Super D Duper Dizzy Busy...

O.k. say that title 10 times super fact..and I bet your head will spin too. LOL

Well..we had the realtors walk through's on both Monday and Tuesday afternoons, and we have decided on who we will be using to list the house, and a price to list at. We expect that once we contact an agent on Friday morning that the sign will be up sometime the first of next week.

I am really hoping...and yes..praying..that things go really well and we can have the house sold within30- 90 days. Oh that would be absolutely amazing if we can sell within that time frame!

I am so excited about the possibilities for our family.

I have already been in contact with the home schooling group for my kids in the area we will be moving to...and the folks in the group have expressed excitement to meet me and my family..yay!...

and I have been in contact with a gal that seems to share an interest in gardening and a "back to basics" type approach to homemaking/farm girly type gal..and she has been in contact with me, and we are eager to meet up with each other, and hopefully become friends.

I have also been in contact with a plant exchange/gardening group in the area, and looking forward to meeting some of the folks from that group as well.

The kids will be involved in various activities...from 4-h to ballroom dance classes, as well as the home school group get togethers. So there will be plenty to keep our crew busy once we get moved.

My house is packed up except for the bare basics..everything is "de-cluttered, de-personalized", and the realtors were impressed with how the house looked and how I had "staged" things..so..that is good..they all said all's we needed to do was stick the sign in the yard..so that is a big relief in and of itself.

Now to get the rest of this journey over and done with... and settled into a new home as soon as possible so that my kids routines can get back to a somewhat normal mode...as well as of course mine and my husband's routines.

------------------------

On a different note..I have been finding a few flower seeds to save back for the new yard... so much fun to plan a "dream garden/yard"!

I have found some lovely antique poppy seeds,seeds for a plant called "Pride of Madeira", a really pretty red pasque flower seeds, and a few others.

It will be so fun to plan out a new yard/flower gardens...and to plan out vegetable gardens as well. I have been saving heirloom flower and vegetable seeds for a little while now, and have a pretty good collection of things...fun, fun, fun!

I have missed out this year on any type of gardening ..with the exception of a 4 ft by 8 ft raised bed filled with green bean plants, and a 4 ft by 8 ft bed filled with strawberry plants..that unfortunately the chickens have been having a ball eating all the baby green strawberries from.

The green beans though are close to being able to harvest..for some reason the chickens have ignored those.

I do plan on taking up a few of the strawberry plants though... and transferring them to the new yard, as they are the everbearing strawberries, and when I was looking at a hardware store's plant selection recently..I saw the strawberry plants priced at about $4.50-$4.99 each! So..I will be taking a few of those with us to get a strawberry bed established at the new home.

-------------------------

So yes..a lot of Dizzy Busy days have been going on here..but a definite excitement in the air as well.

----------------

I have missed the blogging, and the blog visiting... but I know that many of you have "been there..and done that" on the moving thing before..and I know you all are hanging in there with me, and sending good wishes as I/we go through this journey with our family.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

~The Garden Goose~

Happy Easter!

Wishing you all A Happy Easter!
~The Garden Goose~

It's a Small World...

Hello there...I thought I'd share this really interesting link with you all.

You'll find this to be pretty amazing.

15 of the world's smallest animals.

Check it out! ....and gather the kids around for a "look see" too....Enjoy!

http://webecoist.com/2008/12/17/adorable-cute-miniature-animals-pets/

Have a splendid day!

~The Garden Goose~

If only...

If only all of the scrubbing and cleaning I have been doing lately..would make my butt look smaller..I'd be one happy camper. ..ha.

---------

Yes I've been cleaning my butt off, but as I told my daughter..looks like my butt is still there..sigh...haha.

--------------

We are making incredible progress on getting the house/yard finished up and ready to call realtors in the next few days(sometime next week to do a "walk thru"

-------------

I must confess..getting ready to put a house on the market, and packing up when there is a household of 5 involveed...is hard work.It is both physically and mentally exhausting...to me anyhow.

10 yrs ago perhaps I would not have felt this way..in fact I know I didn't.... as we had moved an average of 10 times in 10 yrs..but that was before 2 more children entered the picture, and now I find myself 10 yrs older...yep..this go around has not been as fun...and has taken far longer than I would have wanted. I am so very, very glad that we are nearing the getting the signs up for sale part of this journey. I am gonna hang onto my hat and hope that the rest of the journey is smooth sailing.

-----------------

With all of the cleaning/scrubbing we've done in the last few days I joked with daughter that we probably have the cleanest home in our county..ha.

------------------

I so very much miss getting in the yard and gardening..but wherever we wind up I am hoping for a pretty clear slate of a yard so that we can have the fun of creating our own oasis exactly how we want it.

