Saturday, February 28, 2009

A wee request..can you assist me?...US postcards needed

Hi gals!

I have a 2nd grader that has been learning about the different States this year,
and I thought it would be neat for him to receive a little postcard that shows a little something from each State.

If you'd like to send him a postcard please simply email me and I'll send you the addy.

It would really make his day to see postcards from all over the USA and he can then mark on the map where the card has come from.
Thanks in advance.
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So far we have the following States being represented:

Oregon
California
Illinois
Washington
Louisiana
Maine
New Hampshire
Texas
Michigan
Indiana
New York
Kentucky
Georgia
Tennessee
Washington
Ohio
Arizona
New Jersey
Louisiana
Pennsylvania
Kansas
Idaho
Nevada
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If you can help us fill in the "missing blanks" we'd greatly appreciate it!

Thanks so much gals!!! My 2nd grader is going to be so surprised and delighted!

~The Garden Goose~

Friday, February 27, 2009

A Southern Gal...

My sister recently sent this to me via email..and I declare!..I can really relate to ALL of this..yep..I'm a southerner through and through...smiles

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Only a Southerner knows the difference between a hissie fit and a conniption fit, and that you don't "HAVE" them, you "PITCH" them.
* Only a Southerner knows how many fish, collard greens, turnip greens, peas, beans, etc., make up "a mess."
* Only a Southerner can show or point out to you the general direction of "yonder."
* Only a Southerner knows exactly how long "directly" is, as in: "Going to town, be back directly."
* Even Southern babies know that "Gimme some sugar" is not a request for the white, granular sweet substance that sits in a pretty little bowl in the middle of the table.
* All Southerners know exactly when "by and by" is. They might not use the term, but they know the concept well.
* Only a Southerner knows instinctively that the best gesture of solace for a neighbor who's got trouble is a plate of hot fried chicken and a big bowl of cold potato salad. If the neighbor's trouble is a real crisis, they also know to add a large banana puddin!
* Only Southerners grow up knowing the difference between "right near" and "a right far piece." They also know that "just down the road" can be 1 mile or 20.
* Only a Southerner, both knows and understands, the difference between a redneck, a good ol' boy, and po' white trash.
* No true Southerner would ever assume that the car with the flashing turn signal is actually going to make a turn.
* A Southerner knows that "fixin" can be used as a noun, a verb, or an adverb.
* Only Southerners make friends while standing in lines, ... and when we're "in line," We talk to everybody!
* Put 100 Southerners in a room and half of them will discover they're related, even if only by marriage.
* In the South, y'all is singular, all y'alls is plural.
* Southerners know grits come from corn and how to eat them.
* Every Southerner knows tomatoes with eggs, bacon, grits, and coffee are perfectly wonderful; that red eye gravy is also a breakfast food; and that fried green tomatoes are not a breakfast food.
* When you hear someone say, "Well, I caught myself lookin'," you know you are in the presence of a genuine Southerner!
* Only true Southerners say "sweet tea" and "sweet milk." Sweet tea indicates the need for sugar and lots of it -- we do not like our tea unsweetened. "Sweet milk" means you don't want buttermilk
* And a true Southerner knows you don't scream obscenities at little old ladies who drive 30 MPH on the freeway. You just say,"Bless her heart" ... and go your own way.
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To those of you who are still a little embarrassed by your Southerness: Take two tent revivals and a dose of sausage gravy and call me in the morning. Bless your heart!
And to those of you who are still having a hard time understanding all this Southern stuff, bless your hearts, I hear they are fixin' to have classes on Southernness as a second language!
And for those that are not from the South but have lived here for a long time, all y'all need a sign to hang on y'alls front porch that reads "I ain't from the South, but I got here as fast as I could."
Southern girls know men may come and go, but friends are fahevah!
Now Shugah, share this with someone who was raised in the South or wish they had been!
If you're a Northern transplant, Bless your little heart, fake it. We know you got here as fast as you could!
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~The Garden Goose~

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Some of my One World One Heart Wins..and more...

