Ever feel this way?

(yes, this darling little guy will soon be added to
my fun collections of vintage items)

Ever feel like you are constantly being pulled in quite a few directions? Yeah..life gets busy sometimes... and sometimes all's we can do is play catch up for a little bit.
 I've been busy adjusting to a new town. Trying to find a house to buy. Meeting new friends, and..today I learned how to crochet! Yesterday I planted 10 new iris varieties I had received into a large galvanized tub, can't wait to see them all bloom next year.(hopefully in a new yard and not still sitting in a galvanized tub)
 I wound up burning my arm pretty badly this evening on the stove while taking dinner out of the oven..ouch! I have a big 3-4 inch burn that is about 2 inches wide on my arm now. I laid my arm right on the oven door while taking some mozarella sticks out of the oven..needless to say when I jumped back from the pain the pan went tipping over and I lost half of the mozarella sticks down the oven door and on to the floor...but..at least I didn't burn myself any worse than I did and I hope it doesn't leave any kind of scar. Thank goodness for aloe vera gel.
I've been slowly adding new seed varieties to my etsy seed shop too. I also joined a plant and seed swap group online and have managed to swap a few times with some nice folks for some pretty neat flower seeds for my personal private stash and for gardens at a new home.
I've also been keeping busy home schooling 2 young children.
Also keeping busy with the Small Town Living website and at last count I have 11 books to get reviewed... and soon! yikes.
 So..yeah..I feel kind of like the above picture..but in a good way. I like being busy. I like meeting new folks, and I absolutely am so thrilled with myself that I have learned a new skill.
 If anything I'll now be able to create my own crocheted dishcloths. You can't beat a crocheted cotton dishcloth for durability. I have several of them in my kitchen that other folks have made for me and I'll always choose those over a plain wash cloth to wash dishes with any day.
Oh..and another thing...I've started collecting orchid plants..ever so slowly adding to a collection of them but I now have 6 orchids in my collection. Woohoo! I keep them on a sunny windowsill and they take very little care. Right now I have a lady slipper orchid in bloom. I'll slowly start adding to them as I can.
 oh..and one of the plant swaps that I'm expecting next week is for cuttings of a plant called adenium. (Desert Rose)
 The lady that is sending those had like 15 different types that she had taken cuttings from. I can't wait to grow them and then eventually see the blooms.
Well I think that about sums up some of what I've been up to lately.
 Thanks so much for stopping by.
  ~The Garden Goose!~

Fun Finds and Pretty Flowers

Treated myself to a couple of early birthday presents a couple of days ago. (shhh..my birthday isn't for another 16 days though, but a gal just has to do what a gal has to do when she finds some awesome items at a great deal that will look gorgeous in a new home..that is once she gets the new home...smiles)
  So, I snagged these beautiful items at a local consignment shop that has become my new haunt.
Now living in what is deemed as a retirement type area...there are always "new" items coming through the doors of this consignment shop that I like to frequent. Items that are from estate sales or from homes being redecorated, etc.  making it easy to find high end, quality items and antiques for a song.
 Yay! I love a bargain don't you?

 So without further ado meet my new finds. This is an antique pine tea cart painted in a creamy butter yellow color. After I cleaned it with Dawn dish detergent to remove the layer of nicotine and grime it had on it it looked even more lovely than these photos show.

Then I found this beautiful large lady lamp. This lamp and matching table with cherubs on it stands taller than my ten year old son. It is rather large, but an elegant piece that will be placed in the master bedroom of a new home in which I intend to have William Bougeureau type art work in for a nice romantic look.

And then last but not least, I spotted this lovely lady Slipper Orchid plant at a local hardware store's nursery and my sweet husband went back and bought it for me last night. (love that man!) The flower on this orchid is absolutely stunning. I love it. Another orchid for my fast growing collection! Yay!

Also..this Surprise Lily popped up in a pot that I had over at my mom in laws "holding garden" a place where I have some of my plants awaiting a new home. The surprise lily bulbs were given to me several years ago from a gal in Indiana. They had never bloomed until this year. This is the first flower to show itself.Gorgeous! 

 I cannot wait until I have my own yard again and home to grow lovely items like this and to find a permanent place to put my fun finds like the lamp and tea cart in.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you enjoyed your visit.

