Cute finds..

Just a few things I have found lately:
Vintage Dog postcards

Southern belle hanky and yellow doilies.

Vintage ad fan...on the back of the fan is an advertisement for a barber shop. The postcards and fan will be framed. The fan will be framed with a lace background.The postcards will be used near a vintage copy of "Bob,Son of Battle" and a couple of dog figurines.

~The Garden Goose~

Getting Crafty...and more...

Have been feeling a little bit crafty lately..so..I created an item for my Etsy shop.

A cute Marie Antoinette/"Let them Eat Cake" themed collage on canvas.

It is available in my etsy shop if any of you are interested.

http://www.gardengoosegifts.etsy.com/

I hand colored the vintage looking images to add a bit of fun.

Then...I had been wanting to create a bird themed altered art creation on an old silver tray I had..for quite some time..after seeing one similar over at my friend Dawn's blog (The Feathered Nest)...but whereas the version I had seen on Dawn's site was mainly done in sepia tones and black and white toile look print..I wanted my version to have a little bit of sepia toning but with some color tossed in.

I am keeping this of course for the new house..because I absolutely LOVE how it turned out!

Thanks Dawn for the idea!

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My daughter has been creating a specialty line of aprons..exclusive design that she created especially for a new website /blog called Napa Farmhouse 1885

www.napafarmhouse1885.blogspot.com

The items showcased on this website/blog are all repurposed/upcycled items...or organic/green style items.

Anyhow..my daughter was asked to design a set of aprons for the website.Exclusive design for the site.

And..here's the kicker....she is only 17 years old!!

yes!! how exciting!...

and..even more exciting is that this website that she was asked to design for...has been noticed and added to "Sites we like to visit" by the folks over at....Martha Stewart's blog!!

So...this could all wind up being ..to borrow a phrase from Martha..."A Good Thing"!

I hope that this is a start of something really nice for my daughter.

She is an accomplished seamstress already at age 17 and it would be so nice for her to be able to make a living designing and having fun and loving what she does..and earning money for herself along the way.

We encouraged her several years ago..at age 15..to start her own etsy.com shop..and you can visit it here:

http://www.shesewsbytheseashore.com/

I'm so proud of my gal!

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That's all the news for now...

I hope that you all have a really nice evening.

Thanks for stopping by!

~The Garden Goose~

Cottage Garden musings ...and more...

So..hubby took the weed hacker to parts of the yard tonight..yep..it needed it..but daughter came running in telling me..."hey mom dad said he's gonna hack down the cottage garden!" yikes..we hadn't even had a chance to collect all the seed we had wanted to!

But..it did need hacked down because after all the hot weather we have had lately..well some of those gals looked less than stellar...and from some wind and rain they all wanted to "lay down and be lazy" So..hack away he did!"

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We managed to get a few things to salvage seed from and of course I had to make sure the "mad man with the weed hacker" didn't hack down my sharifa asma rose that was hidden in amongst the cottage garden "jungle"..ha.

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So..I'll have to rake out what remains of the cottage garden area and come fall or next Spring we should see another crop of lovely flowers springing up.At the time the house will be "on the market" we shall hopefully see a new crop of pretty flowers.

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We had coreopsis, blanket flower and gloriosa daisies out there.

We are working diligently on getting the backyard back into shape..and as such..we have removed our garden and are turning the yard back into..."gasp"..yeah..a "lawn" again. No more "farm garden" type things back there...its being converted back to just plain lawn.

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I have learned alot from this place/backyard...and at the next place I do not plan on having alot of different flower beds...

I think I want to have one large centrally located flower bed and then grow it out from there

...not seperate beds for this and that.

I have lots of area here that has to be weed edged and in the summer time it becomes a real chore especially in temperatures where the heat index reaches 100 plus.It makes for a bit more to maintain and to have to weed hack around and weed and mulch

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Oh..and hydroponics...I am SO going to be doing hydroponic gardening for my veggies..at least some of them.It will be much easier to grow items in hydropinic towers..or in containers.

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This yard is landscaped very nicely...we had only 1 lone oak in the back yard when we moved here and then we put in quite a lot of trees and a courtyard eating area and so forth

...but next home I intend to plan things out to the n'th.

