Faye-Please include Melissa and I will send her box to who ever she is paired up with. That being said I am so thankful for all my gardening group friends. That is what this month is all about, being thankful.

Melissa-Thinking of you today and so glad to see your post. We miss you when you are away.

Rena-I have your daylilies dug so they will go in the mail tomorrow. Be on the lookout for them.

Maryanne-I still owe you the daylily King Kahuna. Can you still receive plants? LMK and if not I will mail in the Spring for sure.

Where is everyone at? This is the slowing down month so come on ladies and join this swap. Hope to see more participating.

Shirley

Stopping in to say hello. I won't be swapping this month, but I'll sure come by to say hello as we work our way though November. With family out of town, Christmas gifts need to be bought way in advance and mailed early so this will be a busy month for me.

The weather has been so nice here. I still have flowers in bloom. However, I seem to notice that the plants are producing less seeds than usual. Maybe it has been too warm for them to realize it's time to produce those seeds? Who knows.

I hope everyone is safe after Sandy. That storm sure kept the weather reporters busy for a long time. I was in Buffalo ready to fly through Boston and DC when it hit so my flights got cancelled. I got rebooked a day earlier and was able to stay out of the storm. Yes, thankful for that! The airlines did everything the right way this time although I did spend hours (no exaggeration) on the phone on hold waiting to rebook my flights.

...and if you didn't already know, I got to meet Remy when I was in western New York. What a treat! With Remy, I saw the Buffalo Botanical Garden and it's great! My trip included visits to several botanical gardens and the National Arboretum... plus all sorts of other great places.
Jeanne

Hello everyone,
I hope we get more to people to join this swap. I would hate for my first host to be a flop:)
So far these people have joined the swap.

nottougly
brittneysgran
Melissa
sguanzon

But we still have a week for sign ups.
Faye!

Jeanne-So glad you enjoyed your trip and got to meet up with Remy. The weather here has been nice as well, yesterday and today in the 70's.

Faye-Hopefully some others will check out your swap and join.

Shirley

Faye, this sounds like a swap that I could handle, if I have time to join before the deadline.
I've been thinking about joining a couple of these groups, but need to find out the details.

Ruth-Please join in this swap we would love to have you. You need to become a member of the group by trading with other members and I know you have already traded with Vina, Annie and Dianne so please join in this swap and welcome to the Our Blooming Friends Group.

Shirley

Where is everyone at?
I know it is getting to be a busy time of year but lets
all show how thankful we are for our gardens, friends and family in our life.
Lets be thankful for the things we have in live.
Faye!

Sorry, I haven't been around, I have been sick. I would like to join:)

Faye-I think Ruth wanted to join in this month and she has been approved for membership. I wanted to send her an e-mail but it doesn't show up on her page. Hopefully she will see the posts.

Welcome jlee, sorry you have been sick. This time of year is bad for the sniffles, flu and colds.

Shirley

Faye,

I would love to play "Be Ya Thankful" with the OBF'ers.
Count me in!

Thanks for hosting Faye!

Annie

Hello, Lovely Ladies-I do so want to sign up for this swap. Please put me with someone who is patient, kind, understanding,(I know you all are) but I just don't have a great selection of seeds left over as I decided to mix all mine up for a "Lemonade Mix" as I had so many & thought it would be interesting. It was, but not sure I have much left! I am so very thankful for the many blessings that are continually bestowed upon me by the Lord, including my GW friends. Do we know any of our group that was affected by "Sandy". I would like to know so we could include something in our December swap to help them out. Pray you
are all doing well. We are supposed to get into the 70's tomorrow so hope to finish up some outside things. Blessings, Margaret

Good morning everyone. The sun is shining!!! YEAH. Looks to be a beautiful day today, thank God!

It took me a minute to find this, as I didn't see OBF, perhaps that's where some of the delay in response is? In any event, I cannot play this month, although I will be looking in from time to time. Great theme Faye!

The biggest thing I have to be thankful for this year, I'm above gorund and breathing, and that's major. I wrapped up cardiac rehab as of Wednesday, and it really was bittersweet to know I won't be going back, the therapists were amazing. I am so thankful for the care and concern and what they taught me, both physically and mentally. Now I just have to continue a decent exercise program on my own.

