HNB Neat picture! I see easter eggs...start looking for the toy, blanket, coloring book with easter eggs on it. LOL!

I think my plant is a Purple Heart? Does that sound right, girls? If that's the case, then it is definitely a houseplant here..it's only hardy in zones 9-11. Brrrrr...too cold here for the little bugger! :O)

I forgot to tell ya'll about the surprise I had Friday morning!!! My FIL and his new wife watch the kids on Thursday nights for us, (both DH and I work that night), ANYWAY. That night they brought pizzas for the kids with peach cobbler for dessert (homemade!) which is neat in itself, cuz FIL cooks, not his Wife!! lol And the kids don't get pizza very often at all..
And when I got up Friday morning, I noticed that FIL had mowed our yard! (cuz we haven't got a mower, he brought his own!) and he had bought 4 stepping stones for my flower beds!!!
WOW! Very pretty ones, with butterflies on them!!
I was soooooo tickled!!!!! Yesterday was a DEFINITE improvement on my week! :O)
That was the SWEETEST thing!! He's never bought anything for us before, let alone ME, the lowly DIL. :O)

OOohhh....I bet that is the inside of a plastic easter basket/bucket. Does your child have an easter basket in her room? If you look closely...you can see what resembles a barcode on the bottom....

HNB-You are correct the plant is Tradescantia pallida-Common Names: purple heart, purple queen, purple-heart tradescantia..... I've seen it as a ground cover in Florida.
Mariann

Deb, your box is being shipped out today, priority mail, with everything nice and fresh. I just got home from dividing my mum's back yard for her b-day (she had no idea that her daylillies stopped flowering because they were too crowded). So next month she should be knee-deep in blooms again.

Oh, Hey...Ya'll are right! I never even THOUGHT about it being the inside of a bucket! But, yeah..the boys DO have an easter bucket! I didn't even see the eggs until they were pointed out....! lol :O)

hubby say's its a lampshade, if she has one in her room. or the boy's room. he said see, very distinct light! LOL men! i'm so happy about the mint!! i want it to grow!! and i don';t want the mosquito's to keep coming around!! LOL
she does send very good selection!! and well talla just loves that ol frog, he had to come in for the night. LOL what am i gonna do? LOL we had so much fun last night, but i slept like a baby!! that's for sure, and today was fun with the sundayschool kick off, i was WAY out of my comfort zone, but i had fun face painting!! LOL my pics won't come thru, i sent them thru like many times! and hey still won't come thru, i even sent them to my email. no deal, i think it's just sprint. but i took pics of my morning glories, i have some pretty magenta colored ones, i thought they were the passaflora, but nope morninglory. they are gonna deliver my shower stuff wed.!!! yay!!! i am so thrilled. but lowes lost our order. can you believe that? because the new guy doesn't like to keep the orders in there for over a week, that reeks!! but hubby got a copy befor and kept it, he's good about that and so we're going back to topeka to take it up there tomarrow, another 30+ miles we didn't need to drive. LOL but it gets me out of town!! just for a little while, he can take care of that while i "look" around. LOL i did get 3 new hosta's, just regular one's though, we don't ever have anything exciting here, except once i saw a chocolate calla!! i wanted that soooooo bad!!! but it was like 19.99 i think. no way i could really, how do you say that? tell my self that it was ok to spend that much on one single plant that i may end up killing, well that the dogs may kill. (now i dont' have them) i'd be more thinking about it now, but not for $19 LOL have a great weekend!! by the way, one of the hosta's have a flower on it, that's so darned cool!!! :')) life is sooo awesome!!! sometimes i think it can't get anybetter!!

