Several weeks ago, my garden blogging friend, Anne, at NikkiPolani, sent me an envelope filled with these pressed flowers from her garden.
Included, too, were dried persimmons, which have long since been devoured. I was so touched by this lovely gesture. Anne knew that I was finding it hard this fall saying goodbye to my garden.
Today I received a lovely envelope in the mail from Kylee, another garden blogging friend, from Our Little Acre. Inside I discovered little plastic bags carefully packed and labelled with an amazing variety of seeds. What a treat just in time for Christmas. Now I can begin dreaming about where I will plant them all come spring.
There is something so magical about holding in one’s hands seeds and flowers from faraway friends’ gardens. 
I continued to dig in the envelope and look what I found – gorgeous-coloured yarn that will make a wonderful scarf. A girl can never have too yarn stashed away! Life is good.
Kylee also included a Christmas card with an image that I quite love. Would that we all were able to join hands around the world.
A happy holiday to everyone and may all your dreams and wishes for a happy and healthy new year all come true!!
in the autumn light 
Thank you Kate and I wish all the same for you and yours…
Wow! That is quite a perfect title to your post, Kate. And you certainly did get some perfect gifts. We all need things to look forward to in order to get through the colder times. I can almost hear the wheels turning in your head as you plan that garden and that scarf! 😉 Have a wonderful holiday!
Kate,Those are the most thoughtful gifts. I think it’s an honor to watch things grow from friends.Merry Christmas to you!Mary
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Isnt’ that a cute card?Dream on about planting those seeds. The sun has turned around and spring is coming.
Interesting blog you have here Kate.Thanks for visiting my lil ol blog and your kind comments.Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Happy Holidays to you Kate and May all your seeds grow up to be big and strong plants.
Merry Christmas Kate, and how lucky you are to receive such kind gifts from friends. That Christmas card certainly appeals to me too. Isn’t this what we garden bloggers are doing when commenting on blogs, a kind of spiritual holding of hands?
Hope you had a very nice holiday. I see, as gardeners we have already turned toward spring. I had my garden catalogs out today, studying the pictures and turning down pages in my first round of picking things for next spring. One thing I found was hibiscus seeds in the Pine Tree catalog. The Luna series is supposed to be hardy through zone five, and I am going to give it a try.What a friend you have in Lytton! I would forgive him a few treats, too.
the yarn is gorgeous…your blog is filled with beautiful colours and words! happy new year :)paula
What nice gestures from your friends. Hope you have a wonderful New Year!Aiyana
Beautiful gifts, Kate! I love it when someone puts a lot of thought into something. It means so much more and will be remembered for years to come (like the flowers which will be in your garden) and the scarf you will finish and wear one day. Take good care of yourself, Andrea
Hi Kate, happy holidays to you as well. I hope your new year is a happy and successful, healthy one.I love your orchid by the way, in the post below. Phaleanopsis are easy to grow and will bring you much enjoyment. I have 9 orchids, they are fun and I love each one. Make sure to give your orchid humidity and too fertilize as well and I’m sure you will get lovely repeat blooms.
Kate: You inspire me…I have been knitting scarfs!
Kate what wonderful thoughtfilled gifts for you! All certainly a symbol of sharing hearts within this beautiful comminity of bloggers!I know the feeling of holding seeds from a flower that blossomed miles away from you..it connects us all to one another.Enjoy your gifts as you are deserving of them! hugs NG xo
very merry Christmas, dear lady. wishing you many beautiful scarves in the new year, and may you never run out of beeswax.
Dear Kate, it’s so good to receive seeds from another parts of the world. When I receive that, I just look like a little girl opening a present. Happy new year, with all the good things you wish can get real.Cris
Oh, Kate, how fun to get seeds and start anticipating their growing in your garden! I used to participate in a seed swap but I have had to stop because I’ve no room to plant seeds! Well, that, and the fact that I’m just not good at caring for seedlings. Wishing your winter is filled with wonderful visions 🙂
Sorry I am late….but Merry Christmas!What wonderful friends you have to send you these “goodies”.I can’t wait to see what the seeds will bring once you plant them 🙂
What a heart warming story. Over the past few years, I have also exchanged wonderful gifts with blogging friends. What a gift the internet is…finding kindred spirits across the globe. 🙂 Happy Holidays, Kate. sending smiles,Lene
Happy Holidays to you and Best wishes for the new year!
