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Jan
29

A Chickens in the Road Sampler

Every once in a while I like to run a post that helps new readers find their way around my site. And so here is a Chickens in the Road Sampler platter for your browsing pleasure. If you’re new here, please enjoy all the fun and nonsense–and stick around! If you’ve been here for awhile, maybe you’ll find something you missed. And you don’t want to miss a thing!

You might want to start your sampling 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.

Then read The Farmhouse Year in Review 2008, highlighting all our nonsense, mishaps, and occasional accomplishments in our first year on our own farm in our new farmhouse.

Get a taste of my wacky farm animal stories with Bedtime Story. See me read a very special recipe from a cookbook to my chickens. Did they ever start laying eggs then!

Find the full archive of all my ridiculous animal stories here. Goats who don’t want to be milked, attacking hummingbirds, lazy cats, shy ducks, adorable sheep, and a Giant Puppy! (Be sure to Meet Annabelle! Baby sheep in diapers!)

Next sink into my weird compulsion to track down, photograph, and make up stories about abandoned outhouses in the country. Start with On the 8th Day the Lord Said, Let There Be Separate Outhouses.

Read more outhouse stories as well as stories about our farm, the old farmhouse, people, and places in the full archive of my country living section.

Learn all about Making a Grapevine Wreath after that. (I shouldn’t even be allowed to attempt to make crafts.)

Check out my archive of country style stories here.

I love to bake! I especially love old-fashioned cooking. Try my Burnt Sugar Cake!

And see all my recipes here. I am an avid bread baker! Fall in love with homemade bread with my heritage recipe, Grandmother Bread.

I love gardening, too, but mostly as a spectator sport. See what happens when Obstacle Gardening includes hoeing….. I can’t hoe! I’m not worthy of the hoe!

Read all my garden nonsense here.

There’s also a very active community on the Chickens in the Road forum, packed full with welcoming, warm, funny people. C’mon! We’d love to see you there!

And if you got this far and still want to know more about me, check out this page for all the dirt.

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Posted by Suzanne McMinn on January 29, 2009  

More posts you might enjoy:

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Five Seconds

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  1. 1-29
    6:58
    am

    What a great way to go back and remember all the fun of the last years. Some of the things I remember well, and others I’d forgotten and got to see again and remember why I loved them. One thing? Don’t have coffee in your mouth while reading, especially the posts about learning to milk Clover. I can’t stop laughing.

    Thanks for sharing your life and your farm with those of us who are just starting out as farmers, and for those who wish they were.

    I love the forum! Such good information on any topic you can imagine. And if you can’t find what you are looking for — just ask, and if there isn’t already a topic on the subject you can start one. I wish I had found the forum when I first started reading the blog. I’m a little slow on the uptake. TAke advantage of the forum! Find 300 new friends in all parts of the US and the world. Can you tell I love Chickens in the Road?

    WV_Hills - Reply to this comment Reply
  2. 1-29
    7:01
    am

    Good Morning, Suzanne!! Did you change the schedule on the upload? I was worried about your floods and your ice!! But it uploaded the same time as yesterday!! My coffee is gone :hissyfit: :lol: :lol:

    CindyP - Reply to this comment Reply
  3. 1-29
    7:04
    am

    I think you have an excellent mix of all those elements. I love visiting because I never, ever know what’s going to pop up on any day!! I must say, though, I am quite partial to chickens doing Shakespeare. And I adore Clover.

    Nita in South Carolina - Reply to this comment Reply
  4. 1-29
    7:05
    am

    Congratulations on being “Best Kept Secret Weblog” finalist. I saw that yesterday and was thrilled for you. I guess you know who I’ll be voting for.

    As for what I like on your blog, EVERYTHING! Keep up the good work(if you can call it that).

    DeeBee - Reply to this comment Reply
  5. 1-29
    7:08
    am

    Cindy, no, I haven’t changed the schedule, but the posts didn’t get auto-scheduled the past couple days and I had to set them manually in the morning after I got up. Usually I have them set before I go to bed to go up automatically in the morning. Sorry about that!