I recently participated in the One World One Heart blogging event. A fun way to "meet" other bloggers,and artists across blogland. And wow! this year there were 911 bloggers that participated in the event!!..everyone posted art items, or creations, or goodies of some sort to share with the blog community.

A fantastic way to "meet" others, and if you got "lucky" you may just have won a fantastic art piece, along with having "met" a few fantastic folks too.

Well..I was fortunate to have "met" quite a few folks from all over..I do have to get on the ball and start adding a few new blogs to the ever growing blog list on the left hand side of this blog.

And..I did win a few very nice things along the way too.
Fun! Fun!
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From Deb over at http://www.breathingbesideus.blogspot.com/ I won this darling t-shirt!
Thank you Deb!
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From Alyson over at
this darling set of mini sock monkey toys!

Thank you Alyson!
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From Hanne in Denmark
at


I won this beautiful bracelet.
Thank you Hanne!
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I have been busy working on my little garden shop at http://www.myvictorygarden.etsy.com/
Lots of heirloom vegetable seeds have been listed... with more to come.

If you are interested in preserving our gardening heritage,growing a "bit of history" in your garden, as well as making sure that you are not growing genetically modified vegetables... Nothing beats home grown heirloom vegetables!!

I invite you to stop on by and take a look, and feel free to share the site with your friends...currently available are seeds ranging from lettuces, beans, radish, turnip, collard greens, okra, endive, and more.
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I've been plugging away on my "to do list" to get the house ready for market..I am happy to say that today I was able to mark a few more things off the list..whoot! whoot!
High five! Yeahhh!
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So...do any of you have wee little ones that you sing silly songs with at night? Well...I do and I thought I'd share some really goofy songs that we sing here at bed time... definitely with a bit of "Southern humor" tossed in.
Brace yourselves now...these are not your typical bed time songs...ha.... but my kids love them, and in fact my little 4 yr old loves saying the last two words to the song below and giggling out loud as she says the last two words to this song that I am sharing with you below...
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On top of spaghetti,
all covered with sauce
I lost my poor meatball
Oh, what a sad loss..
It rolled off the table
And onto the floor
And my poor little meatball
Rolled out the door
It rolled down the hill
and into the road
where a big old truck came
and smooshed it flat as a toad
now my poor meatball
that rolled down the hill
is no longer my meatball
it's known as..
"Road Kill!"
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another one we sing is this..
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Way down South where bananas grow
A grasshopper (or as my 4 yr old calls it..a hop stepper)stepped
on an elephants toe
the elephant cried....... (act like you are crying and rubbing your eyes as you sing this part)
with tears in his eyes......
and said..
"Why don't you pick on someone your own size!" (shake your finger at each other)
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HAHA!!! these are as I said..not the typical bedtime songs, but fun none the less.
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Hope you all have a great day!
Thanks for stopping by!
~The Garden Goose~

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Weekend report...

Well..yay! the garage sale went o.k. yesterday..not the best garage sale we have ever had here, and not the worst one either..it fell into the middle ground on garage sales held here.

