I'm so glad some of you remember a lot of the things I do. Some of my most cherished memories are when my playmate two doors down (Ellen) and the girl our age (Mary) across the alley would play in a little lean-to playhouse built against the north side of Ellen's garage. They had a huge wooden sandbox. People don't like the tracking and what it takes to fill and maintain sandboxes, but I've got to tell you it was heaven on earth. The sandbox was under a slightly larger pergola. Over the pergola grew Concord grapes. How beautiful it was under the shade of the leaves and when the grapes hung down as we played in that sandbox. Sadly, Ellen whose parents had the sandbox died from cancer a few years back; we had been separated for years as she taught school and moved to Michigan. The other girl, we parted ways after kindergarten, and she went to the Catholic school. We made new friends and lost touch with one another. A few years ago I found her how? The internet but somebody must have given me some clue, didn't even know what her current married name was. I met her when I was 3. She lives in NC and is such a lovely person. I cannot remember the last time I saw her, before I was 10. We correspond regularly and share these precious memories. Right now I have heard that her husband is facing a terrible ordeal with cancer and his pacemaker; her health sounds good. Tears flowed from my eyes when I read that, and I need to answer soon. I didn't have a video camera, but one beautiful fall day, I walked the old neighborhood with my wide angle lens, walked up the middle of my street and back (there were low hills on both ends of that two-block long street), walked back down then around and up the alley we shared, then around and down her street, clicking all the way. I put the photos on a cd and sent them to her. She was so grateful for them. I'd never met her sister who was older and away by the time I met her, but she sent those photos to her sister, too. I'm so glad I did that. This is the same street from about the exact same spot and one of my photos from that day. The older one I took with my brownie Kodak when I was about 8. The second one was Oct 2005. My house was the one on the right that is yellow now (hard to tell the color) with a red roof and the white rails. Ellen's house was the first one on the right you can see, a grey house with red trim and grey roof. There was a small one in between that isn't visible. I presently live about 1/2 mile from there. The oddest thing is that apart from the cars, trees and a few cosmetic changes to the houses, it has changed very little. 55 years then and now.

My name is Margaret...I'm not NEW to the forum because I'm always lurking and reading the post which I enjoy so much.(especially the brug girls..Karyn and Chena :) I was introduced to brugs about four yrs ago when a dear man sent me five cuttings of a most beautiful white one. Since that time, I've been blessed by you kind and generous brug lovers with a few more cuttings. I'm obsessed and overwhelmed most of the time because I LOVE PLANTS! I must figure out a plan because I will soon run out of space for my brugs. Margaret

Anj, It's not really bad. Where we live, there are things but some things you just have to drive further to get to! LOL Like we actually live on a pretty busy road and at the end of it, two miles from our house is a convenience store and gas station. The schools are right beside it and we have a pizza shop. Then you drive another mile and we have Dollar General! I was THRILLED when they put that there! A bit further down the road into town and you have two banks, two convenience stores, two gas stations, the hardware (Ace), a small town store, a bar...no red light! LOL We also live only 3 miles from an exit on I-80, so we have a McDonald's, Subway, two truck stops, a hotel..lol. The next closest town, Bellefonte, is a Victorian town and it's a bit larger. There we have the grocery store, another DG, small local stores, restraunts, doctor's offices, etc. Now if we want Wal-mart and Lowe's and the bigger stores and restraunts, we have to travel 15 miles to State College. Then we virtually have anything we want! LOL I have ALWAYS lived in this area. I love it here and don't really even like to go away on vacation! LOL It doesn't bother me all that much. I think it's better to have to drive to get places so I'm not always at the stores and stuff. I have been a SAHM for the last 8 years and most weeks I haven't ventured out of the house at all until the weekend and it's okay with me! I'm trying to work on outdoor stuff since it's nice now. We got more mulch and mulched a few new beds that we started last year on Saturday. Yesterday I dug grass out of an area that I wanted to use to expand my one flower bed along the shed and I hung up a few things that I had been collecting. I just need to get the plants in the ground (I'm dividing a few things that I already have). I would have finished last night but we decided to load up the four wheeler and head off to camp for some family time. I needed a break anyway!

Congratulations to Cryptid for the poetry contest!! Thanks to everyone who took the time to vote. Darrin, please pick 10 packs from my trade list and email me your choices. For our two runners up, gardener365 and blossombrigade, please pick 3 packs from my trade list and email me your choices. Thanks to everyone who participated! Holy Cow! Wow! I actually won?! What a great day this day has been,...I even found a quarter on the ground when Elly & I were out grocery shopping! Thank you so very much, everyone! This is definitely a first for me regarding GardenWeb themed swaps. But more importantly, as did Erica, I totally likewise thank my fellow participants for their excellent entries as well! - Again,...Wow!