I'm too far from Illinois but have hosted similar gatherings here in Oregon and been to several in Vancouver BC mostly people who have met on pond forums but we all garden too. It has been very very enjoyable to meet online friends in person. Go for it. :)

I will get my kids to draw names includeing mine. LOL I figure you can include your own artwork, plants, Bulbs, seeds, Birdhouses, non living critters great garden Books. LOL Is the deadline good or am I pushing for to soon? I figure fun before you have to get overwhelmed with all the family stuff. COME ON and you can include your name more than once if you want 2 partners, But make sure you can fill both boxes. Shipping gets higher all the time so we all want to make sure that it is worth it. If No one is up for this than maybe later. Happy Gardening Oh Ya include your favorite seed companies name in the box. A new seed source would be Fun for all of us to.

Wow, thanks everyone for your kind words. I find it so hard to be objective since it is our house, so I really appreciate the positive feedback. Graywings, we're in Cincinnati, OH, not South Dakota. It's a little too cold there for me, too! ;) xamsx, we've discussed taking the evergreen down many times. We'll defiinitely keep it under consideration if we feel we're not getting the showings we want. You mentioned backyard and this house actually doesn't have one. We're bordered on three sides by streets. The backside of our house has a three car garage and a parking pad large enough for three cars. The side yard is very nice, though, and that is what you see in the one shot. Unfortunately we're limited to 15 photos on the listing. Jane, we're on .5 acres, so a nice size lot for an urban neighborhood. deanie1, we've considered rugs many times in the 5 years we've been here for the rooms you mentioned. I personally have decided I don't like rugs under dining tables, but i agree for showing it would be nice to have one. The problem is both those rooms are 19x16, so it's not like we can just go by an 8x10 rug to fill the space. If you have an idea where we could find an inexpensive 12x15 or so rug, let me know! Thanks again everyone! We had our first showing today, keepng fingers crossed that more will follow! cintijen

Exactly where I purchased mine. Perfect recommendation!