Here we ARE!!!

Thank you's first to Dave and Terry...and next to ALL of you who've added your names to the group interested in getting this forum in place.

I have a BIG list of questions that I want to ask...but I'll hold off at least a little while to let you guys have a chance.

Let's introduce ourselves, shall we?
This thread is as good as any to do it.

~julie~

I'm Gayle, 36, married 16 years, 2 kids, 2 dogs, 2 cats, 1 guinea pig.

I'm a GOBette and proud!

rofl

Oh yeah, GO PACK!

I'm Joan, 44. Married for the second time with 3 kids and two stepkids, three cats and a rabbit.

Im Janet married 5 years, 3 kids, 3 dogs and sometimes way too much time on my hands.
Im also a daylily adict and have a tendancy to buy plants just because they look sad where they are. LOL

I'm Julie...60...married (nearly 42 years to the same ole goat LOL)...2 grown sons...1 rottweiller, 1 adopted cat...she adopted US not the other way around...lots of moles (I didn't invite them *either*).

I've been gardening all my life...sort of...but only got to really DIG in during the summer of '04, after a forced retirement when our shop was closed by the corporation. (I never looked back...way too busy with the garden)

I'm learning how to garden in nearly a pure flat sandscape, pine trees and weather that NO ONE can pigeon-hole.

And I'm DELIGHTED to have people I can talk to and with!

WELCOME ABOARD!!!

~julie~

OOPS that was supposed to read "married 15 years" good gried Im getting senile too and Im only 38!

Geez Janet...and here I thought you were a bit 'active' in those 5 years. hehehe
~julie~

Hi fellow 'uppermidwesterners'!!

Nan, married 12 years, 4 kids, 2 dogs, multiple outdoor cats.

I'm primarily an 'indoor gardener', as they call it.....but I do 'dabble' outdoors, too, and have a collection of Brugmansias and other plants that I overwinter in the basement.

I've also been experimenting with overwintering evergreen and deciduous plants on my sunporch, which I've figured, through the past few years, to be about a zone 7!

Looking forward to interacting!

mornin_gayle....what the heck is a GOBette?

I get the Go Pack, though!! Made me think.....Iowa doesn't have a P. football team! Never thought of that before!

Nan...that 'GOBette' remark stems to a thread where most of us were pretty far "over the hill". We gave ourselves the names of Glorious (or Grand) Old Broads (or BOYs). The GOBettes are our apprentices...GOBs in training. LOL

~julie~

Nan, if Iowa would get a P. Football team, then MN and IL would want one too!

I'm going to start a thread about overwintering our babies, thanks for the idea!

And in October, I call the "Elders" GOBlins! heh heh heh

Fantastic. Hope you'll let us Canadians in. I know you think we spell things funny.

I'm Brenda. Married 35 years, 2 grown children, three cats for the moment, garden indoors and out. Love Lilies, Heucheras, Irises, Daylilies, Hostas, and a lots of woodland type plants. (in any order of preference, depending on the season) Start lots of plants from seed.

Thanks to Terry and Dave for giving us another forum to play in.

Gayle....you'd better be CAREFUL with *that* kind of talk! LOL (Girl, you're asking for trouble with that P foot statement!)

Echoes...you better believe we're happy to see you Canadian gardeners in here with us. Having you in the z3 lets me read your posts as "If Brenda can grow it....maybe *I* can!" Welcome!

~julie~

Maybe I should start another thread to play in, lol! I have tons of football jokes! Well, actually, I have tons of all kinds of jokes too.

I don't know if I'm from the UPPER midwest, we live in a suburb of Chicago. I am 44, married, have 2 kids 12 years apart, 1 step-daughter with 3 kids older than my 2nd, and one cat I threaten with extinction daily. (If she poops on my floor one more time!!) I am a returning student, studying horticulture at Joliet Junior College, which can be challenging with a 4 year old, at least I have found it to be. I have a business degree and worked for a general contractor in my former, single life. Pleased to meetcha!

Maybe you should just start another forum! ROTFLOL

~julie~

It would have to have been a really active 5 years since the three kids range in age of 16, 13 and 6. Now how would that work out,LOL.

PrairieGirl...you most certainly DO fit in here. You've got a lot on your plate what with school AND a family! Super!! And welcome~

~julie~

OK....now I get it, lol!!
Was hoping it wasn't something that just flew right over my head!

Well, if Gayle's a GOBette....I guess I'd be one too, *when* initiated....no hazing, I hope! lol!

ROFL, Gayle!!!

I had to read that twice, but dang, you're right?! lol!!
They would want one!
Thank goodness, so far, there've been no hardcore CB & MV fans lurking, or you would be in a fix!

My oldest son's a Bears fan...and he's taken so much 'flak' about it.....so I have a l'il soft spot for them, myself (that is, when the Pack is in a slump....like right now :( )

Yes, echoes..... Thanks to Dave and Terry.
(I love the way Canadians spell....reminds me of 'old fashioned' poetry)

PrairieGirl....Chicago most definitely qualifies as UMW! At least according to the weatherpersons I listen to, lol!

