Tea time...

Oooh...yummy. Posted this new item on my etsy shop today. A delightfully fruity blend of tea with orange peel,lemon grass,rosehips and peppermint and hibiscus.
Very yummy and refreshing.
I am striving to bring very nice items to my shop/customers. My husband designed the labels for me..aren't they just sooo pretty?
Anyhow..if you like tea..you'll like this one.Real excited to be offering this.

I helped my daughter post 3 aprons on her etsy shop today too.
Really cute farmgirlish' aprons.So maybe her little shop can start doing something too.
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O.k. Time for another old fashioned recipe..this time from a Calument Baking Powder Company Cookbook from 1912 titled " Reliable Recipes"
I found this old cookbook in a local bookstore a couple years ago and although it had a torn cover it was still cute and a good find.

So..here is a recipe for
Banana Fritters
1 3/4 cup pastry flour
1 1/2 level tsp.calumet baking powder
2 Tabsp.sugar
1/2 cup milk
2 eggs ,beaten seperately
1/4 tsp. salt
Sift flour then measure,add baking powder,salt, sugar,sift three times,then add milk and well beaten eggs.
Dip fruit into batter and drop in boiling hot fat. like doughnuts.

Bananas for Fritters
Slice bananas lengthwise,cut into fourths,squeeze over them the juice of two lemons and sprinkle with powdered sugar. Let stand half an hour before dipping in batter.
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**My granny used to make banana fritters very similar to this. So yummy and different.
They can be sprinkled with a little confectioners sugar or cinnamon/sugar blend after drained.
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I can't figure out what I'll be making for dinner tonight yet..I'm thinking that I may make a vegetable and chicken stir fry served over brown rice...as I have a large baked chicken breast piece in the refrigerator and a large package of stir fry veggies in the freezer...that just sounds nice and yummy for something light and quick to toss up.
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Well, better get started on the dinner preps here.
Then I'll have to attend to me chores in the backyard with the ducks.
Have a great evening.
Thanks for joining me in "blogland"

~The Garden Goose~

Another day in the dentist's chair...

Well, today found me at the dentist's office..sitting in the chair ..wayyyy far back...looking up at a bright light.Having my mouth propped open with plastic things and gauze and being drilled on yet again. Ughh.

Luckily I don't have very many cavities..am ashamed that I had any, but such is life and I guess the price we pay for liking sugar and sugarry substances.

But the nice thing about this dentists office is..they provide sunglasses for you, so that the light isn't so bright in your eyes, and they also have a tv up high on the wall for you to view if you are so inclined to do so while the drilling and so forth goes on. Another thing is my dentist is really very nice and about my age, and actually doesn't treat me like a number...and since my husband had helped him with his sign out front of his establishment when he first opened up his practice..well..he always asks how is my husband and kids. So that's really nice.

So it wasn't so bad..and less pain this time than last time.I will have to have oral surgery at some point to have my wisdom teeth removed. Now that is not something I am looking forward to at all..ouch. I dread the thought of being put under for anything.

The photo I have posted is a very unique one, that believe it or not... was not created using any kind of digital manipulation.It was straight from the camera that way. I call it "when flowers dance".(naww no matter how much you beg..I shant tell the secret on how it was created..a girl has to have a few secrets to suprise folks with every now and then..ha)

It is a picture of some begonias I had last year..that sadly they kicked the bucket.:0(

Ok..I am so sorry that I forgot to post those recipes last night like I had mentioned..so here is one to make up for it.

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This recipe is from a cookbook published in 1904 titled "Cooking in Olde Creole Days"

JUMBALLAYA A SPANISH CREOLE DISH

Wash one pound of rice and soak it an hour. Cut up a cold roast chicken, or the remnants of a turkey, and a slice of ham, and fry them in a tablespoonful of lard. Stir in the rice, and add slowly while stirring in, a pint of hot water. Cover your pot, and set where it can cook slowly, until the rice is nearly dry. One or two spoonfuls of cooked tomatoes give it a very good taste. Jumballaya is very nice made with oysters, shrimps or sausages.--MME. EUSTIS, MERE.