And mulching..I am not going to skimp on mulching and weed blocking.

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And when it comes to mowing..if I hire it done..the person coming in to mow..must have a clean mower.

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One year someone came in with a dirty mower..and we wound up with thousands upon thousands of dandelion seed heads all over the yard within 2 weeks time! yes I know dandelions are a nice thing and edible..but shiminy's you should have seen all the puff balls all over my yard after they got done..and never had them before..I could have been making some serious dandelion wine I tell you!!..ha.So..this place has not been without its "lessons learned"

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I do think one of the things I will miss the most about this place and the backyard...is the drake elm outside my kitchen window

...for in it I have hung several bird feeders, and a "see Rock City" bird house

...but more than that...it is the "bird gathering tree"

...a pair of ring necked doves visit it every day at the same time...and cuddle/snuggle together on the same branch every day

...And in the winter time tons of birds come to feed from the feeders.

That part of things I shall really miss...and of course being able to look out the kitchen window and see the bright cheeriness of sunshine colored flowers blooming in the cottage garden.

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But in life comes change..and I am ready for change...

and am ready to pass the key soon to some new family that I hope will enjoy the things about this place that have made it a "home" for us for the last 8 yrs.

I hope that they will enjoy all the love and labor that we put into this place...

and will nurture and care for this little bit of "country in the city".

For soon I will be off on another adventure that awaits our family...and I'll be someday soon making another house into a "home"...and another backyard into a "sanctuary".

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Today I spent all day painting the hallway doors and front door and the a/c unit door.7 doors down the hallway to get painted...but..I'm now done with that part of things! yay! but wheew..I was tired after all of that.

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Then this evening we celebrated my little gals 4th birthday. She loved everything. What a fun age..she was so excited all day today knowing it was her birthday.

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My hallway redo chore is almost done...it had wound up taking far longer than I anticipated, but..the only thing that remains now is to do all the trim work...door frames, a decorative wood trim at the halfway point on the walls above the wallpaper..then the baseboards.

I will definitely be doing the "happy dance" when this task is out of the way.

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Well...I hope that you all have a lovely weekend!

Thanks for joining me in "blogland"

~The Garden Goose~

Little Princesses with birthdays....going Dutch..and more..

My little baby girl turns 4 tomorrow! My sweet little princess. And..I made her a little castle cake.

She wanted a pink cake with pink icing..but..I had to improvise as I made everything except for the icing..from scratch.

The cake I made from scratch... and I thought I had red food coloring in my pantry. this evening...but nope..no food coloring...but...I did have a large box of raspberry jello powder...so..into the cake batter that went...it actually made the cake taste pretty good..ha..so..that problem was solved. Improvision..we mom's are good at it ..ehh? ..ha.

And the icing...I had about 2/3rd's of a container in the fridge..so..I melted it and drizzled it over the castle and sprinkled the whole thing with little multi colored butterfly and flower candy sprinkles.There is pink in it..so..I think she'll still like it though.

Cute..but not fancy..but..it is edible and looks mighty sweet..which cakes are supposed to be anyhow..but a prize winning cake..this isn't.

...but ..that's not what matters...what matters is that I took the time to make it and had fun doing so.And I think a little 4 yr. old will definitely enjoy it.

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We got her a teddy bear that you can stuff...so we stuffed it...got a pair of patent looking shoes for it, and a little outfit, and a Ty beanie baby toy of one of the Backyardigan characters that she likes.

And my oldest daughter made her a little blue sundress, then made her teddy bear a matching sundress.

Not a real fancy birthday..something simple and sweet and just with family.

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Well...I collect Dutch themed items.

...it all started several years ago when my dad gave me a pair of little children's sized Dutch shoes..

I had found a large pair somewhere..I have no idea where now...

but then on a visit home before dad passed away..he gave me a pair of child sized Dutch shoes and told me that he really liked them but wanted me to have them...so..that's all it took...

over the last few years I have slowly been adding a pair here..a pair there(finding them at garage sales or at antique shops as I can afford them..and come across them)...and even have had a few gals from over at Mary Jane's Farm Farm Girl Connection send me a few that they have gifted to me to add to my collection.

