Hi Nichol, As long as you let people know what is going on, you will find that GWers are wonderfully compassionate and a good source of encouragement. Take time to winter sow a container or two of your favorite flower and remember that these hectic sad times will not last forever. Hugs, Beth

Hi - guess I've been holding out - but inspite of 5 days of almost constant rain and flooding, the veggies are thriving in my back yard. We are still on the established every-other-day water rationing schedule, but guess that is one chore I won't have to worry about - maybe for at least a month or more. The ground is saturated, but cutting lots of lettuces, Chinese cabbage, bok choy, bibb and romaine types. Earlier - the end of summer - we had so much cold weather, that I thought the peppers would surely die before they turned red - but with patience - they survived and managed to get enough warmth in Oct/Nov to do so - and are still hanging on for daily picks. The mandarin orange tree is loaded - as usual, with many harvest for the freezer, and a Christmas dish of mandarin, pineapple, fruit cocktail and whipped cream is planned. The banana tree looks a bit forlorn, but holding up strong against the south facing concrete block wall, and maybe I will enjoy some fruit this year. It has sprouted 2 or 3 pups and maybe I can find room to start a plantation (perish the thought), although have very little gardening space left. According to the locals - the beach was only habitable for 2 days this summer - although our usual influx of "zonies" (Arizona summer birds) were only too happy to visit and find respite from their unbearable summers. They bought lots of warm weather jackets to withstand the beach chill tho. Some seedlings of cabbage and broccoli are still in their cups, being hardened off, waiting for the floods to recede, and hopefully some warmer weather. The fruit trees are sadly in need of dormant spraying, but just like last year, the rains kept coming and they didn't get it. Funny thing, we had a bumper crop of apricots, peach, almonds, plums, etc., last year. Stay dry and if you come to Ca., bring your water wings! Bejay

CUPID Valentine's FEB. SWAP SEEDS with the names _____included in their titles: Cupid Heart Love Valentine Pink Flowing Red Flowering Flowers Veggies Chocolate OR Chocolate SCENTED Homemade card Ok is that it? If anyone can think of something else to include then let me know. OK, IF you choose to include other items that is entirely up to you and in no way is required. This is something that is meant to be fun for us, friendship oriented, and non-costly, so if a homecard and seeds are all you can do then please only do this. We all understand, and WE PICKED THIS IDEA to do and AGREED TO DO IT CHEAPLY! DO NOT FORGET TO INCLUDE A HOMEMADE CARD, THIS CAN BE ANYTHING YOU CAN THINK OF. FANCY, FRILLY, A PIECE OF PAPER WITH HEARTS ON IT. WHATEVER YOU CAN DO, CHEAP AND EASY. HOWEVER YOU CHOOSE....ALSO WE HAVE THE WHOLE MONTH OF FEBRUARY TO SEND THIS IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE THERE BEFORE FEB. 14 IT IS JUST THE THEME WE ARE USING. OK? :) Fran

Like Karen, I always like to read every comment on a post--if you don't go back, you might miss some really good stuff. We've seen some of these posts head off on the funniest tangents like talking about "the bus" or "the old lady". And if I've asked a question, it's because I'd really like to know! If a post has gotten pretty old and suddenly pops up again, I may just glance at it to see who posted to it so late, but won't usually comment again, unless it's one of my posts and I need to acknowledge them. I used to try to mention each person's name that had commented on my post, but that is time consuming because I have to keep going back to see each one. So I may just say "thanks gals" or "thank you for all the sweet comments". This is supposed to be fun, so make it easy on yourself--we don't really have "rules". And don't get hurt feelings if you don't get lots of comments either--most of us love to make comments, but sometimes life gets in the way and we might not be able to. Doesn't mean we haven't enjoyed it or that it's not neat--we are just away from the computer, busy with other stuff, or maybe going through a rough time and not in the mood to respond right then. Candy, just do what feels comfortable to you--we're a pretty easy going bunch I think. ;o) Luvs