You might try at the Garden Exchange Forum...For those wishing to trade garden items other than plants and seeds. I might add though, that much of the country (myself included) cannot do much, if any trading, during the cold winter months. Sue Here is a link that might be useful: Garden Exchange

Hi everyone! Just checking in to read your comments and to respond... Rita, I remember you have a watergarden too. The frogs around here are really tame and stay all summer. We have even had them lay eggs in the spring and it is fun to watch the little tadpoles turn into froggies. We also like to listen to them rippeting at night...it seems like they are calling back and forth from one watergarden to the other! Sometimes after a heavy rain we get some new frogs, which I think come from across the road since there is a bog there. They are fun to watch, especially when they sit on the rocks in the sun. I feel like I should put some sunblock on them or something so they don't burn their froggy skin...LOL. ngraham...My frogs actually let me get right up to them. I don't know if that's because they have lived here so long and they trust me or what. One day there was a huge frog that I was taking a picture of and I got right up in his face with the camera and he didn't even blink...so out of curiousity I wondered if he'd let me touch him...so I did. And he just sat there like he was used to being petted by a human. I had to poke him to get him to jump back in the water! I have funny frogs. Jean...yes, Connor is walking now and enjoys running around my yard but funny thing is, he is very careful around my flower gardens. He likes to sniff my flowers. He does like to look in the ponds so I have to hold his hand real tight so he doesn't take a swim with the frogs...LOL. I don't have any fish in there because our winters are too cold and the ponds are shallow and freeze in the winter. I don't want to have to deal with taking fish inside over the winter, although some people do it. Judy...thank you! I hear all the time that Tiffany is a little 'mini me'! It's funny because she looks like me but I am so much taller (I'm 5'8" and she's only 4'10") so she's like a condensed version...LOL. About the rose: are you talking about the pink one? Larissa is actually a large-sized bush but the blooms are small, only around 2 inches but they come in enormous clusters. I had cut all my roses back too, because of the japanese beetles, but now that the weather is cooling off most of them are starting up again. mantis...I did not keep the seed packet from the zinnias, sorry. My husband owns a hardware store and brought me a bunch of seed packets and I just planted everything here and there and didn't mark them. About 'Larissa'...this is a wonderful rose and I regard it highly. It is from Kordes and I got it from Palatine Roses about 3 yrs. ago. This rose blooms almost all summer and the japanese beetles have mostly ignored it which is unusual for a pale rose. Winter hardiness is excellent and I do not protect it. Leaves are very glossy and highly blackspot and mildew resistant. I do not spray it and I have never noticed any disease on it whatsoever. The flowers are small, about 2 inches, but they are plentiful. It blooms in enormous clusters (one cluster would make a huge bouquet!). Heat tolerance is good...this is planted in the border by the road in full sun. Longevity of the blooms is excellent, both on the bush and in a vase. The blooms have quite a substantial substance and remind me of little plastic roses. There is only one downside to this rose and that is that it is scentless (at least to my nose) but with all it's attributes I don't miss that. Val...Thank You so much. To me it feels like slim pickings only because I have so much blooming in June especially that now it seems meager. The up side though is that I don't have as much work! Thanks again to all of you! Celeste

Welcome, so glad Jane shared her beautiful slim tree for you. Ours isn't real slim but more so than our last one. I always add extra lights to help it glow. I use ornaments I've collected through the years so it shares lots of memories for all to share. I don't think it's the shape of the tree as much as knowing what look your trying to achieve if you know what I mean. Guess you could call mine a "Memory Tree". Hope you will share when your done decorating this year. I think we are all a little to critical and should give ourselves more credit. I always seem to think everyone elses trees are prettier than ours but I still enjoy having a tree up.LOL What I love is the fact that your parents still want a Christmas tree every year. They are so lucky to have you who will not only put it up but wants a beautiful one for them!Sweet... Punk

@gsciencechick you should update us! Are you still following this program? Do you do two meals a day? I know we had some type diet thread and I mentioned that I was kind of doing IF but unknown to me. I do not like to eat early in the morning. I most often eat around 11:00 ish and will either do breakfast or lunch foods, whatever I am in the mood for. I rarely have caffeine, but I do like a hot drink in the mornings if I'm having breakfast type food. I usually don't eat again until dinner, although many days I will have something mid-afternoon, usually an apple or nuts, or sugar-free cocoa (during cold weather), etc. Once I started hearing so much about IF, I became more intentional. I try to eat between 11:00 am - 7:00 pm. Right now I'm really working on getting in more water. I have not lost any weight recently, but I have not gained, even during the pandemic.