Hi Sue and all! yes, the summer has flown- it sure has been a hot one! looking forward to the pow-wow but I will have to leave a little early- going to Frankfort for one of my great nephews birthday party... a couple of things: can I dig iris, peony, day lily now? I usually put them in plastic grocery bags with holes punched in for air- what about perinnials? If I dig now, should I put them in pots? or what??? I have lots of seed that are not this year's collection- I wintersowed some of them and they did great.. I will bring some for those who want to try them.. I will have some wintersowing supplies to share- I will have some heirloom bean seed to share- I will try to update my 'have' list so you can browse before the swap- yes, everyone update your wants list... I need to seriously downsize my garden- it has become an overgrown mess- I just can't take care of it like I did when I first started gardening in 1997 :))I hope to share a lot of things with people I know will love and take care of them.. a sad note: many of you remember my Mom "mema"- at the end of June, her kidneys shut down- she was in the hospital for a month and then to rehab for a couple of weeks- they put her on diaylsis, but could not keep the fluid down and blood pressure up- she passed away on Aug 8th she was 88 years young-- we sure miss her thankful for all the time we had together, and that she knew we were there for her all the way. my son and his wife and baby are going to buy Mema's house-right across the street from my house- it will be so nice to have them close- My Mom and Dad bought the house new over 50 years ago, and we just couldn't let it go...they are excited about living there and raising their family.. looking forward to seeing all of you- best wishes, Linda

Hi Everyone, Sounds like a great day for our plant swap! I will be bringing some hand-crafted things for the doorprizes - an autumn welcome slate, a candleholder with a scarecrow painted on it, a hand painted concrete stepping stone (painted with outdoor safe paint), and I plan on picking up 2 pots of mums. If Heather would like, we could use her crafts as well, for door prizes. I wish she would contact me. I am bringing pickled beets and eggs as my dish. I also promised to bring some trash bags, so I will bring those. So far, I have potted up a lavender (Lady is the variety), a Blue Boy Garden Phlox, some pots of a shorter variety of Shata Daisy called Silver Angel that I started this year from seed, some pots of rooted cutting of Coral Carpet Rose, and like Cathy, I will be bringing some named daylilies and irises in plastic grocery bags...will be digging them tomorrow. I may have a few more things too. Hope to see you all there. Linda

Today is an absolutely beautiful day!! Not a cloud in the sky. There is a nice breeze and the temps are in the 60s. Hard to believe that just yesterday, there was water, water and more water everywhere. I ran errands today and saw lots of remnants of the flooding. Gravel and mud on roads, water still laying in low spots, creeks running over their banks, and lots of hillsides with furrows and water still running down them. But we are supposed to have nothing but sunshine for the next 5 days, so hopefully everything will dry up. Our electricity did go out last night for 2 1/2 hours, but I curled up with some candles and some crossword puzzles and passed the time. All I had were scented candles though, and I was burning 3 different scents upstairs and DH was burning a 4th scent downstairs. The combination made a rather unique odor though and I was getting slightly nauseous by the end of the night! LOL QOD - Once. I had just graduated college and was working as a store manager in the mall (I majored in Fashion Merchandising). The district manager and I didn't see eye to eye on something and I mouthed off to her. I was subsequently let go (big surprise - lol), but maintained that it wasn't my fault. Of course, the adult in me now knows that I was completely wrong and had every right to be fired, but my pride wouldn't let me admit that then. I have been doing a program by Prevention Magazine called, Firm Up in 3 Weeks. I have walked 20 out of the last 21 days and either lifted weights or done Pilates 20 of those 21 days. I have eaten sensibly, snacked on healthy foods and even splurged occasionally on "Indulgent Treats", and I can say I never felt deprived or hungry. I slipped into a pair of jeans today without using a shoe horn and I feel great. The program was designed to be done for 3 weeks and then can be modified to fit one's needs or even repeated for another 3 weeks or as long as needed to reach one's goals. I am going to continue the sensible eating (I like having my food choices laid out for me) and will continue to walk 4-5 days a week and do weights and Pilates as often as I can so I can maintain. I loved SSing when I first started, but I just couldn't get back to basics again. I tried over and over again to get back the momentum I had when I first started SSing, but it just wasn't there. With this program, I am eating more carbs, but I am making sure they are whole grain carbs. I am eating nuts, peanut butter, honey and some sugary treats but all in moderation. The book lists hundreds of options for meals, healthy snacks and "indulgent treats" and I can always find something to eat that satisfies me. I tried to stay away from sweets while SSing, and I always ended up eating something "illegal" and going on a binge afterward. Then the whole cycle started over again and each time it was harder and harder for me to get back on the wagon. But I think I have finally found my "groove" with this program from Prevention. I'll post the link to the book in case anyone is interested in taking a closer look. Later, Marci Here is a link that might be useful: Prevention Magazine's

I've never been to NYC and as ignorant as it sounds I didn't even know what the WTC was at the time it happened. When you live so far from the scene of any event it's hard to grasp 100% what locals are experiencing. I'd hear New Yorkers say how strange it was to look up and not see those two buildings there any longer. Being a landmark they identified with it in a way we weren't able to. Like WIP08 said, many knew people who perished or were injured. No one I know had that personal connection, it was something we watched on TV. A woman even said on the radio, when she turned on the TV 9-11-01 she thought she was see a trailer for the next Die Hard movie. The media protected us all so much from the reality of death we healed from it faster than those who witnessed it. You're right, no one here is talking about the memorial. It's not like we can go visit it on the weekend. We'll watch on TV like everything else. This is why I make a point to view the documentaries, so I can get a sense of what these people who survived actually went through. Because no one here had personal stories to tell. This weekend I was listening to a radio talk show broadcasted from NY and they were discussing their memories of 9-11. I didn't know they estimated 200 people jumped from the towers. I thought only a handful did that. When they said in the documentary bodies and body parts were all over the place including inside people's apartments I couldn't believe it. All we were shown was a lot of grey dust and papers. You get desensitized a lot quicker when you've been spared the guts and gore of it. On 9-11 I was home. By the time I woke up the first tower had been hit hours ago. Took me awhile just to figure out what they were talking about. DH was so clueless he got ready for work like it was any other day, oK so a building in NY is on fire. I told him as he was leaving this is no fire, this is worse and he should stay home from work. He dismissed it and left for work anyway. It was a couple hours before they finally understand at work this WAS BIG. I was glued to the TV but not my husband. And because I saw more of the candid shots of people searching for their loved ones it captured my heart. That's what he missed. One image has stayed with me all these years. Never saw it except that one time. A news reporter sees a teenage girl in tears, she was holding a picture of her father who was missing. I have never seen a girl more desperate and panicy than her. This was when family were starting to post pictures on that large wall. That wall of pictures is what made it personal to me, it wasn't just a big building falling down, these people were in it. I'll never forget the anguish on her face. I felt so bad for her and was praying for her father to come home for her sake. DH missed all that so now when I tell him there are documentaries on the building of the new WTC he only wants to see them talk about construction, doesn't want to hear to human interest stories. No wonder the 10th anniversary doesn't mean that much to him. He has yet to identify with it on a personal level. So years and years go by with no news at all and then suddenly this month we see documentaries and hear that buildings have gone up and a memorial is ready. I didn't know they were that far along, as far as I could tell NewYorkers were still squabbling over what to build! Isn't it sad that on 9-11-11 we have to go to a little known network called the SCIENCE channel to see these documentaries? This should be airing on ABC/NBC/CBS. I hope they aren't planning to show their regular schedule of boob-tube programming. Heaven forbid Americans not get to see whatever stupid show they're hooked on.