Apologizing profusely for being late in thanking the following for such pretty cards and seeds - Debby_1 - an old-timey Christmas tree with old-timey ornaments within white cameo on green - generous pack of pink impatiens and Pennisetum 'Purple Majesty', even though the envelope was only hanging together by 2 corners - looking forward to finch conniptions so much near a big pot of pink impatiens. NikkiNeel & Sarah Kate sent a cute home-made card with a snowman and Dwarf Blue Curled Kale seeds, so I can give next winter's snowman a green, ruffled hairdo heehee. He'll have red eyes from overdoing eggnog from seeds saved (hopefully) from Sunflower 'Prado Red' and eyebrows from seed saved from Sunflower 'Autumn Beauty'. Clitoria Double White (love white flowers so much) might lend a winter viney necklace from which to hang icicles. KatKni - On an embossed, cut-out card, Santa is walking down a snowy slope, with a red-capped songbird perched on a snow-laden evergreen, conversing with a toy clown and horse in a brown sack on Santa's back. The murky, dark purple of the hyacinth-bean vine, together with white lace flowers of Cilantro, will wonderfully complement the orange of Calendula and earlier brilliance of moss roses in my garden next summer. poisondartfrog - A 19th-century homestead opened up into an awesome treasure trove of seeds. I don't know what it is about color shadows on flower petals, but they fascinate me. Papaver somniferum "Giant Double Cream", "Impatiens scabrida, Helianthus 'Italian Green Heart', Mirabilis 'Lemon Swirl" & Tagetes 'Alumia Vanilla Cream' all involve blushes, specklings and swirls of palest yellow shadowing white petals that hopefully will delicately spread blazing deepest gold from Callistephus 'Princess Hilda' to a pale yellow gold dahlia. Agastache mexicana 'Champagne'' will catch a few glitters and Nasturtium 'Alaska Raspberry' will thread its way up through them with darker tones. There will be sky-blue in the vicinity from Blue Woodruff, Nemesia 'Aegian Sea', Viola 'Miniola Heart Aqua' and Platycodon 'Axminster Streak.'. Portulaca 'Happy Trails' will strew its gem-colors at their feet, and Datura 'Purple People Eater' will hulk over the entire ensemble making sure everyone minds their p's & q's. Earlier in the season, Digitalis purpurea 'Dalmatian; will lurk in tree shadows, and over a sunny, dry wall, pink Lavandula angustifolia 'Pink Elegance' will waft its scent down to passers-by. Well, obviously I'm not speechless, but I can't thank everyone enough for all the amazing, thoughtful cards and seeds they sent to me. I loved participating in this swap and hope to do it again next Christmas. ps - I sent 4 additional cards along with the others on 12/21 and hope they made it to where they were going.

Hey everyone, I am really sorry for not being around at the end of the swap, I got hit real hard with the flu on Christmas Eve, it went into bronchitis/pnemonia which today is the first Ive been up and around... and ontop I am having some problems with a nerve in my neck that runs into my face. Looks like surgery is ahead for me.. I appreciate you ALL joining the swap, and look forward to next Christmas !! Happy Spring growing to you ALL :) Also, just want to mention I am on FB if anyone would like to keep in touch over the year ...under Kym Fullen Amaral.

Did all the major cleaning today, I'll just do a quick touch up that morning on the baths and floors. Rolls and apple pie are in the freezer, ham, polish sausage, and 9 dozen pierogi (that took all day yesterday) in the fridge. Eggs are decorated and the decorations are up. Serving dishes are out as are plates, etc. I made 5 dozen cutout cookies today and 8 dozen assorted chip cookies. Tomarrow I'll prep the fruits and vegis, make the dips, and make a cherry pie. We do our family dinner on Sat. not Sun. So on Sat I'll just have to do touch ups on the house, prep the ham, make the baked beans... most of the "cooking " at that point will just be heating things up. That way I can enjoy a glass of wine with the ladies. Hope you are feeling better soon Terri. Sorry to hear your furnace isn't working Sharon.

About those passion flowers--I tried, too, but they never grew. My DGD#3 and I plant seeds every spring--we'll probably do it next week. We always plant zinnias and sunflowers and this year we're planting morning glories. The first year we did it, she was about 3, I looked over at her and she had this look on her fact I'd never seen before, so I said "are you okay?" and she said "yes. I'm just so happy." I'll never forget that. It's thrilling to watch the seeds grow and then bloom, for her, and it's still thrilling to me, too.