I cannot believe we are this far into the year already. Where oh where did 2012 go?

Stay safe everyone, keep warm!
Maryanne

It is a great day to be thankful for.
My thoughts and prayers are with everyone affected by Hurricane Sandy and now the snow storm. But God only gives us what we can handle and it will make us stronger.

I am going to extend the sign up deadline until Monday Nov-12 @ 7pm. I will be off of work at Amazon and I will post partners within a couple of hours later. Hopefully we can get more people to sign up. If not then it will be a sweet, simple small happy group of gardeners.

So everyone you have until Monday Nov - 12 @ 7pm to sign up.

hazelnut keep your chin up there is a ray of sunshine

around the corner just for you and yours.

sandlapper_rose I am sorry you will not be joing us this

month. This are getting busy already for Christmas.

ruthz I hope you can join us this month. The swap is

sweet and simple. Sign ups until Mon @7pm. Then in a

small flat rate box we will mail a card, Chocolate

treat, 3 packs of seeds and a garden surprise. There

will be a game and a prize. Mail by Nov - 26. Come and join in the fu.

jlee160 Welcome to the swap and I hope you are feeling better.

Thanks for joinging in the swap Annie and welcome.

Margaret_2007 welcome to the November swap.
I have found that most gardeners are kind, considerate, patient and very understanding. You will be OK.

So far we have in this swap:

nottougly
brittneysgran
Melissa
sguanzon
canyonwind
jlee160
margaret_2007
and maybe ruthz

Oh what a beautiful day it was today. I moved several peonies to a bigger spot. They had gotten so big they outgrew their original spot. My Niece invited me to supper and made some delicious potato soup. My DD and GD was invited as well so we all played sequence after the meal. Has anyone ever played sequence? I've played alot of card and board games but it is my favorite.

Faye-Hopefully Ruth will get back with you on joining the swap. I thought more would sign up for this swap but maybe they are all busy.

Shirley

Hi,
Sorry everyone for not posting partners last night.
I fell asleep.
I will post partners tonight when I get home from work.
I just wish we had more players.
Anyone else want to join?
I will also post a game by Thursday.
Have a great day everyone.
Faye!

Hello everyone,
Here is the partners list.
Everyone needs to contact there partner for the
shipping address.
I will post a game on Thursday.

margaret_2007 sends to jlee160
jlee160 sends to canyonwind
canyonwind sends to brittneysgran
sguanzon sends to nottougly
nottougly sends to Melissa
Melissa sends sguanzon
brittneysgran sends to margaret_2007

Just popped on to check in, and I noticed my name on the partners list. Started to get worried, since I didn't think I had signed up, so I scrolled to the top to go through all the posts and found Shirley's. And all I can say is wow. It is reasons like this that this group is so wonderful and why I am glad to be a part of it.
Shirley, THANK YOU so much for thinking of me and including me. It was such a sweet thing to do and I appreciate it so much. You are a dear lady, and I'm happy to call you a friend. :)

Thank you to everyone that has posted an encouraging message and/or prayed for me during the past few weeks. I know many don't know what to say, but even the virtual "hugs" have been great.
Physically, I'm doing better- still have to get my iron levels back up, so my energy is really low, too.
But I've been working on a memorial garden for the twins. It's coming together slowly, but I'm sure in spring I'll be able to finish it up. It's a partial shade garden, under a maple tree. So right now, I'm trying to get some bulbs planted. I may not make it in time, though, before the ground gets too hard. We've already had 3 hard freezes!
I am going to combine the 2 memorial gardens when I get the chance (we've got another one for my daughter Blessing's twins that I lost back in '09....we're trying to figure out why I can't carry twins to full term). So it'll be a fairly good sized garden when it's finished. It's just finding the time & energy to work on it that's difficult. :)

Anyway. Thank you all for including me this month. You are all a very special group of ladies.
Hugs to all!

