Thanks, Abby! And to think that we bought that little rose from a sale table at Lowe's, I think it was... you just never know where the next garden "treasure" will come from! Who knew that this little red rose would grow up to be such a beauty?! And every year, it gains a little size, and blooms a little more! This is why I love the minis so much!

That him! The one in the first in the first photo! I am definitely on the hunt for his twin. Wonder if HG might get him again this year? Probably not, I imagine the company does different designs each year. Sooner or later he will make his way to eBay, everything does. LOL. Luvs, luckily my new Santa will be too big to put away in places I'll misremember (my new word for the day. LOL). He has no choice but to stand with the others on the Santa shelf after Christmas. Thank goodness for that. This year I'm following Santa's rule..."making a list and checking it twice". No wait, I'll make a lot of lists and check them 3 or 4 times. hugs, Karen

This is a very light hearted FAQ! Many of the Winter Sowers have made comments about their "compulsion" or "addiction" to the method, lol! (If you're new to computers LOL means "laugh out loud".) I'll paste in some of their quotes, but I'll leave them anonymous. Enjoy! Trudi "Don't forget, Trudi, to add in small print or as a footnote (they'll find out quickly enough) the warning: it is addictive!" "It's a fact we really are all addicted." "Obsessed? Who's obsessed? Just because I have about 90 containers sitting outside just waiting to germinate, does that mean I'm obsessed? Hey, I could have worse addictions!" "Here are a few questions .... Are you getting jittery when you see empty soda or juice bottles? Are you starting to "eye-up" the neighbor's recycles? Are you running silly errands to the local home store and finding yourself hanging around the seed aisle? Are the seed displays at the supermarket becoming tempting? Are you in pursuit of a seed that you know you'll never find in NJ just for the thrill of it? If you answered "yes" to any of the above, I think you're hooked - and you're right, you could be addicted to something worse (or more expensive :-) You're not alone .... I'm finding it hard to resist (bad case of spring fever.)" "I know you are going to love it here. It gets addicting." "....once your babies start to take off this spring you may find a serious addiction has been created! At the very least, it is a calming hobby so enjoy." "I'm the original WS addict, and I've gotten you all hooked too, lol....is there no end? Maybe a few years down the road we'll have Winter Sowers Anonymous (they'll not even let us buy potting soil...oh, how awful and sad a thought...sob.)" "I can't stop......I won't stop." "This forum is like talking to a bunch of enablers while you're trying to beat an addiction." " this is not "like an addiction"......this is the real thing!! I really have a very difficult time stopping myself from buying more seeds......I don't have a clue where they're all going!! I just can't resist them!! On the other hand, if this is my worst addiction.....I can deal with it!! " "Some of my neighbors actually think I've lost it or something. It wasn't all that bad back in Feb. when I had just a few foil pans and a couple of Pepsi bottles on my side deck, but since I ventured into creative containering to deal with my WS addiction, I was forced to expand the space utilized on my deck and yeah, my neighbors noticed since I now have containers everywhere on my wrap around deck." "That leap of faith is addictive." "Guess I shouldn't sneak onto the site while at work.. hehehe..but I'm sooo addicted I just can't stand not to look each day." "It's madness, I tell you, I just can't stop." "How I rationalize this addiction....if I bought a plant of each, it would have cost me more than $16. I would never have the fun of watching the seeds sprout, watching them grow into seedlings, and then into blooming plants." "One word of caution.... this can become an obsessive hobby!" "I can feel the beginnings of an addiction coming on"....you have no idea, your life will never be the same. (It will be MUCH better.) "I haven't gotten this excited over empty containers since my mom got a new washer when I was 10!! WS'n is a lesson in regression!! What fun!" You know you're addicted when you first scan the menu at fast food places for what you can winter sow in, not what you want to eat. Heheheh.....am I right?

Even before computers were invented, I've always been an "information junkie." I worked in libraries and historical societies most of my life and had to be good at gathering information. My parents were the same, so with me, it is genetic. I can recall when the internet first came up, I literally spent hours and hours browsing upon topic of interest, printing out words to my favorite songs, reseaching my family history, printing out art works, etc. Now, I spend at least 2 hours per day on various chatrooms, forums and keep in touch with friends via Facebook and e-mail, far and wide. It's way too much time spent just sitting but I don't know how to break the addiction to collecting information and passing it on. I do not have an I-Pod, Cell Phone, Kindle, Blackberry, etc. and I do not play games, thankfully.