    Suzanne McMinn - Reply to this comment Reply
  6. 1-29
    7:09
    am

    Suzanne: There’s nothing that I don’t love about your website. Thanks for the enjoyment everyday.

    DragonLady - Reply to this comment Reply
  7. 1-29
    7:18
    am

    :sun: I love it all Suzanne….and I love knowing when i make my cup of tea each morning that there will always be a new post waiting for me.
    Blessings on your day!
    BethAnn in very snowy cold Michigan

    Beth - Reply to this comment Reply
  8. 1-29
    7:25
    am

    I like cute animals, recipes, farm stories, tales about your kids, all of the above!

    midwestmom - Reply to this comment Reply
  9. 1-29
    7:42
    am

    Everything you mentioned above Suzanne is what I like best.A mix of your life with plenty of humor and photos!

    IowaDeb - Reply to this comment Reply
  10. 1-29
    7:55
    am

    C’mon, Suzanne. You can’t possibly expect me to narrow it down to one thing I like best?! I love the whole site. But I guess if I must, the critters are my favorite. But your writing makes the whole site interesting.
    Your site has a down home feel we can all relate to.

    Becky - Reply to this comment Reply
  11. 1-29
    8:11
    am

    I was just worried!! CIR keeps me in the know, first thing I do every morning!!

    CindyP - Reply to this comment Reply
  12. 1-29
    8:25
    am

    I can’t get past the title…sounds like a plate of various recipes to use for chicken road kill! NO! I love your chickens! **Shudder!**

    Traci ;)

    Traci Best - Reply to this comment Reply
  13. 1-29
    8:32
    am

    :moo: I like everything about your website but if I have to pick, it would be the ‘life on the farm’ and the recipes. Ever since I found your blog about the grandmother bread, that’s the only kind of bread I make now!

    Beth in PA

    Beth Brown - Reply to this comment Reply
  14. 1-29
    8:42
    am

    All of the pictures are great! I want to have a decent camera. I want to be able to take decent pictures. Is there hope? Not likely

    The Jillybean - Reply to this comment Reply
  15. 1-29
    8:42
    am

    Great and important posts, but seriously, you need to add a direct link to Grandmother Bread. New readers aren’t properly indoctrinated until they’ve read about Grandmother Bread.

    Robin G. - Reply to this comment Reply
  16. 1-29
    8:51
    am

    Thank you, Robin! Good idea. I edited the post just now to add it!

    Suzanne McMinn - Reply to this comment Reply
  17. 1-29
    9:15
    am

    Nice review of the blog! Such fun to remember all your stories. The Slanted Little House post still gets to me!

    kacey - Reply to this comment Reply
  18. 1-29
    9:23
    am

    I can’t think of which subject to write more about since they are all so great. I try most of your recipes, still haven’t tried that burnt sugar cake though, looks so yummy. I love the photos and the craft ideas. And personal stories make the blog more personal so they are good too so you have that covered. Hmmm outhouse stories, well noone can live without them so they are important too. Just keep going the way you are doing. Bless you!

    Abiga/karen - Reply to this comment Reply
  19. 1-29
    9:29
    am

    Yep – love it all, especially the animal stories. I even like to read your recipe posts even though I don’t bake, don’t like to cook. I can at least dream that you might hand-deliver something to me!! Just keep the stories coming, please!!! :sun:

    Nancy in Atlanta - Reply to this comment Reply
  20. 1-29
    9:45
    am

    I love the mix of it all. And I love the surprise of not knowing for sure what I’ll find when I get here.

