Spring Plant Swap, Ric & Holly's

Yay Terri and Cheryl!
Coleup and Catbird- looks like I have all seats open. DH has a golf trip. (I'm sorry he'll miss this, I know he would like the company!)
So we'll figure out a departure time later and meet up with Gita on the way.

Oooo, looks like I'm finally gonna meet a bunch of DGrs I haven't met before, cool!

Thing 1 & 2 shall be there with bells on - will be SO good to see everyone esp. sunce we sadly missed the fall and February get togethers!! Hugs to al!!!

Should I mention that this will be the first swap that I probably won't see Stormy? I'm can't wrap my head around her absence.

Chantell and Becky!!! I was thinking about you gals. YAY!

I will be so good to see you all here. I'll be adding more names to the lists.

Sounds like a party to me. Can't wait!!!

Ruby

Bump - just in case someone's missed it... ^_^

Hi Holly and Ric,
I guess I should have my name added to the list as Roses R Red has kindly agreed to take me along! DH will be away and I didn't want to drive the distance alone in my old car! Really looking forward to meeting many of you I have heard so much about and seeing the rest from our Mt. Bethel Swaps! Jessica

Whoop, whoop!!

So very glad to have you Jessica. I always look forward to seeing you.

Hey Guess what? Buttoneer will be at this swap. Not sure of DH Bob since he got his ankle operated on and has pins & screws in it but I'll be there for sure. Looking forward to it, too! This hot dog is from Ernie's Texas Lunch in Gettysburg, Pa. The best texas dog I ever ate.

Hey Holly, do you have a thread for the covered dish & what we are bringing?


This message was edited Apr 21, 2012 10:38 PM

Yay, gardadore, and Buttoneer!

Hooray! I know I say it every year, but this is going to be the best swap ever!!

So glad you're going to be there and that Bob's surgery is behind him.

Holly & Rick: I might make it (I'd love to come but scheduling is a bear); if I do, it'll be on the very late side -- no earlier than 1pm, and likely closer to 2pm. So I'm hesitant to promise anything....

Happy!!!!!!!! So glad to see you surface again in the MAG forum. It's just not a proper swap without you. :-)

Buttoneer, I was going to D-mail you as I hadn't heard from you yet, so very glad you will be coming. Hope Bob is doing well. Haven't put up a food thread yet but I will soon.
Happy, Oh I would love it if you could come, I remember last time it was a run in and run out but so nice to see you.

Holly and Jill: Thanks so much for the warm welcome! I hope I can make it!

Happy!!!!!!!

Hi Bec. I'm a little elusive, I know! Great to hear from you!

Happy! You probably don't remember me, but my first swap was at Becky's house in 2008. You gave me some solomon's seal, and now those few plants have multiplied and are doing well in my woodland garden. I think of you every time I see them! I really hope to see you again at Holly's. Terri

HAPPY ^-^. Soooo good to see you!!!

I'd love to see you too happy! I hope i get to linger long...

I feel the same about missing Happy at the swaps, and actually on the threads too. I hope that you can make it, and I would love to send you home with some goodies from our place. Sitting at my desk I can see the lovely Japanese Maple Tree that you gifted us with at Harts, so many years ago. It has become a very lovely tree. I also think of you each time I tend to my Ficus Benjamina. It too has done very well which is amazing due to having often killed Ficus in the past. Please do try to come.

Ruby

Chantell, Sally and Ruby: I love you all so much -- wonderful to hear your voices (that doesn't sound right) or to see your characters (that sounds worse). You know what I mean!

Has anyone heard from Hart, speaking of whom?

Oh yeah, we are some 'characters' all right...rofl !

I only hear from hart when I go in my garden and see 'her' iris, 'her' lilac...

Bump

Happy - I spoke with her a month or so ago (it had been a year or more since talking with her) - she's been through a lot. I think you knew her mom had been really sick...then her brother passed and for the past year she's been having health issues. Please keep her in your prayers!!

Thanks and I will.

