-01-21T11:11:01-06:00January 25th, 2019|Friday on the Miller Farm, Miller Farm Friday|0 Comments

A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara

We interrupt the Chicken Wrangler news for a report from my other persona – the music teacher.

I began a new position in August after the private school where I’d taught for 10 years closed due to lack of enrollment. My new school is much larger – which is a good thing for job security but it has presented its own challenges.

I spent the first six weeks memorizing 180 names and learning a new grade book program. Then there were the important things like where to get coffee and eat lunch.

The former music teacher had a very different style and the students were not all on board with the change. To say the first semester was interesting is an understatement.

One of the most challenging groups is the middle schoolers. Just their age gives them a whole set of difficulties and I met regularly with the principal to try to figure out what to do with them.

I settled on History of Rock and Roll curriculum that has proved to be somewhat interesting to them. In one lesson, however, a student took offense at the language. The word “negro” was used and she felt the term “African American” was more appropriate.

I encouraged her to write her feelings in a letter to the company, and I would pass the information along. I have done business with this company, Fun Music Company, many times in the past and have found them to be very responsive. She worked with a few of her friends and wrote a very well worded letter. Then she copied it over so it was neater.

I contacted the company who was very interested in reading the letter. I scanned the document and sent it. Within 48 hours I had a response from the company. They were very glad to have the input and in fact changed the wording. The creative director wrote a personal letter to my student.

“Thank you so much for writing – it has made a massive difference for many students around the world, as no longer will any student be offended by this word in one of our worksheets.”

This is by far the most encouraging thing to happen in my class in a long time. Amaria, the student, handled the situation in a mature and appropriate manner and was able to make a permanent difference. I look at that group in a whole new light. There is hope after all.

In an age where overreacting and posting negativity is the norm, Amaria has taken the high road.

Well done, young lady, well done.

18 01, 2019

Problem Solving on Miller Farm

By judythemorgan|2019-01-08T21:19:10-06:00January 18th, 2019|Friday on the Miller Farm, Miller Farm Friday|1 Comment

A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara

I believe one of the most important skills one can have is the ability to solve problems. I’m not talking about the word problems that plague math students every where. I mean real life problems like how to open the door of the chicken coop from the inside when it shuts behind you.

I recently had to employ this skill while filling the chicken waterer. The waterers have a lid that is removed to fill the tops and a small lid that covers the spout so water will not come out while it is being filled.

We have three waterers and somehow we have managed to lose all but one of these small lids. This means that each time I carry a waterer to the hose, I must make sure I have the little lid. This week I failed at getting the small lid and I didn’t realize it until I had started to fill the waterer.

Rather than stop and go back into the chicken yard to get the lid, I used my finger to stop up the hole. This was a little challenging because my index finger is still numb from having the tip cut off this summer. So I used my middle finger.

As I stood there holding back the flow of water with my finger, I thought of the story of the little Dutch boy who put his finger in the hole in the dam and held back the North Sea.