Hey Guys! Sorry I have not been posting as much as usual, my allergies are so extreme this year. I cant even leave the house. It is driving me insane! The headaches make my computer time very short. But on a happy note, I recieved my awesome package from Toni! We were partners in both the Double Delights swap and the ESS swap, so I am just going to list everything from both swaps to make it easier! For seeds, I got: lunar white carrot ZUKES~ one ball,cocozelle,billiard,8 ball PEAS~ sugar ann,dwarf grey sugar, manmouth melting sugar,chick peas BEans~ bobis d'albenga, asparagus winged, mccaslin,trifono violetto,black turtle, asparagus, pianted lady,jacobs cattle, Firetongue Squash~ greeen hubbard, buttercup,triamble,cirrouville de tourraine, gold nugget, pA dutch crookneck,jaune gros de paris, musquee de provence, galeux d'eysines, seminole,rouge vif d etampes, acorn, tromboncino Strawberry and Butter/sugar corns Spicy Globe Basil BEETS~, sugar,Salad leaf Lutz, china rose, rat tail Romanesco Artichoke and Violetto And some living goodies, plants/starts/cuttings, etc.! Purple potatoes sunchokes Kiwis lowquats stevia assorted grape vines plumeria Bulbs of garlic, shallots and onions and a few chocolate goodies! I know I must have forgotten something, sorry if I did Toni! Just so much stuff you gave me, I cant help it! LOL! I received her box on Saturday, but with my minimal time on the computer, I only got to post now. Thanks for waiting Toni! I am so excited about everything! How about all of those new squash to try! Half of them are new to me which is a good thing! I cant wait to grow them! And all of the stuff already grown, sunchokes, cant wait for them! Those are a first for me also!So thoughtful to have such things, started for me already, which take a lot of time, and watchfulness to make them alive! So a special thank you for all of the living stuff you especially started for me!! Thanks again for all of the great things for our 2 swaps together! Christy

Nancy Thank you so much for what you sent me. I feel bad for not sending you any special little extras but I was in such a rush and didn't have a box to put the extra trinket thing in I just threw the seeds in a package the night before in the middle of packing and preparing for my get-away. Receiving your box today was so nice since I have been sick all freaking weekend! She was so sweet and apparently already knows me too well because for my treats she sent me: 2 pk Fall print(leaves/acorns) Pot holder set 1 Fall print (leaves/acorns) Oven Mitt (all of which I need cuz I tend to burn every one I get, but will not use these cuz there special) Pk Fall Print recipe cards Pk Marshmallow Seeds Pumpkin heirloom Baby Pumpkin/ Mini Jack Antique French Pumpkins/Cinderella's Carriage Rapini/Broccoli Rabe Brussels Sprouts Spaghetti Squash Gourds Large and Small Sorts Compact Winter Squash Early Butternut and Delicata Italian Bush Beans Roma Improved Bush Beans Classic Slenderette Wow, thanks so very much. I appreciate them very much. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I really do apprecaite it. Kathy, I imagined putting Big Max on the back of a PU truck and letting one grow to full size then driving it on down to the local fair as I was typing that....ROFLMAO!!! I am planning on using scrap wood to make the trellis, this year I used tree limbs I cut off of an apple tree that was many years over due for a manicure. They worked okay, was good enough for the cukes but this year was bad on our veggies so I am hoping next year will be better and I will need sturdier supports for everything. :) Fran

