Shirley, These are great! I love riddles! I finished pre-algebra and algebra in the 7/8th grade respectively, geometry/algebra2 in the 9/10th grade respectively precalculus/ trigonometry in the 11th grade and calculus in the 12th grade which I tried for AP credit but didn't achieve. Calculus really did me in! I took advanced physics and statistics in college as a part of my major and revisited calculus. Also, I took a course called Applied Quantitative Analysis a Chemistry course which was heavily math based. Phew...I hate math...I don't even like thinking about the fact that I took those courses!

1. Clock or watch

2. Temperatures

3. Telephone numbers

4. Costs/store prices

5. Gas prices?

Breanne, like Emily, you got 1 and 3.

At least we're eliminating some things!

Algebra, three years, Plane geometry, solid geometry, Trig and one statistics one semester.

skip 1&3

2 odometer on car

4 Highway /route #s

5 aircraft flight numbers

Beth, you're real close on #4! Nothing else.

oh is 4# speed limits?

Yes, the numbers on the speed limit signs!

So, what are we left with? #s 2 and 5!

I received a lovely two page letter from Margo today with writing on the front and back! Look at the lovely lined stationery and the excellent penmanship.

Thank you, Margo! I really enjoyed reading your letter. Lots of news, like letters used to be. I haven't had such a nice handwritten letter in a long time.

2. Bus/Trail/El numbers

5. Voltage-electric wires-keeping an eye on the utility bill and the cause of many a marital discord

2. License plate numbers.

5. Fuse box numbers.

Stay tuned, Fotess members. I'll be posting the July swap next week.

Well, my post disappeared. No correct guesses on #s 2 and 5.

I wish I would have had some of these ideas when I was wracking my brains for number questions!

Is number 5 wind speed or gps?

No. Another good guess tho, Robin!

I'll give some hints in the morning before I leave!

2. TV/radio channels

5. Expenses/budget/assets and liabilities

Why was 6 mad at 7? Because 7 8 9

Morning!!

Good one, Heidi!

Emily, you are coming close with #5, but still not what I was thinking of!

Here are some hints:

#2 These aren't French or Spanish numbers.

#5 What do you do on a tightrope?

Hey, I'm outta here, will try to get on GW, if not, see ya next week,

Shirley!

Is #2 Roman numerals?

#5 budget?

Also, Margo! I love your stationary!! Where did you find this? I'd love to get some personalized stationary :)

5. Balancing a checkbook.

5. Cost of circus tickets

2. The Dewey decimal system or the barcode they scan when you check books out of the library.

Sorry to be delayed, everyone. I'm filling in for Shirley but with a busy day today, I am just now getting online.

Everything has now been guessed!

Katie you were right with Roman Numerals for #2

Emily you were right with the numbers in a checkbook (balancing the checkbook) for #5.

Great guesses.

I'll be sure to stop by tomorrow. It went up to 103 degrees here today. However, our humidity is still not very high so it felt "pleasant" to me. Of course, my husband is in total disagreement. We got about 15 min. of rain late this afternoon so that sure was appreciated; no one had to drag the hoses around to water the plants.

Happy Weekend!

Jeanne

Emily, my daughters father in law owns a print shop and made the stationary for me for Christmas two years ago. He made several pads of it and I was pleased to be able to use it. Don't do much snail mail these days so glad you enjoyed the letter.

Amybabyboy

your package is in todays mail.

Sorry for the delay in shipping.

Enjoy it,

Faye!

Thank you Faye, I will let you know when it arrives!

If anyone would like to see posts here awaiting Shirley's return, here's my suggestion for the next few days. Let's post our local temperature when we log on (rainfall if you have some) and if your garden is producing fruit, vegetables or flowers right now - post what you picked today. Will love to see the posts and certainly include pictures if you like!