 ~The Garden Goose~

Ballerina Mobile

Super Easy Child’s Room Mobile Decoration

August 26, 2010

By Tina Wilson

To make the mobile:
10 fluffy chenille stems
organza type wired edge ribbon in colors of choice (I chose pale blue and pink)
bead garland or other glittery type garland (I used about 24 inches of a tiny plastic flower garland in silver color)
small fabric quilted heart (or other embellishment of your choice that has a little “weight” to it/this will help to allow your mobile to hang better)
fabric ribbon (I used a harlequin print pink and brown colored ribbon)
6 small plastic ballerina cupcake toppers (available from:www.layercakeshop.com) (I used 3 of each pink and blue)
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To create this simple child’s room decor you do not need glue or sewing skills. You just simply need to know how to create a bow and to twist wire, and to tie knots.
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Take 3 of the chenille stems and create a circle. Twist the ends of each chenille stems together.
Take 6 chenille stems and place them evenly around the circle. At these evenly spaced points twist the chenille stems around your circle. 3 small twists will secure. Now point these 6 chenille stems upward into a “tent” shape. Gather them all together in a point.
Fold the sharp edges over. Take your last chenille stem and form into a hook shape on one end. Use the excess to wrap around your 6 gathered stems. Wrap tightly.
Create a large decorative bow from your fabric ribbon(not the organza type, but the thicker solid ribbon) Before tying the bow to the top of your mobile slide a few strands of decorative glittered garland in between the bow(about 12 inch length/2 strands). Finish attaching to the top near the hook by making a knot. Your  glittery garland will be secured by the knot you tie.
From the hook area also tie a long piece of organza ribbon(about 18 inches long) hanging down from the center of the mobile(tie in a knot). This will be what you attach the fabric heart or other center embellishment with.
Attach the heart or other center embellishment to the length of ribbon that hangs from the center of your mobile. Tie with a knot. Right at this knot, attach a pretty ribbon bow. Again secure by knotting the bow onto the ribbon hanging down.
Cut 6 lengths of organza wired ribbon (about 10 inches long) Tie ribbon in a knot around the waist of each of the ballerina figures.
Attach  the ballerinas to the mobile by tying with knots at evenly spaced intervals around the chenille ring.
Where each ballerina’s holding ribbon is attached to the chenille ring tie little blue organza wired bows . Trim bow ends.
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***This can be changed to be used for a boy’s room by using green or blue chenille stems or another favorite color chenille stem and using such items as tiny plastic dinosaurs or other fun plastic figures. Be creative and have fun! No limit to the types of little plastic items you can use to create a fun mobile.
*** As with any item that has small parts keep away from small children. Not recommended for a baby or children who have a tendency to put items in their mouths.***

Visiting ! Carnaval! display in Ocala, FL

Today I convinced my mother in law and my oldest daughter to join me for a visit to ! Carnaval! an exhibit organized by the Museum of International Folk Art and toured by NEH on the Road. This display was being shown at the Webber Center  Gallery in Ocala, Florida from June 17th-August 11th. After it leaves Ocala, FL it will then be displayed in Indianapolis. So to get a chance to see it was a privilege…I feel anyhow.

New Orleans,USA Mardi Gras mask

A mask from Mexico

Anyhow, I managed to get some really nice photos of the masks from around the world that depict how the pre-Lenten Mardi-Gras type festivals  are  celebrated. Yes! they allowed photos! I was so excited.

I hope you enjoy them.

A simple Italian mask

The masks are from Spain, Italy, Portugal, Trinidad and Tobago, Mexico, USA, and Switzerland, and a few other places that unfortunately I forgot. Anyhow, my favorite masks were the fancy jeweled one from Spain (green feathers and jewels), and the bird man from Spain(black plague dr’s mask) and the mask that looks like the phantom of the opera, as well as the green lady from Switzerland(green hair), and the metal sculpted one from Mexico (dragon eyes and snake heads).

An elaborately jeweled mask from Spain

Carnival, Carnevale, Fassnacht, Entroido- the annual pre-Lenten festival most people in the United States know as “Mardi Gras” is celebrated throughout Europe and the Americas.

This mask depicts a dr's mask from the time of the Black Plague. Mask from Italy

a Mask from Italy

Many of today’s Carnival activities are not necessarily religious, but the “feast before famine” excess is still deeply rooted in its litugurical origins.

