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A Gnome's Best Friend
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It has been a few weeks now that Bill has left the garden forum, and No one paid him Tribute and gave him his Honors.

This was a man who had ideas, Ideas that would help others to grow beautiful gardens, to build their imaginations, and stir their creativity. A Man that could see creating such a place would also form Friendships, Life long Friendships,. While some friends and would come and go, we all had one bond,, Gardening. and we all had one Man that held it all together, BILL. Wild willy, the Great gnome , The Bear known to us all.

I have put pictures in here that bring back the memories of his creativity, his humor, his gardens, His Shadow. His ten year anniversary, he brought all the hostesses and spouses to Cedar Hill, a celebration of the Gardenhelper and those that helped 'run' it, were appreciated thru a huge party, that us members got to view thru pictures and posts, and phone calls.

The willy village was inspired by Bill and his gnomes. I never would have had a gnome had it not been for GMom, she sent me my first gnome ever, and my Willy Village grew from there, Bill and Lynne, Carol, Cindy and others all sent gnomes to live in the Village, some of those gnomes made it to Cedar Hill to meet Bill/ Wild Willy, Shadow. and Smokey Then there was the gnome that traveled across the United States to our members homes,,,starting from Washington, and made it back to Washington.

For well over a decade Bill dedicated his time to US, even when he was ill he still worked on the pages, revamping them, asking our opinions, asking us to contribute to his cause, and we did ,, gladly.

So Bill If you ever see this,, We or at least I DO,, want you to know,, You are Loved, Appreciated, Honored, Respected, and we are ever so grateful that you woke up one day with an Idea to help other gardeners. We are especially grateful you still had US in mind when you saved the Gardenforum For us dedicated members. kissie You will forever be in our hearts, our gardens, and our creativity, through gardening. We Miss you, and hope you stop in from time to time to say hello.

here is a video of when I went to visit Bill and Cindy at Cedar Hill and we went to the Cascade Mountians,
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The Humming bird house, built by his own hands,,

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Fairy garden, with one hand willy and rose wood visiting
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"Grace without perfection is more to be desired than perfection without grace."
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Shirley and I went to visit Cindy and Bill at cedar hill

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DON'T POKE THE BEAR>> tapfoot

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we USED to have Gift exchanges here, thanks to Bill, here are some gifts for my Willy Village,
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This is the Book Bill Sent me on one of the gift exchanges, I've since had to replace it the Parks Book as it was stolen from me,
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Bill Being Silly,,
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Bill in his Forest

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Purple Gloves,, long time members knows the story behind this,, lol

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Shadow, the sweetest dog I know

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was waiting for Bill to heal after his surgery

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Lynne Knitted him the perfect gnome hat :ding:



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Those of you that want to contribute more pictures or words in Honor of Bill as he enjoys his retirement send off, Please do,,Those of you that don't >just remember you couldn't even be here and reading this if it weren't for Bill.
We will miss you Dearly and thank you again Bill for saving the GardenForum for your Friends and members,, as a place to gather and discuss gardening and have fellowship kissie I Hope you find peace and healing in your retirement, and again Hope you stop in to say Hello once in a while shewinks





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What a WONDERFUL and FITTING and SENTIMENTAL tribute to Bill, Diane!!!luv

You captured the essence of the man, and all he did for all of us here. I needed a tissue when I watched your video - wow! So many fond memories of great times!

I don't have any pictures to share, but I do want to say that the one time I spoke with Bill on the phone he was compassionate and ever so helpful. A real stand up man. thumbup

I hope that Bill gets to see this thread, but even if he does not, it's a great reminder to us all, about what kept us here in the first place. Great information about gardening, but even greater friends. grin shewinks shots


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This is beautiful Diane loved the video and pics. Bill is the ultimate Mountain Man. Bill I too thank you for TGH I learned a lot from you and met a lot of friends here , you always had great advise and information also remember you helping a lot of people on the forum I also miss you a lot have a happy retirement give Shadow a hug and pat on head from me and my dogs. Sorry I have no pics as I never got the chance to meet you. God Bless and keep you Bill.


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Diane this is a beautiful tribute to our Bill. He was and is a wonderful man. I bless the day I went looking for an answer to my gardening problem & found his site. I have learned so very much and made so many friends here, many of whom I look upon as family. I hope with all of my heart that Bill comes by at least one time to at least see this tribute that you have started. --(well I hope he comes by once we have all had a chance to post a note to him if we wish.)

Sadly, I do not have any pictures to share either, as I have never met Bill. But I feel as if I know him, and think of him as a freind.

Bill, I hope you enjoy your retirement, as much as we enjoy this wonderful place you have given us to learn from and to meet new friends. Thank you so very much.

I love gardening now more than I did when I first came.
As I say, I bless the day I found this site :ding:


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This is a wonderful (but sad) topic, Diane.
So many memories....I could write a book.
Love seeing all the photos. Wasn't the "Jail Tree" awesome?

Miss you, Bill.....


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A Classic....


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"The Bus Stop" at night...BEAUTIFUL!

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Originally Posted by afgreyparrot
This is a wonderful (but sad) topic, Diane.
So many memories....I could write a book.
Love seeing all the photos. Wasn't the "Jail Tree" awesome?