Thanks for joining me in "blogland"

~The Garden Goose~

Ooh la la handbag and more...

Posted this darling handbag on my etsy shop this afternoon. Found the fabric and thought..ooh that is just too cute! I hope that someone else will think so too. It is so hard to know what folks will buy on etsy.com
Anyhow..I hope my shop there does well. I do try and put effort into what I do.I just loved that fabric though. I'll be posting a few more of those bags after the first one sells.
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Well, today I mopped my entire house with a vinegar and palmolive blend..it at first smells well..vinegarry, but after a few minutes it is just a fresh clean smell. Cleans really well too I might add, and is so inexpensive just to use a touch of dish soap with about 1/2 cup of vinegar to mop the entire house with very thoroughly. I haven't figured the cost, but I can almost guarantee it's alot less than other cleaners that is for sure.
Probably only a few cents at the most. I had been using the swiffer wetjet products and that gets expensive after a while.
I still do like my swiffer on those days when I'm really in a hurry, but on the days when I want to be a bit more frugal, and take my time and want to make sure the house actually nearly sparkles..I mix up the vinegar water now.
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I tell you, yesterday my house smelled so delightful with the rose sachets setting out on the counter and the rose petals in a bowl as I was crafting sachets. I must say after I sealed the sachets in ziploc baggies to hold in the scent for the products better..I certainly missed the smell...as it was delightful.I will for sure have to make myself up some of those to hang through my house.
They are just pretty and smell so good.
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Well, I was hoping that we'd have gotten some rains from the Tropical Storm, but gracious sakes..no rain yet! phooey. and we need it badly too.
ahh well..an excercise in patience...but then I wonder how a rain dance would work..anyone wanna join me..lets go.."ooh ahh yada yada ooh wahh hubba bubba mmoo maa"(see I got you to also read something terribly goofy..bet you'll be chanting that in a few minutes cause it's a catchy tune...have ya got it stuck in your head yet..try it again..it's catchy now aint it..ha) ..nahh the neighbors would have us locked up if we went outside and did that. ..ha.
but got ya to chuckle now didn't I? hee hee.
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Well, I have to hurry and make dinner now.
Chat with you all later. Will post a new recipe again this evening.
~The Garden Goose~

Apple Pie Shake...

Here is a recipe that I submitted to Taste of Home years ago and it was published in their "Cookin'Up Country Breakfasts" cookbook

1 cup plain nonfat yogurt
1/2 cup frozen applesauce
2 TBS brown sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Combine all in blender until smooth
Yield: 1-2 servings

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you can also make a PBJ shake by using the following
1-2 cups milk/depending on number to serve
3 TBS peanut butter
2 TBS jelly of choice
cup full of ice
vanilla extract 1/2 tsp
2 TBS splenda
blend all together thoroughly
makes 1-2 servings

In the middle of a Victorian Rose Garden...

Well, that's what I felt like today as I was busy creating a dozen of these absolutely scrumptiously scented rose sachets. My whole house has smelled absolutely delightful today.
I have listed a dozen of these on my etsy shop over at www.GardenGooseGifts.etsy.com
I thought about how the women in the Vistorian era may have used items from their gardens to create sachets and potpourris to scent their homes. Anyhow..I wish I could share with you just how wonderful these really smell.
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Well, I am back to my normal self today..yay!
No more icky feeling.
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I worked today on designing those little sachets, then spent some time outside for a little bit watching the ducks and watering some of my plants.
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Still working on potty training my littlest one, what a chore sometimes.
We are getting there, but had a few accidents today. That is to be expected I know.
Will be so nice when we don't have the expense of diaper buying.
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My husband tried to run a drip irrigation system onto the strawberry bed this afternoon. It worked pretty well.
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He's working on designing me some labels for a product that will be in my little shop.
I have some nice things in store for that.
I just hope that they are recieved well.It is so hard to know what folks will want to buy. I just hope that things will do well.
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I have promised to post some recipes..so will do so in another posting this evening.
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Oh, I have a really nice heirloom tomato growing in the far end of my strawberry plant bed..it is the Black Krim variety and...it has a baby tomato on it..woohoo. I hope that it will do well.
and..I collected seeds today from a really nice amaryllis that I have.
I certainly enjoy all of the things that grow in my yard. I am amazed at them.Absolutely love flowers and plants...and enjoy photographing them and sharing the images with others
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Well, that's all for now.
Thanks for joining me in "blogland"
~The Garden Goose~

Take a walk with me...

