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.
skippymom says:
I guess that whole photo stealing photo fiasco got you noticed – very awesome.
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.
On February 2, 2011 at 2:03 am
Lindsay says:
Woohoo! Yay Suzanne for being a finalist! Let’s hope for a win! But seriously, even if you don’t we’ll still love you and read your stuff every day.
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!
On February 2, 2011 at 3:07 am
Rose H says:
Great! I have of course voted, and cannot believe that I’d already been on that site in a different catagory and missed ‘chickens’ 😕
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’!
:yes: :yes: :yes:
On February 2, 2011 at 4:37 am
wvhomecanner says:
AND when you vote be sure to watch for the email to confirm your vote or it won’t count!
VOTEVOTEVOTE!
dede
On February 2, 2011 at 7:05 am
Johanna says:
My favorite picture EVER was the lonely dirty white duck from behind. She’s kind of hanging her head and it’s just so very expressive.
Maybe you won’t win, but you certainly deserve to be right up there. Congratulations!
On February 2, 2011 at 7:49 am
joycee says:
Love coming here every day, sometimes more than once a day! You know you have my vote!
On February 2, 2011 at 8:08 am
wvhomecanner says:
and the votes are email based, so if you have more than one email …
On February 2, 2011 at 8:12 am
Charlotte Spears says:
You are so very talented, Suzanne! I am very happy for you! Hope you win. 😀
On February 2, 2011 at 8:21 am
Carmen at Old House Kitchen says:
I voted for you and shared on FB to vote for you! I hope you knock them all out of the ball park and take home the trophy (if there is a trophy). Best wishes, Suzanne!!
On February 2, 2011 at 8:54 am
knancy says:
The video also just showed up on my FB. It came from the following site through two other people/links:
https://blogs.discovery.com/daily_treat/2011/01/watch-bouncy-sheep-plays-hide-n-seek-with-happy-dog.html#mkcpgn=fbapl1
On February 2, 2011 at 9:37 am
Joy says:
I’m so happy you are a finalist, Suzanne! I have voted but am still waiting for my email confirmation link. Not sure why it’s taking so long to get it….I voted yesterday. (oops, I’d better check my spam box)
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!!! :happyflower: :heart: :shimmy:
On February 2, 2011 at 9:38 am
Miss Becky says:
Congratulations on the nomination Suzanne! You deserve it, and I’ll be voting for you every day. I love the sampler you’ve put together. You know I think your photos are the best! :yes:
On February 2, 2011 at 9:50 am
Larissa says:
Congratulations, Suzanne!
On February 2, 2011 at 9:54 am
patrice says:
I will vote for you. I’m surprised you didn’t end up in some of the other categories as well!
On February 2, 2011 at 10:17 am
Jane says:
You should also be in Best Blog category… maybe next year. You deserve all the recognition possible for the work you do. I love blogs and read many, but yours is just so darn special.. I LOVE it:)
On February 2, 2011 at 11:07 am
Joy says:
I still haven’t gotten my verification email after voting….?? It’s not in my spam box either. :no:
On February 2, 2011 at 12:01 pm
wildcat says:
I voted for you Suzanne. Congrats on being a finalist! :snoopy:
On February 2, 2011 at 1:04 pm
Nancy in Iowa says:
This is so exciting! You most definitely deserve it! Your photos combined with your delightful stories brighten my every day. And today I had another wonderful surprise – went to YouTube to search for a specific video and found – on the main page – several suggestions of videos the viewer might want to watch. Right in the center was – Chickens in the Road!!! :snoopy: :snoopy:
On February 2, 2011 at 1:31 pm
Ramona says:
Congrats, that’s wonderful.
You do take great pictures and I’m going to have to check out that camera.
On February 2, 2011 at 4:10 pm
Julie @ Another Chance Ranch says:
I feel like I have hit the jackpot today! I am sorry to say that this is my first visit to your spot here on the world wide web. First of many visits I should say. I love it, and I’ll be back (said in my best Arnold impression).
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!!
On February 2, 2011 at 5:46 pm
June says:
I ran across the Annabelle video at the Animal Planet website, too. Great exposure for your website!
On February 2, 2011 at 6:58 pm
Linda says:
I love your blog and I enjoy all of the goat stories and pics. I have missed it for a couple of days….been helping my sister-in-law, she fell and had to have surgery over the weekend. She is home now working on recovery (about 4 months) and I am doing most of the cooking for her and her family. I will be back as normal as soon as possible.
Have a Blessed Day!
On February 2, 2011 at 7:07 pm
iowacowgirl says:
Awesome!! Congratulations!!
On February 2, 2011 at 8:25 pm
brookdale says:
I voted but haven’t gotten an email confirmation yet either. But anyway, you are the BEST in my opinion!
On February 2, 2011 at 8:30 pm
Yvonne says:
As a daily reader ( two or three or four times a day!), I already know all of this info, but it was great to read it anyway. You’ve done an excellent job Suzanne, and I wish you the very best, just as if you were part of my family. (well, you already are part of my family, even though I’ve never met you! Maybe I will finally make it to this years CITR party and meet you in person!)
:turtle: (What waiting on spring is like!)
On February 2, 2011 at 8:54 pm
theresa winstead says:
I discovered your blog when lookin for farm info in the Appalachians…want to “retire” there in a couple of years and do just what you’re doing. I became an instant fan…you share so much useful information and have so much fun doing it. LOVE your blog and all the wonderful photos!
On February 2, 2011 at 11:32 pm
Joy says:
I still haven’t received an verification email for my vote and I voted the day you notified us.
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. :no:
On February 3, 2011 at 8:20 pm
Sue, a Florida Farm Girl says:
Girlfriend, don’t you dare sell yourself short!!! You’re amongst the best of them, I do believe, and better than most!! Good luck and hope you win by a landslide!!!!!
On February 4, 2011 at 12:05 pm