It will take time, but it should be fun as well. I have more seeds than I can shake a stick at in my seed saving bank... so I know we'll have quite a variety of items to grow at a new home.

------------------

So...now you know why things have ben so quiet here at the "Garden Goose".

I miss you all..miss all of the comments I used to get here..but I have not been out on "blog land" visiting for quite a while now because of the business involved here with the house....but do know I appreciate you all and would love to be able to visit..I've just been swamped lately.

-----------

Do feel free to leave me a comment though..they do go to my email which I try to check once a day. So I do see them even if I don't have time to comment.

--------------------

hugs to you all,

~The Garden Goose~

April/May 2009 Small Town Living Magazine/Now online!

You'll find the new April/May 2009 "Small Town Living" magazine online now at:
http://www.stliving.net/
Please share with friends and family! Enjoy!
-----------------------
Highlights:
How to Host a "Garden" Party

Growing Heirloom Lettuce:
The World of Lettuce contain more than just Iceberg

Orchard Mason Bees:
Give them a home and they'll Pollinate your Garden

Drip Irrigation
Our Urban Farm

The American Artisans Guide:
Sources for Handmade Goods

This is our special Spring Garden issue and contains many garden related article, tips and advice.

Our Princess Grows Up....

Some days it seems like just yesterday that we brought home a wonderful bundle of joy..our first born child...but then some days it seems like oh so very long ago. What a mix of emotions raising a child to adult hood brings.

Tonight I find myself baking an 18th birthday cake for tomorrow's quiet family celebration ...a day that will fully mark in both my mind and my oldest daughter's mind..that adulthood has "officially" been entered.
Yes, I am a bundle of emotions(but I am managing to keep them hidden quite well I think) as we mark this very special occasion...and yes...I am feeling my age a wee bit this evening.
Of course this transition was coming along for quite a while..tomorrow just really clinches the fact.


You see..my daughter is extremely mature..she has been "grown up" for quite a while now. She has for quite a long time now exuded a grace and maturity far beyond her years.A true sweetheart of a person. Caring, thoughtful, a great help to her dad and I, and a wonderful "big sister" to her 2 siblings that came along 9 yrs after she had been the "only child" of the family.She still jokes that she has issues with sharing..ha.And she is her mom's best friend.:0)

Anyhow..my "baby girl" is no more...she is now an adult..and I am so very, very proud of her.Tomorrow is "her day!" Happy Birthday Naomi!


~The Garden Goose~

Garden Seed Giveaway Winner...and more

Congratulations to "Linder"! You are the winner of the Garden seed give away!

Thank you to everyone that entered the drawing.

-------------

Today I planted a few marigolds that I had left over from creating a large combination planting in a huge terra cotta pot by my front door..so the rest of the plants made their way to the back yard to be planted under the drake elm outside the kitchen window.

Hubby put mulch down around in the flower beds that needed it.

Yesterday oldest daughter and I created a flower bed by the back door, and I put a lot of orange and yellow marigolds in that.

-------

Things are definitely shaping up around here...tomorrow will see me doing a lot of cleaning and some more packing up.

And then I will begin staging the house,and very soon we will have the sign up for sale.

-----------

We are wrapping up the latest issue of "Small Town Living" e-zine... and it will soon be posted to the website.

In the meantime check out the last issue at: http://www.stliving.net/ and please share with your friends/family.

-------------

My absolute sincere apologies for not blogging as much/as often as I used to on here.

Getting a home ready for market takes a lot of work...more than I thought..then in amongst everything I also started a garden seed business the first of Feb.... and wow! I never expected it to be as busy as it has been!...but it has beenlots of fun though...but these things all take time of course.

-----------------

We had some very rainy weather the first part of the week..I joked with hubby that we certainly did not need to receive our annual rain fall quota in a mere 2 days time..ha..but it finally stopped and today..oh my! what a gorgeous sunshiney day! Everything is so lush green and has that beautiful new green growth that plants/trees get at the start of Spring!...the bright new green color..such an awesome cheery leafy green!

The drake elm by the kitchen window is bursting forth in new growth..my all time favorite tree! Every spring it looks better and better..hubby and I wish we could transplant that tree to a new home..ha..it is absolutely gorgeous. But...I'm sure we'll be able to find a nice drake elm tree start elsewhere..I sure hope so..they are such lovely trees.

------------------------

Oh..and..the hummingbirds are back! I'm thinking we must have a species here that is definitely a year long resident. They sure like the bottle brush tree..which is also in full bloom this time of year. I must make a point to get out there with camera in hand and try to capture them at work feeding from the flowers.

-------------

I hope that you all are having a lovely week thus far.

Thanks for stopping by!

~The Garden Goose~