Plumeria Workshops

This is great. Mind if I ask how you got started doing this? Were you already affiliated with the home? I would love to get involved in something like this.

How did I get started? I was told about some free Plumeria by our little angel Clare_CA... so I told a girlfriend who volunteers at a nursing home and she went and got some then I went and got some and then Gracie gave me her extras to add to what I had originally picked up and all I did was call around to nursing homes where I have volunteered before and that was about it.

Garden4Birds and me went to another nursing home this morning. Unfortunately, no pics because I didn't know my camera batteries were dead. Sorry about that one folks- I should have checked my batteries before I left the house. One of the aids had a cell phone that took pics and she said she'd try to get them to me to share here. We'll see what she comes up with. I'm pretty sure the aid got a photo with her phone of one of the residents getting silly and dumping potting medium on my arm. G4B's eyeballs about boinged out of her head when she saw that one. I started ribbing him about getting me all dirty and he dumped more potting medium on my other arm trying to pretend like it was an accident. Silly goose. There was another woman helping mix the ingredients and she started rolling her eyeballs and said that was no accident. Him and her jokingly argued back and forth about it being and oopsie so he apologized to me and then dumped medium on her arms and promptly apologized. Ha, that was no oopsie. I have a tremendous sense of humor so I tease them all right back and could care less how filthy I get. Housekeeping was going by at about the time he was tossing medium around and that gal's eyeballs about boinged out of her head too. There were two little girls brought to this particular workshop because I guess most volunteers don't like to work with children, me I could care less and I actually like the intergenerational play. Anyway, the director told the Mom to bring them to one of my workshops because I liked kids and wouldn't view them as a nuisance. Kids are not a nuisance, they're anything but a nuisance IMHO. The residents are so great with kids. The kids are so great with the residents. It's a wholesome mix.

That's wonderful. You're to be commended. It got me thinking that maybe one additional service could be a sort of "plant hospital" to come by to pot-up and water and feed plants that people have on hand already. Does it seem like there is a need for that?

Sweetie, there's a need for just about everything to include good old hand holding. Just walk in and ask to talk to the activities director. Share your idea with them and ask them if there is a need. Ten to one odds they create a need even if one didn't exist to get somebody like you in there.

I just realized I think I misread your original question. How did I get started. Actually about 40 some odd years ago. I was a Campfire or Bluebird girl or something like that and our little group went around to nursing homes singing to get credit toward some sort of a badge or something. I remember one woman reached out and grabbed my hand and wouldn't let go. I stood there frozen. Didn't quite know what to do other than to smile. My Mom came over and talked to the woman and slipped her hand into the woman's other hand. In retrospect, it was a slick move. My Mom asked me to please go get something or other for her. The woman released my hand and held tight to my Mom's hand. I came back. My Mom showed her some pictures with her free hand and asked her if she would like us to visit the next time we came back. She said yes. My Mom asked if she could hug her goodbye. The woman said yes. She let go of my Mom's hand to hug her. We said goodbye. My Mom said she was lonely. We went back for another service project and she was there. That same woman got my hand again. I remember smiling. Same routine only a nurse spotted her holding my hand and walked over and pried her fingers off my hand while telling her she was a bad girl for scaring me or something else equally nasty. My Mom came over and told the nurse it was ok and that we had held hands before. Man oh man was my Mom bristled at the nurse physically prying her fingers off my hand. I remember little else from those visits other than having my hand held by the lady in the wheelchair who was lonely. Made me never want to get old in a place like that where the highlight of your day was holding the hand of some kid you didn't even know.

I went back for a service project with our kids maybe 10 years ago and sort of dreaded the experience but scheduled to go anyway because they needed the credit for some sort of a badge or something (sound familiar?). Was praying one of my kids didn't get stuck holding hands because I didn't know how they would react. To my surprise, nursing homes weren't institutionalized and sterile as what I remembered them to be. The staff was upbeat and welcoming and respectful of the residents. Gee, that's a concept, staff respectful of the residents. I certainly didn't remember that back when I was little. The residents were up and about and seemed happy. High activity level with lots to do for those interested. They asked us to please come back and they were sincere. We go back a few times a year with the kids. We prefer the county nursing home. Very positive atmosphere there. I find that nursing homes have changed so dramatically that I never dread going to them any longer. It's good for kids to get a chance to interact with the residents. I've listened to some really interesting conversations between the two age brackets. I stifle giggling at some of what I hear from both sides.

andidandi, I hope you go to a nursing home by you. They've changed a lot since we were little. They're not intimidating places to go to any longer. At least the ones around here aren't. Gut feeling is that attitudes have changed in the past few decades and there's considerably more respect for the elderly these days. Even the decorating is more like a home than a hospital these days. Nursing homes aren't a depression session any longer.

