The only thing Dave has said that I can disagree with, is that it's 'simple' to find all your posts by typing in your user name in a search. Yes, it does bring up all your posts, but it doesn't bring them up in chronological order. If you've been here for years as many have, you could have many pages of posts to review before you might stumble upon your most recent posts. I gave up on trying to find my posts in that way. I did decide to 'check the box' on each thread I post to, so that it will be sent to my email. That was not easy either. I had to contact support because after repeated efforts to set my account to allow emails, it wasn't changing it. Once I did contact Tamara, they did change it and now I do get emails for the threads I'm following. But, I don't always get them and sometimes they come into my email box days later. lol But, for now, that is working the best so far for trying to keep up with threads I am following. But my email box is now needing a lot more time weeding out. I use the Cornell site to read reviews on different vegetable varieties and like that site. I have however started following others' suggestions that Google/Gardenweb searches turn up better results than GW and have found that works better for me sometimes. I try the search function and if the results are just too random and I find myself *sighing*, I just start a new thread and ask for what I need. edit: I see someone above has said, that sometimes other members 'insist I do a search'. I have rarely had that happen to me, thankfully. My way of looking at it is, that every subject we discuss is a repeat of some earlier discussion. Some of the forums, especially over the winter, are so inactive, that any discussion is a bonus, even a repeat one. If we all did searches and found the answers we needed, we wouldn't need to be discussing live every day. And btw, even if you find posts on the subject you are looking for, they are not always giving you what you want. Sometimes there will be 3 posts on a thread. Or the exact question you wanted to ask was not discussed. Or the person on the forum with the most experience was not on that day. This post was edited by prairiemoon2 on Fri, Jun 27, 14 at 17:07

Now I feel bad for having inadvertently kicked this off... WG had every right to reply as she did, and I took no offense. I'm new to this forum, and there's absolutely no reason that I deserve her trust... I hope I will earn it in time, but there are many good reasons for her to be cautious. As others have posted, there are very good reasons NOT to trust other people. I find it astonishing that someone who opens their garden to others would risk the kind of theft that has been described, but I have to believe that it's true... very, very sad, but true. Personally, I'm one of those naive folks who believe that gardeners are a species unto themselves, and I tend to treat them as trusted friends just because they're gardeners. I hope that they will be enthusiastic, willing to share successes and failures, and willing to teach and learn, depending on the circumstances. Above all, though, I expect them to be 100% honest with each other. Hearing that others have had experiences which cut into that trust does not make me think less of the person involved. It just makes me sad that such caution is necessary. Whitegarden, please understand that I took no offense whatsoever from your caution... I understood it fully, and accepted it as a perfectly reasonable response. You're under no obligation to trust anyone just because they are taking part in this forum... period. Hopefully some day I'll earn that trust, but in the meantime, please keep contributing... your wisdom and experience are absolutely invaluable!

I think it depends on where you want this to go. A lot of BIG protential problems don't show up when you are just "visiting" and are not together day in and day out for ages at a time. But the distance itself causes problems as well. Sigh, it is so easy for everything to seem great when you're together and then to blame all the problems on the distance..... If I were you, i certainly would not do anything drastic, like one of both of you moving, for a really really long time. And also, until you know each other's friends and family very well. And if he does not have close long-term friends, then take that as a warning as well. I found out the hard way.

Forms...ignore fuzzywuzzy's snotty post. Flick away the sting because we need you on this forum, and I for one do NOT want you to hold back a single word! I love your posts and will watch for them! I truly appreciated your response. There is such wisdom in your words, and I am thankful that you took the time to share your thoughts. They are a gift. I liked your response so much that I am downloading it, and I imagine citykitty will as well, as I am guessing that she may want to reread these words in the years to come. I also thought your response on another post dated April 17 on the estrangement forum was extraordinary! Your words have the capacity to bring about healing in the midst of the pain that relationships with others can bring. At times, we can become stuck because we can only see it through our own limited perspective, and our desire to be right. And yet, things can change by learning to look at it from another perspective, we had not really considered or pursued. It is like looking through a kaleidoscope; with a slight turn, the whole picture changes. So often, I think the same applies to life, and especially relationships with other people. We get so caught up in our viewpoint, and being right, and yet we can be so off base. And if we could just practice looking at various situations from various viewpoints, it could bring about a better perspective. So often, we do not come to this on our own. It is through the wise words of someone else, that can bring healing and peace and forgiveness. You have been that wise voice. Thank you.