I haven't had time to work up an official post yet but the big news is that this years swap will be held at CREECH ROAD PARK the place we had it a few years back. Seems that some big whoop-dee-doo shindig will be taking over the entire park at Lake Benson (600+ campers!!!). Anyway so it will be at Creech Road Elementary School Park on the north side of Garner on Saturday April 29th from 11am til 2pm. You know you've hit the big time when you wander into the city offices to reserve a shelter in the park for your bi-annual little baby plant swap and the clerks at the park office AND at the cashier counter recognize you from years past and ask how the plant swaps are going!!!!

I am so glad that you loved your stuff! I had so much fun collecting for this swap the last so many months, and now that it is over, I feel sad! Oh well, I will have to get my fix looking for tomato seeds! I hate how the stores and tv bring on Christmas so early, like the after Labor Day, and then as soon as it is 11:59 pm on Christmas night, everything just ends and there are no more Christmas movies on tv, the radio stops playing Christmas music, you see Valetines Day stuff out on the 26th, and that is depressing. They rush it here so fast, why can't they atleast hold on to the Christmas celebration atleast until New Year's. Anyway, my tree is staying up for a while! From Donna I got! Red Gold Winter Squash, very interesting! Queensdland Blue, Awesome! Sarah Black Tomato ( this tomato is like a "sexy looking one!) Morado Tomato(another black I have been waiting to try! Mayflower Bean (mmmm, sounds yummy) serpente di sicilia edible gourd ( I love Italian seeds!) Pionsett Cuke (almost like pointsettia) snowball cauli, we think alike Black Beauty eggplant, great for my eggplant parm! Evergreen Tomato, another I did not have enough to save for myself Burpees Jubilee Tomato, a nice orange one! Marina di Chioggia pumpkin (anything from Chioggia Italy is always great!) Snowbird Pea (yummy!) Listada Di Gandia (another great Italian seed) Blackberry Lily ( hmm, have to check this one out) Browns Jubilee ( now I have 2 jubilees to compare together) 2 neat ornaments on my tree! a big hearsheys bar that hubby attacked!and now he thinks my seed people are "cool" because of Donnas chocolate bar! an awesome bag of earthworm tea mix and some fertilizing pellets!!! Thanks soo much Donna ! Great mixed bag! Ok, from Nancy I got: Blue Jade Baby Corn (cant wait to try this!) Christmas Lima ( Soooo glad she got me this because I orginally bought some for myself too, then since I had 2 partners I gave my seeds to a partner, so now I have them againfrom Nancy! yeah!) Queen\and Blue Squash cool! Traviata Endive (needed some endive Fava Bean ( want to plant these since they are so hard to find fresh) Orange Master Pomagranite (a very rare and interesting one I want to plant! Cannelli Beans (my favorite dry bean, love my pasta fagiolla!) Mrs. Burns Lemon Basil, awesome! Pesto Basil ( which I make a ton of) lINTZ cHOCOLATE baR YUM! A bag of Seed Savers Exchange runner Cannellinni beans to cook, mmmmmmm! Like I said, my favorite bean, do you think I could save a few to plant? Would that work? Christmas Grapes Tomato, another I gave all mine away and had none left! Black Plum Paste! I cannot wait to make black tomato sauce! Rossa di Chioggia Radichio, probably my faovite! If you get a chance, take a look at how beautiful this one is on Pinetree garden seeds site! Thanks soo much Nancy! AWESOME seeds! Ok, I know I probably forgot a few to mention of each of you too, so many seeds! It was so cool to have 2 partners!!!!! BTW, did I give you guys the Snowflake pea? I also gave you guys the same amount of stuff, while trying to give you each your own wish list stuff too, I really hope you liked everything! This was so fun! I wish it was Christmas time all the time! Do you guys mind doing something like this for Christmas in July? I think that would be neat! Merry Christmas to everyone! And do not mind my sloppy spelling in this post! Christy

I'm finally making progress. Part one arrived in the mail today, part 2 should be done by the end of this week. Part 3 is easy and then voila, my package will go west (hint hint). :D No preschool this week so I need to get creative in tethering the children while I pick things up! LOL I did finally get to go out with only one kid, which made it easier. The weather finally let up enough that I could get out. Sarah was quiet or asleep most of the time, which helped!

Sorry, Dianna55... IT'S ME! IT'S ME! Thank you Donna (Lackboys3). When the FedEx truck was coming down the street, I just knew that for once it wouldn't be computer parts for DH or yet another present from a grandparent for DS, but for ME! How did you know that I broke the handle off my last favorite oversized mediterranean yellow coffee mug (I had already broken the other one in the pair) this past weekend? I almost went shopping for replacement mugs, but I showed great restraint and kept my shopping to my swap partner only. Thank you for a gorgeous pair of replacements. And the coffee and the spoons and the book to go with it. This is so much fun! Did you know that manatees are my most favorite sea creature of all? (DS will love the cookies too!) A favorite book of his that we have to sing/read with great regularity, is "I'm a Manatee" by John Lithgow. I mean, how can you not love lyrics like... I'm a manatee, I'm a manatee. I'm every bit as wrinkled as my grann-atee. No difference between my face and fann-atee. A noble manatee, That's me. Thank you again, Donna, for such a wonderful swap package. Ann PS... Kayaks have pointy ends, front and back, and the paddles (not oars) have blades on both ends. But I really like your drawing! Have you thought of a new career as an illustrator?