No, Jo, you made no mistakes here. Except in assuming that having a plan makes someone immune from mistakes and miscalculations in plant size or color or reaction to the amount of light, the soil, yadayada. So you have a style which is valid and it works, sweetie. There is an exhuberance about you, an enthusiasm, that has happy vibes, and out of that well of happiness comes creativity unique to your spirit. Just know your plants, find out which ones like each other, and let them come together. Like in my garden, I keep finding Sharp Dressed Man next to Diana Remembered.....are they telling me something? Hmmmm. Well, I know that Sharp Dressed Man is streaking on me, seems to be happy where he is now. Diana is absolutely glowing when the sun strikes her heart. Looking good. Take a quiet look at your garden, the hosta which keep getting together--they like each other....maybe they're family, you know.....after all, plants have a life too.... :)

Wow, we have this swap wrapped up already! Way to go, GIRLS!! :o) Ya'll are awesome, as usual! Theresa~ Great box, I know you'll enjoy every bit of it! Sounds like it was good timing, too. Dottie~ "And bamboo is so ungrateful! Every time I helped one up, it slapped me in the face." ROFL!! Oh, goodness...I can't help it....I'm still wiping tears from my eyes. That is some "liberated" bamboo! *giggle* It reminds me of when my brother held a door open for a "liberated" woman! She slapped his face & told him she wasn't helpless. Good grief! I told him to not let it bother him, she probably just wasn't used to southern hospitality. That's how we raise 'em down here- you ALWAYS open doors for ladies (and even a few gents now & then, if you're first in line). Now he asks before he opens doors.."Uh, are you liberated or southern?" LOL! So I hope that DH replenished your wine supply for you. Sounds like you had quite the day & you certainly need some relaxation! Laura~ The bird watching sounds like a great activity for the family. We have TONS of birds here- chickadees, titmice, cardinals (hundreds of these!!), wrens, bluebirds (funny time of year for them!)...so we will definitely have much to report! :o) The weekend is almost here! YAY!!! ******** MARGARET sends to CAROL~ received CAROL sends to HEIDI~ received HEIDI sends to THERESA~ received THERESA sends to LAURA~ received LAURA sends to MELISSA~ received MELISSA sends to MARGARET~ received ********

I'm a dork. For a moment I couldn't figure out what was so funny about Cox. Why did tishtoshnm get it and I didn't? Ooooohhhhhh. Got it :)! I had suggested the name Arwen and DH said no. He's a die-hard Lord of the Rings fan since childhood. Such a pretty name. Bronwyn (fair breast and dark hair) was a name that came up regularly as she was a character in a book that DH read as a kid. Just weren't sold on it though. We were literally still deciding up until I was wheeled in for my C-section. We said 'No - it's going to be Eleri - we've thought about it too long'. When she came out DH said 'Honey - she has fair skin and dark hair'. I wanted to strangle him. Anele - you got it! The kid is 5 and one of our friends still calls him Glocklin. 'He's not a gun' we keep teling her. He was on meds when he was a baby and CVS was HORRIBLE at getting his name right on the script. Our last name is Todd so guess where it always ended up? I finally gave up on them because I was tired of telling them over and over that Todd is his LAST name not his first and to fix it.

Russ, I think men can write "girl books." Herman Wouk's Marjorie Morningstar is very much a girl book, I think. While I know they are not great literature, a number of Gothic suspense novels have been written by male writers under feminine pseudonyms -- I guess the thinking of the publishers was women prefer to read Gothics by what they think are women writers, which I think in the case of most female readers is bosh. A number of female writers have written quite effectively in the traditionally male bastion of war stories. Olivia Manning's recounting of the Battle of El Alamein in The Levant Trilogy is every bit as good as any male writer's, and Pat Barker's The Regeneration Trilogy is much lauded by both male and female readers. However, whatever the inroads female writers have made, I'm afraid that there's a certain segment of male readers who will pass over their books simply because they are females. An androgynous name, such as Barker's, has probably pulled in some unsuspecting male readers. As for the classics you mentioned, Russ: Tolstoy's and Flaubert's books -- even when their protagonists are women -- are more likely to be read by men than Jane Austen's novels are. Anyanka has already talked above about this disinclination of boys and men. I know present male company is excepted, but it's hard to say it's untrue of male readers in general.