26 04, 2024

Hanging On

By judythemorgan|2024-04-25T08:42:49-05:00April 26th, 2024|Friday on the Miller Farm, Miller Farm Friday|0 Comments

A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara

The stump our birdhouse sits on is starting to tilt. The base is rotting away. The birdhouse is nailed to the stump so it will not fall off. It will just fall over with the stump unless we remove it.

I can relate to this poor bird house as I am sure most teachers can right now.

We are securely attached to our jobs but feel like all of life is tilting. Everyone is tired, kids are grumpy, teachers are ready to quit.

We are all just barely hanging on.

I wonder if it is time for me to remove myself from my job before my whole life falls over. Or maybe everything will straighten back up during the summer…

5 04, 2024

Perfect As They Are

By judythemorgan|2024-04-04T09:13:54-05:00April 5th, 2024|Friday on the Miller Farm, Miller Farm Friday|0 Comments

A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara

I really enjoy going to the grocery store. I know that is weird. I plan my menu, make my list, and check the sales and coupons.

Many people take advantage of the curbside pickup including both of our daughters. Not me. I like to go up and down every aisle and see what is available.

Recently there was an Oreo display in the frozen food section. I guess they thought Oreos and ice cream go together. There were several variations of the iconic cookie. I’m not sure why it needs any variation.

One package in particular caught my attention.

I picked it up and started to put it in my basket. Then I put it back and walked away.

I circled back and looked at the package again. There was something not right about this.

I consider myself a connoisseur of Black and White Cookies. My best friend in high school worked at a bakery that sold them. I visited the bakery regularly. After graduation, I moved to Texas where they did not have any equivalent of Black and Whites. Good Housekeeping magazine printed a recipe in a Christmas issue, and I have made them every year since.

I could not bring myself to buy a cookie that combined “my” Black and Whites with anything, even an Oreo.

Some things are perfect just as they are.

29 03, 2024

Easter and the Paschal Triduum

By judythemorgan|2024-03-28T18:23:45-05:00March 29th, 2024|Holidays|0 Comments

For the Christian world, Maundy Thursday ushered in the Paschal Triduum, the three days ending with Lent and leading to Resurrection Sunday (Easter).

The term may be familiar to Protestant denominations like Lutheran, Methodist, and Reformed as well as Anglican churches that observe Lent.

Other denominations may or may not be familiar with the term.

In our Methodist Church, the Triduum is called “the Great Three Days,” and on each day except Saturday, there are church services.

Maundy Thursday services remind us of Jesus’ command (to love one another) as He washed His disciples’ feet and shared The Last Supper with them. This service concludes with the Stripping of the Altar as the church readies itself for Good Friday.

Good Friday services can include a Fish Fry after the meal, the congregation gathers in a “bare” church setting to reflect on Christ’s Passion and His time on the Cross with songs, readings, and prayer. Church members leave in silence preparing to return on Easter morning in anticipation and celebration of His resurrection.

Holy Saturday or Black Saturday is a day for silence, fasting, and quiet contemplation focusing on personal spiritual journeys while remembering Jesus’ crucifixion. Holy Saturday falls as the Jewish Sabbath before Jesus’ Resurrection for those of Jewish faith.

Roman Catholics have celebrated the Paschal/Easter Triduum as a formal separate season since 1955. Many Catholic churches hold an Easter Vigil through Saturday night.

This season leading to Resurrection Sunday is the holiest time of the year for Christians. Participation in Paschal Triduum activities can enhance the season but is not required.

The important thing is having a thankful heart for what Easter represents. Without what He did on the cross, we would be forever lost.

May you have a most Blessed Easter.

15 03, 2024

Forest of Figs

By judythemorgan|2024-03-15T09:21:55-05:00March 15th, 2024|Friday on the Miller Farm, Miller Farm Friday|0 Comments

A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara

Beekeeper Brian loves figs. His grandmother made fig preserves and I have been able to replicate the recipe. I’ve also found a recipe for a fresh fig cake that we both love.

Many people who have fig trees do not like figs. This has been to our benefit as we have picked many figs off other people’s trees. Alas, those trees have died, or the people have moved on, so we are left to produce our supply.

This is not easy. We have tried multiple times to plant a fig tree in our yard, but the scorching summers are too much for it.

This year Brian has a renewed determination. He has researched different varieties and has six pots with a couple of different varieties of fig trees growing in them.

They made it through the winter, and we are hopeful to be able to plant them in the ground at some point this year.

Three will go to the community garden that our church has nearby. The others will stay on Miller Farm.

Brian recently visited his father 2 hours south of here and brought back a different variety of fig tree.

He has put the cuttings in water and sealed off the tops hoping that they will root.

There are seven potential trees. If they all grow into trees, we will have our own fig forest.

I may be looking for more fig recipes!

8 03, 2024

Movement Help

By judythemorgan|2024-03-06T09:20:08-06:00March 8th, 2024|Friday on the Miller Farm, Miller Farm Friday|0 Comments

A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara

I started a fitness program offered by my insurance that involves mostly stretching. It allows you to target a particular area, so I have been able to get relief from chronic neck pain.

