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30 09, 2022

Morning Smile

By |2022-09-28T18:06:41-05:00September 30th, 2022|Uncategorized|0 Comments

A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara


This year at school, we have new procedures in place to increase security. These have been added to the procedures regarding illness creating what could be a tedious morning duty routine.

However, as the self-appointment Campus Morale Officer this year, I am trying to stay positive in as many situations as possible. This includes morning duty.

My assignment is to greet the youngest students as they enter, take their temperature, and send them directly to their class. The older students who come through my door are headed to breakfast. All others enter a different door. Everyone has their temperature taken.

For this task, we have a rather bulky thermometer that is intended to rest on a stand. It monitors temperature as people walk by. The problem is that our people are too short. So, we take the thermometer off and point it at the students as they walk by.

This makes for some interesting situations.

Some students come in with a juice box and insist I check its temperature also. My favorite student believes I am taking his picture each morning.

He gives me the biggest smile! I smile back.

The principal put out a rotating duty schedule. I refuse to move from my duty station. I look forward to my morning smiles and don’t want to share.

19 09, 2022

The Legend of the Bottle Tree

By |2022-09-17T21:41:18-05:00September 19th, 2022|Uncategorized|2 Comments

SOURCE:  explorebeaufortsc.com

Bottle tree art is a southern tradition that goes back to ancient Egypt. African slaves carried the bottle tree tradition to Europe and North America in the 17th century.

Many African tribes and communities believed that the talents of the dead could be stolen or could escape from graves. Bottles placed around the gravesite captured the good talents and kept them safe and trapped evil spirits.

That belief came with the slave trade to the American south when enslaved Africans placed bottles in trees around their slave quarters to keep evil slave owners away.

SOURCE: eBay auction item

Interesting side note, the Victorians incorporated the same idea with witch’s balls placed inside their homes. Witch’s balls look like Christmas ornaments and were added to the base of marble top tables, hung, or placed on stands.

Though the superstition has been all but completely lost over time, bottle trees are now entrenched in yard art.

Blue bottles are most often seen. Originally Milk of Magnesia bottles, which were blue, were used. They’re too hard to find these days. Most folks settle for blue wine bottles.

The blue color is important because it is believed to discourage the haints. That’s southern speak for ghosts. A special shade of blue called “haint blue” is used on southern porch ceilings to ward off evil spirits and stinging insects.

Whether you believe all the hocus pocus folklore, bottle trees make an interesting piece of yard art. If you don’t want to use a live tree, you can find lots of iron trees at garden shows and plant nurseries or make one yourself.

My bottle tree is a mix of colors, including blue, that brightens my garden. And just maybe, that’s the reason I have zero haints.

12 08, 2022

New Beginnings

By |2022-08-11T18:29:20-05:00August 12th, 2022|Uncategorized|0 Comments

A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara


Rachel has moved into her own place. She is starting her first year of teaching and she, Penelope, and Cooper have found their own home. This has been quite a journey for her. The most recent leg of this journey occurred this past weekend when she gathered all her belongings into her new home.

We started Friday evening by moving the things from Miler Farm. We have had a record-breaking drought. Friday it rained. It didn’t last long and it left a rainbow – a nice reminder of new beginnings.

Step two involved borrowing a truck and trailer to retrieve the things Rachel had stored in Huntsville.

This went remarkably well and Brian was able to back the trailer right up to the front sidewalk.

We finished by lunch and then gathered the remaining items from in town. This included a table from our storage unit and a sectional given to Rachel by a friend.

The last step was to move the dogs to their new home. They were most excited by the new couch.

It is very quiet on Miller Farm now. No Cooper to help me check chickens. Somehow, I’ll manage.

20 05, 2022

Ducks and Water

By |2022-05-19T19:54:47-05:00May 20th, 2022|Uncategorized|1 Comment

A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara


A friend of ours recently asked us to hatch ducks for them. They have a large pond and several of their ducks had disappeared.

We set an incubator full of duck eggs but there was a malfunction and only five ducklings hatched.

Ducklings are very cute – once they dry off. What amazes me about ducklings is how they are attracted to water from the time they hatch.

Rachel put water in their tub for them to drink but they all insisted on getting in it.

She quickly realized they needed more room so she moved them to the bathtub for a quick swim.

Now they are out with the big ducks. The first thing they did was find the mud puddle. Ducks are attracted to water wherever it is.

7 03, 2022

The Gonk Has Returned

By |2022-02-26T10:30:35-06:00March 7th, 2022|A Writer's Life, Uncategorized, Writer's Life|2 Comments

Don’t know what a gonk is? Meet Gonk.

The Gonks’ signature features are a small, spherical body and two googly eyes. A gonk is not a gnome or a leprechaun though there are family resemblances.

Gnomes have a pointy hat and face full of hair. Gonks don’t.

Leprechauns sport green hats and orange beards. Gonks don’t have orange beards or stovepipe hats.

 

Gonks are the creation of English inventor Robert Benson. They were quite literally the first toy craze in England post-World War II. Endorsements by Ringo Starr and Peter Sellers aided in their popularity.

Gonks also appeared in the 1964 movie Gonks Go Beat. The film is a take-off on the Romeo and Juliette theme. Two musical communities, one who likes rock and roll and one who likes ballads, become reunited through a couple who love across their communities.

With the publication of this 1960s Simplicity pattern. Gonks became homemade toys. Children loved them and they could be made from almost any material and any size.

The Gonk-guy below was created from the pattern by hubby-dear’s sister, seamstress extraordinaire.

Her Gonk creations were much desired and cherished.

Around our house, we have many of Nita’s Nitawork needlework creations including Mr. and Ms. Santa Claus, a holiday door wreath, and a Texas State Fair First Prize-winning wall-hanging of the Twelve Days of Christmas.

Sadly, our University of Texas gonk met his demise years ago.

That’s why I was so delighted to discover this round, cuddly guy with a great message on his shirt when helping Nita’s son clear out his sister’s apartment.

A treasure that brings back fond memories.

21 02, 2022

It’s the Big Ten

By |2022-02-13T21:39:51-06:00February 21st, 2022|Uncategorized|0 Comments

Anniversaries mark accomplishments and are fun to commemorate. February 24 will mark View From the Front Porch’s tenth blogiversary.

I’m not sure you’ll find blogiversary in the dictionary but when talking about an anniversary for a blog,  blogiversary makes perfect sense

My original plan ten years ago was to blog every day. That quickly fell to the wayside when I realized writing blogs ate into my fiction writing time. Blogging became twice a week with a once-a-week blog from Chicken Wrangler Sara aka my daughter on Fridays about Life on the Miller Farm.

We also host guest bloggers periodically. If you’re interested in sharing a story or a word of wisdom, you’re invited to check out guest guidelines here. Authors are always welcome to introduce old or new releases, email me and we’ll discuss.

We’ve covered lots of topics over the years. You can read my very first blog, here. Or, Miller Farm’s first post here.

Our decade of blogging includes 1,295 posted blogs, 29,761 views from all over the world, 1,592 comments, and 175 followers.

By the way, it’s easy to subscribe and have the blog appear in your inbox. Simply, go to the home page and enter your email address in the box on the left sidebar below the purchase links to my published books.

Chicken Wrangler Sara and I send a big thank you for your support of View from the Front Porch this last decade and hope to see you more in the years ahead.

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