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GamgeeFest's Keepsakes by GamgeeFest	10 Review(s)
Larner	Reviewed Chapter: 27 on 9/28/2007
Ah, live and learn, live and learn. And Sam does learn and, from two teachers here--Frodo to teach him to accept one DOES live and learn, and the Gaffer to teach him the skills needed for what is known. I appear to have missed this. I'm glad I found it. Author Reply: Live and learn is exactly what his father was trying to teach him. Sam might know a lot about gardening, but he still has much to learn, and there's no better teacher than experience. And thanks to Frodo, Sam knows he can ask for help without appearing silly or helpless. I'm gald you found this too, and that you enjoyed it!

shirebound	Reviewed Chapter: 27 on 9/28/2007
anything you plant here will make it the most beautiful garden in all of Middle-earth What a lovely, wise conversation, and Frodo said all the right things. Sam needed the same nurturing, patience, and love as anything he grows in the soil. Author Reply: Frodo might doubt his abilities to deal with a distraught Gamgee lad, but he proved he's more than capable of handling it. Sam will remember this encouragement and it will be one of the many reasons he is so devoted to his master later on in life. :D Thanks for reading!

Antane	Reviewed Chapter: 27 on 8/27/2007
Sorry it's taken me so long to get to this sweet, loving, encouraging story! Most beautiful because love was planted there and not just flowers. :) Namarie, God bless, Antane :) Author Reply: Sam will have better luck with the lilies next time. For now, he's reassured of his skills, his father's faith in him, and his friendship with young Master Frodo. No wonder he wanted Frodo's little bit of garden to be the most beautiful. :) Thanks for reading!

Periantari	Reviewed Chapter: 27 on 8/20/2007
I love the Frodo's comfort for Sam-- indeed Sam shouldn't despair for making the gardening mistake. I love Frodo's care/comfort for dear Sam-- i love ficlets that have Frodo being the one to comfort Sam. Lovely scenario you wrote about, GF! =) ♥ Author Reply: Sam doesn't get enough comfort in fan fic. :) Frodo would never hesitate a moment to offer it to him, even if he wasn't entirely sure here how to go about doing so. But he did an admirable job. :) Thanks for reading!

Lindelea	Reviewed Chapter: 27 on 8/19/2007
Aww. And now I find myself intrigued by the idea of laughing layabouts. Author Reply: Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed this, and that you were inspired to write some laughing layabouts. :D

elwen	Reviewed Chapter: 27 on 8/19/2007
Awwwwwwwwwwww! What a beautiful tender scene. Author Reply: Thank you, Elwen!

Althea	Reviewed Chapter: 27 on 8/14/2007
Frodo knew exactly what to say to ease Sam's sorrow over his failed seedlings. It's always a pleasure to read a story like this in which Frodo goes out of his way to help young Sam. No wonder Sam was so devoted to Frodo in later years. I'm glad the Gaffer was so understanding. Thanks for this sweet look at the growing friendship between Frodo and Sam. Author Reply: LOL! But Frodo didn't know what to say, he was pretty much winging it. Thankfully, it turned out to be exactly what Sam needed to hear and Frodo will be a little more confident now in his ability to comfort his new friend. Frodo and Sam were truly meant to go together and the beginnings of that can be seen here: Sam wanting to please Frodo and do a good job, Frodo just wanting to reassure Sam and make him feel better. The Gaffer, of course, knew all along that Sam was likely to fail. He also knows the best teacher is experience. If Sam is to learn to be a gardener, then he must be a gardener. ;) Thanks for reading and for your lovely review!

harrowcat	Reviewed Chapter: 27 on 8/13/2007
Wields fluff-buster sneezes loudly!! Poor Sam - glad he has good advice at hand. Author Reply: throws more fluff The last one was so angsty, it needed to be balanced out with some fluff. :D If Frodo hadn't been there, the Gaffer would have found Sam eventually and told him more or less the exact same thing. But Frodo was there, and so we see the beginnings of what will later become Sam's deep devotion and loyalty to Frodo and Frodo's equally strong impulse to protect Sam. Thanks for the review!

Dreamflower	Reviewed Chapter: 27 on 8/13/2007
I love this, for what it says about all three of the characters: about Sam, who even at that age felt tenderly for each little plant put in his care, and who could not bear it that they died in spite of all his care; about Frodo, who's observed his little friend closely, and knows this about him, and has figured out just the right way to encourage and cheer Sam, also his missing Merry and Brandy Hall--which was just right, by the way; and about the Gaffer, who allows his son to learn from the best teacher of all, experience, without hovering over him, and telling him how to do every little thing. (This last one is a very important thing to me, when I think of the little ones I had to teach crafts to, who had an interfering parent hanging over his or her shoulder saying "No, that's wrong! Use this color! You do it this way! Wait! You're messing up!" Grrr...haven't they ever heard of stifling creativity?) And there were other little touches that were so perfect: Frodo having remembered what grew there before; his story about the pony; Sam's stout conviction that the Gaffer had already taught him everything; and the Gaffer's muttering about Dwarf lilies, LOL! (And it makes me wonder if the Gaffer didn't give those lilies to Sam to plant with the secondary motive of teaching Mr. Bilbo a lesson...would he do that? Nawwwww... ;-) ) Absolutely wonderful vignette, GF! Author Reply: Sam does indeed feel for the plants in his care, perhaps a little too much, but that's what makes him such a dear heart. He'll learn to handle the bumps and setbacks with more grace as time goes by, but for now, he can only think of how he failed the Gaffer, Frodo, Bilbo and those poor Dwarf lilies. It would never have occured to him that his father would set him this task without teaching him everything first! His Gaffer is the most wonderful and smartest gaffer in the Shire, after all, and he simply couldn't understand at this young age what his father was really doing: testing his skills to see where he needs further instruction. Frodo has come to know Sam rather well, though he is still uncertain of his ability to comfort the lad at the beginning here. Once he starts though, he does just seem to know what to say. He does have some experience with young children after all, and he would think of Merry at a time like this. He would naturally miss his cousin, but it does rather surprise him to realize he also misses Brandy Hall. His last couple years there weren't the happiest, after all, but it was still home. And the Gaffer - he's not one to hover or crowd or over-parent. It doesn't help the child in the least and it's just not practical. How is he supposed to do his job if he's spending all his time helping Sam? ;) (You know, I wondered that too while I was writing the story, would the Gaffer really have given Sam those seeds for that very reason? I think if he did it must have been subconscious, for of course, it would just be improper to do such a thing on purpose.) :D

cookiefleck	Reviewed Chapter: 27 on 8/13/2007
These kinds of stories are so heartwarming and sweet. It's fun to imagine Sam's early days in the garden and his interaction with others. Thanks. Author Reply: Sam might be the master gardener by the time we meet him in LOTR, but he had to start somewhere. He might have failed his first assignment, but he'll learn from his mistakes, just as his Gaffer knew he would. :) Thanks for the review!

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