I have enough Red Spider Lilies I can send Mark some extra spiderlilies for being such a wonderful host. :) I also have the offers set aside for greenthumb, rosepedal and cottageflowers. I have unlimited 'common privet' cuttings to offer. Smells wonderful, makes a good hedge, tho I keep the ones here cut to look like a small tree. Dirtdiggin ~ I would love some blackberry cuttings! Either type, both! lol, I'm not picky, kids just love the berries! :) And I have a perfect spot for them that if they get wild it'll be fine w/ me! :) Greenthumb ~ would love an African Violet cutting if there's one left? Kamil ~ would love 1 or 2 bulbs of Star of Bethlehem.. I've heard these lil guys are crazy invasive.. but I'm willing to try some in a pot! :) Mark I'm fine w/ whatEVER the postage is! lol I have a paypal acct too so if that works I'm game as well. I'm pretty sure the rhubarb and asparagus plants are all gone, but I am hoping someone can answer questions re: these for me. I actually have seeds for both.. but from what I understand it takes 2-3 yrs before you actually get food from the plants.. is that right? I am looking over the property tomorrow.. I'm sure my mom had an oak leaf hydrangea.. just can't seem to remember where it was! Thanks everyone for the get well wishes.. I'm working on it. ~Wendy

Kim - Won't have them for the summer swap, but I'll have plenty of all blue and all red to share, come the fall or spring swap. Plus Purple Majesty. Just remind me when it comes around. After the swap my initial shipment came in so my garden is like a forest of spuds. I ended up with 5 lbs of seed spuds in all blue. I'll also have LOADS of J-chokes if anyone wants any. We're still keeping you and hubby in our prayers. Stay strong! Doors are opening and I pray they bring a miraculous outcome...I know it's hard....but know you have many here pulling for the two of you. Wanted to post a quick update. As I've been posting, I've been experimenting with the grape cuttings, to see how late they would root. I've been told they have to be taken in the late fall or winter and I've been told they won't root any time but early Spring, before they come out of dormancy, so I decided to prove that to myself....I took a few cuttings on Easter, April 12th and they have rooted beautifully, but also took cuttings on April 26th and they are beginning to root like crazy too. I'm not sure, at this point, what kind of success rate the 26th cuttings will have, but they are beginning to shoot roots everywhere. Had a 9-1 rate with the 12th cuttings, so I'll keep track of the 26th cuttings. This was the bagging method AND I pinched off any larger leaf growth to force energy back down in the stem. They are now starting new leaf growth. Did the same with some new kiwi cuttings. Had to pinch out new growth from the kiwis, but they appear to be pushing roots. I don't know the success rate, but they all look good so far. I'll post again when I know. Oh bless her heart, I was in a swap with another GW'r and she sent me some REALLY Special cuttings. She started them before she sent them, so I walked her through the process, but she did such a great job! When I received the packages of cuttings, one of the cuttings already had roots over 1/4 inch long. If that isn't just amazing!!!!!!!! I love cuttings!!!!!!! I'M HOOKED!!!!!! THANK YOU FOR OPENING THIS DOOR MARK!!!!! If a new thread is opened I'll post some more pics... Oh I want to see more pics of others roots and successes. If anyone needs help posting pics, please let me know, it's very easy, I'd be happy to help. Toni

I'm not an expert, but the Monkey Princess, Bruvver and I always bake cookies. This is the recipe I usually use, although the kids like a different recipe that's "puffier". It's harder to frost the cookies, though, if they are puffy, and they don't hold their shape as well. These rise, so they don't hold indentations and such as well as a cookie with less leavening, but they have a nice flavor: Sour Cream Sugar Cookies 1 cup butter 2 cups sugar 3 eggs 1 cup sour cream 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon vanilla 4 cups flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 1. Combine baking soda and sour cream. 2. Cream butter and sugar. 3. Add eggs, one at a time, blending well after each. 4. Blend in vanilla. 5. Blend in sour cream and baking soda. 6. Combine baking powder and flour and add to sour cream mixture. 7. Refrigerate until easy to handle, usually at least an hour. 8. Roll out dough about 1/2 inch thick and cut into shapes. 9. Bake at 325º for 8-10 minutes, or until light brown. I just use a powdered sugar type icing for decorating with the kids, but if I wanted something very precise I'd go with a royal icing so I could pipe an outline and then fill it in. Good luck, those cookies in that link are very cute. I can't imagine doing all the writing on that "accepted" letter, though! Annie

hi, I just posted about ABs on the Craft & Dec page (post about going away gift). I'm in a round robin right now. Each participant passes their book to the same person after a certain length of time (1 month in our case). Each time we get another book, we work in it and send it on to that same person. Eventually our books come back to us. We formed a yahoo group just for sharing about our progress, and to post pictures. And yes, I think the main thing is to have a theme. I was really scared to take part in one of these, but now I highly recommend a round robin. I've also heard of "Tip Ins" --a kind of swap where others send pages or spreads that you "tip in" to your book. You can attach the pages directly to other pages, or cut off existing pages leaving only a tab, and glue the tip-in to that.