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!~

Beautiful Spring ...and more

Hi there folks. Wow! A whole month nearly since I've written, but it certainly has been a busy one. Since I wrote last we have moved to central Florida and wow! We love it here!
 We are leasing a home that has a huge back yard and my kids love that, I do too as it is so nice and quiet here, and we can sit outside for long lengths of time and not have to worry about "no see-ums" (biting gnats that cause one to itch terribly... for those of you who do not know what a no-seeum is) 

And every morning and evening we have a little visitor. This cottontail rabbit visits every day. Spring time has been gorgeous here! 


Well, after our move the kids and I went to meet up with a group of homeschooler's at a well known chain restaurant geared towards kids here, and 2 days later we all started getting ill with sore throats and coughs and sinus problems..uggh. Seems we all caught a bad bug that someone had left there. Everyone was sick for a week and some of us are still getting over it all. We have learned that we won't go back to a place like that, just not worth catching germs from. But it was nice meeting the homeschool group though.

My irises and roses that are in the "holding garden" at my mother in laws are doing wonderful! (I can't plant anything here as per the lease agreement, if I plant anything I have to leave it) So I go over and "visit" my plants at my mom in laws house. I can't wait to have a yard of my own to putter around in. Soon..very soon. Isn't this iris gorgeous? It is one of my "little ladies" that are waiting for me to have a garden to plant them in soon.

As soon as we moved in I was told to get ready for a garage sale, so during the time that I was working to get us settled in to a rental home, I was also going through every single box of what we owned and thinning down yet again. I somehow managed to thin out about 14 boxes...big boxes now mind you...filled with items we no longer needed...where I found all of the stuff I don't know, as prior to the move I had gone through a lot of items and gotten rid of quite a lot, but I amazed myself that I found even more... and that much more..that we could live without. So..we had a 2 day garage sale this past weekend and I did pretty darn good if I say so myself. Sold nearly everything that I had carted over to my mother in laws for the sale, and now I have a little change in my pocket going jing a ling a ling. :0) Of course as soon as we get moved into a permanent place I'll have to go through the cleaning out process all over again...after I decorate that is.

Well..I hope all of you moms had a terrific Mother's day! I did. My two youngest children went to their grandma's house and  each made me a keepsake plate on which they drew pretty pictures. And hubby got us all Chinese takeout for dinner so that I did not have to cook, and I got to sleep in on Mother's day..so it was a great day! 


Here's wishing you all a great week! Thanks for stopping by!
Don't forget to visit www.stliving.com too. 
~The Garden Goose~

Monkey Pots "Messy Patio Contest"

Share with us a photo of your messy patio and you could have a chance to Win a Perfect Patio Planter from MonkeyPots. Grow beautiful fruits and vegetables in very little space.
The wonderful folks at MonkeyPots will gift a lucky winner with one of their Perfect Patio Planter systems. ($139.99 value)
To enter the contest send us a photo of your messy patio . Send contest entries to gardengoose at gmail dot com (use the @ symbol where I’ve used the word at, and a . where I’ve used the word dot)
The contest starts April 1,2010  and ends April 30th,2010
Good Luck!
Visit the MonkeyPots website at:http://monkeypots.com/

Young Seamstress Would Like Your Vote

Our daughter Naomi has been sewing since age 15(4 yrs.now) when a family friend offered to tutor her in the art of sewing for 6 months for free. The family friend taught our daughter so much about  sewing. From different seams, different types of fabrics and their uses, to diffferent types of needles to use, and so much more.
Our daughter was hooked, and she has been creating sewn items ever since. She loves to participate in online challenge  swaps with other sewers where they create miniature quilts and other items to exchange with each other.
Our daughter recently entered a challenge on Burdastyle.com. The challenge was to remake a basic apron from a pattern provided by the folks at Burdastyle. Our daughter's creation is now in the top 50 entrants...but she needs your vote to win.
If she does win she will receive a new sewing machine and a cash prize.
To vote for her creation stop by this link:http://www.burdastyle.com/albums/149/images?page=4&size=small
In order to vote you will need to sign up on the site. ...but a young seamstress would greatly appreciate your vote ...and so would her proud mama.
Thanks ever so much!

Oh..and I have a thank you to make..and a bit of an apology too..

I wanted to say a great big "Thank you" to all of the gals from whom I won an item from during the OWOH giveaway. I did receive the items I won, but need to apologize sincerely for not having posted photos here of the winnings. I simply have not had the time to do so. But do know that I absolutely adore all of the handmade items I received and sincerely love all of them. You women are all so talented! I have emailed all of you personally to thank you, and I do hope that you all have received those emails.
Thank you so much!! You all are angels. And I so very much appreciated the items in my mailbox.
  ~Tina/ ~The Garden Goose!~

Some great Giveaways to tell you about..and more

Hi there folks! I have some great giveaways to tell you about that you will NOT want to miss..trust me on this.


