countrycarolyn: I won't give them a haircut then and leave well enough alone. The main thing is to get them planted, will give them a month for the roots to work on down although it sounds like they're tough and could just have stuck them in the ground without repotting. ladyrose65: You confirmed the dianthus, too. Where did I get the raspberry seeds? I've been all over everything, search engine here, google advanced, my old computer fired up twice and got into my mail but it hangs now. I can't post real names and didn't find the raspberry trade, know it was somebody on this forum. In my mail I did find mastergardner2003 but she sent me the currants; I found conniejw who designed that beautiful space in front of my garage with some special software she has. I know it wasn't they. This name sticks in my mind of having corresponded with, brandmulvaine. It might have been she but I couldn't find the trade emails. Also I traded with Carol (hosta) but know it wasn't raspberries. It will be prob 3 yrs before I get any seeds. Was going to buy some at amazon but they wanted $9.95. But I'll post a link where the plants are much cheaper because I might have bought from there if I hadn't found mine. Oh yes, I'll keep the sprout pics and may take more later if they look promising. northerner_on: Strange error, not so much here but what I went through trying to find that raspberry exchange. I'm not sure I sent anything in return; if I did it might have been alyssum and lupines I had a ton of that I bought. Now the lamium, that is not a pleasant prospect because my yard is a total mess. It's already worked it's way through that small garden space and may smother some of my plants and working north into a bare spot. I've got a terrible invasive behind the garage and want to cover the fern and do roundup on the whole mess. Then I'd like the lamium there if I knew how to transplant it. Evidently it roots easily, grows a ways, puts down roots, then more with more roots is how it travels. Yes I have two other lamiums, one variegated and one plain, I think, with pink flowers. They haven't been such a problem at all. I just ripped them back a little when they were threatening my new brunera, have had several years now, haven't gotten into the lawn, seem to want to move toward more shade. So thanks so much everyone for the help and advice. Now the hard part. Getting them in the ground in the right places. My backyard is pockmarked from tree chunks falling last summer, and I shouldn't even walk in it but do very carefully. Am 69 and fell when the lawn guys were here but easy fall. The tree people last year wanted $800 to fill the holes, nothing doing after spending $3000 to have the tree taken down which was cheap for that. One of the best tree companies wanted $10,000 included stump removal, no way. but if I break something, maybe I'd better get some topsoil and pay somebody to fill them in. I want to be able to enjoy this again without all this other stuff to mess with, and just because things are difficult now, I don't want to give in to a sense of futility. Here is a link that might be useful: Bristol Raspberry Plants