Goodness...where IS everyone this morning?? Oh, well...it's a cool morning here, so I guess I should be out enjoying it too. :O)
I got a new rose yesterday!! YAY!! And it's NAMED!! And it's an antique!! YAY!! I'll post a picture later, and also the name, when I can type it all out! (it's a long one!) But I'm so excited! I put it smack dab in the middle of the daylilies Rox sent me! (well, allowing for breathing room & sun light, of course) :O) Definitely a good weekend. :O)

Michele---------------- Next time you see that chocolate calla, GET IT !! by golly!! Ya only live once!! So what if it dies, at least you enjoyed it!! :O) If I see one down this way, you can bet I'll snatch it for ya! :O)

i went to lowes and it's gone!! :'(( but i got some cana's shining pink, and fruity rose, and 3 hosta's aired marganita, hyacinthina, undulata albo marganita. one of them is varigated. pretty cool!! but i totally want the chocolate calla!! i'm learning if i have a little tiny bit of money to go ahead and spend it on my self that it's ok, just this once, them kids arent gonna die if i don't spend it on them!! LOL and the house won't fall apart ( lord i hope not!!) and hubby won't what ever!! he has all the money anyhows! but when talla goes to school it will be all day, i will get some kinda job, maybe at somekinda nursery if we lived in town, and i thank God everyday we don't!! :')) tomarrow we go to his mom's house and do the corn stuff, will be fun, cuz we get to bring some home. YAY!!!
so wed we have shower stuff being delivered, and thurs we have frige and front door being delivered, we brought the rest home, he wants to put the stuff in, ummmm how do i say this nicely?? and pray he NEVER see's this??? plumbing, he's never done, i have, electric, he has, not me! i'm trusting but ya know!! yep that's all im gonna say. LOL we did get one of those little rectangle pools, i hope this one lasts a little longer than 1 month. last year tabor ran over the other one with the mower, he was just learning to mowe. little bugger!! he thought i was gonna kill him, as if!! i said, bay!! its just a darned ol pool!! so what if ya all can't swim anymore! LOL that was so mean, but that's ok, he felt so releived, then later on he goes mom, that was wrong, i was like "what??" all innocent like. LOL :')) but he was just laughin'
see hnb, i can remember SOME quotation thingi's. LOL just not all!! LOL it was sweltering here in ks!! but worse in topeka, we were coming home and the closer we got the cooler it got!! no buildings to block all the breeze!! LOL
have a great night!!

i'm gonna start to keep the names of everthing, or at least try to, LOL now all i have to do is try and get the names of the day lily's that i already have, at least that's what i think they are, they haven't bloomed yet, but they are kinda in the shade a little.

YAY!! So glad to hear you treated yourself! I know that's really hard when money is tight and you have kids. I always feel guilty, but I promise, you're kids won't hate you for it! LOL! Remember "When momma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy"

Good for you! Sounds like you got some lovlies!

Vela-sent your box out this morning.
DC# 0307 0020 0004 1308 8330
I hope I packed it well enough, this is my first time sending more than just 1 live plant and am afraid of what the Post Office can do to a package.

medontdo-I sent out your Dragon Fruit Seeds also.

Good morning everyone!! :O)

Well, my daughter did it again. Took off with my camera. Guess I'm gonna have to keep the thing locked up, seems a closed drawer isn't enough. Duh. :O)
But, she was just trying to take garden pictures like she sees mommy doing all the time, so I can't be TOO upset at her.

I thought I'd show you the better ones. :O) Although, she did have some EXTREME close ups of the cat...but I thought you'd rather not see them this early in the morning. lol

Here's her view of the marigolds.
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And her picture of our pumpkin.
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Elijah wanted to share his caterpillar with you..even curled up, it's as big as a ping pong ball. But more hairy. ICKY.

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My first morning glory!! (I know..but I planted them late, they are from seeds that I got from Melanie when I first joined!!) :O)
{{gwi:1290080}}

And....my Orange rose!! I just can't help but show this off, it has people staring at it!! It's the bright spot in my yard, for sure! And this is it's 3rd bloom! Can't wait for more!! :O)

I just thought it would be appropriate to remind everyone what the postman boogie can do to a package. (for those who aren't sure....: the postman boogie is the little dance that the postman does on your box when it's in perfect shape. You see, postmen cannot fathom why anyone in their right mind would want a perfectly square box. If it's not concave in the middle, missing a side, or have a tear down the front that would sink the Titanic....then it's just not acceptable. Period.)