Over at the "Small Town Living" blog we are featuring a Coffee Flavor a day..for a week! Courtesy of the folks at Coffee City USA. We jump started the giveaway feature this morning with a coffee flavor called "Sinful Pleasure", and let me tell you!...it is good coffee! 
http://stliving.com/?p=1465


Also at the "Small Town Living" blog we have recently featured the art work of artist JoEllen Laurita. JoEllen will gift one of our lucky readers with a Primitive Cat Ornament...it is really adorable and you'll want to join in on the fun of that giveaway as well.
http://stliving.com/?p=1432

So stop by and join in the fun!
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I wanted to tell you about my friend Susan's giveaway over at "Not Quite June Cleaver." Susan is hosting a darling giveaway of a super cute coffee mug..(gosh we must all have coffee on our mind lately..ha.) A bit of her special coffee blend, some home made granola, and a wonderful vintage apron! So stop on by her giveaway at:
http://www.notquitejunecleaver.com/2010/03/notquitejunecleavers-spring-fling-giveaway-and-so-much-more/
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And another giveaway is from my friend Debra over at Vegan Family Style. She is gifting one of her lucky readers with a copy of the movie Food Inc.
http://veganfamilystyle.blogspot.com/2010/03/food-inc-and-giveaway.html
 So stop by and check out her giveaway too. 
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Wow..it has been a busy couple of weeks. The days are just zooming by it seems.
 I'm having loads of fun on the Small Town Living site..we feature farmers, artists, wineries, bed and breakfast Inns,book and food and other product reviews, and so much more. I stay busy networking with folks and bringing interesting information to our readers. I love it though, but I do stay quite busy with it too. 
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Oh, let me tell you about our little garden!...the kids and I planted Oregon Giant snow peas and bush bean seeds about a week and a half ago in the raised beds out back. We now have little bean and pea plants that are about 4 inches tall. Yay!
 Hopefully soon we'll be gathering some produce from those plants..or if someone buys this home soon... they will. :0) (Yes, our home here is still for sale and we are hoping it will sell soon.)
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Oh, I wanted to share with you this photo of a sandhill crane that I took back in December when we made a fast trip down to Ocala, FL. I was so delighted to see this bird in a field in Dunnellon, FL. on our way back home.
And this was the first time I have ever been able to capture one of these magnificent birds on camera!
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Well..that's all the news today..oh I'm sure there's more really, but I don't want to have to write a book today, so I'll save some of it for a later date.


"Ya'll come back now ya hear" :0)


Thanks so much for stopping by!


~The Garden Goose!~ 

Spring is on its way!...and a giveaway to tell you about...and more.

Today I saw a few Robins hopping around in search of bugs and worms. Robins are a migratory visitor here, and once they arrive  we know that Spring is right around the corner.

 The grass has begun growing again in our backyard, another sure sign of Springs arrival.

 The doves have begun flirting with each other..yes, another sign of  Spring.

 Oh, and more bird song...ahh ....I love it..hearing the birds singing a good bit more now that Spring is about to burst forth in all of its glory!

I mentioned having sent all of my potted plants South the other day. Well...I had a major plant relapse. I cannot stand not having something green around me..somewhere..anywhere. So I asked my husband to take me by a local nursery to check in and see if they had gotten in any mint plants. I was looking for varieties like apple, or pineapple, or chocolate. I found spearmint and pineapple. 

I also found a tiny air plant, and some succulents that I'll create a dish garden with. I also found some elfin thyme, some lemon balm, and rosemary.  I know, I know... oh and hubby bought me 3 gorgeous rose bushes. 

I know...relapse..but hopefully the last relapse I have before we get moved. As I don't want any movers to have to move a lot of plants.

Oh and I learned something very interesting today about the pineapple mint plant... apparently the pineapple mint plant is also the apple mint plant... seems that the pineapple flavor variation is concentrated into the variegated leaves of the plant, but if the plant is allowed to develop solid green shoots on the same plant...solid green leaves...those leaves will be of an apple mint scent and flavor. So it is encouraged to snip off any wayward solid green leaves or stems to maintain the variegation and thus the "pineapple" flavor and scent. Strange huh? I found it rather fascinating. Something to do with the hybridization of the plant. So interesting.  Plants always fascinate me!

Oh wow! I almost forgot!! Head on over to www.stliving.com to enter the drawing for a gorgeous Vintage tablecloth..courtesy of one of the artists we have profiled on the site this week. (The Pink Rose Cottage) You won't want to miss out on your chance. Contest lasts until  March 9th.

That's all the news today folks.

 Thanks for stopping by!

  ~The Garden Goose~