Meet TS and Come See the Rest of the Garden...

Thursday, January 3, 2013

Welcome to Dirtworks!

Quick question: Who do you discuss gardening with the most? Friends? Family? Are you in a garden club? Or do you just ramble about mumbling to yourself?

Since most of my friends are devout non-gardeners, I have few opportunities to discuss gardening and end up torturing the horticulturalist at our local garden center with my endless questions, suggestions, and crazy commentary. If I had to pay for all the botanical knowledge and humor he's shared with me, I'd be in debt for life and he'd own a small island.

I once tried joining a gardening club but by the time I finished reading the multiple pages of  rules, regulations, by laws, and amendments, I knew it wouldn't work. They only met on weekdays while I'm at work, didn't get together over the summer, and had several committees designed to keep everyone in line. Considering you were kicked out and wait-listed if you even missed a meeting, I was tempted to show up in a miniskirt and hooker boots just to watch them gasp.


What do you mean your garden boots are rubber? 
How do you aerate the soil with those?

Frustrated and disappointed but not defeated, I've decided to start my own garden club. I've dubbed it the Dirtworks Garden Club and welcome anyone interested in gardening. We'll meet one Saturday a month, may get together more often during the summer, or might just make it all up as we go. My money's on Option C. Our goals will be to have fun, not take life too seriously, enjoy each other's company, and talk gardening.

We have two rules:


and


If you live in the northern Virginia or DC area and are interested in getting together, please contact me at dirtworksgardenclub@gmail.com. If you live farther away but like road trips, also contact me. Or you can just leave a comment. Do whatever works!

88 comments:

  1. I would join your garden club but it's too late for me because I DIED LAUGHING AT THE BOOTS!

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    1. The boots are optional but if you wear them, I'll wear them! You're the first member! :o)

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  2. You sure know how to pick a thumbnail!

    Great idea! A local gardening friend began a similar group based in Facebook. No dues, no obligation, and you can choose to show up or not for any event. Facebook has an event calendar built in with RSVP feature so we can let her know how many to plan for.

    We take tours of garden related businesses, nature trails, and generally just have a good time talking about our gardens and meeting other gardeners from around town.

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    1. LOL! I knew it would be an attention getter! Plus, I'd love to show up at the other group wearing them. :o) I love the Facebook idea for those who are on Facebook. I have a few friends who don't use Facebook but I could always email them.

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  3. Friends and family, both (does that sound like gloating?) My neighbor and a couple of other friends and I sometimes marvel how we can all have the same plants (because once your perennials are big enough to divide, you have to share) and still have our gardens look so different. Great idea to have a group, gardening is way more fun when you can share it with people.

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    1. My family knows if they don't listen to me occasionally ramble, they'll have to feed themselves. I have a coworker who calls her garden her "Tammy Garden" because most of her plants are from me. I'm hoping this becomes a real group!

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  4. What a great idea!! I'd join if I lived closer. I hope you make a lot of new gardening friends!

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  5. Would love it if you were closer to me. That would be my kind of club. Just sit out drinking coffee and enjoying while discussing the gardens.
    Cher Sunray Gardens

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  6. Are two week memberships available when I'm there for my yearly visit? If so, count me in.
    I glean lots of gardening info from many plant gurus, lots of gardening books and of course the internet. I am a member of Gardenweb and Dave's Garden...check them out.
    Almost all of my girlfriends have a keen interest in plants, so we share information freely on a regular basis.

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    1. I check Dave's Garden a lot for plant info but I've never read Gardenweb. I'll have to check it out. 2 week memberships are always welcome! :o)

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  7. I'd join too if I lived closer, but I can't afford the airfare. Sounds like it will be fun.

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  8. I'd join in a heartbeat if I lived closer! I can imagine how much fun it would be...lots of laughs and getting down and dirty. Those boots had me rolling on the floor laughing. I hope you are successful getting a good group together. Keep us posted how it goes.