It also encourages movement in any form to help keep pain in check.

I think the birds in the backyard have heard about this component as they have required more movement in the mornings lately.

The turkey has become increasingly grumpy and now will jump at me requiring some special movements I call the “turkey dance.”

It is like the chicken dance but with less arm flapping and more foot moving.

The ducks have also joined the campaign. They have decided to run out of the door of their coop when I go in to feed them.

This means I get to “herd” them back into their space.

I quickly learned to leave the chickens and turkey locked in their coop until I have fed the ducks and herded them all back to their home.

That way I am not trying to do the turkey dance while herding ducks.

There is no place on my fitness app to record turkey dancing or duck herding. I just call it movement and leave it at that.

I’m not sure any of the coaches who monitor the site would understand the life of a chicken wrangler/turkey dancer/duck herder.

9 02, 2024

Google Eyes

By judythemorgan|2024-02-08T17:14:09-06:00February 9th, 2024|Friday on the Miller Farm, Miller Farm Friday|0 Comments

A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara

Google eyes are magical. They turn ordinary objects into whimsical characters. I bought a giant set of Google eyes to go with my collection.

I’m using them in my classroom this year since I have a room to decorate.

In December, I tried to put a Rudolph on my door. The wind kept blowing him off.

For January, I put a snowman on my bulletin board. The students loved it!

This month I have put a giant heart.

2 02, 2024

Music Sweater

By judythemorgan|2024-01-26T10:49:26-06:00February 2nd, 2024|Friday on the Miller Farm, Miller Farm Friday|0 Comments

A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara

When I was in college, my parents bought me a music sweater for Christmas. It is a cardigan, so I wear it every winter as my coat. Living in Texas it is usually all I need.

I have never seen another one like it at all the music conventions I have been to through the years.

Over time, the button holes stretched out and it no longer stayed buttoned. This year I decided to remedy that situation by replacing the buttons.

While I was working on it, I decided to remove the shoulder pads that had been popular when I got it in the 80s but now just got in the way.

Now my sweater stays buttoned, and I am not fighting the shoulder pads.

I’m ready for another 35 years of Texas winters!

26 01, 2024

The Dragon

By judythemorgan|2024-01-19T10:47:01-06:00January 26th, 2024|Friday on the Miller Farm, Miller Farm Friday|1 Comment

A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara

There was a dragon In our front yard recently.

I heard it roar as I was studying at my desk. I looked out the window, but it was dark, and I didn’t see anything.

When Beekeeper Brian woke up, I told him about the dragon. He bravely went outside but didn’t see it. I figured it was probably an invisible dragon.

I was very cautious as I got into my car to go to work.

When I got home, Beekeeper Brian announced he had slain the dragon, which was just a plastic bag full of cans that the wind blew through. He put the bag in the back of his truck to take to the metal recycling center.

I am glad to have a knight in shining armor to slay my dragons. Even if they are just a plastic bag full of cans blowing in the wind.

12 01, 2024

Another Playground

By judythemorgan|2023-12-30T16:16:05-06:00January 12th, 2024|Friday on the Miller Farm, Miller Farm Friday|0 Comments

A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara

My grandsons (and their parents) were in town for a family gathering the week before Christmas. We continued our tour of playgrounds by visiting the playground on our church property. When we arrived, there was a digger working on the pavilion so I knew it was going to be a great time.

The boys explored the playground for a bit then decided to walk around the property. It was a beautiful day so we started walking.

Along the way, we discovered a large pile of sticks. Alex had to find just the right one. It was a lengthy process. Theo had to have his own stick.

When it was time to leave, Alex decided to take his stick to the playground so it would be there “next time.”

He left it at the bottom of the slide.

As we were leaving, a bulldozer had joined the digger.

It was like a double feature to end a glorious day at the playground.

15 12, 2023

Ugly Christmas Sweater

By judythemorgan|2023-12-13T14:55:54-06:00December 15th, 2023|Friday on the Miller Farm, Holidays, Miller Farm Friday|0 Comments

A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara

Our school is doing a dress-up theme every day this week. Thursday is ugly sweater day.

I have the perfect sweater. And it has a story. The story first appeared in my December 2014 blog.

Twenty-one (now thirty) years ago, my parents gave me a Christmas sweater. It was something they knew I would never buy for myself but would love.

They were right. I wore that sweater for many years starting with our daughter’s first Christmas. This very same daughter has borrowed the sweater not once but twice to enter her “tacky Christmas sweater” contests. This year she’s loaning it out.

I would be offended except for two years running, my sweater has won.

I think I deserve at least some kind of prize for having held on to that sweater long enough for college kids to think it is tacky.

I can’t wait to wear it on Thursday. I hope people are ready to hear the story. It is what makes the sweater the most interesting ugly sweater on earth!

~Read the original blog here: https://judythewriter.com/don-we-now-our-ugly-holiday-sweaters/