HAPPY PART... Okay, the votes are in, and the judges have made their final decision! The winner of the picture contest is Joan, with her pictorial contribution of "LEGS"...lol!!! It was a tough decision, and all the pictures were great, but what really won it for Joan was our fear of what she was holding behind her back in the picture, and whether or not she'd use it on us! LOL!!! Joan, put the chainsaw down!!! Now all I need is Joan's address (can't find it anywhere here on this computer... Bump's been "organizing" files again!) and her prize will be on it's way! Thanks to Everyone who participated and came through with their trade! You all made this swap a great one! -Dan =========================================================== UNHAPPY PART, BUT SADLY NECESSARY We unfortunately had one person fail to follow through on her end of a trade, and yes, I'm talking about Leah/dancingrabbit. The last time she posted she said she'd be mailing out her boxes (she's in two RRs that I know of) this past week, so, I'm giving her this coming week to either post delivery confirmation numbers (so the boxes can be tracked) or for these two boxes to actually be delivered. If no proof of these boxes has surfaced at the end of this coming week, Leah will be banned from further trades within the MNF group, other groups will be alerted to her actions, and a VERY unsavory rating will be left for her in the rate and review forum, hopefully warning anyone else from including her in any trades or swaps. Leah, if you are reading this, and you wish to save your reputation, post the delivery confirmation numbers of those boxes, AND e-mail me right away.

I am so glad that you loved your stuff! I had so much fun collecting for this swap the last so many months, and now that it is over, I feel sad! Oh well, I will have to get my fix looking for tomato seeds! I hate how the stores and tv bring on Christmas so early, like the after Labor Day, and then as soon as it is 11:59 pm on Christmas night, everything just ends and there are no more Christmas movies on tv, the radio stops playing Christmas music, you see Valetines Day stuff out on the 26th, and that is depressing. They rush it here so fast, why can't they atleast hold on to the Christmas celebration atleast until New Year's. Anyway, my tree is staying up for a while! From Donna I got! Red Gold Winter Squash, very interesting! Queensdland Blue, Awesome! Sarah Black Tomato ( this tomato is like a "sexy looking one!) Morado Tomato(another black I have been waiting to try! Mayflower Bean (mmmm, sounds yummy) serpente di sicilia edible gourd ( I love Italian seeds!) Pionsett Cuke (almost like pointsettia) snowball cauli, we think alike Black Beauty eggplant, great for my eggplant parm! Evergreen Tomato, another I did not have enough to save for myself Burpees Jubilee Tomato, a nice orange one! Marina di Chioggia pumpkin (anything from Chioggia Italy is always great!) Snowbird Pea (yummy!) Listada Di Gandia (another great Italian seed) Blackberry Lily ( hmm, have to check this one out) Browns Jubilee ( now I have 2 jubilees to compare together) 2 neat ornaments on my tree! a big hearsheys bar that hubby attacked!and now he thinks my seed people are "cool" because of Donnas chocolate bar! an awesome bag of earthworm tea mix and some fertilizing pellets!!! Thanks soo much Donna ! Great mixed bag! Ok, from Nancy I got: Blue Jade Baby Corn (cant wait to try this!) Christmas Lima ( Soooo glad she got me this because I orginally bought some for myself too, then since I had 2 partners I gave my seeds to a partner, so now I have them againfrom Nancy! yeah!) Queen\and Blue Squash cool! Traviata Endive (needed some endive Fava Bean ( want to plant these since they are so hard to find fresh) Orange Master Pomagranite (a very rare and interesting one I want to plant! Cannelli Beans (my favorite dry bean, love my pasta fagiolla!) Mrs. Burns Lemon Basil, awesome! Pesto Basil ( which I make a ton of) lINTZ cHOCOLATE baR YUM! A bag of Seed Savers Exchange runner Cannellinni beans to cook, mmmmmmm! Like I said, my favorite bean, do you think I could save a few to plant? Would that work? Christmas Grapes Tomato, another I gave all mine away and had none left! Black Plum Paste! I cannot wait to make black tomato sauce! Rossa di Chioggia Radichio, probably my faovite! If you get a chance, take a look at how beautiful this one is on Pinetree garden seeds site! Thanks soo much Nancy! AWESOME seeds! Ok, I know I probably forgot a few to mention of each of you too, so many seeds! It was so cool to have 2 partners!!!!! BTW, did I give you guys the Snowflake pea? I also gave you guys the same amount of stuff, while trying to give you each your own wish list stuff too, I really hope you liked everything! This was so fun! I wish it was Christmas time all the time! Do you guys mind doing something like this for Christmas in July? I think that would be neat! Merry Christmas to everyone! And do not mind my sloppy spelling in this post! Christy