To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time by Robert Herrick GATHER ye rosebuds while ye may, Old time is still a-flying : And this same flower that smiles to-day To-morrow will be dying. Then be not coy, but use your time, And while ye may go marry : For having lost but once your prime You may for ever tarry. A Red, Red Rose by Robert Burns My love is like a red, red rose ThatâÂÂs newly sprung in June : My love is like the melody ThatâÂÂs sweetly played in tune. As fair art thou, my bonnie lass, So deep in love am I : And I will love thee still, my dear, Till aâ the seas gang dry. Go, lovely Rose by Edmund Waller Go, lovely Rose-- Tell her that wastes her time and me, That now she knows, When I resemble her to thee, How sweet and fair she seems to be. Tell her thatâÂÂs young, And shuns to have her graces spied, That hadst thou sprung In deserts where no men abide, Thou must have uncommended died. Small is the worth Of beauty from the light retired: Bid her come forth, Suffer herself to be desired, And not blush so to be admired. Then die--that she The common fate of all things rare May read in thee; How small a part of time they share That are so wondrous sweet and fair! The Sick Rose by William Blake O Rose thou art sick. The invisible worm, That flies in the night In the howling storm: Has found out thy bed Of crimson joy: And his dark secret love Does thy life destroy. Yes, there is a strong tradition of literary roses that have been studied over and over and over. If we had room, I could give you rose-inspired poems dating back to the Middle Ages, but they are rather long, so perhaps you'll settle for the brief survey above--Herrick 17th century; Burns 19th cent; Waller 17th century; Blake 19th century. Kate : )

Ang, I think that's great. We were hoping that as people had time that they would feel free to contribute. With Christmas activities, winter vacations and kids' activities getting in the way there is bound to be others who will post later on also. If you wish to skip an assignment that is fine too. The assignments seem to be going over well and that is what Sierra and I wanted to happen. Let's make picture taking this winter challenging but lots of fun. Brenda

Well it looks like this it the finally list: TODAY'S UPDATE and FINAL LIST OF MEMBERS: 01. ncgardengirl-Fran***** 02. medontdo-Michele 03. markcase1964-Mark***** 04. lgslgs-Lynda 05. misskimmie-Kim 06. conniesc-Connie***** 07. heatherbon-Heather 08. dirtdiggin-Toni***** 09. gardeningbingo 10. grolikecrazy-Chris***** 11. douglasls-Lisa 12. beverlysc-Bev 13. aphroditelaughs-Ellie 14. sissifriss-Myriah***** 15. chellflower-Chell***** 16. mary_grether-Mary 17. poisondartfrog-Alana***** 18. grovespirit-Iris 19. lindaruzicka-Linda***** 20. angelady-Angela***** 21. dimples31312-Dorothy 22. strmywthr3-Barbi 23. smokymist-Cheryl***** 24. jas_il-Jasmine 25. kristlindgren-Kris 26. ishareflowers-Lisa***** 27. purpleacres-Tracy***** 28. countrygirl_sc-Gail 29. fleethart-Fleety 30. hmacdona-Heather***** 31. echinaceamaniac-Clint 32. lakedallasmary-Mary 33. diana_lynn-Diana Lynn 34. smitties 35. ashle999 36. yotetrapper***** 37. mcbdz-Pattie 38. graanieb-Bea 39. sassybutterfly_2008-Wendy***** 40. threeshyacres-Jodi***** 41. blue_ivy-Tola 42. ibartoo-Linda 43. jaleeisa-Kathy***** 44. molanic-Molanic 45. rane_grow-Iris 46.gardenmom2-Nichol 47. southerncharm1-Kathy SC1 48. kilngod-Tina***** 49. luvgardening2-Nancy***** 50. rbrady-Rhonda***** 51. dessieb-Dessie I will be emailing out my address shortly IF you do not have an email from me PLEASE make sure you email me for my address. Thanks so much I am sure we all are going to enjoy this swap. :) Fran

Hmm, I miss a day or two, I miss a LOT here, ladies! I've been running a lot, distracted, and just plain scatterbrained. Must be spring fever (at least, I'd rather blame that than a mid-life crisis, lol!). I have most of Debbya's box ready to go - I just want to do one more thing, then send it on its way. It's been fun learning about your names and their history. My first name has NOTHING to do with my family heritage - my parents just liked it. My middle name, Marie, is for my mother, Mary. My daughter's first name is Juliana, for the medieval Christian mystic Juliana of Norwich. Her middle name is Pearl, for my grandmother, who died years ago. Our son's name is Ian (Scottish for John - his grandfather, great uncle, and uncle-in-law are all John/Jon, and his father is Sean, the Irish form of John). His middle name is Joseph, for one of my favorite men in the Bible. Oh, how we debated about Ian's name! He's our first, and my mother was pestering us mightily about what names we were considering. So, we had an ugly name contest, and kept telling her all sorts of outrageous choices. Keep in mind, our last name is RUDD. So, Dudley Bud Rudd, Elmer Rudd, Evan Rudd (think Evinrude motors), Vladimir Rudd (just because), etc. etc. AND, we couldn't use any names that started with C or K, because that would make his abbreviated name C. Rudd. CRUD. That cancelled out all sorts of names we happened to like, for both kids, lol! My favorite outdoors tool is definitely bypass pruning shears. Indoors, I have to say that I really MISS my dustbuster. It recently croaked after years of faithful service, and NOW I realize just how much I used it to clean up after the kids, birds, and cats. LOLOL about the moon story! Our son stayed up late to watch part of the eclipse, and really thought it was cool. Laurel