I'm gonna like this forum!

Ahem, da Bears WON the Superbowl once ya know, it was in my lifetime, but i was verry young..remember Sweetness and the Superbowl Shuffle? I know, shut up Ma.

Yup!! lol!
I always tell my son "Their day will come and everybody will be eatin' their own words!"

Sweetness....Chris' (my son) favorite!

I have been married for 35 years to my highschool sweetheart. He loves to garden as much as I do which can sometimes cause some problems. Last year we worked up a small spot for some wildflowers. I thought I would get a jump on sowing it, so I went and brought seeds and sowed it before I when to work at noon. My husband gets home at 3:30 while I am still at work. He thought he would help me out and get it sowed. He went and bought seeds and sowed it too! I think we need to work on communication. We have two adult daughters, one granddaughter and one grandson. No indoor pets. We have a lot of birds, butterflies and wildlife in our back yard.

We have two small gardens. One is all planted with bulbs, plants and shrubs. The other gardens is a seed garden and nursery for plants to transplant. Gardening is my sanity therapy.

Once being the key word there, lol.

Know where the safest place to be during a tornado is?

Soldier Field! Chicago hasn't had a decent touchdown there in years.......

Prolly should start a thread for Jokes, ya think?

Gardening for sanity ~ oh, yeah, that's a given! LOL

Hi everyone ~ I'm just Moby. Not called Mary much unless I'm in trouble. I'm 43, married for the second time for 2 1/2 years. 1 cat, 1 kid, 5 steps and 1 grandbebe and another on the way.

What's a little bitty GOB? GOBini? GOBitty? :)

Hi KristaJoy!

Did you have a bumper crop of Wildflowers then? Have any photos?

LOL Moby!

A GOBette! Altho GOBlet works too.

If you would like to check out our GOB Gabs: http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/553185/
is our latest thread.

I'm Glenda and am 47 years old. Divorced with two grown children. My youngest and I share a house and all the bills. The bonus to that is she has a son who is 3 1/2 that is the light of my life! We also have a dog and a fish. I love gardening but am still fairly new at it. My grandson and I can be found puttering in the flower beds on any given day during the growing season. My favorite plants at the moment are Brugmansias, but love all things tropical. I like things that are out of the ordinary so I like to try just about anything with a "tropical flair". Am looking forward to this forum and all that I can learn from all of you. Thanks again to Dave and Terry and all of you midwesterners for opening this up!

Hello, I'm Annie, and a transplant from Iowa I'm a half a century old + 4 years and I've been married 36 years, we have one son "Shelby" that is 26, and a leukemia survivor. In April we aquired a new daughter-in-law. Very beautiful gal that took such good care of him when he was going through treatment.

My yard has many flowers, but for the most part I am a hosta, iris and daylily collector. In the winter months I enjoy wintersowing seeds, and doing some cross stitch when I have the time.


Annie, who is owned by 12 cats




This message was edited Oct 24, 2005 3:30 PM

I'm Laurie, and I put the North in Northern Midwest (in terms of U.S. geography, anyway). I migrated up to northern MN from the Chicago area where I was born and raised. I was trying to outrun the heat, which I abhor. Unfortunately, I didn't run far enough. It gets darn toasty up here in the summer.

I'm 50. My family includes a housemate, 4 dogs, 13 cats, 4 horses, and 2 goldfish. My gardening passion is irises. I currently grow about 730 iris cultivars of all bearded classes, as well as several different beardless species. There are other plants in the beds, as well, but they have been sorely neglected since the iris bug bit.

My Aussie is nudging my elbow, telling me it's time to throw the frisbee around the yard for a while. Better get going before he finds some less desireable way to amuse himself.

Laurie

lol! owned by 12 cats!

Annie...my oldest son is a Hodgkins' survivor.....so I know the heartbreak and difficulty and stress and fear and (false) guilt and...whew...I could go on and on with the list of emotions you/ we've likely felt.

So glad to see the word 'survivor'!
And nice to hear he has a lovely wife!

Wow...where's Blandinsville? I work for a 'service oriented' company that travels the upper midwest...and I haven't heard of that one?

Hi! Legit here! I'm Kathy, (legit is really my horse's name), 53, married 25 years to a non-gardener who humors me, and encourages me even if he's sorry for it later. 3 grown kids, a son with 1 little man of his own and two step-girls, a daughter who is a vet tech and is owned by a cat and two labs, youngest daughter who is the single mom of my littlest darlin' Layla, who we have over frequently. I also am owned by 2 arabian horses, 2 cats, a dog, and a billion plants!!