    Christine - Reply to this comment Reply
  21. 1-29
    10:39
    am

    I’m a brand new reader and already have plans to bake your Burnt Sugar cake. I’ve been reading some of your old posts today and have enjoyed myself hugely. You have a really lovely blog. :)

    Rhian - Reply to this comment Reply
  22. 1-29
    10:45
    am

    How fantastic! I’m a new reader– just added you to my feeder yesterday, so what a perfect post to start off my reading experience. Such an inspiring story =]

    Jackie - Reply to this comment Reply
  23. 1-29
    11:50
    am

    There is not one thing I would change about your website. It’s a wonderful mix of all that goes on: goats, Giant Puppy, kids (human & goat), crafts, food!, scenery…leave it all and happily go on your way! :snoopy:

    kd

    kd (small caps) - Reply to this comment Reply
  24. 1-29
    11:59
    am

    Thanks for the tour. I am fairly new and spent several hours yesterday reading this wonderful blog. I love everything I read adn can’t wait to find the post I missed!

    Patty - Reply to this comment Reply
  25. 1-29
    12:33
    pm

    Wonderful recap and I’m happy to say I hadn’t missed a one :happyfeet:

    catslady - Reply to this comment Reply
  26. 1-29
    12:41
    pm

    Your site is perfect as it is..I like not knowing what today’s bit will be…sort of like the anticipation of Christmas eve waiting for the next morning to open the gifts. Don’t change a thing..just MORE of everything! :chicken: :chicken:

    SuzieQ - Reply to this comment Reply
  27. 1-29
    12:54
    pm

    Suzanne,the first thing I think about in the morning is coffee and Chickens In The Road.Some mornings, my Comcast modem blinks at me mockingly, enjoying the fact that it’s ruining my day :hissyfit:
    I’ve called Comcast so many times, they know me and I know them by their first names!
    Missed you yesterday, but I’m catching up.
    My granddaughter asked me what the wooly worms predicted back in the fall.I know you blogged on wooly worms a while back, but I can’t find it. Can someone help?
    What do I like best about your blog? The fact that you share your life with us every day and make us feel as if we could come and visit you and sit on your porch and eat pie and be welcome.

    shirley - Reply to this comment Reply
  28. 1-29
    1:28
    pm

    Suzanne,

    I enjoy all of the topics you cover.

    This morning while I was in the laundry area, I washed out a bucket I got from the Food Co-op and thought of your blog. I plan to use the bucket to make home-made detergent if I can find the ingredients.

    Then I was in the kitchen and thought “Why don’t I make my own pancake mix instead of buying it?”. I use the whole grain kind and looked in your recipes and–sure enough–you have quick mix, and it even mentions whole wheat! I am thinking of adding buttermilk powder and possibly wheat germ…

    I finally got my act in gear and subscribed to Google Reader, which makes it so much easier to follow blogs. No more clicking on each link, scattered throughout my long list of web favorites, only to find out there is nothing posted. Sometimes for weeks! When I go to the reader, I always save yours for last because it’s the best and you’re the most faithful. Thanks again!

    Ruth

    Ruth C - Reply to this comment Reply
  29. 1-29
    1:30
    pm

    Suzanne, I love everything on your blog! If I was forced to pick the one topic that keeps me coming back it would be the people that have entered your life. :wave:

    Susan - Reply to this comment Reply
  30. 1-29
    2:04
    pm

    :snowman: Never mind. I found it. Oct.7,2008

    shirley - Reply to this comment Reply
  31. 1-29
    2:19
    pm

    Suzanne,

    Love,love, love your blog.
    First place I go each morning after I check my email.
    I like the recipes the best.
    Love making Grandmother bread !

    Keep up the good blog work !!!!

    Anne

    anne - Reply to this comment Reply
  32. 1-29
    2:27
    pm

    I love it all, Suzanne!

    Estella - Reply to this comment Reply
  33. 1-29
    2:50
    pm

    Thanks for the recap! Good luck in the Bloggies!

    Amy - Reply to this comment Reply
  34. 1-29
    3:29
    pm

    I want to see more pictures of Annabelle. Dang, she’s cute! Is she going to get a friend to keep her company or will she hang out with the goats?