Hello, Lovely Ladies-Partners are out & just now getting my computer back working so I can find out who my partner is. I am pleased to get a new member (I think) & sent an email to her this morning. Jlee-Please let me know if you don't receive as I sent through Garden Web. I am so thankful for so many blessings bestowed upon me & what a great swap this is. Have a wonderful day. Blessings, Margaret

Shirley, sent you an email a few minutes ago.

Bunny, you are always in my thoughts and prayers! Be well!

Happy day to all....

Annie

Shirley, sent you an email a few minutes ago.

Bunny, you are always in my thoughts and prayers! Be well!

Happy day to all....

Annie

Annie-I responded back LMK if you don't get it.

Margaret-Glad your computer is up and running again. I would be lost without my computer. I would actually give up TV before my computer. It's such a fun way to stay up with friends and family.

Faye-You did a good job on pairing everyone up, looking forward to sending to the ones I have.

Night ladies

Shirley

Here is the game I promised.
My brother had a heart attack yesterday and I
was at the hospital most of the night.
That is why I am a day late.
The first person to answer and post all 10 questions
correctly will win a surprise box of gardening items.
Good Luck.

1.In what year did the first American Thanksgiving celebration take place?
A. 1900
B. 1492
C. 1621
D. 1776

2.Where was the first American Thanksgiving celebration held?
A. Plymouth, Massachusetts
B. New York, New York
C. Jamestown, Virginia
D. Boston, Massachusetts
3.The Native Americans who were invited to the first Thanksgiving feast belonged to the Wampanoag tribe. Who was the chief of this tribe?
A Squanto
B Samoset
C Cheyenne
D Massasoit

4.How long did the first Thanksgiving celebration last?
A. One day
B. One week
C. Three days
D. Four days

5.In 1863, this person encouraged Abraham Lincoln to set aside the last Thursday in November as a "day for national thanksgiving and prayer."
A. Martha Hale
B. Betsy Ross
C. Sarah Josepha Hale
D. Sarah Lee

6.What does the term "Cornucopia" mean?
A. Corn husks
B. Horn of plenty
C. A Greek god
D. A traditional corn dish

7. Which president declared Thanksgiving a national holiday?
A. George Washington
B. Thomas Jefferson
C. Abraham Lincoln
D. Franklin Roosevelt

8.The first Thanksgiving Parade was sponsored by a famous
store that was also well-known for it�s Holiday window display? Was it
A. Macys
B. Gimbels
C. Bambergers
D. Lord and Taylor

9.Which was the beverage of choice for the Pilgrim settlers?
A. Beer
B. Wine
C. Distilled Spirits

10.What year was the first Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade held?
It featured Central Park zoo animals, people in costumes, and floats.
A. 1920
B. 1924
C. 1930
D. 1945

Here are the guesses that my kids came up with. It was a fun history lesson for them, especially the little ones that haven't studied Thanksgiving yet! :)

1- C
2- A
3- D
4- C
5- C
6- B
7- C
8- B
9- A
10- B

Melissa-Hope the kids got all of them correct but I'm sure they did.

Faye-So sorry to hear about your Brothers heart attack. I hope he is going to be alright. Hugs and prayers for you and your family.

Shirley

Congradulations hazelnutbunny and kids!!!!
All the answers are correct. They did a real good job.
I will get your surprise prize package mailed out to you.
Faye!

Yeah we have the winners.....

Went to see Breaking Dawn II with my Daughter, Granddaughter and Niece, wow it was the best one yet.

Hope to mail my packages Tuesday.

Shirley

missed this one no obf in headline is my excuse. so ignore my request to bunny to have her kids step in but next one we have no hostess for maybe they can step up. I went to see breaking dawn with daughter today, loved it. gonna get it when its on dvd so I can watch them all at once, sorry I missed this one. I have been too lazy to do much lately hugs to all my bloomin friends carol

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone in OBF! Have a great day. I really love Thanksgiving (or any holiday for that matter.)
Jeanne

Shirley,

"BE YA THANKFUL" was sent your way yesterday (Tuesday). I would think you might get it on Friday/Saturday as Thursday is Turkey day.