So it was"o.k." It was nice to unload some stuff, and after the sale..we unloaded even more stuff..what did not sell was promptly loaded into the van and hauled away to a local thrift shop.
Yay! ..I am relieved to say.."no more garage sales at this home!" Yippee!
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This afternoon the 2 smallest children and I planted some green bean seeds in one of the 4 ft by 8 ft. raised beds that remain in the back yard. I figure that in about a week's time we should start seeing little baby bean plants..and if we are lucky in about a month we'll start being able to harvest something off of the plants.
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See this photo? (to the right>>) I found the original online a while back, and was drawn to it..love it..a cute little "farm girl" So..I bought the original photo..isn't it cute?
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I was able to convince hubby to part with a huge 8-10 ft long counter top work bench that was taking up a tremendous amount of floor space up against one wall of the garage. Now I'll be able to move the boxes/bins that were in the middle of the garage floor up against the wall in neat stacks..this is a good thing actually.
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I had fun looking at flower seeds today and treated myself to a few packets of a lovely antique Flemish peony poppy variety of seed..very, very pretty flowers.I'll save them for the gardens at the new house.
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Oh, I received the heirloom tomato seeds that I had spoken of in a previous post..seeds that a lady shared with me that had been in her family for generations and not available commercially..well..I thought the family had names for the seeds, but..alas they did not..the seeds are simply called things like "Red X" , Yellow X, and so on..so..I guess I can come up with names for them after I grow them huh?
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I do hope that you all are having a lovely weekend.
We had chilly weather here both Saturday and today, in fact I even had ice on my car windshield early Saturday morning!
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Thanks so much for stopping by to visit.
May you have a lovely day.
~The Garden Goose~

Thursday, February 19, 2009

A fine day...and more...

Had a nice day today.Hope you did too.
Worked on getting some more seeds packaged up for the little garden shop over at:http://www.myvictorygarden.etsy.com/


I've got everything from cabbage, to endive, to okra, lettuces, radicchio,tomatoes, collard greens, and more over in the shop. All heirloom varieties. And..I hope to bring in some nice heirloom flower varieties soon.
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Found a really cute lamp for my son's birthday...I'll add a bright red lampshade to the top of it. It is a cute vintage lamp.



Love finding things on etsy like this... for not much money.

They are oh so fun! and cheerful!... and have character...and are most of the time priced much less than what a department store would charge for something not nearly as sweet.
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Hubby created some of the neatest decals for room decor!
Aren't these just too cute!

And a dinosaur too!
And a really cool Elephant as well!
You can find more than 100 different kinds of really cool vinyl wall decals for your home decor at: http://www.wilsongraphics.etsy.com/

I know I'll be adding some of these to our new home's decor. They are so fun!
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On another note..since we are going to be putting this house on the market..why am I planting garden seeds in a few areas? Well..we tore out what was left of the old decking and are now left with an area that is rich dirt with nothing in it right by the back patio. I will plant some marigold seeds there and maybe a few green bean seeds. Why? because something needs to be there other than dirt...and I might as well grow something that is edible/pretty while we are still living here.

Next..there are 2/ 4 ft by 8 ft raised garden beds in the back yard.One is totally filled with strawberry plants...and I just weeded out the other one, and it is now bare and needs something in it..if I go ahead and plant it full of green bean seeds..again we have something from it while we are here..it isn't left bare and doesn't have the chance for weeds to overtake it...and looks much better filled than empty.
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Planning on finally having that garage sale that I have stuff for out in my garage. We are all set up for it with a large work table full of home decor items,some household appliances and so forth, and loads of like new kids clothes on hangers, and a few furniture items. Last weekend the weather was rainy/so we had to put it off for a week. Hoping that this Saturday will be a "go". I advertised it in one of our local ad papers , and it looks like the weather is supposed to be nice. So..hopefully we can unload some things.
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Well..thanks for stopping by for a visit.
I hope that you all had a really nice day today.
~The Garden Goose~

Monday, February 16, 2009

A little this and that...

Hope that you all had a very nice Valentine's Day.

