Tuesday, September 21, 2010

A New Beginning

I went to my "Fun" Garden Club meeting this week and it was great to see everyone after a very long hot summer.  It's funny, no one talked about gardening, but our mission was to tell something about ourselves that no one knew and to give a little gardening or household tip if we wished.


Fall by my back garden shed

The lunch was wonderful, chicken salad with grapes, homemade rolls, salad and fruit salad, with little chocolate somethings for dessert.  We all love the lunches but what is most appetizing is the company and conversation, about our summer trips, gardening successes and failures and looking through the book of planned adventures for our group.

We have a very mixed group, young, middle-aged, older and oldest.  It makes for a delightful experience when someone shares that they used to be a flight attendant when they wore those sleek little military type caps with the wings on the front, when they could not be married and they had to be under a certain weight.

My other friend who also belongs to the serious group brought a picture of herself showing an activity that no one knew she was a sculler on a boat with many others from her college, another has written a children's book awaiting to see if it has been accepted.  We found out someone else from our group has a small floral design business and another is a super organizer with demos of her methods.

Oh, it is so great to be back with all of these interesting people!

20 comments:

BernieH said...

Sounds like a whole lot of fun ... isn't it great when you get to know people on a more personal level? I only just found out one of the ladies from my hubbie's Restored Motorcycle Club was in the cast of a James Bond movie a few years back!!! It's facinating the life experiences people have.

Love the display by the garden shed ... and the new header. How did I miss that?

Gatsbys Gardens said...

Bernie, funny you should mention motorcycles! A friend and I were just talking today about our dislike for them. My son just got back from a motorcycle trip to Yosmitie Park and my son-in-law also owns a motorcycle that he rides to work whenever he can. We worry about them.

I just went a little fall with the header.

Eileen

BernieH said...

Eileen, my hubbie has been into motorcycles long before I even met him ... and I met him when we both 16!!! Luckily he didn't pass on his love of them to either of our boys ... but he has to our nephew! Now that hubbie's 'matured', he's got into restoring old motorbikes ... and that led him to join the Restored Motorcycle Club. I call it the 'Old Fart's Club' ... with good reason. Mick's one of the youngest in the club ... and they never talk about anything else!!!!

Catherine@AGardenerinProgress said...

That sounds like so much fun! The food sounds delicious. I've looked around here for garden clubs but so far nothing close by. Maybe my gardening friend and I will have to start one up someday.
Your fall display looks so cute. I need to get going on putting mine together.

Gatsbys Gardens said...

Bernie, you are right, usually I see older people riding, but my son has liked them since highschool. He went on the trip with his brother-in-law who is much older than he is but this is their bond.

Eileen

Gatsbys Gardens said...

Catherine, I have never been able to join a garden club because I worked full time for so many years. You should go ahead and form your own, you may be surprised how many members will be drawn in. It is such fun and always a learning experience.

Eileen

Jim Groble said...

Your plants and pumpkins by your shed look wonderful. I have given up on finding a fun brick and mortar garden club. The blogoshere is my fun garden club. jim

Anonymous said...

Hi Eileen, Sounds like a fun time. Your fall display looks like it belongs in a storefront in NY City. Outstanding design!!

Gatsbys Gardens said...

Hi Jim,

Blogging is definitely fun, but the garden club is a more personal social contact. You should start your own, especially with your love of hosta, I'll bet you could draw in a lot of people.

Eileen

Gatsbys Gardens said...

Thanks Grace,

I am enjoying putting some fall containers together. It's too bad that in my area the frost will soon come. I used some perennials this year which I will quickly put into the garden.

Eileen

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Eileen : ) once again that header puts me in such a great Autumn mood this morning !
It is amazing to find these little tid bits out about people .. we don't even scratch the surface on here .. we just know who we feel comfortable with ? LOL
The lunch sounded delicious ! .. especially the chocolate bit ?LOL
No one made fudge ?? maybe some one could suggest it for next time ? ;-)
The age varieance is wonderful too .. a mixed group brings so much more to the table to learn about doesn't it ?
I would have loved to listen to the conversation : )

Gatsbys Gardens said...

Hi Joy, the fudge sounds good to me, love chocolate. Those little chocolate somethings just didn't seem to do it for me.

Eileen

Anonymous said...

Dear Eileen, I always like to hear about the fun gardening group. You do have such delicious food and there always seems to be a sense of humour in the activities which you all share. What a wonderfully interesting group of people and all sharing a common interest.

Your autumn arrangement looks very stylish and totally inkeeping with the season.

Gatsbys Gardens said...

Hi Edith

It almost seems like we should meet during the summer to keep our spirits up and discuss current gardening problems, but the summer is downtime for the club.

However, during the winter some people leave and do not come back until spring. Oh well, this is the way it has been for many years.

Eileen

Darla said...

Sounds just delightful! Wish we had some type of club around here.

Balisha said...

This sounds like my old gardening club. It is no longer possible for me to go...too far to drive.... I used to love the social part of it, but really liked doing the work of decorating our little town.So much fun to garden together. Balisha

Gatsbys Gardens said...

Hi Darla,

I am not sure how these clubs get started, but I imagine it just takes a few people to begin meeting. Eventually, most of them become part of a national organization.

Eileen

Gatsbys Gardens said...

Hi Balisha,

You are right, it is the social part that is so much fun. Our meetings always have something new to learn about gardening, but it is the communication that keeps us coming back.

Eileen

Karen said...

Hi Eileen, love your new header, too! Garden clubs are a lot of fun, In May I just 'retired' as treasurer of our local hosta group after twelve years. It's so much fun to go the meetings, but doubly more now that I no longer have any responsibilities and don't have to guard the cash box at our walks and meetings. Gardeners are such special people.

I am also a member of a much more unofficial garden group, too, and they have so many garden tours and plans, all informal. Great fun!

Gatsbys Gardens said...

Hi Karen,

I also belong to two groups, the fun group and the serious group. They are both fun, but one is a little looser than the other.

Eileen