#3 of 10 Things I Love in No Particular Order

Friends, friends and more friends!

This has been a great year for meeting new friends. At the beginning of 2010 I had the opportunity to take a series of classes to become a Master Gardener and graduated in November.  One of the requirements to graduate is completing our volunteer hours by working at the local extension office answering gardening questions. We also have other volunteer opportunities throughout the year. By far my favorite is working alongside some fantastic people at the Linn County Demo Garden. But let me start at the beginning.

I have always wanted to go through the Master Gardener Course. I have been attending Garden Tours for years that MG's had sponsored and I kept telling myself that someday I would take the classes and join this special group. I always thought I would have to wait many years until I was retired because the classes are during the day in the middle of the week when I'm working. Then along came the Housing Market crash and the bad economy. The construction business I work for slowed down drastically. Why not make lemonade out of lemons? So I volunteered to cut my hours at work so I could attend classes one day a week! Yes!
Over the last year I have met so many wonderful people through the Master Gardener Program.  A few have become good friends and people I hope to have as friends for a very long time.

My fellow classmate and partner in crime Connie and I decided to adopt a raised bed a the Linn County Demo Garden. It was and still is a wonderful experience.  Here is a link if you want to read more about our experience The Making of a Flower Fiesta, we wrote this for the Master Gardener Newsletter. She has become more than just a "gardening" friend and I feel very fortunate to have met her. She also started a business making baby shoes! And as soon as she has her blog up I will post a link. They are adorable.

This is a picture of our raised bed at the Demo Garden

The Amaranth "Love Lies Bleeding" was amazing. 

It looked like a big bird getting ready to fly away.

Next is Grace! She is such a sweetie and I am so glad to have met her this year. She is a gardening guru and more! Her garden is amazing, check it out! She is also the one who inspired me to jump into the blogging world, read more here.  It is such a fun way to express yourself and share don't you think? I hope to see much more of Grace in 2011.

Then there is Cate, another fellow Master Gardener that is a gem. She gave me some great advice about doing yoga and it will be on my list of 2011 resolutions to do on a regular basis. Stretch, stretch, stretch!

Erica is an unexpected new friend that I met through work. I went to her house to help her make some decisions for new light fixtures. She just moved to town over the summer and we have so many common interests. She is a wonderful artist and an inspiration for me to improve on my projects in 2011. She and her husband Gary have been a fun couple for Keith and I to get together with for dinner, antiquing, etc. We hope to see much more of them in the coming year.

Another person who I met through work and also happens to be a Master Gardener is Vickie. I am very lucky to have her as my Mentor in the program. She is the one who started the amazing amaranth from seed in her greenhouse for our raised bed. Vickie gets a lot done and does it really well. She is the new President for the Linn Master Gardener's in 2011! Go Vickie!

And last but not least all those new blogging friends that are so fun to connect with and share our pictures, stories, families, dogs, gardens and more. Thank you for sharing your lives with me and letting me share mine with you!

Here's to friendship in 2011!

 

“Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another, 'What! You too? I thought I was the only one”

                                                                  C.S. Lewis