According to GW records, I joined in March 2001. Shortly after that I placed my first post, looking to trade for white butterfly ginger. Margaret replied, said "no trade necessary, just send me some postage and I'll fill a box with gingers for you". Being new to the board, wanting to impress, (and a bit naive), I sent her $10.00 in postage, expecting a few rhizomes in return. What I received was a massive box filled with some of the most exciting things a new gardener could ever expect. Margaret went out of her way to make sure I was satisfied, even placing the unused postage in the box. That set the bar for me as far as trading/exchanges go, and I've always tried to match or exceed Margaret's standard. "Thank You!" Margaret ("Nigella") for making such a "first impression", for setting my standard when trading, and for that first box of goodies that still stands out in my mind and excites me! You remain one of the best, and I will never forget you or your generosity...promise! Much peace, love and appreciation. Your friend in the garden, Nelson P.S. - is Margaret's friend Jenny(?) still around? Would love to hear from her. She attended one of the first Central Alabama Plant Swaps all the way from Mobile to B'ham and brought a "fortune" of plants that several of us still enjoy growing today! We haven't forgotten her, either.

Kylie, Guitar Hero is soooo addictive and fun! KILLS your fingers though..people's pinkies were NOT meant to move that way, lol. I don't think a person could play that stoned, lmao..I know I couldn't..I wouldnt hit one note! Well, I ALMost beat it on Medium now..I just can't win the battle with Lou..last one and I am done on Medium level. The final battle song is 'the devil went down to georgia' I let my son try so I could give my fingers a rest, and of course he beat it, lol. I'll try again tonight. lmao Annette, I swear you are the busiest woman ever! Nice to see you! Hey, how is 'hell' looking? Did you guys get it all fixed up? Can't possibly be as bad any more..can it? lol. I'm not gonna touch the 'hoe' comment, lmao! Ryan, thats how my son has always been too. He got his first system at 2, and it was like 2nd nature to him right off the bat. Thats good they dont let him play it whenever he wants, it can be so addictive. My youngest daughter who is 5 is the same way, man can she talk some crap! I hope she doesnt do that to other kids when she starts kindergarten, lol. O Kristy thank you!!! Let me know how much to send you, or how you wanna do this..a trade..me send you the $ or what. Shoot me an email & we shall talk :) Thank you so much!!! yay!!! (((hugs))) Take your time, and whenever you are ready you can send it. Mary..at least the crazy ones give you some excitement though right? lol! Looks like I just missed you! I finished waiting at 2 to see if anyone would get back..then I went and played some more, lol. I got lotsa yellow snow here too..snow isn't just for kids! Glad Rob had some fun in it too! Actually Mary, I didnt get to sleep until 11 last night. I did NOT want to wake up this morn..was hoping the schools had a delayed opening, but they didnt. Would have been nice to take a nap yesterday. I was a walking zombie..like night of the living dead, lol. I never even shoveled! Hope I dont get a ticket for it. Siam, thanks..crappy snow is still here..temp is only supposed to reach 27 today..warm up for the weekend though. Man I cant wait for days in the 70's!!!! Lenette, I have Guitar Hero III..do you know if the first two easier or do they just have dif songs? I have to figure out how to download songs onto it..I saw there was a place for that in the game. You play with your daughter? My son and I play together..we named our band 'Bad Bob', lol I dont know why..

Hate to see no one has answered this request. The only place I can think of off hand is Woodlanders in Aiken. If you got the Garden Watchdog on google you can do a search by state also. I would consider making some trips to get stuff once a year. Because of economies of scale you tend to find the best selection outside of big cities so traveling a little can greatly expand what's available to you. I do it all the time, going as far as Northern Virginia. Our nurseries in NC are pretty good, especially in the RTP area. I am sure Charlotte and Atlanta have good ones too. And of course there's always mail order but I can order the reluctance to start with small plants in quart size pots. Good luck. RJ

I have never had a subscription to a cooking magazine - the only subscription I did have was to Illuminatrice, an Italian lighting magazine, and that was at work. The only magazines that I buy at the newsstand are Italian design magazines, some of which are quite expensive (I used to buy men's Italian fashion magazines, when I was more fashionable), and I have saved every one of them. I also buy Architectural Digest, Interiors, Veranda, etc. when they publish photos of my furniture designs, and I keep these also. My old magazine collection takes up one shelf in my garage, and I do refer to the Italian magazines from time to time for inspiration. I do collect clutter, but books and magazines are not part of that. I have one shelf of cookbooks in the hall next to the kitchen. I once bought a magazine on Feng Shui, but I decided that the magazine was clutter and got rid of it. I spent last week-end trying to declutter my bedroom because I also bought a new mattress that will be delivered tomorrow, and I want my room to look nice. Yesterday I made a runner with the fabric left over from making new drapes for my bedroom (to be able to block out light) and put it on the wide dresser beside my bed. The dresser on the other side of my bed has a runner I made from fabric left over from when I made my bedspread. I find that decorating or trying to coordinate rooms helps me get rid of clutter. However, I did put a bunch of books on the wide dresser using bookends. I don't have room for another bookcase. If I need to get more books, I will get rid of old ones that I have. Lately I have been buying and reading books on Anthropology and early human evolution. I read them at night to help me get to sleep, and so it takes a while to get through them. I cannot stand to watch Hoarders, but I will watch Clean House if I need inspiration to declutter. Making my house and yards look as beautiful as possible is one of my top priorities, and this helps me let go of clutter. I haven't gotten rid of it altogether, however, and so I think it is an on-going process. I have a hard time getting rid of old clothes that no longer fit, and I am convinced that sometime in the near future, they will fit again. Anyway, that is my goal. They may be terribly out of style or inappropriate by that time, however. Getting rid of old clothes is my biggest problem. One of the things I came across yesterday while decluttering was a printout from a Cooking Forum thread from 2005 that I started asking what was in everyone's freezer. It included a post by Ann_T on pitahaya (I happened to have some in my freezer at the time) that she had copied and pasted, bad Google translation and all. The translation was hysterically funny. Lars