Here are a few photos from the workshop this morning. The first photo is of the residents who were there bright and early ready to start mixing the medium-

This center is assisted living so the residents here were able to do everything for themselves and needed little assistance. The workshop was handled as a drop in type activity where the time was set from 8:15am to 9:45am. There were a few residents there at 8am waiting for me. They wanted to know how come I wasn't there earlier??? I ribbed em back and told them I got there as fast as I could dump off kids at school. This next photo shows a group of residents standing in line waiting to fill their pots. From there they went to the next station which was the sink and used the hose to wet down their medium so their plants wouldn't flop over. Then they went to the next station (just a table set up) where they actually potted their plant while they were planting them. After potting their plants, some residents came back to the filling station to top off their pots. From there they went to the labeling station (just another table where they picked up a popsicle stick to write their name and the word Plumeria on it). After that, they mostly scurried back to their rooms with their treasures.

I brought extra pots this time just in case residents showed up who didn't register. A few did show up who hadn't signed up. Other than that, a few residents wanted to have fun potting up the plants but didn't want them in their rooms so they "donated" their plants back to be placed in common areas. They look nice on the window sills-

That's wonderful, Lauren!

Yes, it was wonderful. We sort of stood around twiddling our thumbs though this time because this group of seniors was so darn young they were pretty much doing everything on their own. Two workshops left to go! One on the 18th and I forget when the other one is off the top of my head.

Thanks to you Clare for the use of your Plumeria FAQ excerpts- I've been handing them out to each and every participant. Thanks so much to the people (you know who you are) who went out and bought pots for me to use and a big thank you to indiana_lily (Felicia) for donating all the little sage green pots that I'll be using for the workshop on the 18th!

Wow! It looks like everything was a huge success yesterday! And, it looks like everyone was enjoying themselves. That is so fantastic what you're doing!! :)

Lauren I just found this thread and wanted to tell you just how special I think you are for doing this!!!! After having moved plants for 3 days now, I'm relating to these sweet people for sure right now!!! If there's anything I can get you from this end LMK!!!


Jeri

Gosh! I keep telling everybody what I could really use- a new body with no stretch marks and no cellulite. I swear nobody listens to me.

Thanks Jeri, I know how sincere you are but I'm set. I had some people (Thank God) who went shopping for me who were out of state so I was able to buy all the pots I needed and then Felicia sent all the pots for the 18th and wouldn't take my money. Lesson to self... get pots for planting first before taking so many seedlings! I literally wiped out all the Lowes in a 75 mile radius around me of those little pots so if the other DGers hadn't re-stocked me by spending their own money on gas and wasting their time to go shopping for those pots, I would have been screwed. I have to tell you that perlite is even getting scarce at this time of year. Boy would I love to find an online source for bulk perlite. It gets old paying like $10 for each one of those small bags.

Here's a project I'm going to be doing with some kids that others may find interesting. I'm going to be doing an "autopsy workshop". Right about now you're probably thinking this woman (me) has lost her mind. Nope, haven't lost my mind. Think Sarracenia or rather tall pitcher plants. Those nice tubes of those carnivorous pitcher plants do what? Those tubes trap all kinds of nice bugs. At this time of year I've got to cut back my tall pitchers just like I cut back my Iris so the winter winds don't uproot them. I always thought it was such a waste to simply compost all those nice crunchy dried out pitchers and then one day I got to thinking, "wouldn't it be cool to let my kids slice a few open to reveal the contents" so I layed out a bunch of newspaper and spread out some old tall pitchers and let them have at them. What a riot. What I can tell you is that these plants do a bang up job trapping those European paper wasps. Anyway, give each kid a tall pitcher, a scissors to cut them open, a tweezers, a magnifying glass, and let them go to town dissecting. Almost as good as dissecting owl pellets. Trick is for the kids to identify what their particular plant "ate". Ha, not as easy as it sounds as pitcher plants do not exactly have discriminating tastes. This is a great activity for any kid say aged 8 and up but I gotta tell you that most adults get a bang out of this workshop too.