......Cover your eyes, Melanie...I know it's still painful.....

Miraculously, all the plants in question survived. Names have been changed to protect the innocent. (Salvia now prefers to be called Sylvia. Balloon flower goes by Baboon now.)

OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHSOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOpainful...But, I just still cannot understand what in the world made them do that. Maybe they thought that since I was shipping so many plants they needed to check for the "happy plants" ya know the smoken Joe kind...LOL what ever. They are nuts.

You scared me there for a second, HNB. I just saw the picture first and thought it happened to someone else's box. Whew!

Got my funny item finally....I hope you like it Fishymamas!

Laurie

Hey gals! We had such a nice weekend! My little baby cousin got married. The youngest of the bunch! Brings a tear to my eye! I used to change his diapers! Now he is all grown up and beginning a family! Wow! Time flies! Here is a pic of the happy couple

Matt and Lindsey

We were all so proud of my niece Kayla for making it down the aisle. She was so nervous being the flower girl! Her Daddy met her at the end of the aisle with a big Smooch!

I hope all of you had a great weekend!
Tracy

Tracy
Beautiful pic's congrats.

Very nice wedding pictures! It sure is quiet here lately! Alana, I am going to try to get your box out tomorrow - but if not, then it will be next Monday. Some personal things came up this weekend, and it kind of had my mind occupied! Plus, during the whole wedding things, most of the plants I had starded died, as I negleted them pretty badly! (Good thing my kids aren't that fragile!!) Anyway, I picked up a few things while shopping today to send, and I will get my plants dug up - but I can't promise that it will get out yet tomorrow (so then I will wait till next Monday, so that things don't get stuck at the PO on Sunday - unless you all have okay luck sending on Wednesday...) Anyway, I will get it out soon! You all need to keep talking! I love hearing about everyone else's lives!

Oh... I drove past one of my neighbor's homes yesterday, and saw that she has beautiful burgandy hibiscus!! I don't know her real well, but I MIGHT get ballsy and ask her if I can get some of her seeds when they ripen! I don't know many of my neighbors all that well, but I guess I know her better than most of the rest of them, so maybe it won't be all that bad to ask!!

Becki: Don't ask her for seeds. I have burgundy hibiscus seedlings that are about 6" tall already. Nice and healthy, leaves are about 3" wide. I can send you some if you don't mind first class! Let me know!
Tracy

Oh, Tracy! That is so incredibly sweet of you!! I would love that! I have some hibiscus seedlings too - sadly I lost track of which was which, but I know none were burgandy! If you would like a "mystery" hibiscus in return, please let me know - or check out my trade page for seeds you might like - I would gladly send them, if you are intrested! Thank you for your very generous offer!!!

Becki: That sounds like fun! A mystery hibiscus would be a great addition. I was just looking at the little buggers today wondering what I was going to do with them. I don't have another site prepared yet and they will need to be transplanted soon. I plan on starting a new sunny area but the ground has been so rock hard without the rain that I didn't feel like killing myself digging up the grass! Now I have some motivation! Not to mention we finally got some rain around here so it won't be as tough! Yippee! email me and I will send them out! How many do you want? They do get huge! My mature ones are only 3 years old and are 5 feet tall and almost as wide! I divided one of them this year and it is only 3 feet tall and 2 feet wide.
Tracy

Hey Guys!

I'm finally back. Boy what a week!

I told you about spending a couple of days at a girlfriends and going to tour some more daylily gardens. It was great!!! Even if it was 95 degrees and 70% humidity.......talk about a sauna!

My friend is doing some remodeling and is eliminating a 'Florida' room......she gave me 6.....count 'em 6 sliding glass doors. What am I gonna do with 6 sliding glass doors you ask? Well, hopefully I can convince my DH to build me that greenhouse I have wanted for 30 years. After all....I've got the glass! Sounds like a plan to me.