I'm totally garden obscessed, a Master Gardener, winter-sower, farm-raised, dirt-cheap do-it-yourselfer who makes her living in a pharmacy! This is gonna be good!! Legit

Hope you don't mind another Canadian poking her nose in here!
I'm 32 years old and just married for the second time. We have 4 children between us; I have 2 boys, 7 & 12 years; he has 2 girls, 7 & 9 years. We just bought our first real home in July of this year and after a 4-year stint of apartment-living, I'm glad to be back to gardening.
In the past two months, I've landscaped the bejeezuz out of the this place and planted whatever strikes my fancy (and is within my buget)....usually anything purple, blue or pink. I especially love toad lilies, asiatic lilies, daylilies and buddlejas. Lately it seems the centre of my universe has become anything that can be looked after and grows, including our kids.

Thanks to all for your efforts in getting this forum started.

Cheers,
Erynne

Nan,

If you know where Western Illinois University is. We are 18 miles nothwest of there. A little town of 800 people.

Glad to hear that your son is doing well also!

Annie

Another Canadian here! Hi I'm Sandy, 47, married 21 years. We have 2 sons 18 and 15, a dog named Brandy and 2 goldfish that spend the summer in the watergarden.

I love gardening with perennials, shrubs and sprinkling in some annuals, but I'm especially fond of hostas, daylilies and heucheras. I don't like to go too far in the summer because I'd rather be puttering in the garden.

So nice to meet everyone.

Hi All,

I'm Kelly, 41, engaged to Bill, 43 (AKA Old Coot or OC, for his actions lol) for 9 of the 12 years we have been together,,,I know, I know, and the answer is,, If it ain't broke, don't fix it. I am a Hairdresser for 25 (ouch) years and have a salon in my home. I also teach Sunday School. I grew up in a suburb of Chicago (Wheeling) and moved "Up North" in 1991.

We are owned by Mooshka our 11 year old Siberian Husky. She's Awesome,,,,so much fun. You'll be hearing about her from time to time. Especially in the summer when she's in the garden with me and her cable gets tangled around my markers and pulls them out or when she digs up a plant to play with that I just put in. LOL

I am Addicted or Unnaturally Obsessed, whatever you want to call it, with Hostas. Some of you who already know me will attest to that LOL.

I also have a penchant for Daylilies, Heuchera and any other Perennial that strikes my fancy. Those 3 are the worst right now though and subject to change without notice. LOL

OC likes to work outside as much as I do, he does the heavy stuff and I do the plantin'. I shouldn't say that,,,we both do the heavy stuff. LOL

Most of our gardens are raised beds, outlined with field rocks,,,love 'em,,,,and we'll be adding more in Spring to house the ever growing (no pun intended) hosta collection.

So nice to meet everyone,,,,I'm sure we'll all get to "know" each other very quickly.

Kelly

sanannie,

All this time I've "known" you I never knew your name was Sandy LOL.

Kelly

WA HOOOOOO!!! HOW GREAT IS THIS?!!!?? I'm SO impressed! Just LOOK at US! There's so much I want to comment on...so many things I want to ask...and SO *little* time (at the moment) to do it all.

LOL I liked the CB/MV abbreciations! So far, so good...and we'll get to keep Gayle for a little longer. (Gayle! Behave yourself!!)

Gotta go see what else is happening in the forum. But I *WILL* be back.

~julie~

Kelly - my sister has a hair salon business out of her home too! sanannie is a variation on a nickname a dear co-worker gave to me who has recently passed on. She was a sweetheart that used to call me sannie-annie. LOL

Hi there,

I'm Ann - another Canadian resident although I'm US born and bred. I live in Ottawa - just about one hour east of Sandy. (I knew her name but waited for her to use it on the list). lol

I'm 61, married for 37 years to the Canadian I met in grad school. Two daughters Karin 33 and Sara 31. Karin is married to Dave and they have 3 1/2 yr old twins - Amy and Nolan. Sara is single but there's been a terrific boy friend around since Hallowe'en two years ago. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Fortunately Karin and family are in Ottawa; so we get to see the grand-twins. Sara's in Vancouver.

I'm a musician. Play viola in two orchestras and teach violin and viola. Active in the Canadian Viola Society (http://www.viola.ca) and I also run a food bank though I'm retiring at the end of January. I expect to still be volunteering, but I'm not gonna have the final responsibility for getting the grant applications in, etc.

Gardening interests are wide though I've become a Hosta-holic. Also like my tomatoes. Am now paying for past sins in not marking things as well as I should have.

Look forward to getting to know those of you I've not already met.

Ann

You all might be interested in the fact that I am cancer Survivor too, for more than 30 years now! Said I might never have kids (wrong), fam prob thought I'd never get married, LOL (wrong again), I and my garden are just late bloomers!

Sandy,

That's great to remember your friend in such a nice way,,,,to use part of the nickname she gave you.,,,,,,, Ah, then your sister knows all the pro's and con's of such a business LOL

Ann,

oooohhhh, you name holder outer you,,,LOL,,,,,,,,You'll have to start posting pics of your Hostas to ID like Susan has.

Kelly