Oh...Susiesunshine...thank you so much! You are so kind. I love doing creative and funny things for my grandkids. My brother and I were raised by our paternal grandparents. Our mother died when I was 3 1/2 and my brother was 2. My dad had some serious health problems and could not care for us himself. Our grandmother was a crack!! She was so much fun. She was also very religious...closer to God than any person I've ever known. She was a very strong woman...overcoming her own health issues and other problems. We could not have been raised by a better person! I remember my grandmother for so many things. She was a fantastic cook and taught me how. (One of her many sisters was the chef for President Grover Cleveland's son and taught Nana lots of things that she went on to teach me.) I love to cook and bake and am my happiest in the kitchen. Strangely enough...I have four daughters who have no interest in cooking...beyond providing their families with enough healthy food to keep them alive! LOL When they do need a recipe...they call Mom. I have extensive recipe files on CDs and over 90 cookbooks. Anyway...getting back to the subject at hand...I would love for my grandkids to remember me as being creative and fun. When my youngest granddaughter looks at me with her impish look and says, "Nana, you're silly!", it thrills me to death! And when I tell one of my grandkids I love them and they tell me they love me too...it just doesn't get any better than that! Lately, because of an Oprah Show subject, I asked each one of my daughters...if they could spend another day with someone, who would it be? They all said Grandpa...my Dad. He was the best...and also very funny! When they chose Dad...it made me so happy! Maybe someday one of my grandchildren will chose me. ~Sandy~

Honestly, I think selling bulbs instead of chocolate and gift wrap is a great idea! Bulbs are much better for us than chocolate, and a lot less boring than gift wrap! Bulbs hold the promise of great beauty, and they are interesting to grow! There are actually several bulb companies that offer programs for schools and other organizations selling things to help make money for funding! I'll see if I can find out which ones... I've posted at least one link at the bottom of this, and I'm sure if you Google the topic, you'll come up with lots more options! Growing things from seed is a wonderful project for kids... not only does it teach patience and responsibility, but it shows children firsthand how nature works... and kids these days don't really get to learn that up close because most of them are too busy watching television or playing video games! Parents are either too busy working, trying to keep the family afloat, or they just don't care and the tv and computer are babysitters for the kids... it's a shame that a lot of parents just don't have the time to spend with kids sharing the greatness of nature. Thank you for the yard compliments! If you'd like some columbine seed, email me and I'll send you some as soon as the flowers go to seed! There are normally way too many seeds for me to use, and the plants re-seed and spread around the gardens here and there in decent time. The old fashioned type is a must-have for cottage style gardens, and they attract hummingbirds! As a mother and grandmother, I've spent a lot of time having conversations that don't include adult topics... so I know how nice it is to speak "adult" at the day's end! At times, I very much looked forward to the kids' "bedtime", so I could converse with my husband... or early morning when I could have my coffee and chat with adult friends! The final two weeks of school will drag on, but once summer arrives, you'll miss the kids! I know you will! :-) Here is a link that might be useful: ColorBlends Fundraising!

Even if the species is self sterile, that usually means plants *of the same form* wouldn't be able to produce fertile seeds when pollinated. On the other hand, if truly different forms have been pollinated, seeds would've been successfully produced I reckon.

I used to bake when we were super poor and had no money. I found baking really inexpensive. I baked all the time for my children so the supplies were almost always on hand. I would bake cookies and bread, and one year I made chocolate covered cherries (I don't recommend it: they take FOREEEVVVER!) I even made Turtles, but over cooked the caramel so they were a little rock hard. hahahaha I even made little sled ornaments out of popcicle sticks. I keep meaning to make them again, they're so cute everyone loved them. But now? I don't have the time, nor the energy to make home made gifts. Besides, todays generation does not appreciate the home made things as much as we used to. I grew up with almost everything home made: my mom cooked from scratch (hardly 0 processed foods growing up), she baked everything (we never ate cookies from Christie), and mom is a seamstress so the vast majority of my clothes were made by mom. She also knitted so I had a lot of home made knit sweaters. I honestly don't know anyone who would appreciate them anymore.