The minute I got home we took off to Virginia for the weekend to visit the grand-baby. I guess I should stop calling him 'the grand-baby'......he's 5 years old......but he's the only one and is likely to stay that way. Why can't they stay little forever....He is growing up entirely too fast.

Hazelnutbunny: I am soooooo glad you liked your box. If I could have found a bigger box I would have sent more lilies!!!

Well, I got a lot of reading to catch up on, so I better get started.

Rox

Tracy - that is so funny! I have the same problem, with nowhere to plant them! Somehow my hibiscus seedlings made it through the wedding "drought" (I think becuase they had already been transplanted into larger containers, not the jiffy pellets all the other guys were still in - they WEREN't so lucky!) I finally planted 3 of them out yesterday, not worrying about if it was a good place for them or not - I just had to plant SOMETHING!! I have been trying so hard to figure out a good place for them! Anyway, I'll email you! Thanks you again!
Becki

Rox - how fun! As soon as you said sliding glass doors, I knew where you were going! My husband picked up 3 big windows a while back that were marked "FREE" on the curb. He keep promising he is going to build me a greenhouse - now if he can just find the time to do it! A month or so ago, I had a lady pick up some stuff I had offered on Freecycle.com, and I wasn't home when she came. She left a note saying that if we didn't need them, she would love to have those big windows sitting outside for her greenhouse - I thought, nope - that's my greenhouse!

that' what i want big ol windows for!! LOL sometimes i see them just laying besides a persons house and i wanna go up and knock on the door and ask if they are getting rid of them!! but hubby'd kick my but!! i sent your package today roxy! i forgot a few things, luckily bay was sleeping so you got very lucky!! LOL now he's making pancakes by scratch. although last night he did help me pack it all and we learned how to do it the way the one lady sent my stuff to me. so i hope it comes to your house good!! and it has breathers. hnb, your little one is a hoot!! LOL and thank you guys!! sometimes we all need a little reasurance i guess, i always feel guilty!! LOL and thank you nuthatch. of course i'll have to wait till spring to plant but it really gives me something to work on my garden plan over the fall and winter months!! LOL :'))

Just a reminder for everyone to have their boxes out by August 1st, so that we can begin the next swap! (speaking of the next swap.....WHO WANTS TO HOST THE NEXT SWAP???? Come on. Ladies!! Ya know you want to!!) :O)

Here's the list I have so far, correct me if I'm wrong:

Chrystal to Laurie - received
Laurie to fishy
Diene to Galium
Poison to Medont - received
Medont to Rocky
HNB to Nuthatch - received
Dirt to Tracy
Tracy to dirt
Debbya to Chrystal
Rocky to HNB -received
Galium to Becki- received
Fishy to Debbya - Sent
Becki to poison
Nuthatch to Vela - Sent

Am I missing anyone?

Hey Bunny! How are ya? Are the kids minding their P's and Q's this week? My camera disappears with the 17 year old on a regular basis lately! He bought a 1985 thunderbird in mint condition and keeps taking pictures of it and emails them to his friends and then posts on myspace! I go looking for the darn thing for my flowers or my ebay pictures and end up waisting half the day searching for the camera! Man, when I find it am I grumpy!

Dirt and I will be exchanging after she gets back from "Hippie-ville". I think she gets back around the 3rd. If you want to close the swap without us that will be ok with me. We can post the results on the next swap or something.

I won't have time in August to do the next swap, but I would love to host a Sept or Oct fall swap.(I'm thinking about my favorite day of the year, Halloween, as a theme) if the group is still going.
I have had so much fun with each of our swaps so far. I love selecting plants and seeing what everyone gets and all those great garden photos. You guys have given me a lot of ideas for next years gardens!

Ok....I will host the next swap if no one else volunteers.

Laurie

YAY! Laurie!!! She's all yours, darlin'!! :O) You'll be a great hostess! :O) (I could make a joke here and say "it's cuz you're a ding dong! ha ha...get it...hostess..ding dong...... SIGH. Okay. I'm used to the cricket noises...) :O)

VERY NICE wedding pictures!!