You can buy perlite online in bulk. Not sure how it compares to your local prices, but it can definitely be done. If you're paying $10 for either of the two sizes of bags I've seen in the retail stores, you should look into it.

That sounds interesting too for kids!!! My curiousity stops at the outside of the pitcher plant!!! LOL

Maybe you can tell me the best mixture of soil for a Venus Fly Trap. I sent one to a friend in India and it had been doing well but now she said it needs a bigger pot. Since I've managed to killed every fly trap I get can you offer some advise?

Your EX-Wall Washing Buddy!!!

Jeri

What a cool mom you are, Lauren!! I would never in a million years think about letting Cori dissect bugs that have been trapped in plants. That's an awesome idea!! And, now you're going to do an "autopsy" workshop? Where? What age group and all that stuff? That truly is an amazing idea. :)

Twinkletoes slid out and put his head through the drywall... again. We had just repaired that wall and repainted it. Hmm, maybe another demo- how to repair the wall where your 200lb dog's head slams into it while he races around the L shaped island and slides out into the wall head first? I see possibilities here. Your EX-Toilet Bowl Scrubbing Buddy!!!

This is just a shot in the dark but, most people don't realize a Venus Fly Trap is a temperate species in need of a dormancy. That's no tropical plant there that can be grown on a windowsill indefinitely. Think palm trees planted in New York or Bur Oaks planted in Mexico. The palm tree is about as adapted to surviving in regions in which there are distinct seasons as the Oak is adapted to surving in a tropical environment. That Oak needs a rest so it drops its leaves in fall. The Venus Fly Trap (Dionaea muscipula) needs a rest too. Additionally, VFTs are indigenous to a small area in southeastern US and occur no where else in the world. This means they are as American as baseball and apple pie. My bet is the potting medium isn't the problem but more so the plant's need for a dormancy. Suggest that she remove it from full sun by moving it to an eastern exposure and that she cut back on the water. Give it about 4 weeks in that location then tell her to bareroot it, dust the rhizomes with a sulfur product or in lieu of that dip them in a mild hydrogen peroxide solution, wrap some damp (not moist or certainly not wet) long fibered sphagnum moss around the rhizomes, plop the whole kit and kaboodle into a ziplock baggie and toss it in a drawer of her refrigerator for about 8 weeks. That should simulate a dormancy for the plant which is probably about wasted from perpetual growth right about now. Let her know she needs to check on the plant in the frig from time to time to make sure it doesn't dry out. Once the eight weeks is up, pull it out and pot it in a medium of regular sphagnum peat and rinsed sand. Very important to rinse the sand to remove contaminants before using it in a potting medium for any carnivorous plant. From there, tell her the plant is stressed and is probably going to try to send up a flower scape. That's a survival strategy. Let her know it's not a good idea to allow it to use precious resources trying to reproduce itself right now when it needs to be trying to re-establish itself so she should nip off the flower scape and toss it. You might want to let her know that even if she does everything right, she could still lose the plant.

Two workshops actually. One at a school for lower elementary students and one for an after school club with young teens. There are a few being set aside for "autopsy" workshops next spring so I guess a whole bunch of bug filled pitchers are going to go in my deep freeze. Not a project for a nursing home but maybe for an assisted living home if there's interest. The nursing home sterility assurance police might come and get me. Just kidding but I have my reservations about passing out a bunch of pitchers to people in wheel chairs and such. The thought of the contents of those pitchers spilling into their laps is er uh... not sitting well with me and probably wouldn't sit well with the administration.

indiana_lily, would you like some pitchers for Cori? This is way cool fun. The grosser the better for kids and this project is right up there in the eew yuck category. We take photos of the contents and send the kids home with the images so they can go here-
http://www.whatsthatbug.com/
One comment, freeze those pitchers before you let her have them. Freeze them for about a week. No sense finding partially digested live bugs trying to make a break for the wide open spaces of your home when she goes to cut them open. Has a tendency of freaking out the kids and the people who are assisting...particularly if its a nice big hornet or a spider.

Awesome, I bet the people in the nursing homes really appreciated your visit and everything you did for them! I have 100 or so extra plumeria seeds that I would like to give you, in case you want to keep your project going. Dmail me if you would like them. I even have trays you can use to germinate the seed. Here is a picture of a tray.
Davie

Oh Davie, what a sweetheart you are. Seeds and trays and postage! Yes, I had a blast doing the workshops I've done so far and I really think Garden4Birds (whom I met because of being a member of DG) also had a great time. We probably had as good of a time as the residents because it's ok to get slap happy silly and to sing out loud if you want or to dance a little with your potting buddy when you do an activity like this.

