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Every once in a while, I put together a CITR sampler for readers who are new to my site, to help them figure out what’s going on here, who I am, and what I’m doing. If you are new–or “old”–here, I hope this sample “swatch” of Chickens in the Road will help you find your way around.
By the way, one of the frequently asked questions here is what kind of camera I use. I use a Canon PowerShot SX20 IS. It’s nothing more than an advanced point and shoot with some limited manual capabilities. (Most of which I don’t understand. I have an aversion to technical stuff.)
For your sampling pleasure, you might want to start with The Slanted Little House–the story of how we left the padded comfort of suburbia to live in the wild and wonderful boonies of West Virginia in a 100-year-old farmhouse. And don’t miss What Nobody Tells You about Living in a 100-Year-Old Farmhouse Before You Move In for all the mice, frozen pipes, and dead people.
Then check out The Farmhouse Year in Review 2010, highlighting all our nonsense, mishaps, and occasional accomplishments in this, our third year, on our own farm in our new farmhouse.
My site is broken out in sections because I have so much going on and if I don’t organize myself, I won’t know what I’m doing. I’d be lost and I’d just end up sitting in the goat house all day on an overturned bucket petting babies. Which wouldn’t be terrible, but I’d miss you.
You can access everything from the main page, but you can also find all the sections on any page from the menu bar in the header except for the Daily Farm section, which you can access from the thumbnail at the top of the sidebar. The Daily Farm section is my free-for-all, mish-mash section where I might post anything and everything, usually in a short format with a photo or three. I post there daily (or I couldn’t get away with calling it Daily Farm) and sometimes three or four times a day.
You never know what might show up over there.
I also post daily in at least one of my main sections.
In the Cooking section, I post about my obsession with baking, especially bread, my interest in vintage recipes and cookbooks, and my new-found adventures in home cheesemaking. I love to can, and thanks to donations from readers, I give away a Ball Blue Book Guide to Home Preserving once a week. If it’s old-fashioned, frugal, and delicious, I’m into it.
Cherry Chocolate Kisses.
You can find my Cooking archives here.
In House & Garden section, I write about simple things to make and do at home, from homemade cleaners and soap to corn husk crafts and candlemaking. I love to crochet and I’m learning to knit. I also enjoy “shopping” outside to decorate with free and natural elements. I also write about gardening topics.
How to Make a Corn Husk Wreath.
You can find it all in the House & Garden archives.
In the Barn section, I write about my farm animals.
We raise chickens, ducks, guineas, sheep, miniature donkeys, Fainting goats, Nigerian Dwarf goats, and dairy cows (not to mention cats and dogs) on our 40-acre farm far down a remote, unpaved road in the wilds of the West Virginia hills. If you’re looking for who’s really in charge around here, it’s Clover.
I write about my experiences raising farm animals, and I write a lot of fun and often silly stories about them. If you’d like to check out a few, here is a quick cross-section:
The Crooked Little Hen Saves the Day
Kitten’s Great Escape
Me Against the Baby
Ruckus
Woman Attacked by Goats, Film at 11
An Unfortunate Affair
Prodigal Sheep
And so many more in my Barn archives. Be sure to have a spare 10,000 hours before you get started in there.
I also take a lot of videos of my animals, and you can find them in the video archives here. Out of the blue a few weeks ago, this one started going viral on YouTube, racking up tens of thousands of views a day and eventually even ended up in the L.A. Times.
I have no idea how that happened, but it’s been fascinating to observe. (You can see the post associated with the video here.)
In the Country Living section, I post about the people and experiences in my life. I write about things like what I do on an ordinary day (and that was before I got a cow!), my son’s Navy boot camp graduation, why I have a happy card, the things I do when I’m under pear pressure, and sometimes about my strange and intrepid fascination with photographing old outhouses.
You can find all my stories in my Country Living archives here.
There’s also a very active message board at the Chickens in the Road Forum, packed full with welcoming, warm, funny people. C’mon! We’d love to see you there! There’s even more fun at our recipe community, Farm Bell Recipes, and the Farm Bell Recipes community blog.
If you got this far and still want to know more about me, check out this page for the low-down.
Posted by Suzanne McMinn on February 2, 2011
2:03
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Best wishes on a win. That is stiff competition but you are certainly a contender and worthy of the win.
Congratulations – it is so nice to see a fresh face on the bloggies.
3:07
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That is one of my favorite videos, the one of Annabelle. Another is the one with Mr. Pibb being his rotten little self, jumping on his mama. I got a chuckle out of that one.
Thanks for being so great!
4:37
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Anyway, it’s YOU who deserves the thanks Suzanne for all the pleasure you bring to others.
Here’s wishing you all the luck in the world with the ‘Bloggies’!
7:05
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VOTEVOTEVOTE!
dede
7:49
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Maybe you won’t win, but you certainly deserve to be right up there. Congratulations!
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http://blogs.discovery.com/daily_treat/2011/01/watch-bouncy-sheep-plays-hide-n-seek-with-happy-dog.html#mkcpgn=fbapl1
9:38
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I really thought you’d get into the “best kept secret” category….oh well, at the very least hopefully this will bring in some new readership and expose your wonderfulness to more!!!
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You do take great pictures and I’m going to have to check out that camera.
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Congrats on the Bloggie nomination, that is what brought me here. I am linking to your blog in a few days. I hope you don’t mind. My readers are going to love you! I just know it!
Good luck at the Bloggies!!
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Have a Blessed Day!
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I sent an email to them to let them know I haven’t received anything yet and I got an email saying:”I’ve confirmed your ballot for you.”
Has anyone else had this happen? I would really prefer to verify my OWN ballot for my own peace of mind.
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