    Lisa in California - Reply to this comment Reply
  35. 1-29
    4:17
    pm

    I like the recipes. :)

    Jen R (aaron-n-jen.com) - Reply to this comment Reply
  36. 1-29
    5:19
    pm

    I love reading all your posts, but the thing that originally hooked me was reading about your adventures with Clover. I read them all and emailed the links to my friends and then added your blog to my RSS feed thingy, and now you have one of my favorite blogs. (Cake Wrecks is the other.)

    Ulrike - Reply to this comment Reply
  37. 1-29
    5:24
    pm

    I’ve been here a long while now and I love everything! *G*

    Brandy - Reply to this comment Reply
  38. 1-29
    5:27
    pm

    :snoopy: I like it all Suzanne…but…I’m living for the day I see you in a picture working that hoe! (Must show the blisters too! ;) )

    beeyourself - Reply to this comment Reply
  39. 1-29
    5:44
    pm

    Like everyone – I love it all! I’m partial to Clover and Nutmeg! I miss Spartacus! :chicken: I love your mouth watering recipes. And now I’m thinking about taking that scary step and telling everyone on my blog about you (I already have you on my links.) It’s like this great secret that I have (well I did tell my friend and my mom and we discuss your posts all the time.) But I think I need to dedicate a whole blog post explaining why I’m addicted to Chickens in the Road and it is my #1 favorite. And the scary part – Because as soon as they come to visit you – they may never come back to my log cabin blog. I don’t know why I go back to my blog!

    Shelley - Reply to this comment Reply
  40. 1-29
    5:58
    pm

    Suzanne
    I love everything about your blog. You are just so good about inviting us in and making us a part of your life and the forum is like icing on the cake. Just keep up what you have been doing.

    Linda - Reply to this comment Reply
  41. 1-29
    6:57
    pm

    Been there, voted for you, got my confirmation email, expect to return there on 3/16 and see that you’ve won. You really are most deserving, Ms. McMinn! :yes:

    annbb/TSannie - Reply to this comment Reply
  42. 1-29
    9:37
    pm

    Suzanne:

    Thank goodness for blogs, digital cameras and social networks during times of being snowed in! What did those mountaineers do before?

    We’re just getting started in the daily blogging process. How do you keep up with so much? At any rate, thank you and hope you have as much time to share with us in 2009.

    Jan @ Greensboro Daily Photo - Reply to this comment Reply
  43. 1-30
    9:37
    pm

    the fact that you make me smile and most often laugh daily is my favorite thing about your blog! i love that you give a voice to all the animals. you have a gift…thank you for sharing that gift! :heart:

    tillie - Reply to this comment Reply
  44. 1-31
    9:05
    pm

    ….you and the grandmother bread recipe are the reason I purchased yeast for the first time.You make it sound so good and easy. Hope the kneading part does’nt knock me out> Good luck with the bloggies.

    aunt bear - Reply to this comment Reply
  45. 4-1
    8:28
    pm

    I heard the interview yesterday while driving to work. I logged in to your website and loved the rooster pictures. I had my office mates view also. I haven’t stopped talking about the interview and website. You sounded so calm who would have guessed you had to repeat anything. Great site, photos and stories.

    Karen Wood - Reply to this comment Reply
  46. 5-30
    5:30
    pm

    You must be my twin – we are living identical lives – except I don’t have sheep – just got my first goat for my birthday and Mother’s Day. I have always lived on a farm and enjoy gardening, canning and home cooking. Also I love chickens – I always believed that their is something about dirty hands that is good for the soul.

    Thanks for your Website/

    Clara Floyd

    Clara Floyd - Reply to this comment Reply

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Suzanne McMinn



The Slanted Little House

"It was a cold wintry day when I brought my children to live in rural West Virginia. The farmhouse was one hundred years old, there was already snow on the ground, and the heat was sparse-—as was the insulation. The floors weren’t even, either. My then-twelve-year-old son walked in the door and said, “You’ve brought us to this slanted little house to die." Keep reading our story....



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