The reality is that when I was given even more left-overs from my girlfriend, I think I pretty much called every nursing home and assisted living area out there to be able to find activity directors who could squeeze the project in before the really harsh weather hit. We have quite a few in our immediate vicinity and incredilby only two said there was no way they could get me in before November so I'm doing suet making for the birds workshops with them because they really wanted me to come and do something only they couldn't do anything earlier than November. Unfortunately, or most fortunately depending on how you look at it, most of these places have their activities planned well over a month in advance and many are set 3-4 months in advance working around regularly scheduled activities such as scrap booking, excercies classes, bingo, classic movie nights, shopping trips, etc. The biggest fear I had with getting my friend's excess seedlings was being able to get them out of here before Halloween. I'm in northern Illinois and you're in Arizona and the weather is going to turn on us any day. I am watching the weather as it is right now making sure the temps don't dip below 45 until I can finish up that last workshop. There were two nights I had to haul them into the garage already so I'm cutting it very close with these last two workshops.

I barely know you from reading your posts over in the Plumeria Forum but you're a saint in my book for offering me those seeds and supplies.

Lauren, that is so great what you are doing and have done. I am happy to take whatever you have left over if you can ship them before the country starts to experience freezing weather. I have a couple of different greenhouses and can keep them warm for the winter. I will see that they get distributed over a wide group, and I have a friend who is planting them in public parks so that they will be enjoyed by many.

Ohhhhhh, public parks??? What ever I have left over is yours. I've got one workshop on the 18th of this month and the last one on the 25th so that's when I will know what is going to be left. I've got a wildcard to deal with right now. Residents have been showing up for workshops that didn't register. I'm happy to work with them but I really did tap out all the Lowes within about a 75 mile radius for pots. Anyway, I'm getting about 5 or 6 extras showing up to every workshop. I had to have my Dad pick up more pots for me from the Lowes in Appleton WI on his way up north to visit his sister to try to cover these extra people. All in all, I think I am going to have some left over and they will be yours. Timing will be almost perfect because there will be no way for me to keep them warm after that so then you can keep them warm and pass them on to somebody else who will put them to good use.

I keep reading this thread thinking that it is just truly amazing how all of this has worked out!

Thanks, Lauren. Well, this gentleman I met has acres and acres of private property that he intends to plant with plumerias, and he wants to open it up to the public so that they can be enjoyed by all. It should be magnificent. I think Voytek would be very happy to know how his seedlings are being enjoyed by so many. I am only sorry that you have had to bear so much of the cost of the pots and soil and amendments. You seem to be spreading and experiencing so much joy though, and that is just great.

Tee he, my Dad didn't ask me to pay him back for the pots he picked up for me and that unnamed person who posted just before your last post wouldn't take my money. I did not bear the costs by myself.

Did I mention there was a perk to this Plumeria deal? There was a perk. When I went to that one assisted living center they had massage therapists donating their time dolling out free massages to anyone who was interested. Man oh man I ran over to that sign up sheet real fast and got my name in. I got a great massage that lasted 45 minutes. That massage was so great that I wanted to go curl up in somebody else's bed and take a nap. But (sigh) no spare beds to crash in so I had to drive home. That's the second free massage I've gotten from being in a nursing home at the right time. The first time they had to talk me into doing it. I'm not exactly one of those types of people who gets facials or her nails done or gets her hair done professionally so a massage seemed sort of frivolous to me. Not so any more. If I can get a free massage, I'm taking it. Very relaxing.

No. You failed to mention the 45 minute massage perk!! That sounds just about heavenly right now!! After all you've done, you most certainly deserved it!

I'll make a deal with you. You come down and do a workshop with me and I'll schedule it on a Thursday at that one assisted living center when I know the massage therapists will be there and I'll bring a cot with so you can crash after you're all jelly from being worked on.

Is it true that massages cost around $50-$75 per half hour?

Hmmm ... or I could work at a law firm in this same building that gives their secretaries free professional massages every month.... AND, they get to wear jeans once a month (this is a big deal)!

