more Christmas decor...

Some more of the Christmas ornaments. Apron, goose, chicken, blown duck egg ornament. Lots of fun and whimsy.
~The Garden Goose~

Oh,Christmas tree..Oh, Christmas tree...

Thought you'd like to see how I decorated this year for the Holidays.


the little Scandinavian looking doll ornament is one of a set of 6 gifted to me by a farmgirl friend.Of course there are several other farmgirl gifted ornaments throughout the tree.

The tree is decorated with a yo-yo garland, a garland of beads, a few crocheted hats,and lots of whimsical ornaments here and there..a mini whisk, a spatula, a potato masher,a pitcher,a clown,a goose, a chicken, even a few real blown duck eggs.

~The Garden Goose~

Penny Rug Project

Finally completed the Penny Rug Project. These are to be gifts for a few special gals I know. shh don't tell. :0)

I used the "Quick and Easy Penny Rugs" book by Barbie Jo Paquin from "Cleo and Me"

I adapted the pattern a bit, by sewing one less blackbird and pie and cherry cluster, and by sewing quite a few less on the pennies around the border of the rug..the original pattern called for 5 blackbirds and 5 cherry clusters and 26 penny circles to go around the edge of the rug.

Whew. As it was..my adaptation took quite a long time on the first rug as I had to teach myself all of the embroidery stitches. I only sewed 12 pennies around the edge of the rug and only 4 blackbirds and cherry clusters. I really like how this turned out. The 2nd rug is going much faster and should be completed by tomorrow evening.

~The Garden Goose~

Hello friends...

Well, yesterday hubby and I got out for a few moments, and wound up at the marina to watch the sunset.

It was an absolutely gorgeous sunset last night too. Lovely cloud formations and lovely colors and lighting.

-----------------Today I had to get some blood work done..ouch. Funny thing..removing the tape hurt worse than the needle prick did. I wish the hospitals and dr's offices wouldn't use that awful clear tape that tends to stick like duct tape and it's torture on the skin removing that stuff.Ahh well.

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

The little chicklets are doing well...in fact the Americauna gal has started wanting to roost on the top of the box..We have caught her little wee self several times sitting up on the edge of the cardboard box. She is so tiny, but manages to somehow hop to the top of the box and perch on the side. So cute, as she is only about 5 inches tall..ha.

Already strutting her stuff.

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

Another thing that is funny, sometimes when they sleep they flatten their necks out across the floor of the box. Weird. I didn't remember ours ever doing that, back when we raised some chicks when I was a girl. When I saw the little chicklet doing that last night..I thought it had something wrong with it, but it quickly perked up and looked around as if to say"can't a gal sleep how she wants to?"..ha

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

I'm sharing some of the images from last nights sunset with you here. Enjoy!

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

May you all have a lovely evening, and a fun weekend.

~The Garden Goose~

Tuesday Ramblings...

Well, last night I decided to drag out my seed stash that is kept up under my kitchen sink. Wow! I have quite a collection! Alot of them from farmgirls around the country, but alot of seeds I have saved from the cottage garden and packets from here and there.
Anyhow..it was time to sort through them.I wound up dumping alot of them all together into a container(the ones that need cold weather to germinate..like poppies and some wildflower varieties)...they will all be scattered into the cottage garden this afternoon.
The rest I will begin planting here and there in February...and I still have lots and lots left.
I have plenty of seeds to have a lovely yard and garden that is for sure.
-----------------------
Today we wound up with a bit of chilly weather.
brrrr.Yeah..for us wimps in sunny Florida..60 degrees is chilly. It's supposed to get down to 32 tonight.
I told my hubby last night that no way would I be able to survive up North.
-----------
Well, I'm looking forward to attending
The Thomasville,GA Victorian Christmas.
I will have to get photos for sure, as I was unable to find very many photos of this event online.
So, I'll have to make sure I get some images to share.
My daughter and I will be dressing in Victorian clothing.
----------------------
All of the new critters are doing well. Each one definitely has its own personality.
I'm still trying to find out some information on the local 4-H clubs.
------------------------
I hope that you all are having a very nice day today.
Thanks for joining me in "blogland"
~The Garden Goose~

New Issue of Small Town Living Magazine Now Online!!

The New issue of "Small Town Living Magazine" Dec./Jan. 2008 is now available online at


http://www.stliving.net/

Please Feel Free to link to the website, and to share the site with your family and friends!

~The Garden Goose~

Beauty In Your Own Backyard...

We have a nice backyard. It wasn't always like this..in fact when we moved in 7 yrs ago, there was only one lonely oak tree with a wooden planter around the tree.

Now 7 yrs. later we have a large array of plants and trees all in the backyard.

Roses, irises, a wildlower cottage garden, an arbour and courtyard area...lots of wax myrrtle trees edge the property on either side.

A beautiful cypress tree, a Leyland cypress, pear trees, grape vines, and two small citrus trees, and much more.

Alot of sweat, time and love went into what makes up our backyard..and the work isn't done yet.

I think when one owns their own place..the work is never done..ha. Always something that you'd like to add to, or re -do, or fix up.

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

This afternoon I planted a few wildflower seeds into the cottage garden area in the bare spots.

Then I walked around with my trusty camera..capturing a few of the things in my backyard that to me..make my backyard ...beautiful!

-----------------------Daffy the Duck, who always greets us and loves being petted.

He's so beautiful now, and oh so sweet!

one of my favorite roses was blooming this afternoon! This is a variety called "Double Delight".I had recently transplanted most of my roses into a large flower bed that we are creating by our back patio. This little gem decided to start blooming today.

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

In the far end of the new flower bed I have planted alot of mixed chrysanthemums, many of the plants were bargain plants from our local supermarket..meaning they had all seen their better days ...and were found in the "drastically reduced for quick sale" cart. With a little extra water and a little tlc to cut off the dead parts..they bounce back quite well as shown here...and will have some "better days" in my garden area.

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

In the cottage garden area we still have a few blanket flowers that are putting on a show.I love how, even though it is December..they add a lovely show of cheer.

Lantana by the back deck. it actually has a lemony smell to it.

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

The maple tree in the midst of the new flower bed by the back door, has started changing colors on the leaves. Love how the early evening light shown through the leaves.

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

I hope that you'll find the time this weekend to explore your own backyard..and to enjoy the beauty there in.

Have a lovely weekend!

~The Garden Goose