DC # 0312 2860 0000 3063 6507

To all the OBF'ERS, a very Happy Thanksgiving. Wherever you may be, enjoy, be happy, laugh, have tons of fun and be safe!!

I am truly thankful for it all, the little things, the big things, the not so good things and everything in between!!
Life is pretty darn good (knock on wood)..................

Annie

Annie

Sure hope everyone had a wonderful thanksgiving day!

Hello, Lovely Ladies. I just sent the package out to Jen. Oh, my. Now I am concerned about everything being crushed & not in good shape at all when it gets there & I still didn't get all in I wanted to. The confirmation # is
0311 2550 0001 5574 8236. I sure hope it gets there fast! Had a great Thanksgiving & pray you all did too. So Much to be thankful for & really enjoyed this swap with it's easiness to do. Thanks for hosting, Faye. I will be posting December's exchange sometime next week & plan on making it just as simple as this one. It is such a busy time & enough stress without having alot to do swapping. The weather has changed dramatically here. Yesterday in the 60's-today in the 30's & high winds. Nothing like living in Iowa! Have a great weekend. sll. Blessings, Margaret

Margaret-Glad to see you are ready for the December exchange, looking forward to it. Yes we have so very much to be thankful for. Hope to mail your thankful package Monday....I'm so behind.

I received my fantastic thankful package from Annie and loved it all. Annie you sent way above what was required...thank you so much.

Homemade Santa soap...love homemade soaps
Sonoma socks...so soft and warm, like the colors too
Cluster of grapes ornament
Brugs:Double Sam, Double Mon Amar De Marevil, Double Peach
(When I get these rooted I will plant them and grow indoors until Spring)Yeah...
Bag of Hersheys chocolate candy
Bag of 3 musketeers candy
These tomato seeds: Carbon, Sophie's Choice, Prudens Purple, Orange Minsk, San Marzano-I really like trying different tomatoes and look forward to planting these in the Spring.

Sue-Your package will go out Monday...sorry for being so late.

Shirley

Hello ladies, hope everyone had a wonderful thanksgiving. ours was a little laid back this year, more so thann in recent years, but there was plenty of food and leftovers and more than enough to make meals for a program i have been cooking for for about 25 years.

lots of great stuff sent this swap. how can you go wrong with socks!!!! my most favorite piece of clothing. i look forward to reading about december's, and hope to join in.

it sure got real cold all at once...too cold in fact.

anyone venture out for black friday? i did it for the first time in my life with a few friends...can i say i will never do it again? it was insane, but at least none of the horror stories i have read about in the past, or seen on the news.

be well all!
maryanne

Margaret- thank you for the wonderful package! I ended up grapping the mail on my way to my youngest's piano lesson and opened it while I was waiting. The girls ended up eating the snowmen on the way home. My oldest (age 10) said " please tell her thank you very much, they were very good:)" my youngest (8) said "tell her thank you very much, that was very nice, and they are very tempting to eat"
Margaret sent candycane marshmellow snowmen for my two kiddos, a giant symphony bar (yum) gardening gloves ( perfect) christmas cactus- which is beautiful- I love the color! hot chocolate, and some great seeds that I can't wait to try:)Thank you!

Annie- I will be mailing yours out tomorrow.

Jlee-I am so thankful you are pleased. I was concerned everything would be smashed beyond recognition as I really squeezed to get everthing in. And I am glad you received it today. Tell the girls they are very welcome! Sorry about the shortage of seeds as I explained, I mixed alot of mine into a Lemonade mixture this Spring & planted in my containers. It turned out very interesting & quite pretty.
Hoping all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. So very much we have to be thankful for living in this country.
I will be posting December's exchange sometime this week, I hope. I do want it to be as simple as this one with no one getting stressed out! Have a wonderful week. Blessings, Margaret

Maryanne-I never do the black Friday shopping but my family rented a place in another town and everyone who went wanted to shop after our meal. Wal-Marts deals started at 8:00 and 10:00 p.m. thanksgiving day so I ended up at the local Wal-Mart....Wow never again. My Niece had everyone standing at different locations trying to get the deals she needed. I was standing in front of the X Box 360 game case....good grief when the Wal Mart associate opened up the case at exactly 8:00 she and I were shoved up against the glass. People are nuts and I mean nuts. Before the case was opened they talked to you and acted normal but they are not normal. My DD I found out later was in a confrontation with another lady on another isle. That lady was one lucky person not to have got a butt-kicking. DD does nothing but work-out and take kick-boxing classes. Never again for me I hate to go to jail for fighting because I know I would not like the food. LOL

I got my packages mailed today....should deliver Wed.