Yeah, Cori, the dog and I can come up and do a Thursday workshop. That would almost work out. :)

Massages are quite expensive. I wouldn't know personally, but I hear it's up there. ;)

Egads, you do realize I have dogs here? Is yours big so it can rumble with mine?

I'm thinking one of the bird workshops would be good for her. And, the nursing homes seem to love kids and allow them to take home their work product.

I haven't a clue how much a massage costs but heard rumor they were up there in price too.

Well, I knew you had a cat. :) Dogs too? And big ones at that? Someday I'll have a big dog again. Sigh. For now, I have my daughter's dog, Bouncer. He may be small, but he absolutely loves playing with the big dogs. He's very social and plays well with others. :)

That's evil! LOL!! Sure, Cori could do the bird workshop, but she wouldn't be able to take her project home. :) She does very well in nursing homes -- my friend has taken her to work upon occasion.

I have jumbo dogs as in Great Danes and Mastiffs (great with people and kids of all ages as well as great with other animals). I also have quite a few indoor cats. While my dogs know how to play nice with other animals regardless of size (and your dog could easily fit into the mouths of my dogs as a juicy morsel), two of my cats do not play so nice with anything smaller than them. Go figure, brain dead dogs that could care less about their size and attack cats that do know their size. We had a kid who came to us with a little Blue Chihuahua. We ultimately had to crate and find a new home for that little dog. Every time I turned around one of our cats was stalking it and trying to go for its throat. I can't tell you how many times I tried introducing that dog to my cats and ended up pulling their teeth off of it. We still have the crate we used so you could bring your baby but your baby couldn't be given the run of the house because we have er uh a little problem here with two cats that I am relatively confident would kill your dog without batting an eyelash if given the opportunity to do so. The only reason why they are good with our dogs is because our dogs could kill them if they wanted to and those two cats must know it.

The only workshops I have around the corner are suet making. They have suet feeders at the nursing homes and the stuff can be poured into forms and frozen until needed. Next spring I will probably have a few seed starting projects. Nothing like making a birdhouse or birdfeeder. No harm in letting her take home some suet.... unless you don't have a place to hang it.

I do respect Great Danes. Obviously, no dogs are allowed in our office building, however, we had one attorney who would "sneak" his Great Danes onto our floors of the building. One day, i was walking down the hall, and I'm thinking, OMG, how could he have brought a horse in the building?!? Then, of course, I got closer and realized what was going on. Anyway, they are good dogs.

Actually, I do have a suet hanger (see, I'm trying), that I need to fill up again. It seems though, everytime I put suet in the container, it attracts every Starling in a 5 mile radius. :( Yeah, these projects sound like a fun thing to get into during the summer months.

I had to bring one of my dogs to the offices once to be able to take off early to get him to a specialty vet appointment for his hips. I tried my best to smash him under my desk (had a big desk). I had him rammed under there well on his side with his head under the drawers to my left and his legs curled up under my legs. Unfortunately while I was meeting with my client, he stretched and all four of his legs popped out on the other side of the desk with two on either side of the chair where the poor sap was sitting. I saw the guy kinda smash back into his chair but couldn't for the life of me figure out what he found so disturbing since I could still see my dog's head right under the drawers in the same position it had been in before. I stood up and leaned way over the desk and saw all four of Lurch's legs sticking straight out. Oops. These things happen. Yes, most are very good dogs. We never have to worry about ours around people or children or other animals but their tails can pack a whollop and can clear off coffee tables and they do tend to like to lick the faces of infants with milk burps.

Yes, the store bought suets have a lot of that cheap filler seed in them that starlings love. I have a thread out there some where with a decent suet recipe that should help you reduce the number of starlings at your feeder substantially. They are messy birds and they used to knock out all the seed in my feeders too.

Found it-
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/p.php?pid=2726056

Equil, that story of your Lurch is priceless. I once had a friend who raised Great Danes and she made me sit down before she introduced me to the one I hadn't met yet. He was a 'blue' and when he walked in and sat next to me I was looking eye-to-eye with him (I was 5'8" tall). He put one paw on my knee and I could not have moved if I tried. He was the sweetest dog I ever met and one of the best behaved, too. Thanks for the giggle.

Awesome! That sounds really easy to do! Definitely a project for Cori and I soon -- probably in November, when we cannot offend anyone by making it. :) I won't go into my thoughts on Starlings. The did manage to go through quite a bit of dog food, and I'll leave it at that.

Great story about Lurch!! It had me giggling too. :) And, Kaperc, I bet you felt more than intimidated when the "blue" sat next to you and put his paw on your knee.

