Chicken Wranger Sara Archives - View from the Front Porch

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!

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😉.

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.

What started as a quest for the perfect Cherry Icebox cookie ended with six different cookies to share with many happy family members.

21 07, 2023

Duck Report

By judythemorgan|2023-07-19T18:36:52-05:00July 21st, 2023|Friday on the Miller Farm, Miller Farm Friday|1 Comment

A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara

It has been a while since I’ve talked about the ducks and they are feeling neglected. In fact, someone asked me this weekend how many ducks we have and I couldn’t give an exact count.

I have since counted and there are fifteen ducks.

Part of the challenge to knowing how many ducks we have is that we have hatched two different sets of eggs and sold four ducks to a friend so the number is in constant flux. But yesterday I moved the final ducklings out with the big ducks and so they are all together – for now.

I used the travel cage to move them, put them in the duck yard, and opened the door to the cage.

As expected, they huddled in the corner, terrified.

The bigger ducks were also terrified and ran to the opposite side of the yard.

Eventually, they realized that they were all ducks and had nothing to fear from each other.

Minimus Dachsamus, on the other hand, has to be watched diligently.

16 06, 2023

Rebuilding

By judythemorgan|2023-06-13T15:50:43-05:00June 16th, 2023|Friday on the Miller Farm, Miller Farm Friday|1 Comment

A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara

Over the last 18 months, the number of dogs on Miller Farm has dwindled to two. Bella, Tucker, and Sadie passed away after leading long, happy lives. Cooper and Penelope moved out with Rachel. That left only Max and Coco who is of the same era as Tucker, Bella, and Sadie so we are watching her carefully.

This has been difficult for all – humans and dogs.

Max has been exceptionally stressed whenever we leave. Beekeeper Brian decided it was time for action. He began searching Dachshund Rescue sites and we began the process of adopting a rescue dachshund.

When I say process, I do mean PROCESS. We filled out an application including references. One friend told us he had never been called for a dog adoption reference.

Then there was the “home visit” where we had a video phone call that allowed us to show the house including the perimeter of the backyard. Even though we had successfully owned up to 8 dachshunds at one time the process was just as extensive as for a new dog owner.

We considered several dogs but were not matched to any of them. Finally, Brian saw a 4-year-old female named “Fire.” We set up a meeting and it was a perfect match! She went right to Brian and never looked back.

She fits in great with Max and Coco.

We renamed her “Mini” short for Miniums Dachsamus. She is a perfect match for Maximus Dachsamus!

The best news for me is that she fusses at the turkey.

This distraction allows me to take care of the ducks and chickens without being stalked. Overall we are thrilled to have added to our pack.

We are on the list for a puppy which will be ready in July. We are trying to avoid having dogs who are all the same age. We can’t face losing them so close together. This way there will be a dachshund on Miller Farm for many years to come.

4 11, 2022

New Challenges

By judythemorgan|2022-11-01T19:41:29-05:00November 4th, 2022|Friday on the Miller Farm, Miller Farm Friday|2 Comments

A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara

Life has presented many challenges over the past few years, the most notable being the COVID-19 pandemic. Teachers had to rethink everything they did to protect themselves and their students from an unseen virus.

The current challenge also deals with protection, this time from threats of violence.

Schools across the state are being required to implement new security procedures including various drills to prepare for different dangers. In my school, we have had all the doors fitted with crash bars allowing them to be opened from the inside while remaining locked on the outside. This required that all the locks be replaced.

Since all doors are now required to be locked at all times, teachers are carrying multiple keys. While I understand the rationale behind these measures, it makes getting around the campus a little more difficult.

I now carry five keys: one for the sanctuary where I teach, one for the teacher’s workroom, the office, the cafeteria, and the room where I hold choir rehearsal.

I also have an Allen wrench to keep the door unlocked during morning assembly so students can enter after eating breakfast.

It is a little complicated and somewhat overwhelming.

Once we are safely in our room, though, we can sing, move, listen and play to our heart’s content, forgetting, if just for a moment, that the world is becoming increasingly scary.

22 07, 2022

Popcorn

By judythemorgan|2022-07-20T19:55:19-05:00July 22nd, 2022|Friday on the Miller Farm, Miller Farm Friday|0 Comments

A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara

This was our first year to plant a plot in the community garden. It was not a good year. The extremely hot and dry weather prevented many things from growing.

The popcorn, however, was a success. We planted two different varieties which both came up.

We harvested the ears and set them out to dry. I tried putting them outside to use the natural heat but the squirrels found them. So, I put them in the oven to keep them from taking so much valuable counter space.

I put a sign on the oven that said “Corn.” It was not a clearly communicated message and while I was out of town, the oven was used to make pizza and the corn got “preheated.”

It didn’t seem to hurt the ears and, after a few weeks, we were able to remove the kernels.

The next step was to actually pop the corn which we did use a microwave popper for speed and ease of clean up.

It was wonderful!

