Powerful Warriors – Tolstoy
10
03, 2021
22
01, 2021
Wandering Chickens
A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara
We hosted Christmas Eve on Miller Farm this year. My nephew was quite enthralled. When he asked how the dogs and chickens got along, I explained all was well if everybody stayed on their side of the fence.
When he looked out the window a little later and saw a chicken walking along the fence, he was most concerned and went out to convince the chicken to return to the safe side of the fence. He could move in and stay quite busy keeping the chickens safe on Miller Farm, but I think he has higher aspirations that involve the University of Houston.
Life is really interesting when the chickens decide to venture onto the side of the fence that is not in our yard at all.
Most often they visit the neighbor with Connor – the old Great Dane. I’m not sure Conor would hurt the chickens, but the owners always work to make sure the chickens make it back to safety. Sometimes I get a text saying, “there is a chicken in our yard,” and I help bring it home.
Recently I got a text from the neighbor on the other side saying, “Rosie (their dog) found a chicken in our yard. It’s been saved and it’s now hiding behind the rain barrels.” This was puzzling as there is not only our chain link fence but a privacy fence between our houses as well. That chicken was glad to be back in its own yard and has not gone back to play with Rosie.
I discovered there are some boards missing in the privacy fence leaving just enough room for a curious chicken to explore the neighbor’s yard. The grass may be greener on that side of the fence but it is guarded by a chicken-loving dog so it is not worth it for the chickens to go there.
Instead they wander along the path between the fences. When we had the snow storm, one chicken walked further than ever before.
Max was fascinated. The chicken was quite brave with a fence between her and the dog.
I was fretting over the chickens being between the fences but not enough to climb over and get them. I have torn too many pair of pants doing that in the past.
The chickens eventually make it back. I think they go there to get away from over amorous roosters.
I figure they’ll work out a pecking order. They are chickens after all.
7
10, 2020
Fall Quote – Edie Melson
With special thanks to Edie Melson who allows others to share her work.
5
10, 2020
Wistful Thinking
This is where we find our Buster most days. Sitting and staring out the back door.
Not wanting to go out. Just looking out all lost like.
That’s how I find myself some days in this pandemic world. Not motivated to do anything though there’s plenty to do.
I feel like I’m Alexander in Judith Viorst’s Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.
Only this hasn’t been just one bad day. These Alexander days just keep on coming… piling on top of one another.
Like Alexander, I must decide what to do with these terrible, horrible, no good, very bad COVID-19 pandemic 2020 days.
I can grump and gripe and complain. Be immobilized like Buster in the kitchen door.
Science writer, Tara Haelle says my feelings are okay in a Medium article I read recently. 2020 has depleted our surge capacity for handling disasters by piling on endless calamities with no breaks.
“We can kick and scream and be angry, or we can feel the other side of it, with no motivation, difficulty focusing, lethargy… or we can take the middle way and just have a couple days where you feel like doing nothing and you embrace the losses and sadness you’re feeling right now, and then the next day, do something that has an element of achievement to it.”
Read all Halle’s suggestions for recharging our surge capacity in the Medium article here.
Another choice… Alexander fixes his bad day when he alters his attitude in the Viorst book. I can alter my attitude.
BTW, if you haven’t read Viorst’s Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, you should. It’s available on Amazon or any online book store. It’s a delightful children’s book that will warm your adult heart during this terrible, horrible, no good, very bad year we’re having.
Our Buster embraces both solutions. He sits for awhile then gives a celebratory woof or a take-that-world bark and settles next to the chair where I’m writing. His safe place.
14
09, 2020
Who’s the Boss?
Our little ten-pound Maltese is fearless. Just ask his younger brother an eighty-five-pound Old English sheepdog.
Part of his pluckiness is his small dog Napoleonic syndrome. Not really a bad thing considering he’s always shared his home with someone so much bigger than him.
When Buster first came to live with us, we had our Toby. Old English sheepdogs are big but very gentle and easygoing. Buster loved his big brother Toby.
Then Toby crossed the Rainbow Bridge in 2016. Poor Buster moped around missing without him. We hoomans missed having an Old English sheepdog around, too.
That’s when Finnegan MacCool came to live with us.
Buster’s world was turned upside down. Toby had been four-years-old when the two met. Finn was a ten-week-old puppy.
We knew about eager, playful puppies. Buster didn’t.
Only took a bit for him to train Finn. They became great pals.
Except at bedtime these days. There’s a nightly showdown. Buster guards the bedroom door warning Finn to stay out.
When I give Finn permission to enter, which sometimes requires picking Buster up, Finn takes a flying leap onto the bed.
I guess it’s some kind of power play for Buster because once Finn’s on the bed, Buster is fine. They settle on either side of me and all is well.
But you’ll notice Finn’s little play of defiance… his paw rests over my knee just to show Buster he’s really king of the household.
