I cant wait to see what birdy has for me :o)
Thanks so much for organizing this Marly.
Laura

Hi Everyone,

The parcel arrived here yesterday and I mailed it off to Alberta this morning.

A suggestion: Marly has provided a tiny box and I was shocked to see what it cost to post it ($9 just to Alberta from BC). I mailed it but in discussions with the post office clerk it seems it would be MUCH cheaper to use a large padded envelope. Dotcom may wish to transfer the lot into a large padded envelope before it continues on the journey.

Merry Christmas!!

Westcoastgarden

Marly,

Did you send the e-mails with the instructions? Just wondering because I didn't get anything. Could you please try again when you get a minute? So looking forward to this Robin coming east!!

Thanks, Nicole.

Westcoastgarden! I am SOOOOO sorry about the cost of postage! After I sent it off to you at that steep postage price I thought that maybe I should have sent it in a padded envelope as well ... or rather instead. I'm going to send you a private email about that postage problem. Check your inbox, ok?

I second your suggestion to Dotcom to put the contents of the box into a padded envelope. I do think it will be a LOT cheaper. Gosh, we live and learn don't we... ME - often by the school of hard knocks! :(

Tiffy, no I didn't send out that email yet. I have been going crazy with pain problems in back and right arm. I will send along a copy of the letter I sent in the package rather than compose a new one.

Hope everyone manages to get through this RR without any further mishaps. If I ever do another one, hopefully I will have learned all the lessons through this trial run.

Buddyfly

Marly,

I got your email and I will change over to an envelope when the robin lands here. I am looking forward to swapping seeds!

Thanks - Susan

Just to keep everyone updated - the robin will be taking a short Christmas break. I did not receive the package today and I will be out of town over the weekend and won't be back to check the mail until Tuesday or Wednesday. I will send the birdie on it's way as soon as I return.

Merry Christmas,
Susan

Happy New Year everyone! I'm sorry to hold up the robin but it has been a hectic holiday season.

I have switched over to a large padded envelope which should reduce the postage if we can keep it to size. Here is the info I got from the Canada Post website:

Maximum size - Length 380 mm, Width 270 mm, Thickness 20 mm

The only challenge will be the thickness but if we spread the seeds out when we send the envelope we should be okay.

The postage cost for an oversize envelope are:

- up to 100 g $1.00
- 100 to 200 g $1.70
- 200 to 500 g $2.45

I don't have a very accurate scale but I think we are currently about 100 g so I will add $1.70 and the robin will be flying off to Crazy_Gardener on Tuesday.

Sorry for the delay and best wishes for 2006!
Susan

Susan, thanks for doing all that investigating! No problem about the delay... I sorta figured that there would be a delay over the holidays due to the increased mail load in the postal system and the days extra that they would be off work. Glad to hear Robin is alive and well... albeit slimmed down a bit into a flat envelope now! lol

Marly

Oh good, I'll be looking for it ;)

So how are we doing with Robin??? Where is she right about now?

Worried Momma Marly wants to know! lol

Momma Marly

Momma M - I mailed your baby late Tuesday afternoon so I don't imagine it left my local post office until Wednesday. Sharon had not received it on Friday, so maybe today.

Susan

Hi everyone, here's an update.

I did received the Robin in the mail today. Give me a day or two and I'll send it out to the 4th person on the list which is Keiaraa in Ontario.

Sharon
aka Crazy_Gardener

I received the package today and will send it on its way tonight .. enjoy!! Its on its way to spea.

Laura

Laura, glad to hear an update where the Robin is....I was getting worried that I was the last person who had the package.

It would be courteous if everyone could post here when they get the package in or off so to let everyone know whats happening ;)

The Robin flew into the Niagara region today and has spent the night resting here. I have fed her- hopefully not too much but she is considerably plumper and she will be leaving the area tomorrow. I hope she has good flying weather...cin

Thanks Cin!

I am looking forward to this as I haven't done too much trading this year.

And in regards to the weather... We might be snowed in tomorrow as we are in the middle of a whopping nor'easter right now. Can't even see the neighbour's place.

Thanks again for posting!

Hi Marly!!

That puffy Robyn flew in to Nova Scotia and landed at my home today. I was ready for it, and have fed it well this evening, and it will be off to Wendy's place tomorrow morning!