So..recently I decided..o.k....since my collection is starting to grow...

I am wanting to set up a special place by the front door of a new home...in the entry way...and make a dutch themed vignette and have my little Dutch shoes in a row in an entry way along with a few vintage garden watering cans....

So....I have been on the look out now for Dutch themed items...to expand my collection a bit.

Here are a few tings I found recently....

a lovely Dutch themed tablecloth....and a darling kissing dutch pair.

Aren't they adorable!!!

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Oh..and remember the little 1950's kitchen canisters with the roosters on them that I shared a while back?...well...I found a couple more darling vintage chicken items from the 50's.

(gotta love etsy for inexpensive vintage items)

I found this set of... covered butter dish..(yes it has a bit of paint worn off on the butter dish..but I honestly think it adds to the charm a bit)...and a sugar dish..and a salt and pepper set.

Darling! These will be used in my new home...yeah..I know..I know..why are you buying stuff now woman when you haven't even moved yet???...but remember..I mentioned finding little things that I can tuck into the drawers of my dining room buffet for safe keeping...ha.

I haven't totally filled up the buffet yet with my little vintage finds..ha.

And these things are all small items..and..they honestly don't take up much room.

And...I did clear out a heap of stuff recently.

(o.k...I think I'm a little bit justified now....smiles)

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Well...we survived the power outages..we stayed here through them..didn't go anywhere..just sat it out here at home...luckily it didn't get too unbearably miserable.

But I honestly hope that we don't have any more of them this summer.

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Someone asked about Passion Vine flowers and zone 7......you can grow it in that area..but like here in North Florida..the plant will die back during the winter time...but will spring back by summer time.

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Well....that's all for this evening folks..I hope that you all have a lovely evening..and a good day tomorrow!

Thanks for joining me in blogland!

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~The Garden Goose~

Power Outages...and Summer Days

Power Outages and Hot Summer Days..do not mix very well.

Yes..I am the first to admit it...I am just a wee bit spoiled when it comes to that ever so lovely invention known as the a/c.

But let me tell you gals.. I had every intention yet again yesterday to finally...finally finish that hallway painting job.

When what should happen again yesterday...but...yep...another power outage!

This time it lasted from noon..yep..high noon ! the hottest, most miserable time of a summer day....clear until nearly 5 p.m.Nearly 5 hrs.!!!! AGGGHHHH!!

Can you guess how we finally managed to get the electricity back on?

Bless that little Comcast cable guys pea pickin' heart I tell you!...seems the folks down at the end of the road in a large apartment complex all had electricity...but no cable... because...the cable service was tied into the outed electric line..they all had electricity at the end of the road but no cable, whereas we had no electricity yet again.

So all these folks without their cable were calling in complaining to the cable company...and here we sat without any electricity.

So cable guy called the power company and they did not respond, did not respond, did not respond.

Finally hubby goes outside after 4 hrs of this..and the cable guy says to him.."well I finally had to lie to get them to respond..I told them that we had 400 people out here at these apartments without cable and electricity"(actuality is the apartments are only about 150 units..he slightly embellished the truth a wee bit..ha)

But that's what it took...finally within 10 minutes...yep you read that right...what should have taken place 4 hrs previously...was finally responded to within 10 minutes..and....we had the power restored within 10 minutes after they finally responded.Why in the world they didn't respond sooner is beyond me.

Luckily none of my groceries in the deep freezer or refrigerator were spoiled...but hubby mentioned that maybe next time this happens we might just call the electric company and ask them if they'd like a bill for our groceries in our freezer next.

Needless to say....no painting got done yesterday...can you blame me?

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And today??? nope..not today either...hubby told me to "Take the day off sweety"

So I did.

But..I have been busy trying to help find material for the upcoming issue of "Small Town Living".... So the day wasn't all "take the day off".

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On to a diffferent subject for a minute...wanna know about a little book that will make a 3 yr. old laugh out loud?