OA, Thanks. It was such a simple thing to make. When I saw it I said to myself, "Even I could do this!" DS had it whipped out in a minute. I will be making more for other occasions since I found how easy it is. Lee, Thanks for the compliments. This was one of my favorites. I love it when my "kids" (DS & Gkids) come in and their faces light up and they start noticing stuff and saying, "Hey! Cool! Check this out! Mom (Nanny), where did you get that?" Life is hard and will be even harder for their generation. I love to make them smile and give them fun memories of their Mom (Nanny). It really makes it special when DS gets interested and creates something and then says, "Make sure you tell them that I did this!" Hopefully, he will carry the tradition on with his kids and Gkids. I had bought a lot of Halloween related things after Halloween last year and was trying to find places to display it all and stuck that little string of skeletons up in the den in front of the patio door. I LOVE the rain and when I saw the raindrops on the outside of the door, I had to share. 'Singing in the Rain' must have been written for me! Yes, that is a beaded placemat you see! I usually just buy the stuff for 4 placesettings. If the Gkids are here, DH and I aren't able to sit at their table. I had picked up the orange and black plates, so I decided to try to throw a couple of placesettings at the ends for us so we could all sit together. I think it turned out ok. Complete setting Next layer I had found DD a set of 4 of these purple plates and she had told me to keep them at my house, so I use them when I need them. :o) The B/W plates are Dollar Tree plates The beaded placemats Wish I had found more than 2 of these. They look really nice IRL I found 2 of the boas at the Dollar Tree and one at Big Lots. I need to get one more purple and 2 more black to make it really nice and full all over next year. Aunt B seems to enjoy my tablescapes. She says several times a day, "I've never seen anyone with as many dishes as you have!" She had quite a few dishes and bought several more sets to pass down to our kids since we've been married. She has no children and DH has been the son she never had and our Kids have been her Gkids. She has given me many of her dishes and lots of her accent pieces. Sadly, her dementia has gotten much worse in the 5 months she has been with us. When both DH and I got hit with the swine flu at the same time and were both in bed unable to care for her, the DR found her a bed in an assisted living home here in town. She wasn't happy at first, but they do a lot of activities and she has really blossomed being with others her age and loves it now. We can still take her out for family times, so it is the best of both worlds in an impossible situation. It has been a heart rending time for us. I am so thankful that we could at least give her that window of time and spoil her a while. I did a tea tablesetting last year using the china she gave me. DS has always loved the tea parties, so he will get the set with the tea pot. It is fun to see a big 6'2" man/boy who works on cars and deer hunts loving a tea party with all of the 'frills'. He is the Baby and we married when he was still in diapers, so you know I ruined him. Thanks Syble, I am always behind everyone else here! I usually start early, but finish late. Then I have to find time for taking the pictures and getting them to Flickr and writing the post. As you can see, I am long winded, so it takes forever to post!! I tried to do 2 fall settings in 2 days so I could share all of my new buys and I forgot stuff (DS didn't even have time to add the mini-cooper... DRATS!) and my feet are killing me. That is my last time to try that. BTW.. I loved your kitchen pics so much that I put them in my favorites so I can look at them when I need a 'Pick Me Up'. What a Happy place! Yacht, It makes me the happiest when DS and Gkids are 'up under my feet' laughing and doing dumb but cute stuff to make me laugh. Life is going faster and faster as I age and I treasure each moment with them. I hope they look back at this time with me and consider it special. Your's are really getting into it too, aren't they? I really loved all of their Jack-o-Lanterns and the decorating they did that you shared with us. They 'Caught the Bug' from you. Good Job!! Hi Dominique! So good to hear from you. I miss you when you're not here. My DD loves purple, so it was fun when I found the purple accent pieces and it came together. Jane, DS laughed when he read about your 'Waldo' comment! Thanks for the compliments. I had a marathon shopping day after Halloween last year and only added a few items that I found this year. It was hard to wait a whole year before I could share it with the kids. I was so excited!! I can do creepy anytime. But I don't do spiders. The napkin rings were a set in a box and I almost didn't buy it because of the 1 spider. I HATE SPIDERS!!! I finally trained myself to not kill them outside because they are our friends in the garden, eating the bad bugs. But, I still jump and scream when I meet one while working in the yard! I'm glad you liked the 'wet skeleton' picture. The 'raindrops' shot is my favorite of all! He is on the inside and the raindrops are outside, but it was sooo great with the cloudy sky in the background. Thanks Luckygal, He is such a fun son. I tell him all of the time that he can never leave home. He is our entertainment! He has such a funny personality and is ALWAYS making us laugh. The black cats on the plates are plastic cutouts that came in a pack with some ghost cutouts. The plates just have the spiderwabs with the cartoonish spiders. I just laid the cat cutouts in the plates to 'spook it up' a bit until we sat down to eat. Thanks Luvs, I am trying to follow Judith's instructions about the layers and details. It really helps. If I don't have any height, it doesn't feel right, so I doctor it! I REALLY miss her. Such talent she has. I'm happy that she has started dropping back in. Thanks Kathleen, Even though all of the kids' settings were plastic, it is one of my favorite because they enjoyed it so much. Karen, I knew you would like this! My DD loves purple, too. I don't usually 'do the house', but I had found such great buys and DS really got into it, so I stood back and enjoyed watching him do the work! Sorry this is so long, but y'all know that once I get started I can't shut up! Betty

LOL NHB! Well now I'm looking for something fancy schmancy to hold our chalk - thanks for the suggestion! Juddgirl2 - I had bought a few of the ornaments at PB but did not get back in time to get anymore :/ Blog? Aaaahhhh - someday - some of my many, many plans :o) I got the trees at a the shop in the link below. Very dangerous little place..... Here is a link that might be useful: Pennsylvania Traditions

AnnieB., maybe the bread affected my behavior. Funny you should call me 'shameful.' My mother's endearing name for me is 'sinverguenza' (Spanish for shameful, but with gluten). I'd love to borrow Maci. She could play dress up with Sam's little outfits and teddy bear collection, plus our two cats. Don’t worry, I'll send her back, when she's 18. Woodie-Anne! I'm so sorry. Comforting hugs. Although, I’m certainly not sorry I dragged you out of lurkdom ☺ I still hope we'll cross paths. Last year was a whirlwind. Mom came up for a few months while dad was in the hospital. We lost him last August. Lars, I will make it up to you, I promise. I will confess, the picture above is ancient. Although I baked bread on April Fool's Day, I never bothered to photograph it. Sharon, you should've seen what I reserved for the men in my life. It involved a flesh-tinted, marzipan molded 'thumb,' with a knife soaked in marinara sauce beside it. A veritable 'French Chef' SNL skit. I was proud of my work. Suffice it to say, it didn't raise an eyebrow. So, I've lost my touch (and a finger), yet, the guys didn't even pretend to be impressed. Harrumph. Sol