Happy, I miss Hart too. I believe I contacted her at least six months or so ago and have the same report as Chantell gave. She was such a lovely person and I always just loved her too. I get the warm fuzzies from very many that I have met here. You guys serve as my main form of socialization. I am in semi-retirement and it is very easy for me to act hermit like at times. Sometimes during the winter months, it seems as though I can stay put right here at home for a month before actually getting in my car and traveling somewhere. Doctor visits are usually the things that get me out and about and if the visit isn't due to being ill, that is when I try to add my shopping errands and such at the same time.

I have been fortunate the last five or six years that John has taken over many of the errands that I used to run. I have become very spoiled by it in fact. He grocery shopped this morning and I am paraticularly grateful that he did. I had a lot of perishables on the list and I didn't want to shop later when no one was here to help me bring things inside. It is also yet another wet day outdoors and I don't like trampling all over creation on days like this either.

I wish I lived closer to some of you folks and get togethers were more often. I am satisfied with the couple times a year I get to see everyone though and the chats we have here are always a good way for me to start my day. You too have been missed Happy, but I am glad to see you posting recently. I know that you are a very busy woman, but you always have a lot to add to conversations.

Anyway.....I am really looking forward to seeing each of you very soon now. Won't be long at all.

Ruby

Ruby - I passed by your exit doing stores for my 2nd job...it's gorgeous down there...my arm could be easily twisted to come on down...and meet for lunch on a weekend

Holly, Lloyd and I are planning on coming. I don't see our names on the first list. I'm glad to see that more men are coming with their wives, so he won't feel out of place.

Hey Chantell and Ruby how about the two of you cooking up some kind of plant swap get together down you alls way? Certainly cuts down on travel time! And we'd probably get more Virginians and mountain folk attending that haven't been met yet or heard from in awhile. Tee hee hee, just a thought as I fully realize what it takes to host one. Hats off to all who do!

Hey Cole - I am game......what we are waiting on, according to John is getting the front walk way finished that he started some years back and hasn't yet finished. He calls it his construction zone, add a construction zone to a very steep front yard and we may just be asking for a disaster.

Supposedly, after purchasing a cement mixer a few months ago, the completion of the rock wall is slated for this summer and early fall. We will see. Lack of parking may be an issue, but we can figure something out. My brother owns a piece of land across the road from us, and I am thinking that we could see about parking there and borrowing his Yamaha or Honda Mule which seats four people to transport people and their plants up our steep drive way. It is workable.....just needs some planning and some permission asking beforehand.

I used to entertain quite often and always enjoyed it. Over the years that has been something that has been lost along the wayside. A plant swap would make up for the years that I haven't been entertaining, plus more. hahaha

I will be working on it Cole....just for you.

Ruby

Coleup, that's one reason we try to switch locations for these swaps from year to year, so different people will be better able to attend.

Ruby, wouldn't it be wonderful to celebrate the end of the "construction zone" with a plant party?

Joyanna and I stopped by WalMart this afternoon (yes in the rain; we have rain jackets and puddle-splashing shoes), so I picked up a couple of 'Whirlwind' hostas and also found bigger (gallon pots, 3 to 5 eyes) hostas for $5 -- 'Guacamole' and 'Aureo marginata' (or something like that LOL). I got a Guac. for my "new" part shade area, but if anybody wants one of those I can go back... they had just come in, so they'll have a good supply.

Also, I wondered if anybody would like a little start of Hart's "pussytoes" (Antennaria, not sure which sp) ? I had them growing in a pot with another plant from her and pulled them out this morning for repotting & planting out... They make a nice low groundcover, and the little "kitten paw" blooms on wiry stems are cute & pettable.

Speaking of Hart, my light purple heirloom iris from her was blooming today... I thought I'd lost it! So, Sally, somebody else can have the one I asked you for. It's a beauty.

I hosted the swap last spring, and I can't even describe how happy it made me feel. I had taken a week off from work and worked in the gardens from sunup to sundown - it was exhilirating, and gave me a taste of what retirement could be like. The place never looked better, and sharing it with people who appreciate and love gardening as much as I do was the icing on the cake. I couldn't stop smiling all day. I think we all love seeing each others gardens and just getting together is so enjoyable in general. I'm looking forward to Ric and Holly's swap, and a possible trip to John and Ruby's next year - YAY!

We enjoyed it so much and could see how much love went into the plantings and design. It was well worth the drive!!