I agree, 100%! We need manature back here.

Me too, me too!!!!!!
I need bird info, new pics of the puppy, and any words of gardening wisdom she has to share.
"sigh"

I'll second that! I miss her wisdom, wit and funny (stage directions) Ha! To me she was the "hub" of our forum.
Whaaaaaa!
Kat

Where did she go? Did I miss something over Thanksgiving?
Well I hope she's just out of town and will return soon.

Denise

I've been thinking about Marcia and Felix too and am sorry they are not posting anymore.

Two wonderful characters missing from this forum. The place just isn't the same at all. It's like some of the sparkle and light has left this place.

I do hope we will seem them again in here soon.

If they are posting elsewhere I would love to go where they are.

FlowerLady

Marcia and Felix! Please do come back!

O.K. tell...where did they go? I think I missed something too. I hope they are o.k.

So many have been lost over the years, and good people.

I was wondering about that too. There are a lot of "old timers" that are no longer posting and I miss them. This Forum isn't the same without them.

Regina

We've had a thread about this before, I believe.

Though I am more of a "lurker" than a "poster" here, I,too, am missing manature [Marcia] and countrynest [Felix] and a few others who are noticeably absent. They added sun to my day to say nothing of their invaluable knowledge. But, in some cases, I suspect or realize why they no longer post here.

Marcia and Felix, if you are out there, take care and feel free to e mail me if you want!

nova aka Susan

I miss Marica too. I'm wonder if solstice98 (Kate) might know where she is. So where is Kate? hmm seems we have a mystery here! Three webbers missing!

Felix was insulted and hurt deeply. Marcia did not like the rudeness and hurtful things that were being said. I don't blame them at all for stepping out of this forum.

To stand by and act like nothing has happened is a real shame. Good people go, trouble makers stay.

What goes around comes around. We all reap what we sow.

This really was a nice, friendly, homey place to visit. Hopefully it will become that again.

FlowerLady

We lost more also, Jan was treated badly, barbcoleus also.
We used to have a nice group. It is a shame we have lost these core GW'ers. It has totally changed the atmosphere here. Haven't seen WRF posting either.

How can it be that all of us who love and pamper plants and pets and wildlife can be unkind to members, especially those who enlighten, entertain and educate us? (Marcia, Feix, Jan, un-named others.)

The New Year is approaching. But it's not to late for 2008. I feel corny reminding peeps on this forum to remember the Golden Rule.

For those members unfamiliar with "The Golden Rule", please google it or e-mail me, I'll provide reading resources.

Miss ya Felix, Jan and Marcia, c'mon back!

xo
Marilyn

An ode to Marcia for her help in id-ing those slippery critters that can surprise you when working in the garden:

A gardener named Marcia is awesome;
Her knowledge of snakes is so fulsome;
But now that she's left;
We're all bereft;
'Cause we can't tell a snake from a possum.

Dear, Dear Friends...you are all so sweet to say you miss me, and I appreciate the kind words very much. A lovely lady alerted me to this post, and I felt it only fair to respond.

Just so you all know, I am FINE. I'm not mad, nor off in a corner sulking, nor anything like that. I'll admit, I was truly stressed out at the seemingly large number of angry or hurtful posts that had come through the group in a relatively short time. Compared to many groups out there, it wasn't really THAT bad, but compared to the normal pace of things around here, it seemed extreme. And I was definitely hurt when a member of this group told Felix to go back to Cuba for having a differing opinion from hers. Felix is my very good friend, and that hurt me as well as him. So I decided it was time for me to take a break, is all.

My plan was to stay away from the forum until after the holidays. Many of you know, I go sort of crazy (even more so than usual) at Christmas, putting out over 300 Santas and two trees, and lots of other stuff. So I figured I had enough to do to keep me busy, and planned to check back in after the first of the year. I would have posted this to let you know, but I was afraid it would start another unhappy thread, or unleash another round of angry private emails to me. Not being in the mood to handle either of those things, I just stopped dropping by.

Please forgive me for abandoning you guys to the mercies of unidentified leg-impaired garden visitors...and forcing you to write funny poems in defense. (HINT: When in doubt, count the legs...possums have four, birds, two, and snakes zero!) Good one, billbrandi!

I'm pretty sure I will be back in a couple of weeks. In the meantime, if the above hint doesn't help, and anyone has a snake or bird ID they need assistance with, please feel free to email me privately. I will always try to help when I can.

Once again, thanks so much for missing me. Your kind words have made my day! I will test the waters again soon, and if all is quiet on the southern front, I'll be back to play again another day.

Many of you have become especially dear to me, and I have missed you, too!

Have a happy holiday!

Marcia (and btw, my garden is mess right now, but we HAVE emptied out the pot ghetto, split all the logs from the downed oak tree & stacked them on the new log rack, and started cleaning and mulching beds)

(((((Marcia))))) Welcome back. It is so good to see another one of your bright, cheery posts. Now we can all breathe a sigh of relief about you. Enjoy your Christmas holidays and I look forward to reading all about your life when you come back after the holidays.

Hopefully, Felix, Jan, Barbcoleus and others will come back also, as this place certainly isn't the same with out them.