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    1. Laughs and gardening are two of my favorite things. :o) I hope people join or it might just be me talking to my dogs. They've heard me babble so much, they're starting to make plant suggestions. I wish you did live closer!!

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  9. Oh my gosh, I'm rolling on the floor laughing! That garden club sounds like it's right out of the Harper Valley PTA! Well seeing as how I'm not going to be able to join your club :/ I'm just going to have to look you up next time I come visit my momma. You're going to have the best gardening club ever; I have no doubt!

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    1. Then you need to visit more!! Come to Virginia!!

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  10. I'd join but I lived on the other side of Earth. Sounds like fun, only that it would take a long time to lace up the boots. These boots aren't make for walking but are so cool and funky!

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    1. I'd probably fall right over if I even put them on! I'm a bit of a klutz! :o)

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    2. @Stilleto, if you look closely, I think those boots could actually be put and removed via a zipper on the sides. (Not that I looked closely or anything...)

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    3. Oh yes, how observant of you. So now it is possible to zip down to scratch an itch and zip it up again in a jiffy :) Hurray, might consider getting one to sashay around :D

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  11. Tammy, I really hope you find some people to join the club cause this sounds like a blast. I'll have to do some serious work gathering airmiles before I make a meeting but can I be an honorary member? :)

    p.s. I rant at my husband constantly about seeds and plants and whatnot. He's figured out when to smile and nod but alas that's the extent of my garden group.

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    1. My family smiles and nods, too. You should start a PEI club! They were so relieved when I started blogging because I'd have someone else to talk to and they could escape. :o)

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    1. WOO-HOO!!! I"m so excited!!! Email me at either the above address or at my contact address so I can reach you. HAPPY!

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  13. Congratulations! I’ve nominated you for the Liebster Blog Award. For the rules andmy 11 questions, please visit the post http://nittygrittydirtman.wordpress.com/2013/01/03/and-the-liebst…-award-goes-to/

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  14. Oh Darn! I live in NJ :-(.......wish I was in DC. But, please keep on posting your club information here and I would surely visit the club if I am in DC area. I am also very much interested in joining a garden club. I talk about garden and plants and everything with my hubby :-)

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    1. I wish you lived closer! Stop by when you're in the area! :o)

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  15. (snicker), my sentiments exactly... one of the reasons I don't join many clubs! Most of the time it's whoever will listen to me rambling on (and you know I can do that, LOL!)... hey, I see you just got nominated for the Liebster Blog Award... seeing as you liked mine... care to reveal as much?? ;) Cheers!

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    1. I'm actually not much a club joiner, either. I'm in a book club but often don't have time to read each month's book. I'm not sure if I'll be quite as revealing as your were! My responses are usually slightly silly. :o)

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  16. Any long distance memberships? I think all your members should wear those boots - aeration? absolutely! I wish you much success.

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    1. Absolutely!! I'm dying to stop around in those boots! :o)

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  17. Ha Ha I have a garden-themed sign very similar to that last one in my vegetable garden!

    But I can't ever whine? Is ranting occasionally OK, especially the heat index is 110?

    If not I'll keep mumbling to myself. And writing blog posts. :)

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    1. Road trip, Sweetbay!!!! Ranting is a different animal than whining. Ranting will happen! Once the heat index hits 110, though, all rules are off. :o)

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  18. Oh, I wish I had legs to wear boots like that! sigh…..
    I would very much like to become a member of your garden club – in spirit, as the airfare would kill my economy! As for who I discuss gardening with? You lot, all my online gardening friends!! I haven’t got anyone around me to ramble to, and all my plants and accessories are bought online these days so I can’t bother any nice and helpful garden centre staff anymore either. But sharing gardening experiences online works for me :-)

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    1. If I didn't have an online gardening community to chat with, I'd have gone bonkers long ago. Blogging is a sanity saver! Everyone who lives far away needs a teleporter so you could all be here in an instant! :o) Wish you lived closer.

