Hi Flattie. We are in the foothills of the Southern Alps.Our climate is classed as sub-mediterranean.The snow we got recently is the result of moist air moving in from the south (the Med.) and cooling down as it progresses northwards.Sometimes a cold front is situated just inland from the sea,resulting in several feet of snow (in zone 8 or even 9)whilst we get nothing.At other times it may be further north,wich gives the higher Alps snow whilst we get rain. If you're looking forward to a snowy winter,I suspect you're having to deal with drought most of the time ? I only know N.Mexico from my Cactus-seed suppliers in Belen.They are called Mesa Garden.They have a good range of winter-hardy Agaves,Yuccas,Cacti and so on. Darren,I posted a picture of a dual scale thermometre on november 5th.('Prize for the winner')Look it up in the back-pages and make a print-out of it.Ever so handy! Resin,what kind of conifer were you tracking down in such a place?Looks like the North Pole to me... T.

Hi all, I was hoping to get the swap pictures downloaded so I could post them before I leave on my vacation tomorrow---but it's just not gonna happen! It's bedtime, and I'm still not ready to go! I haven't even had time to look at them myself yet! Jennifer, I know I got your behind in one of them, but don't worry, I'll crop it before I post it!! I'll post them when I get back, probably toward the end of the week by the time I find time to download them, so watch for a separate swap pictures post late next week. Meteor, I'm sorry you weren't able to make it. Hope you're starting to feel better by now. We'll be looking for you at next year's swaps, even if you wind up temporarily without a garden. Maybe even more so if that happens, so you can at least get a gardening talk fix if you can't be doing the actual gardening! And Azura, I'm so sorry you couldn't come too. I hope things start looking up for you soon. It's no fun to be out of commission--as I well know. Keep thinking spring swap--we'll all be looking for you there. Hope to see you there too, Billie! :-) Gotta go for now! I'm heading back out into the WILD! Skybird

Two sets is the max, but you may get some of your fabrics back if we don't have a lot of swappers. The swaps on this forum have usually had good participation, but not lately in my FQ and Nickel swaps. If you want to see our fabric swaps continue, please consider participating. Thanks! Teresa

Well, so much for organization taking over my life .... When I first signed up for this swap, I pulled my fabrics, went ahead and got them ready to send, then put them in a safe place for sending when the time got near. So much for that! The hiding place is so safe that I haven't found them yet, and now the mailing deadline has passed. Well, that's what I get for trying to get organized out of some semblance of order that would make sense to me... Hopefully everyone who was able to get theirs in the mail enjoys the fabrics they get back. I'll get it together next time! Odessa