Miss you, Bill.....




yeah the jail Tree, I forgot we had named it that lol
Yeah it's sad it's like the end of an Era,, never to be the same,,but always remembered with wonderful memories,good thoughts, and we are more knowledgeable in plants and flowers then we were before we joined here. Bill was the Best, he was compassionate, kind to us all and came straight across the board. He valued our opinions, and if we as a group didn't like something he changed it, to keep his members happy and the forum running smooth. He didn't faulter with his words or his actions. When you crossed him he let you know, the Bear wasn't to be poked or played with in any harmful way.
I have some web cam pics somewhere,, I'm going to look for them.


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Originally Posted by angelblossom

I have some web cam pics somewhere,, I'm going to look for them.


I agree with Cindy, this is a wonderful but sad topic.

But having said that---I LOVED seeing the photos that Diane & Cindy posted and I am looking forward to seeing the web cam pics when Diane finds them.


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Here is the bus stop during the day,, I don't know if the fountain was put in there yet or not

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this is on the front of Bills house,, haha

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Another view of the Busstop Look how tall his foxgloves are shock
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can't remember the names of the pink ones,, But Loved the two colors planted together,, Once again gave me ideas what colors that look good together,, Thanks Bill
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Bird Cam,, Sure miss having that here boohoo

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Bill Clearing away vines and other growth to see the,,,,

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The Tree with the face!

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More Continued,,,,,,,,,,,V


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continued from ^


several Bird cam pics..

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Bill working and the Wishing Well

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Peace to you Bill[Linked Image] [Linked Image] [Linked Image] [Linked Image] [Linked Image]


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Again, so much fun looking at all the wonderful pictures, Diane! Brings back great memories even though I wasn't there, because you all shared it with all of us here.

Bill is an exceptional man who gave freely - his time, his website, gifts, help to those in distress, etc. Sharing the pictures and memories is a great positive in a world that is filled with far too many negatives. Keep those great pictures coming Diane and Cindy!


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Originally Posted by plants 'n pots


Bill is an exceptional man who gave freely - his time, his website, gifts, help to those in distress, etc. Sharing the pictures and memories is a great positive in a world that is filled with far too many negatives. Keep those great pictures coming Diane and Cindy!


True words Lynne,, He is an exceptional man. I had so many great pictures from the bird cam. They were on my computer that was stolen,, boohoo . I have a few more, but Cindy I'm sure has a HUGE amount of pics, some of them funny I'm sure lol


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Yep...I found one last night of him on the bird cam...talking to the police in his yard... notme


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haha haha I remember that story They were looking for someone in the area weren't they?? notme Or is that time the 'other' story lol


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That says it all Diane.......

he was just kind to each person, and answered them so nicely.
I have no cedar hill photos but will always cherish his kindness.

dodge


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What a beautiful tribute.



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Hello! This is One Hand willy speaking, I wanted to say something, yes of course angelblossom is typing this but these are MY words. Wild Willy was our friend too, the Willy Village, and most of us are still here with angelblossom, we are sadden to hear Wild Willy is not on here any more and wish him the best in his retirement. May the spirit of the Willies be with him, and fairy's watch out for him. We love you Wild Willy, I asked angelblossom to share the best Willy Village story with you once again, so you all will remember the True story of all us willies, From Panl to his brother Wild willy to GrandPooBah, angelblossom still watches over us and our wish is for her to build us another Village, but we know she has other responsibilities now and we are still happy to be with her :ding: Wild Willy we love you and we thank you for teaching others to Never underestimate the power of a gnome kissie
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here is the link to the True gnome story, in memory of Wild Willy clap Once you click on the link you will have to scroll up to the top of the page to begin :wink:



//www.agardenersforum.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/226083/Grand_PooBah_tells_an_old_old_.html#Post226083



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Diane - I am just seeing this now - don't know how I missed it! So glad you brought the Willy Village back to this thread! I will read the story in a bit, but I was very happy to see the picture, and read your nice note to Bill.


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Diane, what a wonderful tribute to our Bill.

We use to have so much fun on here, and then some sorrowful times too: friendships made, and lost, Friday night parties, so many, many memories!

I'm so glad you posted that picture of you and me and Cindy in the Hummingbird House! I didn't have that one. I was so glad I got to go visit Bill on his hill.

I'm so glad you called, Diane, I would have hated to miss this. Bill was always nice, kind, helpful and considerate. I am grateful to him for all the joy I use to have here.

I remember so many of those sights and stories within those pictures, Diane. Thank you for this, for Bill, but I thank you for myself as well. I enjoyed all the memories. kissie


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Oh, and I don't know what ever happened to my purple gloves why egad


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I still have my purple gloves ,, just incase I may need them someday,, notme haha


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When I move I will probably open a box marked 'memories' and there they will be. grin
I'm drinking my coffee out of my Garden Helper mug. It's my favorite, and is so stained. I did have two but I broke one. boohoo


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I still use my gardenhelper cup every morning,, I have my other one put up for safe keeping, sometimes I look at it and one hand willy jumps out and scares me,, yes he is still ornery and always will be, egad


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That just made me think---I stopped using my cup because it is so big--but now with the keurig it will be perfect !!! Thanks for reminding me.... yay the garden helper mug !!!!! (sadly I only bought 1)


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OMG Look!


Started by Hadeda,, I saw him on line today and he was reading this,, Hadeda Good to see you it's been a long time!

Scroll UP after you click on this
//www.agardenersforum.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/183952/Agardenerforum_over_the_years.html#Post183952




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Originally Posted by angelblossom
OMG Look!
Started by Hadeda,, I saw him on line today and he was reading this,, Hadeda Good to see you it's been a long time!


I still have his address here somewhere---I do wish I had of been here today when he was----He is a good kid !!!


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