Different cultures have different words for “Carnival” or the pre-Lenten festivities.

Tlaxcala, Mexico mask

detail on Tlaxcala, Mexico mask

A mask from Mexico

Italians refer to it as “Carnevale” meaning “flesh farewell”, and the Spanish and Portugese refer to it as “Carnaval”, and the English call it “Carnival”… The Swiss-German peoples refer to it as “Fasnacht” or Night before fasting, and the French  call it “Mardi Gras” or “Fat Tuesday”.

Mask from Switzerland/Fasnacht celebration

Elaborate details on mask from Spain

No matter how the different cultures celebrate this event, one thing was for certain…the masks were all elaborate and colorful and unique. “Carnival” is all about turning the regular order upside down. What better way of doing so than donning a mask and parading through the streets as someone else?

Spanish masks

Happy 4th of July

Wishing you all a Happy 4th of July!

~The Garden Goose~

A fun Thursday

On Thursday afternoon after I took hubby to his dr. appointment.  Afterwards I took the kids to our local library for a fun reptile show.
 They were able to see the following critters: A yellow footed tortoise, a rhinoceros iguana, a Chinese alligator, an alligator snapping turtle, a python, and an anaconda snake.
Here are a few pictures from the show. My kids really enjoyed it. The Chinese alligator shown here on the right  was only about 3 ft. long. When fully grown it will be 6 ft. long.
 The yellow footed tortoise below left was really rather cute. And loved snacking on fresh banana.


I must say that the alligator snapping turtle shown below was definitely the ugliest critter shown that day. Its tail was about 14 inches long and the entire time it kept its mouth open, and a scary looking mouth it had too! Inside of this turtles mouth it looks just like mud..to blend in with the muddy river bottoms in which it dwells, it also has a little flap of skin that looks like a worm that it will wiggle to entice fish to swim right into its mouth.

So much has gone on lately...

I'm still here folks...but life has been so busy lately. After we moved to Central Florida just 2 months ago..my children all caught a bad cold that made its rounds one by one through our household and landed on me for 6 weeks. So no one in our household was able to get out and explore our new town. Add to that..after I got better and everyone else had had the bad cold except for dad..he wound up getting it 2 and a half weeks ago and was laid up on the couch with low grade fever for 3 days. After he started feeling better he noticed a bad pain in his buttock then groin area one day. That morning he became in so much pain that he started dry heaving and then vomited up the glass of water I had given him. He laid back down for a few hours only to awake in more pain and looked down to see that his left leg had swollen and was red and his toes were blue in color!
Yikes! So we rushed to the Er and found out that he had a blood clot and pulmonary embolisms. Yikes! Yikes! Yikes!
 So we wound up having to camp out at the hospital for a full week. Of course we did not plan on the hospital being our first "must see" place to visit in our new town that's for sure.
 So after having been released on the 18th we have had several dr's visits and hubby is slowly, slowly on the mend and slowly being able to gain mobility back in his leg.
 It is a long healing process. But things will be o.k.
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During this time I did manage a trip over to my in-laws home one evening to see a family of owls that are in her big oak tree in her backyard. The parents had a little owlet ...and boy is it cute. Of course with the tree situated close to the driveway and patio sitting area ..well they do create a bit of a mess. But I had never in my life seen a baby owl up close, let alone having the chance to photograph it, so it was quite exciting. And I haven't seen adult owls too often either..so it was so very fascinating to observe an entire family of them. Of course they didn't do anything except for sit and sit and sit some more and slowly turn their heads to look down at us..but none the less they still were pretty cool. I hope that you enjoy this photo.

I also managed to capture a photo of a dragonfly that was visiting my mother in laws garden. Didn't notice the fine strands of spider webbing between the two little poles until after I had taken the image.
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Anyhow..we do love our new town..the little bit of it that we've been able to see, and we are delighted to now live closer to family.
 Right now we are leasing a home until we find one to buy, and hopefully that process won't take too long..but first up is to get my hubby  well.  And with that I'll leave you with an important reminder: If you or someone you love sits at a computer throughout the day..remind yourself or them to get up and move around at least every half hour.
Blood clots and pulmonary embolisms are very serious and very scary. Stay well!
Have a pleasant day and thanks for stopping by!  ~The Garden Goose!~