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  19. I want to be in your garden club, but I'm not sure I have the boots for it! Could I wear cowboy boots instead? Maybe I could just mail you a life size cut out of myself and you could just set it up in one of the chairs? I promise not to talk too much. Sound good? :0)
    Your devoted garden humor fan,
    David/ in too far away Houston

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    1. No promises not to talk too much!! Chat, chat, chat, amigo! Cowboy boots are awesome. :o) I want you to be in Dirtworks, too! :o)

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  20. I would join if I lived closer, but I won't wear the boots :), I draw the line at letting my younger daughter paint my finger nails! I tried joining a couple garden clubs but people were too serious and had too many rules. We are trying to start a school garden and garden club this year, one of my goals for 2013.

    I usually ramble to myself, strangers or anyone who will listen about gardening. My wife has mastered the nod and smile, but shares my enthusiasm at harvest! Blogging has been a great way to connect with others of similar interest and a great outlet to "ramble"! I will be growing more plants and flowers this year so I'll be scrolling through your posts!

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    1. I've found garden clubs to be less about gardening and more about flower arranging, etc. A friends mom is a member of a club where no one actually gardens because they all have hired gardeners and landscape staff. So bizarre! My family does the 'smile and nod', too!

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  21. How did you get that picture of me wearing those boots? :)

    I've got some amusing stories about some of the local garden clubs. Suffice it say that if you work and actually garden you probably wouldn't fit in all that well. For many years I've been part of a group of about 20 or 30 gardeners from all over the US and Canada who met on line. Once a year we get together for a long weekend (week) of garden touring and various rabble rousing. A few of the group members are local to me and we get together quite often. We started on gardenweb but now gather on Facebook. A handful of us have blogs now too.

    If I lived in the DC area I would definitely join your group. Especially if I could wear my boots.

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    1. I'm a huge fan of your boots! :o) I'm eagerly hoping this becomes a real group. I would love to have a live person to talk gardening with. My friends who do garden have such busy schedules it almost impossible to get together sometimes. Garden chatting via text is a bit lacking.

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  22. If I didn't live 1800 miles away, I would be there or be Square! What a fantastic Idea! I don't have to many friends that garden... I get all my input from my blog friends! I Hope that you have an incredible time with this!

    Happy Gardening!

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    1. I wish you lived closer!! It would be awesome having you there. :o)

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  23. Kicked out and wait-listed if you missed a meeting? Seriously? What an uptight garden club! I am a member of a local garden club, but the meetings are in an adjacent city and quite the drive, so I often miss meetings. Thank goodness my club is more forgiving!
    Your garden club sounds like a great idea, Tammy. Are you going to make it like a book club where you meet on a rotating basis at member's homes/gardens? That might be kind of fun.

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    1. Uptight is right! There were so many rules, etc it was ridiculous. I'm in a book club and often don't have time to read the book but they still love me, so I need a garden club just as relaxed. I love the idea of meeting in a different place every month. I think we should meet in Canada one month! :o)

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  24. To be a member of a gardenclub can be so nice. My family and friends are also not interested in gardening in the way I do, they get bored of my garden talk. But we have a gardenclub with 20 woman gardeners and we exist already 21 years!!! We don't have special rules. We come together once a month on Wednesdays, visiting and talking own gardens or visiting other open gardens in our small country. In the summermonths in June and July we often meet twice a month. And once in a year we go on a trip together for 2 or 3 days. The attendance is in average 15.
    I wish you a lot of success with the establishment of such a club, it can give so much pleasure!

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    1. Your club sounds wonderful! I hope to create something just as fun. :o)

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  25. Here I am again to say that the high heels of these boots are perfect to verticulate the lawn, but so sorry I cannot wear them, haha, my legs are too short and my calves too thick. (Hope you can understand my school English)

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    1. Those boots make me laugh! I'm tall and might be able to wear them but I'm not very graceful and would probably fall over. Your English is great!

