Merry Christmas!

Wishing you all a lovely Christmas and a Happy New Year!

oh it's the dust..the du---uh--ust...bun-neee blues...

There's dust in my hair, and dust in my nose...even dust in my i-yi-eyes..
..and if I was a wearing them..probably even in my pant..eee hose..

...oh me oh my.. I think I'm a gonna cry...
I am a singing..the dust..
oh I'm a singin' the duh---ust..bun eee blues.
(no, I totally refuse to sing this one out loud for anyone near or far..I will more than likely never get rich from the words of this pitiful song I have just typed...ha, but just in case a record company comes a knockin'...its an original by yours truly...just so you know..ha)

this little gal is part of my new laundry room decor.

I'm singing the dust bunny blues here...Today sweet mom-in-law, dear daughter, and I all tackled the clean up of the rental. I used my trusty Dyson vacuum cleaner on all the tile floors and carpets, and then had to dust all the ceiling fans.Trust me a 2400 square foot home has a lot of ceiling fans and floor space once you start cleaning. This evening I am more than tired. I have itchy eyes from the dust, no doubt dust way up in my nostrils...and yep, even in my hair. But the job is now done and the house is clean awaiting the owners to either rent it out again, or sell it or whatever they'll do with it. And I dare say I am pretty darn sure its way cleaner than we found it when we first started renting it. I did find that I can't stand Tilex...no offense to the makers of that cleaning product..trust me it does the job well, but oh my word! you must definitely make sure the room you use it in is fully ventilated and fan is going. Can we say very strong bleach smell to it. But it worked magic on the shower tiles for sure. But I was quickly seeking out a source of bleach free air asap after using it, in fact even though I had the window open and the ventilator fan going I still found myself shouting in my head "MUST FIND FRESH AIR! MUST FIND FRESH AIR! ASAP!" but daggum it its a sparkling clean shower now...ha. Oh..and thank goodness for the makers of Claritin. I will be using their product this evening before going to bed. (end of all endorsements now folks...ha. Actually I didn't get paid a darn cent for mentioning any of the products here..I'm just a yakking my gums as my dad used to say) but yes..after today I need both a hot bath for my aching bod and an allergy med.
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 The new homestead is shaping up slowly but steadily. Probably a bit more on the slowly side than the steadily side...that's because moving is such draining work. Both physically and mentally. I have just been zapped. I know I don't want to do this again for a very, very long time.
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 The Christmas tree is up and hubby and I like the new artificial tree he bought so well that we will most likely keep it up year round as a seasonal tree. Meaning we will probably decorate it for every season of the year. (Valentine's, St. Paddy's, Easter/Spring, 4th of July/Summer, Fall/Thanksgiving/and Christmas..you get the idea) It is a tall narrow version that is about 7 ft. high but takes up very little space. We may move it around from room to room throughout the house depending upon our mood/decor.
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this gal now sits next to my kitchen sink

I've gotten my dining room decorated, but still have to finish the kitchen. My laundry room is pretty much done, I may add a few extra elements to it yet.
The living room still needs doing as does the master bedroom and kids rooms.
But we have only been in since Tuesday evening, so I think all told I/we have all made pretty good progress.
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And yes, I'll be sharing pictures soon. Right now I don't want to share pictures of boxes stacked in the midst of the floor, but I will share soon I promise.
I think you all will like that dear daughter and I hung a set of 3 antique Chinese paper lanterns in my living room, and the fact that I have a darling bright red ice cream bistro set with polka dot seats, and  a yellow tea cart in my living room bay window...sort of a "world market" very eccentric/eclectic feel to it,  I guess you could call it a sort of gypsy caravan style to the room. When I get it done I think it will look so cute.
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Of course once the house has been tackled..which does take time..there will be the yard and the planning of flower beds and garden areas.
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All in due time though.

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Thanks so much for stopping by.
 ~The Garden Goose!~

The new homestead!

 It is finally ours..yippee. Here are some pictures of our new homestead.

our beautiful new kitchen

looking from the dining area back towards the kitchen

Master bedroom. has a small french door, but on either side those windows have small plantation shutters on them..so cute. door leads out to huge screened in patio area.

this is actually a large dining area but we are going to convert it to a large craft/sewing room as there is plenty of room just off the kitchen to the right for our dining table and chairs and not to mention the big bar area as well. So this big room will be used as a family crafting station area with nice organized shelves and fun decor.

this is a formal dining room to the left of the kitchen separated by a pocket door. It is large enough to be used for my husband's studio area/business.

Last but not least...the big yard which is 1.29 of an acre.

Ch..Ch...Ch..Changes are in the air...yeehaw!!

Oh my goodness gracious me! Life has been busy and this  little blogette of mine has suffered a wee bit with well... umm a bit of neglect I see, but hey... that doesn't mean that I've given up on her yet folks...it simply means that I've been busy living life and exploring, and learning a bit about my new town and even making friends!

I met this sweet gal recently and she is a real dear. (http://www.verbenanestedtreasures.blogspot.com/)

And I'm in the throes of getting ready to move again...yes! its true...after 18 months (11 months to sell our place in N. Florida, then 7 months of looking here) we have finally found a new home! We close on it this coming Friday!! Yippee- Ki- YAY!!! And Friday intends to be a super busy day too, with yet another garage sale...yes...I'm a bit of a glutton for punishment I suppose, but I wound up finding a heap more things in all of the boxes we had packed up...that we can stand to live without in a new home, plus my/our tastes have changed quite a bit over the years...time for a totally fresh start.


And my dear hubby let me order some of these beautiful heirloom roses for our soon to be new home. These are my Christmas gift from him.:0)

Bougainville Heirloom Rose

I can't wait to plant the sweet climbing roses called Bougainville against the fence on either side of our driveway to our new homestead.

Blush Hip Heirloom Rose

Great Maiden's Blush Heirloom Rose

And I'll find a nice place to plant these pretty gals too called "Blush Hip" and "Great Maiden's Blush."


I'm so excited to be getting ready to finally be in a new home. We'll have an acre and 1/4 to roam around on...and to create beautiful gardens in. 

The home has plenty of room and a terrific layout that suits our needs, and a beautiful large kitchen as well. (You can't see it in the photo but there is crown molding across the top of the counters and a ledge for displaying items/opposite side of kitchen includes a built in computer desk area and the fridge and a large pantry. This part that you see also includes a large bar area further to the right. Granite counter tops. My vintage 50's chicken decor will look cute in here...smiles. Oh..and see that window?? There is a granite ledge on the outside for serving directly from the kitchen out onto the large screened in patio area...fun! fun!)


Well, that's what's been going on in my little corner of the world. And yes, I'll share more photos later.

Have a great week. Thanks for visiting.
 ~The Garden Goose!~

A little reminder...

Today's Little Message:

Enjoy the Beauty in Your Corner of the World!

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~