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The Spring Fling group arrived at Andie's, an award-winning Mediterranean restaurant a few blocks from my home, on schedule . Everyone seemed to enjoy the splendid buffet of dishes for vegetarians, carnivores and gluten-sensitive diners alike.
After lunch we proceeded to Sweet Garden Chicago. I'm sure the neighbors were curious to see a big bus pull up in front of my house and 50 people get out. I'll hear from them next week for sure.
My garden was transformed for the first time in 20 years and I know I must be patient. No pun intended but I think it's growing on me !
I didn't get to make a lot of photos because I was so busy being hostess but I'm sure that the other garden bloggers will share theirs.
Congrats to Frances of Faire Garden for winning my painting. I hope you enjoy it, Frances. You must have a bruise from the thump that Carol of May Dreams Gardens gave you when your name was called.
It was great to meet so many of the bloggers that I've come to know and admire. I do so hope that your visit to our fair city of Chicago was a great one.
I wasn't able to do much work on the Spring Fling committee except to open my garden to the group but I do think that everyone should applaud the great work done by Ramon ( Mr. Brown Thumb ) , Gina of My Skinny Garden, Linda at Garden Girl and Rachel at On the Shores of Lake Chicago. They've spent many hours working on Spring Fling, despite many personal hardships and without their dedication and hard work this event would not have been possible.
It was such a pleasure to meet Beth Botts, garden writer for the Chicago Tribune who inspired me to start my own garden design business after being selected for the " most creative " garden award. I'm sure everyone is aware that traditional newspapers as we know them are gradually disappearing and it is with great regret that I learned she was asked to resign and become a free lancer. I shot off a letter to the editor to let him know that he should be increasing, not decreasing, the garden section , the reason that a majority of people buy the paper for anyway.
It was a wonderful day and I enjoyed meeting all of the garden bloggers that attended Spring Fling Chicago.
Kylee of Our Little Acre and her charming mother stopped by Gethsemane Garden Center on Sunday and picked up a few things. They were amazed by our garden center and declared it was one of the most awesome they'd visited.
I wish everyone a safe journey home. Looking forward to see who will host next year.
Carolyn,
ReplyDeleteYou don't give yourself enough credit. Thanks for everything you did on the committee. A few of us were laughing on Saturday about a particularly memorable line of yours. Anyway, thanks for letting us into your home and for being a part of this. If you ever want to go plant snatching across the street-just let me know.
I'm glad I finally got to meet you in person after all these years of living in the same city and never having crossed paths.
Hope to see more of you in the future.
You are quite right about the committee needing some warm congratulations. They did a great job with the Spring Fling.
ReplyDeleteI want to thank you again Carolyn for inviting us all into your garden and home. Such a wonderful place. I hope your dogs are over all the commotion too and you get to enjoy the rest of spring.
Carolyn, thank you so much for opening your garden to a whole busload of us, you brave woman! It was wonderful to meet you and to see your garden in person, and I only wish I'd had time to talk with you for a while. The lunch place was wonderful too. You all did a marvelous job with Spring Fling and did Chicago proud!
ReplyDeleteHi Carolyn, I am finally home and the painting is hanging right in front of my lazyboy for the moment where I can look at it and remember your lovely home, garden and self! Thank you for opening your private spaces to us. It was a thrill to win such an exquisite work of art. You are such a dear and talented lady.
ReplyDeleteFrances
Just wanted to thank you for letting us invade your beautiful garden and home. My head is filled with ideas that I could adapt to my own yard since they're very similar in size. Plus, I learned that we have the same dining room set! And you picked an excellent place for lunch as well. I know the whole event was a lot of work and we all want you to know how much we appreciated it!
ReplyDeleteI'm sure everyone enjoyed visiting your garden, Carolyn ... I've had my garden open and know the work involved having everything look in 'top form'! Wish I could have been there ... and given you a hug. Happy June gardening!
ReplyDeleteCarolyn, How lucky we were to be blessed with such wonderful weather for SF, in spite of the storms that were predicted for parts of Friday and Saturday.
ReplyDeleteWhat a joy it was to visit your home and garden! We were both so busy, we didn't have much time to talk, but it was wonderful finally meeting you in person.
Opening your home was a huge contribution to SF, as well as your help arranging dinner at Andies - undoubtedly the most scrumptious and talked-about group meal at Spring Fling.
Preparing for and welcoming 50 people into one's garden is no small undertaking, especially for someone caring for an infant!
Thanks so much for your hospitality, and for all you did to help with the planning. Your commitment and support helped us stay sane, your wisdom, common sense, and no-nonsense approach helped keep us grounded. Your sense of humor always kicked in and made us laugh when it would have been easy to cry. Your contributions and support were invaluable, and SF would not have been the same without you.
Carolyn Gail, thank you so much for opening up your home and garden to us, and showing us your wonderful southern hospitality. It is a treasure of a garden.
ReplyDeleteAnd it was great to meet you in person and talk to you, too, and tease you about that beautiful tomato plant "hidden" off by the side of your house. From the looks of it, you'll soon be having some fried green tomatoes!
And that was hardly but a little "flick" that I gave Frances when she won the picture. I mean, she didn't fall over or anything like that!
Carol, May Dreams Gardens
(Oh, and the restaurant you picked out for us was fabulous, too. Such good food, and so many choices on the buffet!)
It was a special treat to see your home and garden. Both were glorious and I hope nothing got trampled given the size of the crowd. Many thanks for your hospitality and hard work on the committee. Chicago was great fun and I hope to be back.
ReplyDeleteI wish I could have been there, but I've been enjoying the posts and photos. Again, you have a beautiful property!
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