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  26. Oh how I wish I lived a lot closer. I'd join your club straight away and wear my filthist clobber! Good luck to you but remember we're all here to garden natter anytime over the bloggy fence :-0)

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    1. Jane,

      Please move to Virginia and buy the house next door. :o)

      Tammy

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  27. Great idea. I'd show up if I were nearby!

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  28. I see your way works wonderfully for you, as the comments roll in. Our 'garden' clubs are combined with the flower arrangers. My sustainable gardening for wildlife mostly indigenous - doesn't fit in anywhere. Except the blogosphere!

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    1. Well, you fit in perfectly here! I love your blog and enjoy hearing about the leopards and all the wildlife in your garden. :o)

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  29. Sound wonderful! Wish I lived close enough to meet up, too. I have never joined a garden club, and would love to join in with some other bloggers that I "know". Hope your club is very successful and that you all have a great time!

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    1. Thanks! I would love to get together with other bloggers, too. I won't be able to make it to spring Fling this year. I'm hoping to get there eventually. :o)

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  30. I have boots just like that, does it give me a 'shoe in' to the club? Sorry, male humor, not the best but I was schooled by my father. You're always welcome at our clubhouse, popcorn and coffee is free! Always enjoyable to talk to people with a similar interest, makes up for all the times I get the 'I didn't know I needed to water it' conversations.

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    1. I want to see you in those boots at our first get together!! Plants have to be watered? Are you sure? If I forget, can I get a refund? ;o)

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  31. Can you make it a virtual garden club? I wish I could join but I'm on the left coast and I think my husband would probably divorce me if I took off for Virginia once a month. (He's no fun.) I have a few friends that have a general interest in gardening - at least I can get them to go nursery shopping once in a while - but none are quite as obsessed as I am. All my visitors are forced to take extended garden tours when they drop by though...

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    1. I'd love a tour of your garden! Airfare and the whole "our country is massive" thing really gets in the way of a good time!

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  32. You gotta love those boots. Do they come with spurs and a whip? You could keep all of those rule-breakers in line. :)I think garden clubs or gardening organizations with bylaws and board meetings are ridiculous. After having gone that route myself(much to my consternation) last year a bunch of us formed our own lackadaisical garden group. We've had the most fun. Nothing but eating, visiting and sharing our wows and woes. Good luck with your group. I believe with someone like you at the helm, it will be delightful. Do you know Wendy? She lives in the DC area. Here is her blog: http://www.greenishthumb.net/ She's a kindred spirit.

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    1. The boots are fabulous! I do think a whip and very naughty lingerie are freebies with purchase. Your group sounds wonderful. I like the idea of woes and wows. I popped over to Wendy's blog and invited her. I've been to her blog before. It's a keeper. :o)

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  33. Awww, dang. I wish I lived in the DC area--I'd join for sure! Love the boots! They certainly would work for aerating the soil!

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    1. I think walking around the yard in the boots would be a traffic stopper for sure! Seriously wish you lived closer!

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  34. Damn! Why do all the cool people have to live so far away from me? I'd love to join but the eight hour round trip drive would be unbearable. Our local garden club is a lot like yours, stuffy and stodgy. The local birding club is even worse, rude old people who challenge every sighting you claim to have made. I'm at least fortunate that my husband is my best gardening pal, showing interest, listening, and doing all the heavy work.

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    1. Argh! I didn't realize you lived so far south! I think the average age in most garden clubs is about 90. If you ever get the urge for a road trip, let me know. You could make a weekend of it and visit DC or the wine country. I'll keep you in the loop, if you want me to. :o)

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  35. Oh the thought of you showing up in that outfit at "THE" garden club we used to know about where I lived before....well it would have me in stitches. You described them to a T.

    Hope you find lots of members, I am a little further away.

    Great advice about the treadmill, thanks!!