Well, I wound up being sick this morning after eating something last night that did not settle well with me..and was weak and dehydrated feeling most the day today, so did not get anything accomplished. But am much better now this evening..yay!

And did at least manage to get outside this afternoon with the camera and take some photos of what is blooming now in my yard and in pots on my deck.

I hope that you enjoy these images as much as I enjoy growing these plants and taking the photos of them.

I am feeling much better now.

(By the way..I'm wanting to know what the purple colored flower is..does anyone know?_

A short and sweet post this evening.

Thanks for joining me in "blogland"

~The Garden Goose~

Yummy Soap...

I listed this absolutely yummy soap in my etsy shop this afternoon...(well, if it was edible I'm sure it would be yummy tasting) but this soap smells so scrumptiously delightful to the senses.
A lovely citrus smell that is just fab!
I love anything that smells like citrus blossoms and I tell you this is a perky little bar of soap that I know would have your bathroom smelling so fresh and beautiful while the soap is in there.
Best thing about these soaps is that they are organic.
So that means not only do they smell good, they are good for your skin.
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I'll have some more items soon to get into the shop.
I cut out some fabric for some really darling handbags too.Then I plan to create some really nice Victorian/Cottage Garden/French looking pillows.(gosh hard to describe the fabric but it's almost a French floral look very romantic garden look to it in almost a toile type look to the design) Anyhow..I hope those go over well.
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Today was a bit of a slow day today. I really got nothing much accomplished at all. A very lazy day.
I guess it's o.k. to have a day like that every now and again to recharge the batteries.
I am looking forward to a nice quiet weekend with my husband and kids.
Just hanging around the house.
I'm hoping to get some sewing done..especially those handbags I just mentioned.
The fabric on those is soo cute..an "ooh la-la girlfriends in Paris/shopping" type look to the fabric..It's really cute and I hope those go over well too.
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I have alot of the gloriosa daisies starting to pop up all over in the cottage garden now. I am so glad that I did gather those seeds last year and that they did decide to grow..they are so lovely.I am for sure going to make a point to collect the seeds from the flowers yet again, after they have completed their blooming.
They are some of the most cheerful flowers I know of.
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I am ashamed to admit that I have not gotten out and taken very many photos at all lately.
But I have some gorgeous flowers blooming outside and just need to try and capture them in new and different ways.
So, I'll probably head outside tomorrow afternoon and get back on track with that.
If the weather holds out.
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All day today it kept looking like it wanted to rain..but we didn't even get a drop. We surely could have used it too.
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Oh, I saw the sweetest thing today outside of my kitchen window at about 7:30 this morning..I had mentioned before that my ducks are starting to do a molting...with feathers scattered everywhere it seems.
Well , this morning I'm looking out of the kitchen window and see a small male house sparrow alight onto the drake elm branch and then down he swooped to a patch of feathers and starts stuffing his little beak full of these fluffy white duck feathers. It made me happy to see the way that nature works.
It was a really sweet sight.
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Well, not really much else to report today.
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I'm going to have to do some research on when ducks start laying eggs..mine are a good 3 months old and have started their first molt already..so I need to start doing a bit more research on them now that they are full grown.
I had read that the females don't make very good mothers as far as setting on the nest goes..and that if I wind up with fertile eggs I'd have to probably incubate them in an incubator.
I would like to probably sell a few ducklings back to the feed store or through the local advertiser paper here if I could.
I'm sure when the time comes we will probably use a few of the eggs in baking.
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Well, that is all today.
Thanks for joining me in "blogland"
Here's wishing you all a lovely weekend!


~The Garden Goose~