Have fun with all the goodies you two!

Nicole.

Can't wait! This will be a great test of our postal service!

Wendy,

I ran into a problem today. When at the post office, they said it would cost 8 to 10 dollars!!! This is an actual Canada Post outlet, and I questioned them on it. The guy tried to put it through his 2 cm slot (not much of an effort, mind you) and it wouldn't go.

So I'm going to try a retail postal outlet tomorrow and see if they will sneak it in for the lesser price which Susan mentioned above. I will go to an outlet where a friend works and check it out there.

Either way, it will be in the post tomorrow, Thursday.

Nicole.

I think that the Robin is getting a little overweight, don't we all in the winter. A bit of advice- when packing up the envelope, spread the seed envelopes around as flat as possible. Tape them in place if necessary. Or just go to a larger envelope. Larger does not cost more, it's how fat the envelope is. They go by size and weight. A larger, thinner envelope is cheaper to send then a smaller thicker one....hope this helps. cin

I've had good luck with the padded envelopes from the dollar store. They are a 'tich' smaller than the standard (that they sell at postal outlets..go figure) and they always elicit surprise at the counter when they easlily slide throught the "test template thingy" to determine size.
I'm expecting seeds from Patrick any day now,(pant, pant) so I can wait for "Robin to come bobbin' along" a bit longer. Thanks for all the effort, Nicole!

Wendy

Awww, poor Tiffy, she's got an overweight Robin on her hands. I agree about spreading the seed packets evenly throughout the envelope. Perhaps you can tape them onto a piece of paper. Or.... maybe you could divide it up into two envelopes. Even x 2, it will be cheaper than that $8 to $10 price. I know I really winced when I paid that price with the original box.

I hope everyone has been getting lots of goodies along the route!

Marly

Well, the fat Robin took flight on Thursday!! DH hogged the computer on Thursday night, and yesterday the internet wasn't working here, so this is the first chance I've had to let you know "Fear not, it's on it's way!". LOL!!

Let us know when you get it Wendy!

Nicole.

Oh boy, Robin is only one stop away from home now! Can't wait!

Enjoy the 'pickins' Wendy!

Marly

Holy Moly! You guys got some 'splainin to do! Talk about a stuffed bird! Anyhoo..I'll be pickin, grinnin, and adding. Marly...you will need at least 100 more containers for w/s once this gets back to you! Hope to get it on it's way this afternoon.

The dude at the postal outlet wanted to charge 7.95 to send the envelope on. I protested that it came to me with only 1.95 on it! He kind of "massaged" it (eeew) and it fit through the template, so I got away with the lower postage. This has been great fun! Cheers to everyone who participated, and especially to Marly for hatching the egg!

Have fun with all the goodies Marly!

Thanks for organizing it. It was my first RR and I truly enjoyed. Some of the seeds are already winter sowed, and more will be going out this weeked.

Thanks again!!

Oh man! You guys were feeding dat Robin a little too much for her waistline! lol

Robin landed here yesterday morning just as I was leaving for work. I managed to delay leaving long enough to rip open the package and stare at all the goodies!

This was a LOT of fun and I sure learned a lot. I may do another RR some day but will have to make some changes to accommodate what I've learned.

Thank you all for participating!! This RR took exactly 8 weeks to travel from coast to coast. You all should take a bow for keeping things speeding along. I now will get my Winter Sowing started - I was waiting for this package before I start my planting. I have to do a LOT of research about some of these seeds... never heard of some of them before. I am SO excited about getting the Kiss-Me-Over-the-Garden-Gate! I have been wanting that plant! and some of the fragrant goodies that came along... someone of you must have known I have a fragrance weakness! lol Only six of my contributed seeds came back to me. I believe I put something like 20 in the original box. So I am glad you all took a little bit from me.

I'll be emailing some of you with questions about these seeds.

I am also in the throws of transferring all my files and bookmarked sites onto a brand new computer! So I am surprised I am able to get in here right now to post this! lol I had to look for my passwords for all the sites too! Good grief! Upgrading is exciting but a pain at the same time!

Now let's all get growing!

Hugs from the Momma Robin!

Marly

Well done, Marly, well done!!