Sending wishes for four special ladies: Carol, congratulations on the new baby in the family and hope you are feeling better now that your meds have caught up to you. Susie and Anita, prayers for you that you will be better soon. Sassy, I'm hoping the situation with you brother has improved. Take care of yourselves! The sun has been out here the last two days which is helping. We had bad storms the day before that. We have been getting rain regularly since January and I guess we forgot about the problems it brings - my winter sown containers get flooded and then I spend a few days completely taking the tops off in the daytime so they can dry out a bit and recovering them at night. At least I don't seem to have lost anything yet. However, now that I have planted over 100 containers, it is quite a project! Actually, most of the milk jugs seem to be able to handle the rain, it's all my smaller "use anything style" containers that are having the bad problems. I will definitely save the milk jugs to use again next year. Actually, we go through lots of milk at our house but nearly all the milk jugs now are opaque rather than transparent so there are only a few that we can save. Sometimes I cut the whole top off the opaque ones and try to use them, but then the plastic that I put over the top does not hold up well to the heavy rain. I use rubber bands to attach plastic to the top of the container and those seem to snap apart every few days. Maybe eventually I will get just the right set up. However, the plants in the ground are happy as can be and I will have wonderful displays of daffodils and tulips this year. Will have to post pictures soon. Jeanne

mine - or should I say my daughters - Ah! who am I kidding! It may be enjoyable to the girls and any little kids who stop by sit and stare for HOURS, but essentially it was my idea, I designed the whole thing, and have been the driving force behind having it at all... And I continue to think up and create new things for it... Anyway - mine has ended up being placed under a 2 year old corkscrew willow tree instead - It's closer to the house and is much much bigger than originally anticipated. For now the sweet woodruff and wild strawberries are filling out the area around the base of the willow, there's a violet and elfin thyme covered hill with a small lake at the bottom of it and a small gravel path leading to the top (a gazebo and miniture roses pruned to look like climbing roses are being added to the top of the hill later this fall) and a flattened out hollow covered in irish moss for a "meeting place." I have variegated forms of thyme and melissa lavender as shrubs around the edge of the garden and a few branches from my over zealous pink and white weigela hangs over the "hollow". The fairy garden is actually an extension of my butterfly garden, just slightly shaded (and will be deeply shaded when the willow fills out over the next couple of years) I just added some rembrandt tulips I hope will give a nice dramatic splash of color next spring before the freesias, columbine, violets and roses bloom. (and after years of plain colored tulips I can tell the girls that the fairies painted these ones!!!) I will post pics as soon as I can but right now I'm being selfish - want to keep it to myself till I feel it has some semblance of being ready for public viewing... :) Also waiting for the plants to fill out and really look like it does in my head (did that make sense or did I just seem nutty???) As well as the gazebo I'm working on 4 houses to put nestled in the sweet woodruff and a "bait shop" for beside the lake and looking for some small stumps or seats to put around the thyme hollow, maybe even a little swing for the fairy babes? Next year I'm hoping the willow will be big enough to dangle twinkling lights in and lots of birdhouses of course... Soon as I figure out where to put it I'm adding some white heliotrope that I grew from cuttings and have slightly too much of. Now I'm just hoping that the wild strawberries calm down cause they are going bananas and I fear they will choke out the rest of my plants... I'm 30 years old, mother of 4, a criminal psychologist in training and I am no afraid to admit that I love my garden. I am envisioning a few years from now laying in soft green grass in the shade of my contorted willow tree staring into the little village and seeing if I can see the sparkling glint of gossamer wings, or hearing the giggling of fairy children in the rustling leaves of the willow tree.....

Hello ladies and happy every Holiday I missed. To those of you who do know me, I am back and mentally back on track (I think). To those of you who don't, well I was I am a member, love everyone here. Went away to do some great mission work and had some very tragic things happen. Many hours of therapy later, and actually returning to the Dominican I think I have healed, I am not bitter, sad, or frightened to leave my house any more. I am able to talk about it and I feel that I can share with postive feelings now. But enough of that. Am I to late for April? Please tell me that I can play in April? Max is 4 and we just looked at Co-op preschool. HE is a mama's boy and didn't want to go to big boy school yet. Maryanne~ I have a box for you that I need to send, but um lost your address.. So Merry Christmas when it comes. Ahh. I just don't know what to say or who to say it to because I am scared I will leave someone out. I tried to read as many posts as my brain can handle, but I am sure that I will need some help. Babies and ornaments, tornados and ahhh.. I am not in Kansas anymore. Please feel free to email me with any personals that you'd love to share. I apologize for being gone so long. If there is anything that you want to know email me. If I need to re-join let me know if there is room. Mayanne_ my big sis.. I hope all is well, miss you and thanks for all your support thru this, even though I was a bad lil sis and became an introvert. But guess what? I am back and better. Missed you all Laura.... beans

Happy Tuesday! Margaret, I'm so glad it made it to you. I was a little worried that the chocolate would be smooshed by the time you opened it. But, even smooshed chocolate is yummy! :) And I thought the Groumms were so cute. I bought some for you and me and for another swap, lol! I also received my Hopes and Dreams today from Shirley!! In my awesome box were 3 of the CUTEST!!! turtles you ever did see. I'm pretty sure they are not going to make it outside, they are already sitting in my bay window...looking perfect! :) A recipe for Cinnamon Roll CAKE! DROOL! I love cinnamon buns, and this cake recipe is right up my alley. The only problem is I'm going to wait till Saturday to make, if I can wait that long, lol! And not to mention all the wonderful seeds! Jobs Tears Columbine: Rocky Mountain Columbine: Yellow Queen Tomato: Dolly Parton (I really need to grow these! The name is too cute! ) Yellow Hollyhocks Kiss Me Over the Garden Gate (I grew this last year and it flowered right up till frost, so I got no seeds. THANK YOU!) Cabbage: Golden Acres Tomato: Cherokee Purple Blackberry Lily Shirley, thank you so much for such a thoughtful package. I really need to go and update my want list. Shirley just filled a bunch of them! :) THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!! Bunny, hope your feeling better! I have had an on again off again ear/sinus infection for the past 3 months. I think it has a lot to do with the crazy weather we have been having. I'm so sick of antibiotics, especially the ones I've been on. They make your mouth taste awful! It last for more than 5-10 minutes after you take the darn things...GROSS! Talk to you later! vina