I can hardly wait! Yeah! I'll be bringing Laura, my daughter-in-law, she's a "newbie" and has her first garden to fill. Needs most anything to get started. I've already given her some of my oldie blue/green Hosta. But if anyone wants to trade for starts of these...I will dig this month. I have a fairly large patch I need to move out of a sunny area. Elaine

nami - I have over 20 roses in the ground so I won't list them here. Besides, you can meet them at the swap! Some aren't big enough to take cuttings from yet and some I need to see bloom to be sure of who they are. I had a little "pot ghetto" confusion and lost tags! Ha-Ha! Almost everyone has blooms or buds now and I am giving them daily pep talks to look their best next Saturday. Kate- Depending on how hard I work at it, I usually get about a 50% success rate on rooting roses. It also seems to depend on the rose itself, some roses just root easier than others. It is fun to try tho. I do have a few that are rooted that will be looking for homes at the swap. Susan

General thoughts: I agree with the poster who commented that lights ought to blend into your overall design -- they should enhance your overall look rather than jumping out at you. I vote for "standout fixtures" in the places where they'll really show (probably the dining room table and the kitchen island) and moderate fixtures where other things will distract from them anyway (like bedrooms and hallways). I personally would match metals. Right now the trend is eclectic, but that won't always be true. I think matching is especially important in a small room -- like a bathroom -- but less important in a great room. If you want to go with something trendy -- like the birdcages or industrial-looking light fixtures that seem to be popping up everywhere -- they are something that can easily be changed out in the future. But if I were buying something trendy, I'd look for an inexpensive knock-off, knowing that it's going to look dated sooner rather than later. I wouldn't worry too much about lights in hallways, etc. -- those are small details that seem important at the moment, but really aren't going to be noticed in daily use. I absolutely want low, background lighting in a number of places: I want a rope light above the crown molding in my dining area ceiling. I want rope lighting under the edge of the bathroom vanity so we don't have to turn on lights in the middle of the night. And I like dimmer switches for the major light fixtures. This is a small thing, but it's a goal of mine: I'm trying to avoid specialty light bulbs. In my house right now -- in addition to plain light bulbs, of course -- I have big, fat bulbs over my breakfast table and bar, candle-looking light bulbs over my dining room table, small round bulbs in the overheads in my office, and "Hollywood" bulbs over my sink. The upshot is that I have to keep a variety of sizes of bulbs on hand! Admittedly, with the new, long-lasting bulbs, this isn't the headache that it was a few years ago, but I figure that if I choose better for our next house, I can have only ONE TYPE of bulb that'll work everywhere. Yes, I've already bought the dining room chandelier, and it has "upturned" globes that hold . . . standard bulbs! Another of my goals: Though every room needs an overhead light, I want to minimize the number. For example, I am putting a wall sconce at the top and bottom of the staircase instead of an overhead pendant that I can't reach -- even with a ladder. As people go higher and higher with ceilings, it's important to think about how you're going to change those light bulbs! Admittedly, I'm not quite 5' tall, so this is maybe more important to me than it is to other people.

the names should go out after June 6th when sign ups close. This is pending a funeral that I will need to be a sitter for, out of town. But poor Victor has not yet passed so plans are still up in the air. The doctor said he would last maybe 12 minutes after being removed from everything yesterday at 2, 26 hours later, he is still with us... so, am asking for patience with all that. You will be asked to mail your swap to your partner by July 1st. If for some reason you NEED your swap partner before next weekend, let me know and I'll get it to you. Let's keep them a secret until they get the package too! Thanks Ladies, suellen, did that answer your questions?? Lisa