YES! That's it! Donner! I have a terrible memory for names.

Donner (Sally) is in the middle of chemo for breast cancer... Her 4th round was Jan. 18, and I haven't heard from her since the night before it. She's a fighter, no surprise there, and thankfully the chemo is doing a good job of shrinking the tumor -- hooray! This is the first time that she'll miss the seed swap, but I figure we'll all have extra seedlings to share with her when she's ready. :-)

She and I are going to set up a private forum in my "Circles of Support" cubit, to make it easier for her to check in with folks without answering dozens of individual messages. She doesn't want to have a lot of public discussion about it, but I don't think she would mind my sharing her good news about the effectiveness of her treatment. When that's set up, I'll let folks know. Meanwhile, keep the prayers and good vibes coming!

F.L.A.G.! (Fight Like A Girl!)

I had no idea! I'm so sorry to hear about her cancer diagnosis but really glad to hear that chemo is working!

Thank you for the update, Jill. I know Sally usually helps with plant-quiz prep at the seed swap. If you talk to her, please let her know she'll be missed! I'm looking forward to her cubits page.

Didn't mean for you to be out of the loop... I found out at the amaryllis sorting last fall, and she and I have talked and Dmailed a few times too. I'll pass along the hugs & well wishes! I know we'll all be missing her on Sunday.

BTW, I saw that the seed swaps tool tried to cut off trading, so I tweaked it. I think you should be able to ask for seeds until Saturday night (11 pm or midnight), although most of us will be done with pre-trades by then.

My apologies for not getting a list up on the new tool. I just got really time-crunched and didn't have good access while down in FL. I do think the tool will be useful in future swaps, as we get the hang of it and I'll be ready next year! We might even be able to adapt it to plant swaps, although our "old" have/want thread method of keeping track might be more flexible.

I'm so sorry to hear about Donner. Thanks for letting us know, Critter, and please do pass on our good wishes.

Yes, please tell her we're all thinking of her!

I am just catching up after spending time down in South Carolina, but fortunately I packaged most of my seeds before I left.

Edited to say that the seed mix I have is a combination of Lobelia cardinalis (Cardinal Flower) and White Lobelia siphilitica, not a mix of blue and white Lobelia siphilitica. I also have bags of blue Lobelia siphilitica seeds.

Critter and others, I'll bring the mixed red and white Lobelia seeds as well as the blue Lobelia seeds in case you want to go for the red, white and blue look.

Do I have to package up the seeds and mail them thingy? I'm confused on why we would have to do such thing.

No, if you are attending, just bring them. That feature is for swaps done from a distance with a central person handling the distribution.

Thanks! I should have done the same, gotten seeds all packaged and ready before the holidays... it's just been a whirlwind of activities and traveling since Thanksgiving!

I just got a Dmail from Donner... she's doing better with this round of chemo, getting a little energy back today as she heads into the 3rd week of this cycle. She's on the same sort of schedule that I was, chemo treatment every 3 weeks that knocks you flat for a week or two and then gives you a little reprieve during the 3rd week. I passed along all the good wishes!

OH no! I missed the comment about Donner Hopefully the progress keeps up, thoughts and prayers out to her.

Sorry that was confusing, Jeff. The tool is set up for mail-in swaps... I probably should have just put all the other dates into next week so they would be clearly not relevant.

I'd like to thank everybody for jumping in to help out any time there's been a question or confusion about the seed swaps tool or anything else with this swap. I was counting on you collectively having my back when I was unavailable the past couple of weeks... and as always, you came through! Whether we "meet" here or at DG, I really love our community of gardening friends.

No worries, I haven't been really paying attention anyway. So if my questions have already been addressed prior, my bad.

Gosh , Jeff, what could be distracting you these days? *whistling*

;-)

On my way--hope to be there between 12:30 and 1 depending on traffic!

Am bringing a couple seed packets for anyone who wants them:

10 Oxalis triangularis from Brent & Becky
Safflower seeds from an online purchase

Thanks everybody for a fabulous party!! Those who couldn't make it -- you were missed. *hugs* Lots of food eaten, lots of conversations (not all plant-related), lots of catching up with old friends and making new ones... and of course surprising Jeff & Darcy with a baby shower in the middle of the party made the afternoon super special! I told them they'll have all the advice they need with this group -- probably more than they want, but I know they'll take it in the loving spirit it's given. :-)

Although DG may bounce back again, the general feeling seems to be that the writing is on the wall, and the DG we all knew & loved is just no more. If there are objections, let's talk this out (please!), but it looks like our Mid-Atlantic group is going to shift over to All Things Plants now instead of maintaining an active presence in both sites.

I'm going "flop" tonight, and then I'll turn my attention to the spring lily co-op / group buy from Ednie. You can find the varieties listed in this Cubits thread now, but by tomorrow we should be in the ATP group buy / for sale forum.

Umm, other "business" from the swap... Spring Swap will be at my home in Frederick, date to be determined by consensus.

Oh, and with pictures posted from the swap... please no "face photos" (front view closeups) of Joyanna, since it's a public forum, and I'd rather continue being careful (but if you got a great pic of her, please treemail it to me?)

Jill, thank you for once again taking the reins and organizing the swap!

I love this group! It's always fun catching up with you all.

Seq, I hope you and Darcy had a good time. And it was great to hear about your new job! Seq, did you figure out what I was supposed to give you?

Jill and Catmint, I was late in ordering the purple alyssum seeds. I'll sow them this spring and give you the seedlings at the spring swap.

And a special welcome to all the newcomers!

Thanks Jill, for organizing the event. This is such a great group!

Well that was a fun afternoon! So nice to see everyone, and thanks Jill for all that you do to pull off this event each year. Good food, good times. Nice to see Darcy and her little baby bump looking fit and healthy

We had a wonderful afternoon and enjoyed visiting with everyone. So sorry that some who had planned to were unable to attend.

We had a really nice day. Thanks for the organizing, Jill! Those who could not come, were missed.
I have pictures to post so i'll be posting from my phone and coming back for captions. Wish me luck!