Hi Everyone, Sounds like a great day for our plant swap! I will be bringing some hand-crafted things for the doorprizes - an autumn welcome slate, a candleholder with a scarecrow painted on it, a hand painted concrete stepping stone (painted with outdoor safe paint), and I plan on picking up 2 pots of mums. If Heather would like, we could use her crafts as well, for door prizes. I wish she would contact me. I am bringing pickled beets and eggs as my dish. I also promised to bring some trash bags, so I will bring those. So far, I have potted up a lavender (Lady is the variety), a Blue Boy Garden Phlox, some pots of a shorter variety of Shata Daisy called Silver Angel that I started this year from seed, some pots of rooted cutting of Coral Carpet Rose, and like Cathy, I will be bringing some named daylilies and irises in plastic grocery bags...will be digging them tomorrow. I may have a few more things too. Hope to see you all there. Linda

I received a great box from Heidi. She made two adorable angel ornaments that are now on my tree. She also included a mix of candy and several packages of seeds. These all came inside a cute holiday box. Heidi also made a card with a poem she wrote inside. I want to share it with everyone. She is a very clever writer. It read Winter Soltice Twas the night before Winter solstice and all through the garden The air was quite cold, the ground starting to harden I had just sat down to a nice cup of tea To look through the seeds I had gotten for free When out on the lawn, there arouse such a clatter I jumped from my chair to see what was the matter The snowflakes were fallin' the wind was a blowin' "My winter sowing containers!!" down the street they were goin I threw on my boots, took off at a run I could already see this was not gonna be fun I collected the containers and tied them up tight So much for seed sorting on this crazy night I put on my PJ's and snuggled to bed While visions of winter sown flowers danced in my head I swear I heard my husband snore as I drifted off to sleep "Happy Winter solstice to all, and don't plant your seeds too deep" Thank you Heidi, I really enjoyed my box and it did bring a smile to my face. Margo

Getting your box was really a sweet way to start your birthday weekend. I would love both the apple pie jam and the tangerine lemon jelly. Good maple syrup is always a treat and even after it's gone, the pitcher will remind you of Stacy (I know that because I have a plate from her that I use a lot and always smile and think of her). Somehow "Small Batch Preserving" doesn't sound too intimidating, even to me. I can't wait to see what you try and post from it. I'd love it if you or Stacy would post that jelly recipe, lemon is one of my favorite flavors and we're just coming in to tangerine season. Sweet choices Stacy! Ellen, I know you'll just keep saying yum! Lee

We do reuse and recycle many household items here too. My kids are all built differently so we don't hand down many clothes. I donate clothes in decent condition to the school or the thrift stores. People are funny about used things. It can be quite entertaining at times. I've run into people who wouldn't be caught dead shopping at a garage sale or thrift store. Those same people do shop antique stores and estate sales which are glorified garage sales at higher prices. Then there are those people who don't shop thrift stores because that is for poor people. That's laughable. Truly poor people probably couldn't afford the prices at some of the thrift stores. I shop there because I the thrill of the hunt and it is possible to find a bargain on some things, but usually not clothes. I live in one of those areas where people often overprice their garage sale clothes. I can buy new for less. Overall, my best clothes bargains usually come from the mall during the 75-90% off sales. I wouldn't be too offended because someone doesn't want your hand me downs. I've gotten offers before. Honestly, I just didn't want to deal with the extra work. Sometimes when you get clothes ahead, you're storing it for a while even possibly a couple of years. Sometimes less is more when you're trying to organize and manage a household.