From the photos with this post I see that you have an artist’s eye for color. The dried flowers and seeds are lovely gifts. Let us see the scarf when it’s finished.Have a happy holiday and an even better new year!
Thanks for your lovely comments on my blog… now the time to visit yours! You too have some great pictures… and seems like we have the same dog too – with an equally amazing sense of smell… only difference is that ours is a black lab!I also love the Christmas cards a united world – I spent some time in Canada a while back where I did a residential counselling course over 9 weeks – and there were representatives of many of the nations across the globe – we had such a great time!Bon Annee 2008 when it arrives… Miranda
Kate,Thank you for you kind comments on my blog tonight! It was especially nice since I have been reading your blog for quite awhile and love your blog, your writing and your photos. It is nice to finally meet you.Best Wishes,TR
Lovely gifts, all of them, Kate. They are all fraught with possibility and hope.Happy journeying into 2008.
ohhh how cool is that! loooks like such fun…happy new yr :)ps. hi lytton – i know your right there, wink
I wish you a happy new year!Big hug from Marie
What wonderful blogging friends you have to send seeds and yarn. Have a happy, healthy and safe New Year.
Chigiy at Gardener’s Anonymous said:Kate,It is wonderful to have friends. That is the best gift of all.Happy Holidays.Enjoy those special gifts.
What lovely, precious gifts. Happy new year to you, Kate, pretty soon we can start dreaming of spring and, once again, watch your garden grow
Have been missing from blogland for a while and I missed your special birthday – so a belated but heartfelt Happy Birthday to you, I hope the coming year brings you all kinds of good things. That carrot cake looked gorgeous – it’s my favourite too:) Your packages were delightful and those seed packets hold the promise of spring and summer ahead. A very Happy New Year to you Kate.
What lovely gifts, what more could a gardener want?The wools today are amazing, they have inspired me to knit and crochet again.Happy New Year.
hope your new year is fab!this is done from the new mac @ home!!as blogger and the network @ work don’t seem to be good neighbors, and i can’t upload pictures at work, i’m moving. this link will take you to my new home. a toast to you and yourn for all good things in 2008
Wishing you peace love inspiration and blessings as we move forward to a NEW YEAR!hugs NG
A lovely gift from your friend.Wishing you a HAPPY NEW YEAR! 🙂
Happy New Year! I’m still catching up reading Christmas posts. Looking forward to your great gardening/knitting/stenciling/fiddling (and more) posts in 2008!
What a lovely thoughtful package of kind gifts – ones that will grow and create beautiful memories in 2008.Happy New Year!Celiax
Those were some really nice gifts. I hope all the seeds grow for you.
A Happy, Happy New Year to you Kate, and many blessings!
Lovely gifts! I hope your holidays were wonderful and wish you a very Happy New Year!
What lovely items to arrive through your post! I do hope you have pleasure in sowing your seeds and storing your lovely pressed petals. Happy New Year to you too. x
well aren’t you a lucky girl to receive such treasures from afar! Gestures like that can keep you buoyed for weeks and months, or even years… You have sewn a little kindness and friendship in the blogoshpere and its grown! Happy New Year Kate.
wishing you a most lovely new year, full of the things and people you love and treasure!
Dear Kate, just stopping by to wish you, your family and Lytton a very happy and healthy New Year with loads of garden and blogging fun!
Thank you for visiting 🙂 Turning 50 was not nearly so bad as I thought, I was dreading it for some reason, can’t remember why now LOL. The swans migrate to the UK from Iceland and places further north so I suppose to them we are relatively warm. Not exotic however, there is a bitter cold wind today although we have had no snow at all here in the south west. See you soon 🙂
Can’t wait to see what flowers you get from the seeds. It is also nice to see bloggers taking their friendships and sharing outside of the blogosphere.
I just made a yarn for my granddaughter using that exact Fancy Fur yarn.It was fantastic — such “electric” bright colors!
OOops, I meant I just made a SCARF — a SCARF — for my granddaughter.Maybe I should investigate spell check or something…*sheesh*