Miller Farm Friday Archives - Page 22 of 48

26 04, 2019

Perseverance

By judythemorgan|2019-04-25T15:03:37-05:00April 26th, 2019|Friday on the Miller Farm, Miller Farm Friday|0 Comments

A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara

The orchid I was given as a secret pal gift at the beginning of the year got knocked off the counter and the stalk broke. I was more upset than I should have been and had to remind myself that it is just a plant – a plant that makes me smile.

I gently reattached the broken stalk and hoped for the best. Months later it is blooming again.

I think it needs a bigger pot but I have been told to leave it alone while it is blooming. Apparently orchids are very delicate. That makes the fact that mine has persevered through the broken stalk even more amazing.

Perhaps I can learn from my orchid and persevere through the end of the school year. And as long as my orchid is blooming, I can do it with a smile.

19 04, 2019

Bees and Bluebonnets

By judythemorgan|2019-04-18T07:15:51-05:00April 19th, 2019|Friday on the Miller Farm, Miller Farm Friday|2 Comments

A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara

Being true Texans, Beekeeper Brian and I have bluebonnets in our yard. These came from seeds handed out at the funeral of Brian’s step mother. Each year the patch gets larger. It makes me smile.

This year Brian noticed the bees on the bluebonnets. He watched as the flowers opened what seemed like a doorway to allow the bee to collect pollen. It was fascinating.

He was able to get some great pictures. (Did I mention Brian has a degree in photography from the Art Institute of Houston?) He is a man of many talents! The only thing better than bluebonnets in our yard is our own bees on the bluebonnets.

12 04, 2019

Perspective

By judythemorgan|2024-04-26T14:40:36-05:00April 12th, 2019|Friday on the Miller Farm, Miller Farm Friday|0 Comments

A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara

I cut this comic out of the Sunday paper recently. I have quite a collection of comics. Some are about dogs or chickens or music. This one is about perspective.

It has made me think differently.

My students at school are always getting excited about ordinary things – like butterflies or flowers. One brought several rocks to me this week and said, “aren’t they smooth?”

Until that moment they had just been rocks to me. But now I’ve decided to trade places and let my students teach me about perspective and finding the wonder in life.

Maybe it will make “adulting” easier.

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.