I am all too familiar with clutter. So acquainted, in fact, that I think most of it has become permanent features to the house. We have so much stuff now, we are having to move & build a bigger house. All of this "clutter" is actually things that we need & use regularly. We are just running out of spaces to put things. My husband & I each have our own hobbies that require a room all to ourselves to store everything. My plants have taken over the only usable guest bedroom, our closest shelves are on the verge of falling off the walls, his computer room can barely contain what he has in there, my art room you have to be an expert rock climber to get around in. I have always been one of those people who has the compulsion to hide things. I have things stuffed away in all cabinets through out the house, on top of the cabinets & refrigerator, stuff is under the beds, in drawers with clothes-if it can fit in a spot, I will squirrel it away. It helps keep my house looking nice & tidy.

Thankful to hear someone call Bingo! Annie, I will give another person a chance to call Bingo until the end of the day in case they have not been able to get online at this point, but if I don't hear from anyone you are the winner. I had no idea we could be down to just 2 more words to be drawn at this point and so many people still needed those two words - or at least one of them! Wow, this was a long Bingo game. Kelli, I'm so happy to report your package showed up in today's mail! It makes you wonder what they do with Priority Mail though; doesn't it? There's no indication it went somewhere else or had a problem of any kind. It's a wonderful package. I smiled when I saw the Sno-Caps. I wanted to get those to put in your package because they seemed perfect for the swap theme and I went to 3 stores and couldn't find them. Anyway, I love Sno-Caps! Kelli also send a pretty note, a journal which is great for recording garden events, and a pair of red gloves. You know I may try putting on hand cream and wearing them in the evening. My hands get so dry in the winter. Kelli also sent 4 packs of seeds Nicotiana Woodland, Echinacea Pow Wow (white), Rose Mallow (white), and Winter Thyme. What great names and I will enjoy all of them. Thanks so much for everything. I will check later to see if this completes our January swap. With the new horse arriving this month, I feel like I have not been on top of things as much as I like so sorry about that but I'm so glad that you enjoyed the swap. I enjoyed this theme, too. We took my new horse, Piper, to the vet for shots, etc. today and she would not get back on the trailer. I guess she liked it there. (Ha! Ha!) Anyway, I think we were there over 2 hours trying to get her to load back on the trailer. My husband finally had to detach the truck and drive home to get some grain to lure her back on. (Whew, it would have been getting dark in about an hour and the vet's office was trying to close down. Piper has a mind of her own on some things and we are working to get her less "opinionated". As my friend explains a 5 year old horse is kind of like a teenage child. Someone should have sent her to her room or make her stand in a corner to get her to behave long before this! LOL Okay, I rambled long enough. Talk with everyone later - and if I am too worn out from my vet experience, I'll be back tomorrow morning. Jeanne

Hi Tom! I see you have a page and a wish list started. Good job. Now if I sound bossy or start to sound like an IRS agent spitting out rules--that's not what I'm trying to do. Can you do a couple things? 1. Set up your messaging. When you click on our usernames (such as canyonwind (9) above, it will take you to her page. In the top right corner is a rectangle marked "Message". You can email her directly, ask her a question, propose a seed trade, give the other person your address to send you seeds--and it's not on the public thread with the weirdos and stalkers. As long as you're setting things up go to your username and add a number behind your name. Once again using canyonwind (9) as an example. That means she lives in USDA hardiness zone 9. I live in zone 4/5. That makes it easier for us to know if the seeds we have will do well in your area. The larger the number the warmer the climate. You can google your USDA hardiness zone. Now that you know your zone...you can work on your wishlist. If you are in zone 4/5 like myself you will know that anything tropical dies in the fall. If I want tropical seeds I know I'll have to grow it indoors or plant it as an annual. What kind of Want List? There's no right or wrong. Why make a Wish List? Because it gives the rest of us information. If you have 3 kinds of marigolds on your list we might offer you another variety. If you have annuals on your list we might offer you some of those. Also include what you DON'T want. Example: No prairie grasses or daylilies, please. Now...FOTESS is a group. It stands for Friends of the Earth Simple Swaps. We swap just about every month. If you are back here at this place find 2018 January Fotess thread. Usually next month's post will be put up the end of the earlier month. We love new people...but as with everything there's a process. You can post on the thread that you're interested in this month's swap or you can click on sandlapper or sjc's username and email them through Houzz. We just don't want someone who says they will swap, but doesn't follow through so we make sure there's a back up plan so nobody's left out. Just like second grade--everybody wins. Keep asking questions! Heidi

CasaLester, The climbing hydrangea is indeed H. anomala subsp. petiolaris, so definitely not the one that you want. I don't have any red flowered camellias, only white and one pink. The loropetalum I have is Proven Winners Jazz Hands White. I unfortunately have no more space for shrubs or trees or I'd take the hardy grapefruit. I don't need anything in return for the loropetalum. I will hold it for you. (Is you fine, or should I use they or them or another? I'm not so great at pronouns but I try.)