Hugs ~ FlowerLady

Hi Marcia! I hope Felix and everyone else come back as well. I didn't know exactly what happened, but I cannot believe someone said that to him! Hatred has no place on this board.

What we have to do is to learn that once that "submit" button is pushed, there is no going back. I have probably been guilty myself, but nothing as bad as that!

Come back and show us pics of all your Christmas decorations.

*deep breath, here* (Just when I thought it was getting safe to think about posting again.)

Junkyardgirl, I do not want to see any more arguing on the forum, so I have written you privately, since you seem to have forgotten that you ARE the one to say those things to Felix. Feel free to respond to me privately, as well, but let's not go down that road again on the forum. I know nobody is in the mood for that.

Marcia

"I'm wonder if solstice98 (Kate) might know where she is. So where is Kate? hmm seems we have a mystery here!"

I haven't left! I'm here, reading posts everyday and posting fairly often. And yes, I did know where most of our people had gone. I appreciate it so much that we miss one another when we leave. Most of you will recall I started a post not long ago about civility and hostility, trying to heal some of the recent wounds. For some it worked, but some others still need some time away. That's fine and I'm confident they will be back soon. Two years ago when my mother passed away I was gone from the forum for several months; during that time I received many emails from this group and it always made me feel so good. I thought it might be hard to come back but within days I felt like I had never been gone. I'm sure it will be the same for our current missing members. I would hate to think that a few rude or thoughtless comments, no matter how hurtful, would permanently keep anyone away from the rest of you delightful people! Seems to me the best revenge is to stay on the forum and not be driven away!

Kate

Hi Marcia,

Welcome Back!! We all really missed you...So glad to have you back. What would we do without your kind help and advise! And of course your great posts... :o)

Now that Marcia is back on the forum,
We'll all use better decorum,
No more taunting or tugs,
And especially no slugs,
Except for those snakes, I abhor 'em.

(Not really, there is a beautiful black racer who reigns over my front planter)

Oh my. I've been away for several months and checked in to see what my old 'buds' were up to here. I think we all need to sing a few rounds of Kumbaya. I love Felix. I met him about a year ago when I invited myself to visit him. I met Marcia at Susan's (nova) plant swap. She's been helping me identify birds for a few years and it was such fun to finally meet her.

It's so easy to get hurt feelings (really really hurt feelings) on the internet because people act like they do in cars - if you can't see me, I can be as mean or ugly as I want. Whatever floats your boat I guess, but really, think about it - why be ugly to someone you've never even met? Cyberspace is so bizarre. I'm old. I remember when you had to make friends in person and dress nice and be polite.

Since I'm here anyway, I'll post a few pictures.

Here's my little bichon frise Iris playing nice with her new mutt-puppy-brother Howie:

Those are happy pictures. Something we need.

Thanks for sharing.

FlowerLady

I was gone for a while (things got busy for me) so I didn't know there was any unfriendliness going on. I always looked for Marcia's posts cuz she grows roses here too. :-]

Yeah, well me too.

I decided it was time to take a break after the last drama event a couple of weeks ago.

Now I sit down, and there's another drama event going on.

I swear, until I joined GW, I never realized there was so much drama in gardening.
Someone needs to get out of the house, get off the computer, go plant or rake something...
....is it this way every winter?

I told you guys it's my fault. Every time I join some forum - about anything - it turns into some kind of drama event.

It' very, very good knowing that you'll be back in the 'hood, Ms. Marcia.

Awesome posts, everbody who contributed! Especially the limerics and cutie pie puppy pictures!

Toodles,
m

Thanks to those of you who have let me know, both here and via private emails, that I've been missed. I appreciate it, and I've been trying to ease back into posting here or there a little bit, when I have time. I decided that just because there are some weeds in my flower beds doesn't mean I have to give up on the entire garden, so I figured I'd just forge ahead bit by bit and ignore any unpleasantness that might pop up. But I swear, sometimes you are dealing with more than weeds...sometimes it is pure Toxic Waste, so you have to be VERY careful.

I have spoken out in defense of a friend and in amazement at the lies and half-truths and pure venom one person insists on spewing. Hopefully it WILL disappear when GW takes down the offensive threads, which I sincerely hope they will do very soon.

Life goes on, and I will go on, too. I'm not going to let a someone else's anger, lies and general misinformation keep me from a place I have enjoyed for years.

My house is all decked out for Christmas. My hubby is relaxing by the fire. My dinner is cooking in the kitchen. My dogs are playing in the library. My cats are sleeping on the sofa. My kids and granddaughter are all well and safe in their homes. Life is good, and I'm very grateful for everything I have. And I'm extremely happy that my cyber "garden" is filled with way more beautiful flowers than weeds, even if my real one isn't.

I have met and admired many of you lovely people here. You are beautiful flowers, indeed!!

Marcia

This is the best present we could receive! Thank you, Marcia, from the bottom of my pea pickin' heart.

(Actually onion weeding heart, but nobody's picky, right?)

xo
M

Oh Marcia ~ That lovely post brought tears to my eyes.

Love and hugs to you ~ FlowerLady