Well...when we had the power outage yesterday hubby went up to Chik Fil A to get something for us all for dinner.
He picked up some kids meals for the kids, and in these meals were these darling little books by Doreen Cronin and Betsy Lewin...this one little book was called "Dooby Dooby Moo"

So the kids and I piled into my bed and I read them the story...first "Dooby Dooby Moo" and when I got to the end of "Dooby Dooby Moo" my little 3 yr. old burst out laughing.

I think you will too if you read the little story.

There are 4 little books in the series..and we now have 2 of them...

"Dooby Dooby Moo" , and "Click, Clack Moo Cows That Type"

If you have a little one in your life that enjoys being read to...well it's worth a little stop by Chik Fil A to pick up a kids meal and have fun.The "Click,Clack Moo Cows That Type " was a fun read also. Very cute little stories.

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I'm hoping to finally get that painting project totally completed at some point this week.

At least the walls are totally completed, but tan and a minty green trim just don't look too spiffy together...ha.

...At least not to me.

It shall get done though, but not on a day when the electricity is out.

Ahh well. I'll be glad when it is totally marked off of my "to do" list.

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I hope that you all are staying cool and refreshed during these" hot summer days". Take time to prop your feet up, enjoy a tall glass of iced tea, and just say "Ahhhh..thank goodness for A/C!!"

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Have a lovely evening!

~The Garden Goose~

Painting Progress..... and more..

Well...

I had big plans today to get started on my painting chore..of the hallway and entryway...a bit in the early afternoon.

I had donned my painting duds..an old t-shirt and old denim skirt ...and was ready to go gung ho on tackling the roll out of the walls.

When... out of the blue what should happen but...all of the power suddenly went out.

We did not have a storm in the area..the power just went..bleep..nadah..nothing...zip..zilch.

O.k...well in order to paint a hallway and entry way it is best to do so when you have a good deal of light by which to work with of course..so that you can tell that things are going right...ha

Anyhow...then I put everything on hold and waited and waited..thinking o.k. surely within about 10 minutes everything will be right as rain again and I can tackle this chore.

Nope... after half an hour I thought o.k...it can't be much longer....but nope...

after that I was actually beginning to worry about it getting too hot in the house and the items in the refrigerator going bad..but ....luckily after just an hour and a half..everything blinked back on.

But of course it took nearly another hour and a half for the house to cool back down to the temperatures that it had been before the outage.

So...my painting chore wound up starting at about 4:30 this afternoon instead of about 2:30 like I had wanted it to.

But..I did manage to get all of the hallway and entryway walls rolled out....yay!

Tomorrow I aim to paint all the doors, then the day after to paint all the trim.

And yes..with painting and climbing up and down a ladder and rolling out paint for several hours..one can feel muscles in the neck, shoulders and wrist and hand that they did not know they possessed.

I finally finished the walls at about 8:30 this evening.

I must say though..the lighter tan color is a good bit better than the minty green color we had before...I like how the light tan color adds a nice sunshiney "warmth" to the entry way.

Amazing what a little paint can do.

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After the painting chore oldest daughter and I spent time watching the 1995 edition of "Pride and Prejudice" starring Collin Firth..a good movie..actually we finished the 2nd half of it this evening as it is originally a 4 hr movie..netflix has it available on 2 cds.

We have watched just about all the versions that have come out of this particular movie it seems, but we enjoy it just the same.

I think this makes about the 4th or 5th time we have watched this story.I did enjoy this particular version of the movie though.

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The summer vacation for the children is drawing to a close , and as such we'll be starting back to our homeschooling routine very soon...in the next couple of weeks.

I have enjoyed the break from school also... because it has allowed me the chance to try and get some of the painting chores out of the way.

And I know that the children have indeed enjoyed the break as well.I am amazed at how fast the time just zipped on by.

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In a few days my littlest one will be turning 4 and we'll be celebrating her special day.Oh what a fun age! I'm wanting to get her a big teddy bear with a few little outfits for it that she can play dress up with the teddy bear.

She's my little "girly girl" and loves to sing song through the house and to dance and twirl and refer to herself as a "princess" and to call me a "princess" too.

I think that we'll probably make some sort of pretty "princess" style cake for her special day too.

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Well...I'm tired this evening now...but I do hope that you all had a lovely day.

Thanks for stopping by.

