25 Questions

[HomesteaderWife]

I remember it used to be popular years ago to take time and answer a series of questions about all sorts of topics (mind you this is when I was a teen), so I wanted to ask some of my own and hope you'd take the time to answer some unique questions about homesteading, chickens, reading, and more with genuine questions I have for you all.

I hope it gives you something to work on, think about, and enjoy answering. Maybe even a small way for others to get to know you better? Feel free to skip or put N/A but let's have a little fun with it!

1. What has been the most special pet you've ever had and why? (ex. a loyal dog, a unique rescue chicken)
2. What things would you like to see homesteaders/self-sufficiency talk more about in their blogs?
3. Have you ever trained your pet chicken? (obstacle courses, color pecking, etc)
4. Do you enjoy cooking, and if so what is your favorite thing to fix?
5. Did you plant a garden this year? How did it turn out?
6. What type of music do you enjoy listening to?
7. Be honest - how often do you talk to your chickens like they are just small feathered people?
8. What is your all time favorite book to read?
9. What is a movie you could go back and watch over and over? Why?
10. As a poultry caretaker, farmer, homesteader, what have you- what is a product you absolutely can't live without?
11. Who has been an influential person in your life, and why?
12. Do you enjoy making crafts, and if so, what things do you specialize in? (ex. woodworking, resin art, painting, knitting, etc)
13. How do you keep track of things when you have alot going on? Do you write down a list on paper, jot it on your phone, have a chalkboard/chore list on the wall, or can you remember it all?
14. What is one type of animal you aren't raising right now, that you'd like to get into raising?
15. What specialized skill/job do you feel like is underrated or in high demand for the livestock and poultry raising community? (ex. large animal or avian vets)
16. Have you ever rescued an animal, whether it be a neglected chicken, or adopting a shelter dog?
17. How do you connect to BackYard Chickens? Phone, laptop, desktop, tablet?
18. What unique items do you like to give to people as Christmas/holiday gifts? Do you make it/them yourselves?
19. Do you have a wood-burning stove in your house?
20. What is one cool thing people don't know about you?
21. What is something you really enjoy collecting? (ex. antique glass bottles, a book series, coins, stamps, etc)
22. If you can remember, how did you first hear about BYC and when did you join?
23. What's something you've been wanting to buy for awhile but haven't? (ex. a new chainsaw, a particular dress, a yummy snack, a new book, a breed of poultry, you name it!)
24. When you think of your farm/homestead/land/home in general, what things no matter how simple or extravagant, bring a sense of comfort, peace, and joy to you? (ex. percolator coffee bubbling, a particular type of wildflower blooming, local wildlife, family, tending to critters, reading a good book- another you name it!)
25. The most impactful question of all - what one lesson would you like to leave behind for future generations? Essentially, what knowledge you'd like to pass down and hope others can learn from. What legacy do you want to leave behind or what do you want to be remembered for? One to really think about!

 

[sourland]

1) A German Shepherd Dog named Rhon. I still grieve for him after 50 years.
2) Food preservation.
3) No
4) I love to cook. Chicken paprikas is my favorite dish to make.
5) I have 16 tomato plants that are loaded with green tomatoes.
6) Country
7) I talk to animals and plants daily.
8) "The Great Santini"
9) "Bambi" - it's the first movie that I ever saw, and it brings back many memories.
10) Dog food
11) The Princess - she has made the dream come true.
12) I have negative craft ability - always wanted to be an artist - major fail.
13) The 'remembering' days are gone - I carry a 3 X 5 card in my shirt pocket.
14) Bees
15) Avian veterinarians for sure
16) Yes - right now it's a feral/turned semi tame cat.
17) Barely - desktop - I am a technoilliterate/technophobe
18) Home made terrariums
19) No
20) I'll keep that a secret.
21) Stones
22) Memory does not go back that far - lurked for years prior to joining.
23) I'm a bit weird in that I don't want 'things'.
24) The look of our home as I enter the driveway - it is the 'Home' I have always wanted. It is where I belong.
25) When you find that person that you like more than anyone else that you have ever met - don't let them get away. NEVER say mean and hateful things to another - you can never take them back.