Shirley

Annie- here is your conf # 9101969000940653251743

Hi Ladies! I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. We just had our family + my parents, which was great. I'm feeling much better, but still haven't gotten all my energy back just yet so I'm not sure I could've entertained extended family! My 16yr old cooked the turkey, and it turned out wonderful.

Shirley~ Glad to hear you're not writing from jail! LoL! I have never done the black friday shopping, but my MIL and uncle go every year they can. My uncle is a tiny, wiry little 64 yr old guy...but STRONG! People always underestimate him and try to take things from him or out of his cart. He has yet to lose an item, though. He's a tough fighter and not afraid of anything! We love to tell the story of the VCR of '89. Some poor fella tried to take it out of my uncle's cart, and my uncle jumped on his back, started pulling his hair, and pulled the guy's pants down. NUTS, but effective! So being as some of the loonies doing the shopping are in my family, and I know what they're capable of...I stay as far away from that as possible! :)

I've been doing a lot of baking to make a little extra money. Hubby sells my banana bread to a few guys he works with, mostly to those whose wives don't know how to bake, LoL! It's not much, but every little bit helps! It's something I enjoy doing, and doesn't take much effort, so it all works out. :)

Hard to believe this year is nearly over! Wow! And I haven't even started my Christmas shopping yet, there has just been too much going on. Keeping my fingers crossed that I'll be able to do it this year!

Hope everyone has a great week!
Hugs to all!

Okay so after reading this I'll know to stay away from stores on Black Friday - or late on Thanksgiving Day since some of the stores have now decided that's a good day to have a sale.
I hope everyone is doing well. Back to cleaning house. Can you tell I get easily distracted from it and on to something more fun?
Jeanne

Melissa-Too funny about your Aunt and Uncle. Can you believe someone would take something out of someone's buggy. Sheesh that calls for slugging it out. I will admit I have a terrible temper and no way will someone get the last lick in. They laugh at me at work all the time. I have never and I mean never started a confrontation but I will not back down from one. If a turkey is cooked right they are delicious. I would rather have turkey over ham.

It's rainy and cold here today. I need to get Christmas decorations out but the mood has not hit me yet. I have packed up most of my Fall decorations, can't believe how many of those I have now. DH is off this week-end so maybe he can help if I wait for him. He went hunting this morning and killed an 8 point deer. He really likes deer meat and I cook it for him but I don't eat it. I guess if I got hungry enough I would be glad to eat it.

Hi Jeanne-When you finish your house cleaning come and help me please.

Shirley

I took last week off to clean my house before T'giving and did not get one d**m thing done. Very disappointed in myself. but I slept most of the time...must have had a bug of somekind ---anyway, my box should be going out today Faye, so sorry to be late.Hope you like!

Sue G

Hello everyone,
I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and are getting there houses cleaned. I had to work half a day on Thanksgiving and have only had one day off since then. Amazon is busy this time of year!!!! I will clean house after Christmas maybe. I managed to get tomorrow off so I will catch up with everything tomorrow.
Melissa your box is in the mail. Confirmation #9405 5036 9930 0216 6901 86

Good night and everyone have a great Friday.
Faye!

I am so tired I just posted this on godsgarden post for 2013 new years fresh seed swap. I am sorry everyone for screwing this up.