~The Garden Goose~

Cool Kids Room Decor...and more...

My husband recently designed this really cool Kids Room Decor..made of a removable/positionable vinyl.. these are just really cool and neat for a kids room.

There are several different style.

One that looks like you are looking out at a pirate ship as it sails by, one that looks like you are on a space ship looking down on the Earth, and one that looks like you are in a submarine watching a large sea turtle float by.

If you'd like to see them they are available in his etsy shop at:

http://www.wilsongraphics.etsy.com/

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We've had a slew of rain here lately and with it..all of the weeds have really taken off, but some of the flowers are as well.

The passion vine is still in flower and going strong.

A few zinnias also have popped up in the cottage garden as well.

My painting project went on hold today as I had several errands to run about town this afternoon.

I definitely plan on donning my painting duds tomorrow to finish the hallway and entry way.

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After the rain yesterday I worked on moving some of the potted up plants into an area by the fenced courtyard so that they would not all be by my backdoor..ha.

Some of the roses have started blooming after being planted into the pots..sometimes I think the roses actually like staying in the pots better..some varieties of them seem to bloom better that way.

Then one of my daylilies is blooming again..after having bloomed about 3 weeks ago it sent up yet another stalk with about 4-5 flower buds on the stalk.

Very pretty brilliant/deep red almost maroon with a yellow throat.

So pretty!

Well..I hope that your week has started out well, and that today has been a lovely day for you!

~The Garden Goose~

p.s. stay tuned..its gonna be "giveaway" time again soon....soon as I find something to give away that is..ha"

Painting Day...

Oldest daughter and I spent half the day today with doing some paint work in our entry and hall way. Cutting in paint around all the ceiling edge, doorways and the ornamental trim.

Just to show you an example of the colors..this image shows you pretty much the colors we are using.

Of course we don't have stairs or a large turkey picture, but just to show you the colors. Halfway down the wall on our walls we have a wallpaper that matches the wall color perfectly..it is an old world style parchment type paper with apple trees with small red apples on it.

We took the wallpaper sample in to match the paint for the wall perfectly to the parchment look of the paper, then the trim in red will match the red of the little apples perfectly.

The colors we are using are called yellow squash, and red currant by Benjamin Moore.

Our previous color was a pale minty green..like a Martha Stewart green..it was nice and pastel..but has started to look rather dated..so the more outdoorsy type color seems a better fit.

And the thing about these new colors is that the outside of the house trim is nearly the same color as the red trim I am using indoors..the outside trim and front door colors are a color by Behr paint called "Sly Fox". (yes I have a cheery red front door!)

Outside of the house is a taupe color called Gobi Desert..again by Behr paints.

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So I thought it a nice idea to kind of bring some of that color indoors a little to give the house a sense of flow.

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So..that's what we've been up to today.

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Hope that you have had a lovely day!

~The Garden Goose~

Fun With Color!

So..I received my latest issue of "Country Living" magazine..and in the very front of the magazine is a little mention of "decorating with color" and a link to countryliving.com/color

I could not resist so..over to the site I headed and started having fun seeing what different colors would look like in different rooms.

What fun!

I chose all the colors that we are wanting to incorporate into our new homes pallette..and what fun I had mixing and matching colors.

Now mind you..these are BOLD! You might want to borrow some sunshades..ha.

It is a HUGE difference from what our current home's color pallette consists of, but I'm gonna do it! I am tired of being shy and timid when it comes to color in the home.

Time to take a few chances and have fun..right?

So..here are the different rooms I created and the color choices that we will be using.

Except the pink and greeen room may be reversed..or I may do something entirely different..but I do have a nearly 4 yr old little "princess..and she likes pink..so I am not sure how to give that "little princess look" and still maintain a "flow" through the color scheme.

I may reverse the color scheme on that room to green walls with pink accents or go with a totally different color all together..that is the one room that is stumping me right now on what colors I'll be choosing.

But the others are pretty much what we'll be going with. Those types of colors.

What do ya think??Like it?? Hate it?? Let me know..I'd love to read your opinions.

~The Garden Goose~

Glorious Gladiolas!

I LOVE Gladiolas!