OH Bunny, MUST you remind us of the postman boogie? LOL!

YAY!!!! My box is coming, my box is coming!!!

Laurie!! WOOOHOOOOO new hostess with the mostess!! You said it, YOU'RE IT GIRL!! (I won't be able to join, but I'll stop in and say "hey")

Poison....Halloween theme sounds neat!! And, by the sounds of it, there is going to be an August swap with Laurie as the hostess, so that means you're up for the next one! LOL!! Killed the next two swaps with one stone!

This Make New Friends swap has been a great brainchild Diene! So glad you thought of it!!

Loving the "sneaky kids with camera" stories...I have had a few picture stories myself....the worst was when the kids totally trashed their rooms and then took pictures of it...that was back before I had a digital camera...so I had to get them developed. The people handed me the pictures with a look of disgust on their faces like "I can't believe this woman lets her kids live like that" LMAO!! I mean that room was TRASHED....I was horrified!

Bunny..."chirp chirp, chirp chirp" eyes looking around to see if anyone else is thinking the same thing....then

"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!! HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!"

Oh, and tracy....I can't really blame the kid at all. That's a sweet ride! :O) Us children of the '80's can remember coveting those cars...along with the Camaro's and Firebirds..... My first car was a '79 mustang..factory hood scoop, ground effects, 17" aluminum wheels, silver w/red & black interior, moonroof......
My dream used to be an 87 Camaro ...T-Top, white with blood red interior.

Now, I'm more along the lines of a '67 mustang shelby 350 fastback. Or a brand new Honda Odyssey van. :O)

Yeah, I've matured a little and gotten more expensive in the process. SIGH. Kids will do that to you. :O)

LOL Bunny! Ahhh, you are a woman after my own heart! The car is a 1985 turbo coupe, only 60,900 miles on it, mint interior, navy and grey, grey metallic body, no rust, removable sun roof, fog lights, oh yeah, and it's FAST! I drove it on the highway last week on the way back from the mechanics where we had it checked out and punched it because of merging into heavy traffic with the crazy on-ramp that enters the highway at a curve, boy did she fly! I was up to 70 in a heart beat! She maneuvered perfect!

It won 1st place in show at Norwalk Raceway's Ford Fanatics car show last year. My cousin will be taking Ted out there to do some drag racing before the end of summer. I figure if he has a fast car he should stretch his legs at a track instead of next to some guy at a red light on the street! I know this may not be the popular opinion but I would rather he race it in front of us in a controlled environment than behind my back and be afraid to tell us when he gets into trouble. Being a teenagers mom... Rollin' my eyes, sighing, praying that it all turns out ok!

Nuthatch: Thank you for id'ing my lily. I was having a hard time with it. The stargazer and mona lisa were so similar that I couldn't decide between the two. Finally, I asked the lily forum folk what the difference was and found that mona lisa is a parent to stargazer and is much shorter and flowers earlier than mona lisa. You were dead on! Thank you!

Tracy

I agree with your parenting techniques, Tracy! My hubby had a drag racing truck last summer....that thing would get 0-60 in 4 seconds. Or less, if the tires would quit spinning. :O) So he had a lot of fun with that, until gas got so outrageous. He sold that, and got an acura (!) for him and the kids to build into a street car. My oldest will be 11 next week, and this is his first car. I'm thinking....bad idea, hubby, to get him one that will outrun anything WE have. lol But I totally agree with letting your son drag in a controlled environment. It will make you and him feel alot better KNOWING that he knows what the car is capable of and letting him learn how to control it.

Okay...I have a few for the D'OH! Files this morning. Before I embarass myself, let me show you the one thing I CAN do right. Roses! Of course! Isn't this one lovely this morning?