    Jen

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    1. I'd love to show up while the members are mid-bite into a tiny cucumber sandwich. I might end up performing the Heimlich maneuver to keep them from choking. But it would be a meeting no one would ever forget! :o)

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  36. I'd join, if I could! But... I live here in Finland so far away. I'm sure your club will have lots of members.

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  37. Hilarious. Being a member of three clubs, all of which I rarely attend, your note of rules had me in stitches. Two of them are structured and kinda formally run, so fun is not 'allowed'. The fun one disbanded because many of the group wanted structure and organization, to be members of the state organization. They cut out are fun project I used to write about. Up here, our garden clubs are members of a Federated Garden Clubs of NY. That makes them sound stuffy,no? They are too...
    Hope your club gets lots of fun loving members.

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    1. The idea of being an officially organized and federated club horrifies me. What's the point of being in a club if you're not allowed to have fun? Sheesh! I don't blame you for rarely showing up. :o)

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  38. Okay I can wear the boots, just don't make me stand up in them.

    I totally share your attitude about clubs-- Like when they start drafting a 'mission statement,' you need to RUN. Please consider me a perpetually absent member, there in spirit.
    Mostly I talk about plants with the dog. Maybe we need a West Coast chapter of Dirtworks...

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    1. I'm not sure I could stand up in them, either. I have long legs but am a total klutz. My dogs listen to me babble about my garden so much they've begun to offer advice. ;o)

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    2. I love the idea of a west coast chapeter of Dirtworks. So as not to copy Tammy's title, it could be called Dirty Minds!

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  39. Good for you Tammy. I was invited to join the oldest garden club in Greenwood...thought about it for a looooonnnngg time. It finally came down to the fact that they are just 'not my people'. I am glad I didn't join, don't need to pretend to be something I am not. Your group sounds great!

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    1. I never would have fit into the club I was interested in, either. I'd rather just go my own way. It's more fun! Wish you lived closer!

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  40. Hi Tammy, I'll join your garden club. Been so overwhelmed with the new house rennovation and the upcoming move, that I haven't been blogging much or following other blogs, which I miss.

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    1. Woo-hoo!! Contact me at the gmail address so I can give you the info. :o)

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  41. You have a wonderful knack for choosing provocative/funny photos! Good for you for creating the kind of club you were longing to join (sounds like my kind of club too!)

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    1. I like pix that make the reader look twice. :o) Plus, it's fun. The more rules you add to a group, the less fun it becomes until it's just pointless. Life is too short for pointless!

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  42. Great boots! One of my sisters-in-law is a gardener, almost as fanatical as I am, and we look forward to the days we get to spend together talking plants as out partners look on and sigh... Hope your gardening club works out, I foresee much laughter.

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    1. I tend to wear high heeled boots most days but even those are way beyond anything I own! I love how bold they are, though, and the idea of wearing them one of the We Have Lots of Rules Club meetings feels so funny. I love that your SIL is a gardener. My family just smiles and nods. :o)

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  43. Also weary of the rules and regs, and, true confession, the idea that we had to do "public gardening works" -- as if the gift of our gardens to our neighborhoods and communities wasn't enough -- some friends got together and formed the HAGs. It stands for horticultural arts gals. Oh, and we eat, my yes, every time we get together. The revolution is afoot.

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  44. Tammy, I'll let you know if I'm ever free whenever you think you'll have a meeting. I've never been in a garden club and never plan to be (other than yours!). I do the Master Gardener thing, though, and that is right up my alley. You can pick and choose exactly what you want to do. For instance, later this month I am going to visit an 'actual' garden club and talk with them about hummingbirds and plants that attract them :) Garden 'clubs' have never been my thing...but I could use a few laughs, so you must wear those boots:)

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  45. I'm late to this game, but I hope the offer still stands, cuz the Potato Queen would love to come. I'm just over here in Falls Church! I've sent you an email.

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