Next to roses they are one of my mostfavorite flowers.Too bad that I don't have very many of them in my yard..but I did have a few that came up year after year and put on quite a show though.






Not only do they have that really happy word..."glad" as part of their name..but they certainly do add a fair amount of cheer to a garden.And they are pretty hardy plants as well..coming back year after year in the Southern garden...Northern gardeners will of course need to dig up the bulbs before winter sets in or make sure the bulbs are protected by a layer of mulch to keep them from being frozen.Here in the South I just have let the bulbs remain in the ground year round and have been pleasantly surprised every year around mid Spring to early Summer to be given quite a floral show as the stalks of the plants send up a floral delight.

Just take a look at these beauties that have bloomed in my yard at one time or another!!!..aren't they just lovely?

So..next time you get a plant catalog in the mail..don't overlook the humble gladiola... let it have a chance to shine in your garden. (I know that at our new home gladiolas will definitely be given a place to "shine" in the garden!)

~The Garden Goose~

Artwork for challenge... and just fun whimsy artwork

Here is the piece I created for the challenge over at "Mind Wide Open"

I used a piece of mat board then added the image with spray adhesive.

..I then created a collage using images of my grandmother and I when I was a baby,and as a young gal of 21,


and then an image of my grandmother with her sisters, and of my gradmother as a young woman.


I also added a vintage look flower image and an image of a hand holding a card that says "forget me not," I also added images of actual rose photos that I had taken from my garden into the hair of the girl..in the right side of the image in the hair is a tiny ornate butterfly cut out.


...then I wrote a few sayings like "I will remember you Will you remember me?" "Weep not for the memories", and "Precious Memories How they linger"


Then I added a bit of lace and vintage ribbbon with floral emroidery, and a few vintage pearl buttons. Finished it off with a pink ribbon hanger.


I actually like how it turned out.


The theme of the challenge was "Remembrance" ..so I chose to create the image as a "remembrance" of my beloved grandmother who passed away going on 4 yrs ago come August..


(you can vote for my image starting July 7th over at "Mind Wide Open" if you'd like to)
********Voting has now started over at "Mind Wide Open" if you'd like to vote for my creation please stop by here:(thank you!!)
http://mind-wideopen.blogspot.com/2008/07/amazing-contest-entries-are-here.html
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Then I created this fun and whimsical mermaid image..just for fun..I "may" use it in our new home guest bathroom/kids bathroom..don't know yet.

So...what have you been creating lately? I encourage you to get out your paints,scrapbook items,paper craft items,or whatever you like to craft with..and have fun...if you have never done anything like this..I encourage you to visit your local craft supply store and look around..there just might be some new hobby that might spark your interest.
Get creative! ...but most of all ...have fun!
~The Garden Goose~

Happy 4th

This afternoon I spent a good amount of time outdoors potting up some rose bushes..wow was it hot outside too.

Then this evening we lit a few small fireworks for the kids.

Here is a collage I created from a few of the images from our little fireworks fun.

~The Garden Goose~

Happy 4th of July!!!

HAVE A HAPPY AND SAFE 4th of JULY!!!
~The Garden Goose~

Ch..ch..ch...Changes...no longer"just because"...

So..as you all know we had a huge garage sale last Saturday that was a dud..and then one the weekend before that did.."o.k."...but we had quite a few things left over..well..I just wasn't going to sweat it..literally..again by holding another sale here this summer.

So..after the garage sale last weekend I hauled off an entire van load of things that were left over

...then this evening I wound up with another van load of items.

Where does all this stuff come from?? I! Yi! Yi!

It has opened up my eyes to the fact that I do not want to own things "just because"...and I will say..a lot of the things I hauled away were decor type items that just didn't do a single thing for me

..in fact they were nice, but what I see as rather "boring" and "generic" decor now...

the typical things that one can find at Walmart or other department stores and that everyone and their sister seems to be decorating with.

I saw all the stuff and was like..wow..how dull(was I really this boring of a person??..ha)...and look at all this stuff that honestly does nothing for me..none of it honestly made me cheerful or made me smile when I looked at it..it was just "stuff".

Boring Stuff!... that of course will look nice in someone else's home..but no longer mine.