26
08, 2020
Advice from Finn MacCool
I blogged about the comfort our Old English Sheepdog Finn found in his favorite toy. You can read about it here.
Today he’s sharing his advice on how you can be happy too while living with this COVID-19 pandemic.
24
07, 2020
I Have a New Title
A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara
I usually write as Chicken Wrangler Sara or Music Teacher Sara. On July 9, 2020 I earned the best title of all – Grandma!
Our oldest daughter and son-in-law welcomed their first child, our first grandchild, Alexander Cain and he is wonderful!
I’ve always heard how wonderful it is to be a grandparent. Now I understand.
So even after I am finished singing silly songs in the classroom – there will forever be at least one child who listens to me sing.
Get ready, Alex. You’re used to hearing your mom on the oboe.
However, a whole world of silly songs by Grandma awaits you.
15
06, 2020
Ouch That Hurts!
During a recent storm, we heard the dreaded loud bang in the wee hours of the morning and lost power. The transformer in our back yard had blown.
Again.
It happens with every storm because the shrubs are so tall and thick. Wind blows limbs against the wire and trips the switch.
At daylight, power company line workers macheted through and reset the transformer switch.
Same thing happened the next week when another windy storm blew through and knocked out power again.
To give you an idea how tall the shrubs were, the transformer (now visible) was surrounded.
The privacy is nice, but electricity is better.
My brother brought over his pole power saw and removed the top five feet. Our backyard was covered with the tree branches.
Limbs were still too close to the wires.
Now that we could reach them, we dug out our smaller power saw and finished the job.
That’s when we discovered the killer vine.
Let me tell you, those thorns hurt like the dickens when they poke you.
Just ask little Buster who, in his quest to help, got one tangled in the hair on his ear. He yelped in pain from the vicious thorns.
I clipped the vine loose and the vet cut the remaining piece out for us. No way could we hold Buster still to remove it ourselves.
It’s a sneaky, sneaky vine.
You cut it down and it pops back up attaching itself to the shrubs, the fence posts, anything, and everything creating a deadly tangled mess.
Dowsing weed killer does no good. It seems to thrive and reappear.
The war is on. I now suit up like a jousting knight and trim the vine whenever I see it spring up. Wish me luck.
20
05, 2020
Flowers and Friends – Wednesday Quote
About the graphic
These gladiolas are from a special friend’s garden. They were so gorgeous I couldn’t resist taking a picture and using it as a background for this week’s quote.
About the quote
I found several people named Celeste Barnard in my web search. The quote came from a Country Living magazine that only identified the author by name. So Celeste Barnard, if you see this, please let me know these are your words, and I’ll add a short bio.
What I liked about the quote was that it reminded me of my friend who brought this lovely, lovely bouquet of gladiolas. The amazing thing is she grows these beauties in her yard. She’s such a lovely person to fill my world with beautiful gladiolas and books she passes on to me.
11
05, 2020
Be A Magnolia
May means flowers. Maybe not if you live in one of those states where you’re still getting snow, but down here in the South gardening shops are buzzing with home gardeners picking out their blooms. Flowering trees are showing forth their glory.
Magnolia are budding and I love Magnolias. If I were a tree, I’d be a Magnolia.
Their flowers are so dramatic and showy—a welcome a sight after a dreary winter. Their leaves so waxy and green. Mine was magnificent this year.
Seeing those pink buds made the world feel new again. Interestingly, the magnolia tree’s origins go back millions of years. In fact, dinosaurs may have nibbled on them.
There are so many varieties besides the fragrant white blooms associated with southern plantation homes. This chart from Martha Stewart Living magazine shows the variety and beauty of their blooms.
Thinking about magnolias also brings to mind the original 1989 version of Steel Magnolias, a movie worthy to be part of your watch list during these quarantine days.
It’s has a cast of magnolias – Dolly Parton, Julia Roberts, Sally Field, Shirley MacLaine, Daryl Hannah, and Olympia Dukakis. A group of actresses as varied as the Magnolia blooms and strong enough to survive the challenges of the script with zinger comic one-liners.
The story’s set in a small town beauty shop in Louisiana. Not much has changed in southern small towns, trust me. It’s a funny and heartwarming story of life, love, and loss. Sorta like this Corona virus time we’re living in.
The dark moment comes with Sally Field’s brief monologue when she asks God “Why?” The question we’ve all been asking since 2020 began.
Steel Magnolias is a humorous and dramatic picture of a southern woman’s world. They work and cook and sew and mend and fight and make up. They get their hair and nails done. Well, they did before the virus struck and will again someday. Just ask one.
And when tragedy, or a pandemic virus, strikes, they have the strength and the character to smile through their tears and go on.
They’re magnolias. They laugh a little and cry a little and keep on keeping on. Their roots go deep, maybe not to the age of dinosaurs but deep and strong.
Be a magnolia. A steel magnolia.