I received my goodie bag,wow,i am blow away with all the different seeds i received,i did not send in that many,but i sure did get a lot in return,thank you all for your giving spirit,and Kym,for working so hard on this swap,i know there is no way i could do it. My favorit was the Lavender,i wanted to try this so bad,i did receive a few in my first trade,but they were not for my zone,this time it was, and i just sowed them this morning.Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa One thing i was not sure of,when the swap said commercial seed,i thought we had to buy the seed,so that is what i did,sent in the whole packs,is it proper to send traded commercial seed? At the beggining of this trading-swaping,i thought you should sow every thing some one sent to you,and it was not "nice" to trade a gifted seed,i have since found out,that is what ya all do,ha ha,thus,so many seeds in your stash. I am still not sure how you do the Birthday thing,is it ok, to send small re-packed seeds to you for your Birthdays? Or should the packs be unopened,and bought? I am going through my seeds again right now,gotta see what else i can do up today. Thanks again every one,this really is a great way to spend a rainy day. cAROL

Jasmine - What a great deal you got on those pots! WooHoo! Also, thanks for the compliment on the seed packets. You have no idea the countless hours that went in to me folding paper until I found the perfect design! LOL! Here's how you do it: 1. Cut a piece of notebook paper in fourths. Each piece of ruled paper will become the seed packets. I normally just crease it it half both directions and tear along the creased line. 2. Use the short side of the paper as the top. (There are two short sides and two long sides, like any rectangle would have.) I also like to use the red line that goes down the page to the inside of the packet, so that would be facing you right now. Bring the top left corner and top right corner down and in to the top middle part of the paper where both points meet. Where they meet, is where you'll crease the top left and top right side of the paper. It should look like a point at the top that forms a triangular shape at the top of the paper, like the point on an arrow. 3. Bring the bottom of the paper up until it meets the bottom of the triangular shape and crease it there. 4. Bring the left side in to the center of the paper and crease it there. (The center is easily visible by the line that was made in the middle of the top triangle shape you already made. 5. Do the same thing to the right side bringing it also into the center and creasing it. 6. Bring the bottom up to where the the left side and right side straight lines end. 7. Fold the top flap down inside the bottom flap you just brought up to "seal" the envelope. It really is an amazingly simple mini seed packet that used lightweight, ordinary notebook paper. All I do is open up the right side (because I'm right-handed), pour the seeds in and fold it right back up. One thing I would highly recommend is writing on the ruled lines on the front of the packet BEFORE filling with seeds. It's that simple. I've seen a lot of origami packets that had to use the heavier, bulkier paper to stay firm and like a good packet, but this isn't one of them. I've also seen that if even one little line is not perfectly creased, the packets looks "off", but this isn't one of them, either. It's a very forgiving design that hardly shows a flaw even when my kids make them! I hope others will try to make them. If I can scan each image along the way, then I'll try to make another post with pictures. I blow these out while I'm watching TV without ever cutting or gluing paper. I can make over a hundred in no time at all. Just the first ones you make take a little longer as you get used to it, then you fly right through them! Blessings, Angela

olliesmom, yes, I agree, no sofa would be sad. I have a sofa in the LR, office (my old futon), the playroom (a $15 CL find), and my bedroom (found free on the curb). If I could get one in my children's room, I would, but they have a comfy chair, at least. I am a big believer in COMFORT! My kids have stopped watching TV (which still shocks me!) so it's not like they sit there for that .. .but they read books, talk, snuggle, etc. on the sofas. I do not let them jump on the LR sofas, though they can on the one in the playroom, since it is theirs (they don't though, since there are no springs). So, yes, I do think a comfy sofa is VERY important! I have tried to encourage my sister to get a used one-- I've looked on CL for her, told her I'd help her make slipcovers or something. She has never had a new sofa, though, and feels like it would just be spending money unwisely again, since she doesn't think the used ones last. Three years ago she finally got a new loveseat for her basement, which she did not let her children jump on (though sometimes they do). She just found a big area where the seam is coming unsewed (and this was not a cheap sofa for her budget) so that is discouraging her even more. So, I don't know what she'll do.

Thanks, all. Wasnt looking for compliments...yet :). Just an update for the "contest" begun awhile back. They are beginning their blooms sporadically, which is a good thing, but may not be able to announce the winning date for THE flush. Now, hoovb, you are just up the road and a tad inland from me, so pretty positive you can guess what the background trees are! :) Jim and seil, I'm envying your spring to come. Ahhh.