It took looking at all of this stuff during my recent big clean out to realize that ...no longer do I just want to decorate a home for my family with ..."boring stuff"... no longer do I want a home in "boring nuetral/pastel colors"

but I want to decorate with pizazz and color and fun, and whimsy..and wow!

Hauling all of the stuff out of rooms, then into the garage, then out into the driveway to have folks look through it and buy..opened up my eyes to not only the fact that I had ALOT of stuff that didn't "speak" to me...but that I had allowed myself to just decorate and surround myself with things that just did nothing..nada..zip..zero..zilch for me...it was just simply put..."absolutely boring stuff"

Now of course it may have excited someone else...but it certainly no longer excited me.

Hauling it all away was quite cathartic actually..it honestly felt like I have turned a corner on realizing that ....no longer will I surround myself with things "just because"...and that means..."just because so and so gave it me, just because it is on sale,or is a good deal"

But my focus now is on "Do these things add fun, whimsy, color...and more importantly..do they make myself and my family members smile? or are some of them items that hold precious memories for us?"

Those are the types of things that I think a home should be decorated with.

Not the "just because /boring stuff"

But things that actually make one smile....(my opinion anyhow)

So..that's the focus now...."does it make me smile? does it add a bit of fun and whimsy to my day?"

...if it does..it is welcome into my home..if not..then it can go..or never enter...

I think if I take this approach to my decor and lifestyle..that the clutter will be quite a bit minimized too.

Anyhow..that's the plan.

And I think it will just wind up making quite a big difference in our household.

No more "just because"..no more "boring"

"Hello! ..Fun and Sunshine and Smiles!!!"

~The Garden Goose~

Creativity..and more...

So, I decided to join this lovely art creating community over at "Mind Wide Open" (see side bar for link to this fun blog)

... and my little creation is nearing completion.

I daresay that I don't think I'm nearly as talented as some of the gals that have been doing the altered art/paper crafting for a while..seeing as I have just now started to dabble in it

...but...

the image that I have created is one that is near and dear to my heart

....as soon as I saw the image, and the title of the challenge being called "Remembrance"..I knew what I'd be creating.

Now..the contest entry date ends on July 7th..and then folks can go to the website and vote for their favorite creation.

Of course I honestly don't care if mine gets any votes or not..it's pretty to me...and means quite a lot to me, and I'm looking forward to displaying it in my new home.

I did have fun creating it...and will share it with you soon.

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This is the image that we had to use somewhere in our art creation..isn't it just lovely?

Now..you still have time to join in the fun as the first challenge lasts until midnight July 7th.

Stop by "Mind Wide Open" and join the fun.

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Well...after the garage sale I hauled off quite a few things, but still have a few things left to get out of the garage. My garage is finally "getting there" on looking a lot neater and organized.

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I pushed the little old fashioned mower in the backyard this evening...it does a good job without using gas or oil. Pretty neat little contraption, and it wasn't heavy nor hard to push either.

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Oh..I had something funny happen yesterday...

I had bought a vintage celluloid clam shell with rural scene(I have a small collection of these)...like the one pictured here.(mine is slightly different and the scene is in color)

From ebay.... oh gracious at the 1st of the year(January 17th I believe it was) from a gentleman in England..well...after 2 months the shell still had not arrived in my mailbox so he was kind enough to refund my money less the shipping price.

So ..we both were resigned to the fact that my purchase was "lost" in mail land..somewhere out there.

Well...wouldn't you know that 5 1/2 months later...guess what turned up in my mailbox yesterday?? Yep...the "missing"clamshell.I paid for it again..and the gentleman was pleased that I was so honest as to paypal him the funds after so long..but..I had told him that "if" the item ever showed up..I would indeed pay for it.

So now I have a shell with a little bit of a story..ha. The man mentioned that perhaps one could write a story about "the adventures of a vintage clamshell lost in the mail"..ha.... Naw..but it does make you wonder where it was for 5 months though.

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Well....thank you so very much for joining me in "blogland" this evening....please do let me know that you have stopped by. I absolutely love reading the comments that you all leave.

May you have a lovely evening!

~The Garden Goose~