Cori was actually kicked out of Wal-Mart by sneaking Bouncer in the store in her purse. She was with my ex-husband's girlfriend, and they thought it would be a fun thing to do. So, when Cori told me the story over the phone (thank goodness!), I had to keep from laughing out loud, and pretend to be the stern, practical mom who tells her daughter, she simply cannot take her dog into Wal-Mart. :)

Yep, that dog did intimidate me for sure. But within a few minutes, he was standing with his paws on my shoulders and we were getting along just fine (I was a lot stronger in those days!). My friend was smart to tell me to sit down first, though!

There's a lady at a grocery store where I shop who comes in with her little dog in a special pink purse that sits in the cart. Everybody knows the dog and says hello - she's very quiet and well-behaved. I have no problem with it, but would object to big slobbering dogs wandering around, or collies with their fur everywhere. I don't mind making an exception for such a little thing, but I keep waiting for someone to make a fuss. Such is the world. Sorry for going OT.

I have a confession, our dogs are very sweet but they are definitely slobberers and leaners. They are pretty good about not putting their paws on people and definitely have never been allowed to stand with their paws on anyone's shoulders. I must admit one of them gets really long hangers though. So much so that we stick a dish cloth on his collar so people can feel free to dab at the saliva shoestrings before they go airborne when he shakes his head. People who sit at our kitchen table are often sent flying across the ceramic in their chairs when our dogs sit down to lean on them. Wheeeeeeeeeeeee! Here's a better giggle for you kaperc- One time my Mother In Law was sitting on the couch and Norton went to lean on her and literally flipped the couch over with her in it. Oh goodie he must have thought. Much easier to lean on a human when they're at ground level so he backed up to lean on her again and slid her couch and all across the hardwood floors and slammed her head into the wall. Score one for the dog I guess- one problem though, I love my MIL! We watched in disbelief that he somehow flipped the whole couch. We had our furniture bolted down to the floor from the basement up to the family room which has quite successfully kept our friends and relatives from ending up horizontal and half way across the family room. Our dogs had slid the couches before but they'd never flipped one over complete with a person in it. Now, place a newborn infant or a kitten on the floor and watch how they lift up their legs and scooch in inch by inch to get their licks in making sure they don't hurt it even accidentally. Our dogs aren't intimidating but they are sort of affection hounds that like to be close... very close. The closer the better. There are days when a dog in a purse sounds very attractive to me but then again I am afraid of breaking those types of dogs. You can hardly see them to avoid stepping on them without a big Sherlock Homes magnifying glass ;)

My kids have been sneaking critters in to department stores for a while. No dogs but worms and frogs and grasshoppers have been smuggled in. Anything that is pocket sized seems to be fair game.

I have no great love of European starlings or English house sparrows. A subject best saved for our Garden Foes Forum.

Oh, dear, you have had some adventures! lol The paws on shoulders thing was just a fun thing to do - if that dog had jumped up on me, I would have gone flying, too! Yep, they were leaners, too. Shame about the slobbers, isn't it? I'll bet a lot of people get rid of dogs because of that. It's one of the things that needs to be considered first, or just accepted if you didn't know about it. Like our birds and their little packages left here and there. Mostly they use their perches, but there are always those few times...

I got suspended from high school one day when I wore a chameleon lizard pinned to my blouse. Scared one of my teachers when he moved, since he had changed colors to match my green clothes.

You just dated yourself. I had one of those too. I loved it. I wasn't allowed to wear it to school though. Your Mom was way cooler than my Mom. My Mom told me that if I wore it to school all the other kids would try to touch it and that he'd probably come home missing his tail or worse from being pawed by kids. I decided it wasn't a good idea to wear mine to school but I wanted to really bad.

I don't think Mom knew - I'll have to ask her. I had fun that day - my top was different shades of green and brown stripes and the little fella just blended right in. Few people knew he was there and once they did, kept quiet so as not to spoil the fun. I don't recall people mauling him, but kids being kids, they probably did. Yes, it was a long time ago, but I'm glad I grew up when I did. :-)

I never did receive any photos from the two workshops that me and G4B went to but I did break down and buy a spare set of rechargeable batteries to slip in my purse so that hopefully I won't miss any more kodak moments. I just finished my last Plumeria workshop yesterday morning. Plants all gone!

Here are a few photos from yesterday morning-