{{gwi:62153}}

Okay...Now on to the D'OH!! Files.... There's a few, so I'll number them.
1) I got some Balsam seeds this spring. That's how they were labeled, balsam, no pictures. So, hubby and I get excited, picturing balsam PINES! YAY! So we plant several, and when they sprout..I'm thinking...wait, that doesn't look like any pine I've ever seen! So, after some research, we decide we actually had IMPATIENS! :O) So....I've been waiting for these things to bloom, waiting...waiting...waiting....thinking they would bloom at the top, like most other flowers....but getting REALLY frustrated cuz they haven't bloomed yet. Then, this morning, Aubeni tells me.."Mommy, your flowers have flowers on them!" I look, and SURE ENOUGH! Right there at the base of the leaves! Little white flowers!
D'OH!

2) I have always thought 4 o'clocks were vines...similar to morning glories. So when I planted them this spring, some in pots, some in the flower bed, I was getting upset because there were all these "weeds" in the soil! My seeds weren't sprouting, just these nasty little bushy things! GGrrrrr! Then Melanie sent me a 4 o'clock in the last trade, and it STILL DID NOT register!! I've been waiting for this thing to start climbing and stuff....So I think, maybe it's stunted, and I need to do something. So, more research, and find out....these are the things I've been pulling up!! No WONDER my seeds haven't sprouted!
D'OH!!

3) Next...I planted some tomatoes and peppers in pots back in May, and set them next to my hubby's shed. AND FORGOT ABOUT THEM! I just found them this morning!!! Poor things are still alive..just very VERY wilted!
D'OH!

And that is all I"m gonna list this morning. I've got many more, I"m sure we all do...but I thought I'd let ya'll laugh at me for a bit. Anything to brighten up a yucky Tuesday! :O)

Okay, I put this thing over on the "name that plant" forum, and one guy says it's asparagus. LOl :O)
Seriously, though...I have NO IDEA what it is! Anyone here have a clue? It was sent to me by someone, and they didn't label it..and I didn't ask for it! I can't get in touch with them to find out what it is.

{{gwi:65900}}

I'm thinking either horse tail grass (not the curly kind) or some kind of bamboo????

Here is a pic from trionnursery.com along with their descritpion:
EQUSETUM HYEMALE HORSETAIL

A rush like survivor of the Dinosaur Age [Carboniferous age]

Slender , hollow 3 to 4 ft stems that are bright Green with Black and Ash colored rings at each joint.

An Effective plant in garden situations near water

Stunning look of Bamboo on a small scale

Looks like Bamboo to me also, with the hollow reeds.

Hmm...well, if that's the case...anybody want it?? :O) Not too crazy 'bout the bamboo...!

I'd take the boo from you if no one else speaks up for it. I'm game to anything - plus I have these neighbors.........lol Don't have much to trade you for it, but what you want? Maybe I can luck up on something you're looking for.
Carol B

LOL Carol, are you gonna put it in the neighbors yard and let it go WILD?

Ok...I am clueless as to a theme for the next one...geez...I will need to think about this...

Can you guys please pray for me? I was not looking for a new job, but one just popped in my lap today. A staffing agency saw my old resume online and e-mailed me. The job is $7.00 more per hour, for a multi-million dollar company. I hope everything works out.

Lauriann: That is great news! Back in my former working life I was a recruiter then moved on to human resources. If you need any help give me a buzz! I will pray extra hard that you get an awesome big money job!!!!

Oh, Laurie! That is so exciting! I am so happy for you! I will definitely say some prayers for you! This sounds like a great opportunity! Does it involve relocation?

Thanks girls.

It does not require relocation...in fact, it is only 8 miles from my house.

Cool! I'm in human resources too! Hmmm, we are resourceful people, we are!!!

Good Luck Laurie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Laurieann: Oh that would be so nice! My last job was 45 minutes away and sometimes over an hour and a half in the winter! Yuck-o!

Vela: Too funny! Two HR weanies in the same forum! LOL! Ah, but I am retired now... I remember all of the hopelessness weeding through all of the applications and resumes! Ugh! Traded resumes for actual weeds! LOL!

Wow! That would be awesome, Laurie! I will definitely pass your name along to my prayer group. That sounds like a great opportunity for you! :O)