You're not alone, country girl!

So if nobody else has noticed, being a farm girl or country girl or pioneer woman just isn't the same as it used to be. Back in the day, socializing came about on Sunday afternoons and during the seasonal barn building and hoe down events. Well for us, things have definitely changed for the better. We have things like - blogs, forums, chat rooms and, dare I say it, Instant Messenger to keep us from going insane. These are also very helpful tools for keeping the country girl "in the know".

A couple of my favorite knowledge base forums have proved to be quite valuable to me over the last year or so. It has been almost two years since I was fired from my rootin' tootin' job as a financial services consultant and I truly believe it was God kickin' me in the patootey and putting me back in my place. That place is on the home front with the kids and the critters and the roasted chicken in the oven. Seriously, I have a chicken in the oven. It's a miracle. I think a press conference is in order for this shocking news. (And no, it's not one of my beloved hens!)

But really - when I decided I wanted chickens in my backyard again, where else would one go but BackyardChickens.com? Talk about a plethora of advice! Need pictures of breeds? Need to know what kind of chick you got mailed to you? When do your chicks no longer need a heat lamp? Does your chicken have a rectal protrusion real emergency that you need advice about NOW? It's ALL on there. And seriously people, I have never found a forum with such a nice, down to earth group of people. Ever. They are fantastic. Intelligent. HILARIOUSLY funny - (especially on April 1, 2008!). And real.

Nifty, the super neato administrator for the BYC forum, has also started up a sister site that I have visited a lot recently. TheEasyGarden.com is a nice complement to BYC because we all know that people who have chickens, have a tendency to act like chickens and scratch in the dirt from time to time. TheEasyGarden forum is growing like a weed (pun certainly intended) and has been very helpful to me when I didn't have a clue how to plant my potatoes or when to prune my plum tree. I also found out we have some weeds that I'll probably never get rid of, but at least I don't feel like I'm alone in the battle of ME vs. the THISTLE!

If you have any other VERY helpful websites that this country girl can review, just give me a holler. You know I have all sorts of time to sit and have therapy blog now that my garden is in place!