Thanks, this was fun.

 

[HomesteaderWife]

Realized I forgot to answer myself!

1. I had a pet cat growing up who was the most tolerable animal I have ever known. He was so patient with me, and we did everything together. He lived to be about 10!
2. I'd love to see more unique topics about other people building their own cabin, basic survival skills even homesteaders need to know, etc.
3. I have trained my pet chicken for a multitude of things - she'll fly or step up to my arm, she can ring a bell, she will go to a place you point at by saying "up!", and she also will go into the coop on command.
4. I enjoy cooking sloppy joes! They aren't fancy, but I make them all the time.
5. Yes, we planted a garden, but the seed ruined in the freezer apparently so nothing happened sadly.
6. I list to many different genres, but can always go back to Bluegrass!
7. I talk to my animals as if they were people every day!
8. I honestly really enjoyed the collection of Richard Proenekke's journal entries of "Into the Wilderness"
9. Shenandoah with Jimmy Stewart is I watch every year on the anniversary of my Grandma's passing. It was one of her favorites, and seemed to be on every time I was at her house. I also really love The Wildnerss Family and Interstellar.
10. I obviously need feed always, but I always seem to need 7-dust too.
11. My grandmother and aunt were both such huge influences to me - they taught me about animals and how to care for them. My grandmother was tough, firm, but underneath loving and tried to do well by us. I respected her! I also got my love of coffee from her.
12. I love crafting all sorts of stuff - working with bone is a new thing I am enjoying.
13. I have to make a combination of written notes and occasionally phone notes when not near a pen/paper.
14. I'd love to get into raising working oxen and training them myself.
15. I feel equine specialist and avian specialist veterinarians are in big need where I am- they are under-rated!
16. I have rescued a few animals over the years whether it be humane society or neglected chickens, dogs, rabbits, etc.
17. Usually always the laptop.
18. Year before last I gave close family little wood pallet signs with their names painted on them in holiday theme. For mother's day, I think it was last year as well, my husband and I made a cutting board out of a tree we had cut for firewood. MIL said she liked the pattern on the inside, so we cut a slab and then I wood-burned on it on the edges.
19. We did, but one caused the fire and was ruined, and the other was on the porch and got burnt pretty bad but can be repainted just to display.
20. I am honestly obsessed with hummingbirds. I have a special, decorative hat I made when it's time to clean the feeders and refill to take back outside, in hopes they'll recognize me and know I am bringing the feeders back for them.
21. Glass bottles and very old books (1940s and older)
22. My best friend introduced BYC to me...I'm pretty sure 11 years ago actually? She had alot of ducks that she raised, and had even talked about her goats with a few folks here. I joined after getting our first rescue hen because I was in dire need of help, as she was attacked by a pack of dogs was the reason she was surrendered. That's been so long ago I couldn't remember my account information, so I had to create this one a few years ago!
23. I keep hoping to stumble across a Tienshan mug like my Grandma drank coffee out of, with the little farm in the field with stars. It's not a priority, however, so I leave it to dreaming!
24. The percolator bubbling on the wood stove always really brought me great peace, and when I sit and watch hummingbirds fly around it is also a sense of joy. A current thing I really enjoy is the wild rabbit who comes out to greet me when I let the chickens and ducks out in the AM - a cute, familiar face.
25. I hope to pass on a sense of resourcefulness, helping others to see that we can do more with less. I hope to also leave behind an impression of who I was, in that people will see me as helpful and caring.