I looked up the local temperature on the computer and it says it's 87 degrees right now. Hard to believe after the 103 the other day, but I'm not going outside to read the thermometer so I will believe them. Thankful for the cooler temperature. My garden has "shut down" quite a bit from the heat and dryness so I haven't picked anything in the past few days. Before the heat I was picking some mini-cucumbers. I saw that I am getting a few blossoms on my tomato plants. I hope they continue to grow. I checked the blueberry bushes yesterday and the heat and dryness did in all the blueberries. I think I saw about 3 berries that may last until they are ripe enough for picking. I'm glad I don't have to feed the family from my garden!

Jeanne

It's 76 out and it's 10 pm. We hit low 90's and then rain storms came through. Of course, all went north and south of us. We have had one rainfall in the month of June. Somehow I've kept the gardens in decent shape. High of 93 tomorrow. Ugh

Lilies are blooming right now. I just wish they lasted longer.

Too early for vegies but there are flowers on my tomatoes and peppers which is all I planted. I did find peanut plants at the farmers market so bought some for the fun of it.

good night all

It's 10 pm and while I was waiting for my cherry cobbler to finish I checked the temp. It is 77 degrees in Illinois. My garden is growing by leaps and bounds. So far asparagus rhubarb cherries and now black raspberries. This is the second year canes. Not enough for jelly wonderful for on yogurt or ice cream.

Cherry cobbler done

Sweet dreams to everybody

Morning brings a treat.

My attempt at another haiku. Summer school was fun. Even the math.

It's 72 degrees and it's 10 p.m. A cool front came through yesterday and it's wonderful. Supposed to be a bit cooler this week. I received Rose of Sharon seedlings in the mail, but I didn't want to plant them out while it was 95-98..

Our blackberry bush/tree produced many berries. When we moved in 10 years ago it was a stump and each year I cut off the new branches, but it always got bigger. Then two years ago it had blooms and berries! Wow!

We'll have about 16 blueberries if they ripen up so I understand Jeanne. Things are looking good, but it's too early for veggies. My peas are blooming and they'll like the cool week, too.

Oh, and my first bee balm bloom showed up! They attract pollinators like crazy. Lilies, rudbeckia, coneflowers, milkweed all in bloom.

Heidi

We had a pleasant and much needed thunder storm last night. Both the moisture and the cooling effect are very welcome. Temp is 71 at 05:45 and 90 is expected this afternoon.

This is the roadside bed I started before we moved into this home. It is going to need some serious thinning this fall. Many plants are from GW trades/donations and most of the lilies are from Smokeys.... ID's are all lost or faded......
I selected a lot of different yellows and this is one of my favorites. I believe it is Prairie moon.

Heidi the bee balm is blooming along the roadsides here but none in my gardens yet.

Faye, Thank you for the great treats for summer school. I will be reading the small gardens magazine tonight (looks great!) I love the cute journal book to keep track of seeds and your handmade cards are beautiful! Thank you also for Spanish bluebell bulbs, Silver maple and wonderful selection of seeds! Also will enjoy the cute stickers with my kids! Thank you so much! Amy

It's 90 degrees right now, at 5:14pm. My lemon tree is heavy with fruit. I picked a bunch yesterday for the neighbor, and picked a bunch more today to include in a trade with a friend. Cowpeas are a couple inches tall. This is my first time trying to grow them, so I'm excited to see if those do well.

It is 75 degrees right now at 8:37 PM. Got home late today so it was too dark to take any good pictures. It was pretty humid when I got out of the car. My glasses fogged up. We had rain last night and this afternoon, which is great for the plants. I have canna blooming at the moment. The bee balm that Margo sent me last month is now blooming. My squash are blooming too. My blackberries are ripening although the birds get most of them.

Wow, I finally have a little bit of time to post! I am truly sorry I have been MIA! The last month has been horrid, emotionally, mentally, physical! I have been gone most of the time and many places not able to get on computer. I have had Amber's stuff for couple weeks, but haven't been able to remember to take to po on way out of town, or it's weekend if here. I am so sorry, esp. to new member of FOTESS. It will be going out tomorrow. I love all the pics everyone has posted. Hoping and praying all are well with themselves and family. Hopefully I won't get stoned for being so late, but not end of month yet! Amber I'll post tracking # tomorrow when I mail.

