Finally had a chance to go thru some of my seeds. For one of the future seed swaps I can send... 4 o'clocks, white and multi color Cardinal Vine (I think someone ask for some of these but I don't remember who?) Mexico Midget tomatoes - I got these originally from someone in Texas many years ago, and have passed them to a lot of people here in NC and it's a great 'tiny' (1/2") tomato. Indeterminate Sweet Dumpling Winter Squash - I do mine in the oven with a rice stuffing and it's very good, or you can do it with the traditional butter, brown sugar and cinnamon/nutmeg. Elecampane Hyacinth Bean vine Valerian Bronze Fennel Blackberry lily Space Master Cuke Rainbow Mix Coleus Cleome Cracker Jack Marigold I'll have more once I go thru the rest. I'm not growing as much from seed this year and I'm going to get rid of a lot. Some things I'd love! Amsonia tabermontana (Bluestar) Oenethera fruticosa, Sundrops Oleander (are there any that are fragrant?) Perilla frutescens, Beefsteak Plant Spilanthes (Eyeball plant) Any Poppies, Sweet Willam or Columbine species gingers? heirloom tomatoes and peppers

Hiya, This is the second year for me to start seeds downstairs. Last year I had one shelf and filled it up completely. I had pretty good success....sunflowers, zinnias, over wintered coleus, etc. that is until I brought everything upstairs and outside to harden off and the bunny ate them all! I forgave him though, he was a baby, and he was so friendly he stayed around for about 3 months and would eat carrots out of my hand and come up to the patio door in the morning when he heard us making coffee....he would even run down to me off the hill when I called his name.....Bun Bun....It was a real treat that he lived here last year and gave me lots of happiness, then one day I never saw him again. I will have to post a picture of him. (Even the neighbors would feed him and call him by name....it was so cute) YaYa

Many, many hugs and smoochies to my Secret Pal. As always, she sent a box crammed full of goodies. I was out mowing our yard when I saw the mail lady pulling OUT of the driveway (how did she sneak in???) Wellll, put that puppy in overdrive and let's go see what she brought !!! CHOCOLATE,( yes, I am yelling) CHOCOLATE, and boy did I need a fix of that !!! A huge bar of smooth & creamy lip-smacking good stuff. A pair of hand pruners that are going to live in my truck 'cause one never knows when an 'occasion' will present itself. Too many times I have wished that I'd thought to put mine in while on a road trip. They will join the zip baggies that I do carry. A set of spouts to fit on a gallon jug. I used to have a set of these and wore them right out. Handy little items, as most directions say " mix X amount in a gallon." A pair of apple green and white candles, and of course they are apple scented. Very pretty. A damask patterned pillow cover in a luscious, creamy white. Very rich looking. Thank you. She also sent a set of green checkered kitchen towels. They will certainly freshen up my kitchen. And......... the clincher -drum roll...- a THIRD bird wind chime. This one is a Bluebird. Very nicely done and very much appreciated. Thank you Secret Pal for your generous gifts. Marsha

Yes, hubby did the first one "by hand." THEN I told him I needed LOTS more of them, so that is when he made the jig. He placed the first finished deer on a piece of board, then pounded little brad nails into the board at every bend in the wire (inside the outline). For subsequent deer, he bent the wire around the brad outline. It still took a lot of work and his fingers got very sore, but he did a few a day until he'd fulfilled my request. For those who are wondering what we are talking about... it was the card I made for the Kitchen Table forum Christmas card exchange for 2005. I got the idea from the book Handmade Gift Cards: Over 50 Original Designs for All Occasions by Cheryl Owen. The ISBN is 0-7153-1268-5, published by David & Charles in 2001. Inside is an alternate ISBN: 0-7153-1177-8 - could be for a hardback edition. The one I have is paperbound. The instructions are on pages 74-77. I did not make the painted copper heart - I substituted a red colored shrinkydink. And instead of a red bead for Rudolph's nose I punched a piece of plastic, covered it with red sparkle dimensional paint and glued it on the nose. (I didn't think the bead would survive the mail. As it turned out, some of the shrinkydink hearts broke in the mail - only the ones to US addresses... the ones sent to France, Canada, and Australia survived intact!). I love the card-crafting books published in the UK... they seldom rely on a particular brand of papers, punches, cutouts, ribbons, dodads, etc. as so many of the US books do. My only regret is that I did NOT take a picture of the cards as I made them, and didn't make enough to keep one. Oh, well...