Ours was rather uneventful..nice and quiet.
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Today the 2 youngest children and I worked on weeding out one of our 4 ft by 8 ft raised beds in the back yard.
I'll get that planted soon with some green bean seeds I have.
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Then hubby, oldest daughter and I cleared out, took apart and hauled out to the concrete pad by the road...what was left of the old decking by the back french doors.
Where the decking was...I intend to rake that soil smooth and scatter marigold seeds in that area, and maybe a few green bean seeds also.
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I have items in my garage all priced and waiting for some nice weekend weather to have a garage sale.
Hoping that the weather this coming weekend holds out for it. Have a few items we need to unload.
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Found some neat heirloom seeds from a lady in Virginia..for an heirloom celosia plant..the plants get 3 ft tall with huge burgundy nearly 12 inch flowers ,she got the original plant years ago from an elderly woman and has been growing/saving the seed for years....and anyhow...she told me that she will be sending me some seed also from 4 different varieties of tomatoes that have been in her family for generations and are not available commercially..and I'm the 1st person outside of her family that she has shared them with! How cool! I feel honored actually.
She will send me the names of what the family called these types of tomatoes.
How neat! I have really been excited about that.
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Continuing a little...On a note about seeds/heirlooms...
my little garden etsy shop has been doing nicely this week.
I have several varieties of garden seeds listed.
I'll have some more/different varieties really soon and will be posting them in the next few days.The bean seeds have been really popular.
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I have also updated the gardening blog over at: http://www.thevictorygardener.blogspot.com/
I enjoy writing about gardening topics too.
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Oh..and thank you so very much for following my blog! 20 folks that like moi!..awww..thanks!
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Hope you all have a great evening!
Thanks for stopping by!
~The Garden Goose~

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Back to blogging..yay!...

I've missed you all. So good to be back to my somewhat normal routine.

Well..I had been sick all last week..ugggh. Seems the kids wanted to "share the love"..err.."the crud" that they had all had a week prior..and mama dear was "blessed"...ha... with the "creeping crud" that started with a low grade fever and chills, and progressed to stuffy head and sinus gunk and a cough...and fatigue...and hurting ears, spinning head/dizzy spells, and nearly losing my voice.

I am finally just about all the way over it all though..yay!
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Yesterday was spent getting items in the garage priced for...oh joy!...yeah....another garage sale....insert a big dose of sarcasm there folks...as I love going to garage sales and finding great deals..but hate, hate, hate having them. But... I have enough stuff yet needing to be unloaded..that yes..I'll grin and bear it once again.

But..I am resolved that this is the absolute last garage sale I will have at this house.
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Then after that the plans are to do some major, major spring cleaning/yard work.
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Sales have been going well on the seeds over in my little garden shop over at etsy.
It has been fun packaging up seed packets for folks to begin their gardening.
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I have so many blogs to visit/get caught up with visiting...and some new ones to add to my blog friends list after having "met" some nice folks through the OWOH event.
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We have a great new issue of "Small Town Living" this month..check it out at:
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Well..it is good to be back to blogging again.
Have a lovely day!

~The Garden Goose~

And the winners are....

Ahhhh..so good to be getting back to my regular routine of blogging now..but first before I get back to my regular posting it is time to announce the winners of the prizes shown below.

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The winner of the 3 back issues of "Small Town Living" e-zine is:
Karen Harvey Cox
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The winner of the 10 butterfly decals is:
Dierdra Doan
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The winner of the 6 digital images is:
Astrid MacLean
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I have contacted you all through your blogs..so please get back to me on how to claim your prizes.
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If you need to contact me check my profile.

Thank you and Congratulations!

~The Garden Gooose~

Sunday, February 1, 2009

New Feb./March 2009 issue of "Small Town Living"

The new Feb./March 2009 issue of "Small Town Living" magazine is now available at
http://www.stliving.net/

This issues highlights include:

* Cover Story: The Napa Farmhouse 1885
*Small Town Business:
Know Your Target Market and Competition
*Self-Sufficiency How To:
Canning and Preserving
Your Garden's Bounty
*The Accidental Irisarian
*Country For Sale:
Three Affordable Properties in Rural America
* The American Artisans Guide:
Sources for Handmade Goods
* Special Section: Spring Garden Basics
Why Plant Heirloom Seed
Making Compost Tea
Recycled Seed Starters

Please feel free to let your friends and family know about this magazine, and feel free to post a link on your blog to the website.

If you'd like to include the above image in your blog's sidebar, simply right click on the image and save to your computer..then it can be used on a blog sidebar.

We greatly appreciate any help in "spreading the news"

~Thank you!

Paul and Tina~