 

[neo71665]

1. My first horse. He was an a-hole and only listened to me, lol.
2. I'm kinda interested in hydroponics right now. Think it's cool to grow a garden in water
3. nope
4. I enjoy smoking and BBQ. Have a brisket going right now
5. Yep, heat has about killed it
6. I like rock, old punk, and outlaw country
7. I talk to them but not really like people. I talk to all the animals on the farm
8. I really don't have a favorite book. I like the foxfire book series
9. any John Wayne movie
10. O'keeffe's
11. My grandparents. I was lucky enough to live next door to him growing up so as soon as I got home from school we were over there. Summer we were over there as soon as us kids got up.
12. I enjoy working on cars. I do everything from custom paint to custom interiors.
13. I carry a pocket notebook with me everywhere. I'm always making notes.
14. I'd like to get more horses. Matter of fact I been thinking about getting rid of the cows and going back into horses. I just like steak too much
15. hoof trimming
16. I'm a licensed wildlife rehabilitater so yeah I've raised some pretty weird animals
17. chromebook
18. everybody always wants me to cook ribs for holidays
19. grew up with one in the house, have one in my shop
20. Not really cool but I have ulcerative colitis, my g/f has crohns and we met because of our disease.
21. I collect random car emblems.
22. google search
23. Actually been shopping for a new chainsaw, lol.
24. I live where I grew up, so many memories here good and bad.
25. Stop relying on tech. Your phone won't always be there with google to answer your question. Pick up a book, read, and learn something. Failing is part of the learning process. You have to keep trying until you get it right.

 

[HomesteaderWife]

Still open to anyone who wants to join in!

 

[linsybird]

I’ll join in, this looks pretty neat!

1. When I was a kid, my mom adopted the ugliest chihuahua ever. He was ridiculously thin, his legs were messed up, his back was hunched, his eyes bugged out, and he would drink water until his stomach literally couldn’t hold any more. He was old and grumpy, and refused to be potty trained. He was a little monster, but he was our monster, and not matter how difficult he was, I was heartbroken when he had to be put to sleep. I will never forget that weird little dog.
2. I’d like to hear more about layouts. Like what goes where and why. For some reason that’s fascinating to me.
   
   
3. Not yet
4. I can follow a recipe, but I’m no good at improvising. I LOVE to eat fried squash and zucchini.
5. I planted some tomato plants, but my thumb is not green enough to keep them alive and thriving.
6. Lately I’ve been into old country music, not the new stuff.
7. Every time I see them
8. The Count of Monte Cristo or East of Eden. I like long, interconnected stories.
9. Les Miserables. ln high school I use to watch it with my friends all the time (I know, I was a nerd.) I know the whole thing, and it reminds me of happy times.
10. Buckets! I use them to hold food, carry water, hold snakes, transport chicks, hold trash (temporarily) as chicken feeders and waterers and much more.
11. Definitely my mother. I know she’ll always be on my side no mater what. She really helped make me who I am today.
12. I’m a big crafter. I crochet, cross stitch, dabble in knitting, and I’m quite a good hand sew-er if I do say so my self.
13. If it’s really important, I get so anxious about it I couldn’t forget even if I tried. Otherwise I set phone alarms.
14. Do I have to pick just one? I’d like to get quail or geese next. Then sheep or goats, and I’d love to get a couple Ostriches some day.
15. In my area, small scale meat processors. I don’t have it in me to process my birds, and the closest poultry processor is 2 hours away.
16. I’m a sucker for animals in need. I always go for the underdog. Then I try to help or nurse them back to health, get attached, and it usually doesn’t end well, but that never stops me.
17. Phone
18. I try to make things for people, it seems more personal to me.
19. I wish I did
20. I make two headed stuffed animals
21. Concretions and other cool rocks
22. I can’t remember. I lurked here for a while before I had chickens though.
23. An incubator
24. Sitting with my chickens, when I’m all by myself. I love sitting in the calm backyard and watching them interact with each other.
25. I’d like to leave a lesson kindness. I think if everyone could just a moment to empathize with the people around them, the world would be a much better place. People judge themselves by their intentions, but others by their actions. Maybe that person who cut you off had to pee really bad. Or maybe the grouchy lady at the store has a herniated disc and her pain medicine just isn’t helping. Maybe the angry guy in the parking lot just had to have his dog put to sleep.