I received my terrific box from Shirley on Melissa's behalf on Thursday - here's what I got:

Harvest sign
bag of chocolate covered vanilla creme drops
Scarecrow (how cute!)
Turtle (adorable)
Rocks with faces on them (double adorable!)
A beautiful plant whose name escapes me maybe there is a marker inside
and seeds!
Himilayan knotweed
Ivy leaf mg
cup and saucer vine
datura black currant swirl
3 types of DL crosses all evergreen or semievergreen
Sunflower dwarf Teddy Bear
MG Tree pale pink
Coneflower Sundown
Echinaca Milkshake

Shirley you know me soooo well -everything is perfect!

Faye, sorry to be late but I wanted to put more thought in your box and you should have it by Mon - Tues at the latest.

Thanks again Shirley (Melissa)!

Jen,

I opened my wonderful package last night.....

I received....

*a very nice card
*Lindt Lindor Smooth Chocolate Truffles (a very generous package).....they are quite delicious!!!!
*head of Garlic (Chesnok Red).....I do LOVE garlic. I do not have this variety. My house could smell of garlic 24/7 and I would be in heaven.
*Seeds....Datura Lilac Le Fleur, Nicotiana "Saratoga Purple", Poppy "Barnbash", Balsam Impatiens, Columbine "Clemintine Rose"
*Vine Supports...a package with twist ties, plastic discs and adhesive to train vines.....love this!!

Jen, this was awesome......loved everything!!!

Thanks so much!!

Annie

Sue-so glad you liked your box, the plant is blue spiderwort. It was on your want list so I thought you might still be looking for it. The turtle hangs on the side of a pot. I left your card out where everything I sent was listed!!!!! Go figure

Sure hope Margaret received hers I mailed them the same day.

Annie-A nice box from Jen.

The weather here is gorgeous and is supposed to be warm through the middle of next week. Yeah I'm getting ahead now on the flower bed clean-ups.

Shirley

Annie, I am glad you liked your package:) I am a garlic lover as well, and cannot wait to have home grown! I really want to try making a lebonese garlic spread- so yummy!!! Take care:)

Hello, Lovely Ladies-Received my box yesterday from Shirley, (brittneysgran). Thanks so much & thanks for making a list of it all so I can make sure I get all the great things you sent! Pilgrims, darling turkey, Rock Pal with baby Rock Pal (haven't seen these before) so will put them in my houseplants as Shirley uses hers for, Large package of Chocolate Mints, (I am a chocoholic) & these will be put to good use, Plant Arum Itallicum, will look this up & need to know if it is an outside plant & perennial. The ground is still not frozen here & supposed to be in the 60"s today & tomorrow. Seeds: zinna (purple prince) jobs tears, siberian iris, caesars brother, plumbago leadwort, hollyhock double purple, datura black currant, cosmos bright lights, daylily my special angel X?-Rebloomer, sink into your eyes-X jamaican me happy-rebloomer. Can't wait to get these in the ground. Thanks so much, Shirley, you made my day.
Pray all are having a great weekend. I will be posting December's swap either later today or tomorrow. I am looking forward to it & hope we have lots of OBF members sign up. I will do my best to make it simple, fun, encouraging & uplifting for all. Blessings, Margaret

I received a terrific box from Faye today! She included a pink sparkly notepad with matching pen, a mini garden flag, a BUNCH of seeds, a dragonfly pot hanger and a chocolate snowflake!
Thank you, Faye! I enjoyed everything (and the girls enjoyed helping me open it...and I think one of them took off with the notepad! lol!)
Thank you Shirley & Faye for including me this month! :)

Hello,
I received my package from Sue today and it was a nice surprise.
Amazon is so busy right now I have not had time to do anything yet.
Sue sent a lovely box of chocolate mints, a beautiful card, a small garden flag (which I love sunflowers Sue) and she sent these seeds.
Sunflower, Strawberry Blonde,
Sunflower, Chanti,
Jap. Moening Glories, Lavendar
Gailardia Frenzy
and 2 packs of Zinnia.
thank you so much Sue.
Thank you everyone for participating in this swap. I really do appreciate all of you.
Faye!

Hello everyone,
I was so tired the other night when I posted what Sue had sent that I forgot the plant.
She sent a pretty velvety plant. No name was included but it is pretty.
Sue what is the name of the plant+_^&*(?
Thanks,
Faye!