It's 66 degrees at 9:50. What a treat and my plants are loving it.

Hello all, sorry I have been MIA. I had a pretty hectic last several days. I have been acting as a liason for my younger sister and the rest of our friends/family etc. As many of you might have heard there was severe flooding in southern West Virginia. Although I am unaffected in the northern part of the state, my younger sister (who normally lives with me) has been living in Greenbrier County for a month doing a summer culinary internship at the Greenbrier Resort. She lives in the epicenter of the madness and is without power,water, gas, etc. She came home for a few days once the roads became passable enough for her to leave (most of what's left of them is being reserved for national guard and emergency vehicle traffic only) to gather supplies, take a much-needed shower, and wash her clothes. She is fine and by the grace of God has a second story apartment that was unaffected save loss of utilities, due to her water main/gas main breaking (shown below). Many of her friends have lost everything, some are still even missing family members. Please pray for the communities of West Virginia's Southern counties. The picture below is up the street from my sister's house. Many local businesses are completely gone. If you happened to see the footage of the burning house floating down the river on CNN it was her neighbors' up the block :(

Needless to say our state has received A LOT of rain. only a few inches in my region but 15+ in hers in the last couple weeks. It is 80 degrees here in Morgantown at 1:00PM

Breanne, that's terrible! Reminds me of the terrible time the gulf coast had after Katrina. It had us all in a state of shock.

My thoughts and prayers go out to those in West Virginia who are victims of the horrible flooding.

I came home to find the air conditioning off and all the windows open. Woo hoo. Temp is 71 and the humidity is way done. I'm heading out to water because we have been do dry. Two rainfalls the month of June.

Robin, I love your flowers. When I look at flowerbeds like yours I love the ones that are stately and well formed, but somehow all of mine look like a piñata exploded overhead! I think of it as American Cottage Garden since Americans do everything overboard. ha

Breanne, Im glad your sister could come and refresh at your place. The power of nature is amazing. We had snow last winter that brought everything to a standstill, but it was the most beautiful swirls of snow. I will pray for them.

I was trying to be sneaky today and buy clearance plants in the next town and everybody not only knew me, they told me I didn't need any more flowers! I tried to explain it was a small addiction (and get out of my way) wink. LOL Heidi

Melinda -- Sorry to hear about your horrid month. Hope things are starting to look up for you.

Breanne -- Holy cow! So lucky your sister was ok. It's great that you were near enough that she was able to escape to your place.

Robin -- Lovely pictures, as always.

This has been a wonderful experience and I want to thank Shirley for all the amazing homework. Do we know if there is a swap for July? So interesting to see gardens around the country. Have a safe and happy 4th of July.

Hi everyone, I just posted the FOTESS swap for July.

Shirley, thank you for hosting another great swap!!

Sorry I haven't posted more times but I have stopped by to see if there were any problems coming up.

It's 73 degrees here at 11:30 p.m. We had a short thunderstorm earlier today. Prior to that, the humidity was terrible. I've been busy getting the house cleaned up for holiday company. Cleaning house is definitely NOT my favorite!

I've seen on the news about the flooding in West Virginia (and earlier the coverage of Texas). Will keep all of those affected in my prayers. South Carolina is still dealing with damage from the floods last year in October.

Katie, I'm heading over to the other thread to check out July!

Jeanne

Melinda I got your package yesterday, thank you very much for all my lovely gifts I especially love the pens and journal, I love to write and I have a weird pen thing....I collect them...lol. weird I know!!! I sent your package out Wednesday I believe I will get your tracking number to you tonight when I get off work. Like I told Erica it may be late I have to close but I'll get it to you. I hope you like your gifts. Oh for the reading part I couldn't find magazines just about flowers but I sent you a better Homes and Gardens mag and a Martha Stewart living mag. Both of them I marked garden/ flower article in them. Just look for the folded down pages. Both of them have some great recipes in them too. Hope you enjoy.

