My husband was in michigan this week and that was one of the flights he thought about taking on thursday night. He flies a lot and it just hit close to home. Clarence is not far from where we live. We are a little more out in the country. Big sigh of relief. When the news came on at 10pm they announced at the end of the broadcast that a plane had crashed by the airport, but they didn't know anything yet. By the time the 11pm news came on, it was not until after the weather that their news crews made it to the neighborhood and they announced it was a commercial plane. WIVB broadcast without commercial break until I went to bed at 2am. When my husband called to say he was alright i was so grateful. (wipes tears and sniffles) Fran, Could i have the blanket flower, please? BTW, DS#3 watered my keyboard once, its still a little iffy. We set it in from of the blower on the woodstove for a week. Just FYI those of you sowing in the keys LOL! Thank all of you for the prayers. Families here are esp. close knit and things like this are difficult for anyone. Praying for your FIL, too Nichol. Fleethart

A couple of notes because the rest is going to be rather long and involved: Lynda, I have the Vitex marked for you and in your baggie! And thank you for the marigolds! They will be very interesting with my others! Dessie I would be more than happy to receive your little helper's seed packets! I think it's great! Wendy Try some Chai Spice tea, it works wonders in helping clear up colds and flu. I always add a dollop of honey to help sooth the throat. It's a staple in our house and really does help. Alright, here is my take on this.. I can understand how many were hoping that the two swaps would not coincide, but, we all knew there was a fair chance of that happening. For myself, I know that I continued to update my list, even well after Patty's swap's mailing deadline. I did my updates using the same method we did for Patty's swap- using an updated date. Even had I not, I knew there was a good chance the two swaps would overlap. I joined this one knowing full well- according to the guidelines posted for it- that I may NOT receive as many as I sent in. That I would receive as many as were sent in FOR me, up to five packets of the SAME item. I recall there being some issue with this and a member who became very rude in their comments about this fact. Yes, my package from the What's Left swap is in the second batch to go out. No, I did not keep strict record of what I sent to those who were in the What's Left swap. I did keep better records of what I'm sending for this swap. I also know that a lot of people will be sending in baggies of seeds marked as extras- not dedicated for anyone, but to add in when it's seen those items are on someone's list. No, these may not be some of the rarer or more exclusively wanted items on someone's list. But if someone has some of those rarer or more specific items to share, I'm sure they would have put them into your baggie before they mailed. So, I don't see that anyone would be missing out on anything. The only way I could see having updated one's list further as complicating Patty's swap would be if someone had removed things from their list. Updating and adding items would not have conflicted. Because if there were any extras of what you were wanting, Patty would have included them. So, I guess I'm not really understanding how there is such a need to update the lists just because one is in both swaps. If I receive duplicates, wonderful! Because the things on my list are things I want! If I don't receive something on my list, then no one had it to share. If I receive so many of something that I can't plant it all, then I can bless someone else by offering it up for a trade. So, perhaps I'm being dense here, but how would one not receive something sent in specifically for them (up to FIVE packets of the same item!) that was on their wants list in this swap? Everyone has the chance to see your wants as posted and you have had the option to add to that list, as many including myself have this whole time. The only thing I could really see the two swaps happening almost simultaneously possibly affecting would be one's have's list. I'm sorry, I don't mean to upset or offend anyone. I'm just honestly trying to understand why this is such an issue. So please don't take this as meaning to offend or as pointed to anyone in particular. This is just me trying to understand why so many are upset about this. If you prefer to email me privately and help me understand it, I would be pleased with that and please do! Perhaps there are aspects and issues with this that I'm not readily seeing and should consider. I don't want to keep the thread off track by my question becoming a debate here. Perhaps there can be some adjustments of dates if this swap happens in the late summer or again next winter, but for this year it is as it is and personally, I'm really enjoying it! Nancy, I hope you don't decide to drop out, because I know that I should have at least a couple of things from your list, perhaps more. But I'll respect your choice and be your Garden Buddy either way :) Fran, you have a real job ahead of you and I don't know how those like you and Patty do it! Leave me hosting my "pair em up and let em go" or true RR type swaps! I think those of you that host this kind of swap are awesome! Angela, you have been a wonderful help to Fran and all of us in this swap! I know the time it can take to code pages like that, though updates are easier once the initial work is done, and I want to say THANK YOU for the time and work you are putting in on this swap for everyone's benefit! Kathy~ heading off to stuff more little baggies and envelopes.

i would love some of these if i could!! that would be so cool!! armenian cucumber tortarelo cucumber golden gopher musk melon? royal golden melon lee okra zolotistala melon casaba melon 1 bosc pear 2 mustard gai choy 1 garden peach tomoto 4 okra mix 1 daikon radish 1 canary bell peppers 2 lemon balm 1 sweet chocolate peppers 1 bok choy 2 green zebra tomato 3 peppers yolo wonder 1 peter peppers this year, i think will be a great year for that square foot gardening!! especially with all that is needing to be put in the ground!!! **big smile** i have lots of 6 blazing star liatres 21 single white angel trumpet-smells awesome 14 lavender datura- don't smell but is pretty!! 4 sesamie seeds so if anyone want's these, let me know. :') these are filled pretty good!@! ~Medo

We're not quite finished yet - finishing details, trim, baseboards etc - so I guess it's a little premature to post to this, but what the heck. I can say that the ONLY things I'm not 100% happy with are the things I didn't decide 100% for myself and/or resesarch like crazy but chose without having explored all the options and educated myself enough to be able to choose based on the facts. Thankfully, there are VERY VERY few of those! Specifically: 1. I originally wanted the floor tile laid diagonally. I got talked out of this because of the extra time and labour involved in layout and cutting, but I suggested we do a diagonal border at the entrance to the kitchen and the backdoor to further define the spaces. I pushed for it somewhat against my GC's recommendation, but it seemed a fairly easy way of adding a little bit of bling, and having SOMETHING in the space that wasn't on the square, since we have shaker doors, square pulls, square tile, brick backsplash etc etc. It's ok, but because the border wasn't done in smaller tiles but used the same ones, there was no way to line up the points of the diagonals evenly across the row compared to the square tiles on the other side. It doesn't look "bad", it's just not what I had imagined - the ONLY thing I didn't draw in my software so I could "see" it, and the only one I look at and think "Darnit - that could have been better!" 2. The threshold between kitchen and diner. I didn't offer any input into this and my GC just did what he liked. I had anticipated that the hardwood would run directly into the pantry, with a threshold only across the line between tile and wood; he chose to run the threshold all the way across (having left a gap under the pantry door). It's a reasonable decision, just not the one I would have made if I had thought about that first. 3. Not a "regret" but something I only JUST thought of today... *after* they had finished the back of the peninsula! They stained a clean piece of veneer to cover the back of the peninsula and it looks great, but only NOW I thought, "We could have stained beadboard and used that!" which would have looked GREAT and added a little more texture. 4. Not a regret as much as a "I wish there had been another option": there really was NO appliance colour that would have worked. The budget dictated we stick with white (especially since our existing fridge - which we have kept - is white), but although classic, it does call a bit more attention to itself than I'd ideally like. Black would have been too much of a "hole", stainless doesn't entirely float my boat unless it's REALLY high end, and almond/biscuit/brown (all of which would actually have looked really good with my materials) are so out of favour that I could'nt even find any. So, white it is. I figure that as the appliances need replacing I can find a good colour and slowly upgrade them. To be honest, overall everything has come out beyond my wildest...