We also grew dent corn which is meant to be ground into cornmeal. That is our next project. Brian ordered a corn sheller to help remove the kernels. The whole process seems a little labor intensive but I am excited to see how it turns out! Perhaps I was born in the wrong century…

8 07, 2022

Greetings

By judythemorgan|2022-07-07T09:41:48-05:00July 8th, 2022|Friday on the Miller Farm, Miller Farm Friday|1 Comment

A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara

The custodian at my school has a special greeting for the students. It started as a handshake but transitioned into fist bumps with extra motions. The students always run to greet him when he walks through the class.

It is disruptive but I will sacrifice a few minutes of class time to encourage proper interactions with adults. Relationship skills are as important as singing skills in my mind.

Our grandson, Alex, has special greetings for us. Most of our interactions are on video calls. For Brian, Pawpaw, Alex likes to head bump, which is putting his forehead to the phone while Pawpaw does the same. We’re not sure where that started but it is now a part of every conversation.

For Grandma, it is a burp. This greeting has a story.

Alex is fascinated by trash trucks. This seems to be common among small boys. On one trip to the library, we read a book about a trash truck. After the truck collects all the garbage, it burps.

Of course, as I read the book, I had to demonstrate. Alex echoed back.

This has become our greeting.

I was meeting with a new piano student last week when Brian walked into the room with his phone. I heard “Grandma, Grandma!” I took the phone and was greeted with “burp” to which I responded “burp.”

At one point in my life, I would have worried about the impression this made on my student. As I have gotten older, I have decided I am what I am and if seems strange to some, they can choose not to join my circle. It will be their loss. We have lots of fun.

13 05, 2022

Favorite Sounds

By judythemorgan|2022-05-09T06:01:26-05:00May 13th, 2022|Friday on the Miller Farm, Miller Farm Friday|3 Comments

A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara

For years, one of my favorite sounds has been the rustling of pages as people at church open their Bibles to find the passage being used in the sermon. Nowadays, many people use digital media for the Bibles so there is no sound. In fact, some preachers have gone from saying “Open your Bibles” to “open your Bible app.”

I am not a fan. I still use a physical Bible and rustle the pages.

This morning Beekeeper Brian and I were working at our plot in the community garden, and I discovered a new favorite sound.

It is the sound of the wind blowing through the corn stalks. We have planted several rows of corn along with squash, beans, and peppers.

As I was pulling the weeds from around the peppers, I heard the most wonderful rustling. I stood up to see the corn gently swaying in the breeze. It was a very peaceful sound that made me smile.

I considered making a video of it but I’ve discovered videos never quite look or sound like the real thing. Instead, I took a selfie with the corn to remind me of the moment.

I will be back to work in the garden. Weeds are relentless. I just can’t be guaranteed the wind will be blowing.

Fortunately, I have the sound of the corn stalks rustling recorded in my head. I smile each time I think of it.

8 04, 2022

Ruckus on the Ranch Version 2.0

By judythemorgan|2022-04-08T08:29:01-05:00April 8th, 2022|Friday on the Miller Farm, Miller Farm Friday|1 Comment

A Blog By Chicken Wrangler Sara

This book is still one of my favorites and a favorite of all my classes. They regularly ask for the “Whoa Ruby, Whoa Wyatt” song. They really enjoy galloping around the room.

This year, I have a new angle.

I ask myself the question “How many times can I gallop around the room without being in pain for the rest of the day?”

The answer is usually “one less than I galloped.” Getting older is hard on the body but I’m not quite ready to give up playing with the kids.

Ruckus on the Ranch – the original from Jun 7, 2019

Rachel has worked as a personal assistant for a woman named Jane who is visually impaired and has somewhat limited mobility. Rachel takes her to the places she needs to go and helps her around the house. Last April Rachel and I took her to see the Texas Tenors for her birthday. Jane enjoys music very much and in fact, we sit together at Bible Study so I can sing alto to her soprano when we sing the hymns.

Before we even went to our seats, I stopped at the merchandise table. This is usually a bad idea but in this case, there was a newly published children’s book entitled Ruckus on the Ranch. It was a gift we could all enjoy. It tells the story of two horses, Wyatt and Ruby, running amuck on a ranch and being chased by all the farm animals as well as the cowboy and cowgirl. They eventually get tired and lay down to rest. All is quiet until… Wyatt gets stung by a bumblebee.

Of course, there is a song sung by the Texas Tenors that goes with the book. At the part where all is quiet, the three men sing “Oh what a peaceful ranch” in beautiful harmony. It is my favorite part not only for the music but also because when I play it in my music class, all the kids lay quietly.

Then when Wyatt gets stung, they all jump up and start galloping around again. It is the perfect song for when the classes need to get some energy out – like the month of May. It also gives me a workout as I gallop around with them.

Sometimes on Miller Farm, the chickens run amuck. Then I put food out and they all get quiet. At that moment I hear in my head “Oh what a peaceful ranch” and hope no one gets stung by a bee.