Amber

Amber, I will love whatever you send. I am glad you liked your package. Hard finding seeds to go with dahlias. Just some of my favs! Thanks for letting me know and sorry so late in sending! Melinda

Hi Everyone, I'm finally home! And can I just say that coming thro Toledo on Interstate 75 was the same miserable experience it has always been. Never changes. These people need to work on their detour skills.

Had a great visit with the granddaughters. My daughter and her husband just bought their first house, so there was a lot of packing, sorting, running back and forth going on! It's a nice little house in a great neighborhood, same school district and Tabitha is so excited - she gets to ride the school bus! Where they live now is only a block away from her school, so she had to walk.

And I got to meet my grandcat, Aurora. Very pretty cat, American Tabby mix, quite nice and it only took her a couple of days to get used to me.

Okay, let's take care of some swap stuff!

First of all, a huge Thank You to Jeanne for covering for me. And at the last minute too. This visit was supposed to happen next weekend. Jeanne, I owe ya one! Thank you!

Robin, Beth and Heidi, thanks for sharing the pics, your flower beds are just beautiful!

Great Haiku, Robin!

Congrats to Katie and Emily for guessing #s 2 and 5!

Erica, how great it would be to walk out to my back yard and pick lemons!

Margo, we got rain 3 nites in Kettering. The girls drew a picture of me with their chalk, on the sidewalk, and were really bummed that the rain washed it away!

Breanne, so glad your sister had you to retreat to! Saying prayers for the flood victims.

Melinda, hope all is going better for you. Please post when you receive.

Here's an update on the Swap:

Erica REC'D

Katie REC'D

Emily REC'D

Margo REC'D

Breanne REC'D

Heidi REC'D

Robin REC'D

Beth REC'D

Amber REC'D

Amber sends to Melinda

Amy REC'D

Shirley REC'D

Faye REC'D

Okay, I'm going to finish unpacking and get some dinner. Got to check out Katie's swap too!

Later,

Shirley!

Welcome back, Shirley. No problem about keeping watch on things while you were away. It sounds like you were busy, but in a good kind of way. Love the new cat's name!

Robin, your flower beds are gorgeous! I know you must spend lots of time making them look beautiful like they are.

As for our local weather, it was the most humid I have ever felt for early morning. Arg! I went out to water the plants and brought my saddle up to the house so I could clean it. 8 a.m. and I was so hot! I found 3 cucumbers to pick (all very small) and had one with breakfast.

I've always liked hydrangeas and not had much luck with them. Finally a few years ago, I dug all of my hydrangeas out of the ground and put them in pots. The pots aren't very large, but each one is blooming this summer. Can you tell my soil (ground soil) is very poor? It's basically sand and then they were competing with the tree roots for water. I guess we hit 99 or 100 today. It's going to be a long summer!

Everyone have a safe and happy 4th of July.

Jeanne

We've had a long slow drizzle today. It's very un-Fourth-of-July, but it's wonderful. It's only about 60 degrees. I know those who planned the weekend at the lake, fishing or swimming are moving on to Plan B. I personally like it cooler. I took the opportunity to transplant things while it was cool and wet.

I love the idea of picking lemons, too. Sounds like a great book--can't imagine it for real! Conditions must have perfected recently because I have a couple thousand baby morning glory seedlings popping out. I had been watching for the volunteers, but when it didn't happen--can't believe it just happened at the end of June! Heidi

Thanks Shirley and Jeanne it took me 8 years these beds in shape. I tell myself no more beds but I can't help myself

Robin, looks like it was well worth the effort!

I received a nice, long, chatty letter from Faye today! Thank you, Faye, it made a nice break in my day.

Hot and muggy here today, looks like rain, maybe, we sure need it!

Waiting to hear from Melinda and we can close this swap. Hope you all have a great day!

Shirley!