First of all, I rarely post on this forum and have NEVER to my knowledge posted about Terra Nova before. Let alone ganged up with Gardengal to "rattle" about them. I run into Gardengal on many forums because we seem to have similar interests but I've never met her nor emailed with her though I'd like to. I usually post on Clematis and Northwestern Gardening though I visit many other forums occasionally. I was stunned to see someone criticizing Terra Nova which was done in the first post. To me Dan Heims is a local garden celebrity and hero to plant collectors everywhere. I have no knowledge of how long they trial their plants and no knowledge of their plants not doing well in other zones. I certainly am not admitting anything or modifying my defense rattle in any way because I haven't participated in any discussions about Terra Nova in the past. I have dozens of Terra Nova cultivars in my garden and don't have any problems with them other than Autumn Blush corepsis which I've killed twice. I do have an online friend who is in the garden design business in NY and she loves Terra Nova plants too. I do not work for Terra Nova, I was a florist for twenty three years and now sell gifts and home decor wholesale to stores. I have talked to Dan Heims once on the phone because I was interested in hiring one of his former employees. That is the extent of my personal contact with him. He gave her an excellent reference and I did hire her and she was an excellent employee but Terra Nova wasn't a big part of our conversations. I have toured their display garden twice as part of an open garden tour here called Le Tour des Plants in the fall. It is an amazing garden.

I too decided this was the year to "get it together". I've let it slide far too long :( When I had my second son almost 6 years ago, life seemed to turn upside down. He had a double hernia operation at 4 months old so not sure if it contributed but he was extremely miserable for the first 4 months of life and he grew into a toddler with a very difficult personality (he's SO much better now). My personality wasn't able to cope very well with it. At some point during the difficult toddler years, we finished our basement. Everything that was down there had to come upstairs very quickly. Some of them boxes that hadn't been opened since we moved here several years prior. I'm sure I fell into some kind of depression. What I learned from Hoarders is that I think we do develop a sort of "clutter blindness". It's how we can survive living with stuff everywhere. I'm certainly not a level "5" or anything but I had stuff piled up in places and I was able to just live around it (like it didn't exsist). I also came to realize I hadn't thrown anything away in my many years. I still had stuff from when I was a teenager. I used to work in the beauty business and had SO much stuff I had acquired for free that wasn't being used. We started a couple years ago with a huge garage sale (sold $1,000). I had another one last spring (sold $500) but I still had stuff everywhere in certain spots. I'm keeping only certain things from my kids for the future. Who even knows if they'll need them? I kept a few special books and some special toys (like Playmobil) and that's it. I've stored them properly away and we'll see what happens with them. We save artwork for a year and then we go through it and pick only a special few pieces which I then store in special boxes I created for them. Like this one: http://iheartorganizing.blogspot.com/2010/11/school-paperwork-storage.html My Mom and I made a pact that this year we were going to get organized and help each other achieve it. That's been the best decision ever! It's so much better doing these projects with help. An outside eye that can help you make decisions and move forward. We tackled my lower landing which had become a catch all for stuff and my basement laundry room. My laundry room was new as part of our basement refinish and it's very large. It has a huge table in the middle on castors (ala Martha Stewart) and the kids and I can do crafts here, I wrap gifts here and fold laundry. It too had "caught" stuff and wasn't being utilized as I had intended. Anywho ... two full days of purging and cleaning ... one car load of stuff taken away to charity ... and they both look wonderful! I still have a few items in the laundry room that have significant value so I'm taking them to consignment this week and I have some laundry to work through. When we built the room, I had it wired for a wall mount tv so I'm finally going to get that set up. I'm excited about the possibilities now! I lie in bed at night thinking of what the next project will be. I have hope that finally this house will get in order. I think I may take your advice and hire a cleaning lady to keep things clean while I focus on getting things in order. Even if I just do it for this year, I think it would help a lot. I'm excited for my kids. I want them to grow up in organization and know how to do it for themselves when the time comes. I really think for some (like me) it's a skill you need to learn. It doesn't come naturally. I'll keep checking in to see how you're doing as I keep forging forward myself. My next project is at my mom's house. We are tackling her kitchen. She's already been out and bought some Oxo containers for her pantry and some other handy organizing pieces. We're going to whip her kitchen into shape! Best of luck! Looking forward to hearing how you accomplish your goals.

Glad to do it! No thanks necessary. I probably won't post pictures each month because the blocks will be the same but with all of them different this month, it seemed like a fun idea. I'll do it again in June when we do the blue/yellow stars. I think that's going to be a pretty batch. And I can hardly wait until the month with the Santa Faces!

Jakabedy- Congrats on the new room arrangement! It sounds like it's a lot more functional and comfortable, now. I know what you mean, about trying to simplify. I've spent the day going through things on my bookcases (books, display, dishes, even toys) to clean and sort. Goodwill is going to love me! LOL Marti- Good for you, getting all your bills organized. Are you doing a spreadsheet, for your budget? I would probably just toss everything into a pretty box or file and deal with it, at the end of the week. I'm not that organized...unless I have to be. Schoolhouse- I LOVE your tea caddy! I can't believe you got that from England...what a great friend. I like the part, where he just walked to the store, to pick it up for you. Don't you love the Internet? Oh, and good luck with your library furniture. It certainly sounds like a big project, but I'm always amazed at what you're able to do...in the kitchen, bringing stuff into the house, your garden. I feel like a slacker, sometimes :) ML- It would be fun to get a real tea plant, for the greenhouse. What a treat! I can see why you've had enough of packing, this year. Once you've had a well deserved rest, I hope to see some pictures of your tea house! Shades- Your backsplash looks wonderful! I really like the canisters, too...they look so nice. What a great project. Congrats, on the faucet, too! Mama Goose- Your kitchen is so beautiful! I'm so excited that you're almost finished. I can't wait to see the guest room...it will be so much fun, to see you working on another project :)