Maggie I love the violas. those are just gorgeous. i prepped my soil to plant flowers but i didn't get to grab them yet. i really wanted to grow mine from seed this year but its not going so well. bummer.

Super busy here too but ready to mail today. Beautiful weather for three days now and trying to get caught up ( maybe sorta)

Maggie Thanks for sharing your pics. Love the Johnny Jump ups too. We were late mowing and the pasture is full of wild flower ( weeds) but so beautiful I now want to let them go to seed. Looks like a patchwork quilt.

hi jdmom! can I have your address? my package is ready to mail to you. Heidi. xiangirl.

Happy Earth Day!

What did you guys do for earth day today? I went to home depot and bought some petunias to plant in my front yard but then i passed buy a lowes and found the same petunias for half the price so now i have 2 sets of petunias and i need to go back to home depot to return the first set. i like to plant something every year on earth day but today i just got as far as buying and then i fell asleep on the sofa. yaaaaay for naps.

i can't update the initial post anymore so i don't know where to keep track of all who mailed and received. any ideas? i can create a new one but that will also lock me out eventually.

here are our BINGO words for today!!!

2. Bumblebees

21. Morning Glory

23. Honey

Good morning. my hubby mailed Maggie's package yesterday.

I had planned to buy some annuals and do gardenjng yesterday but caught my thumb in my car door early in the day. I made an appointment with the doctor and when I got there, she sent me to the ER. What???? A doctor who doesn't do stitches? I ended up with 3 stitches and paid a 500 estimated bill. Not happy.

not to mention there will be no gardening done this week.

Heidi,

I finally got your package mailed this morning. I'm so sorry but my son's house burned last week. He lives directly behind me and it's been crazy to say the least. I'm also going to blame the fact that I totally forgot to add the card on that as well. I just remember rushing and putting it in the box and not knowing why I was packing the seeds that way. I shrugged my shoulders, taped it up and went on with it. Lol. If your seeds do not make it intact, please let me know so i can replace them.

Well I'm back out to the garden. Racing rain today. Need to get more seeds and plants in the ground. Have a great day everyone!

Margo--so sorry about your stitches. After I took my high school daughter to get stitches for some idiotic decision I decided next time we're just going to use super glue! It was on her leg, 3 stitches. The ER?! Wow.

Karen--fires are terrible. The loss goes on a long time because in 2 days, 2 months, 20 years you think, "Oh, I have one of those." Nope, not anymore, not since the fire. We had a fire and saved a little stuffed rabbit for my kids. It smelled so bad we left it outside and threw it away after 3 days. It wasn't burned so we thought it would "air out". You get a gold star for helping! Will your son have to remodel, rebuild from the foundation or live in a tent for the summer? I pray it goes as smoothly as possible.

I have two tulips blooming. Farmers are stressed it's still so cold here. My Mexican petunia came back in both places!!!! Yeah!!!!

I love the bee pictures. Saw a single pollinator on Easter. I'd like to believe it was a bee.

I planted the roots I bought 6 weeks ago. I figure if it's cool that's okay. As the ground warms maybe the magic will start-- liatris and echinacea. I'm so in love with coneflower! I want more and I want different ones. Heidi

a few more blooms .... not sure what these pollinators are however they are enjoying the alliums ... Did anyone catch the buzz on Aprils PINK full moon? interesting read, its not actually PINK ...instead named after the PINK flowers blooming ... I do have lots of PINKS blooming ...

Karen ... wanted to share with you a photo of the 'tidal wave red velour' petunias you so generously shared with me .... absolutely my favorite petunia

Maggie .... thought you might enjoy seeing the osaka purple mustard you very generously shared with me .... only one germinated but well worth the wait! love this! hoping it will go to seed

and a few other blooms out there ... about 86 right now Heidi ...wish I could send you some of our weather you would love it =)

grew this salvia from seed, love love love the bi color in this, had no problem at all through our winter seems to have enjoyed it actually.

My package has arrived from Sandlapper (Jeannie) and it is right on the mark!

A nice desk block that says "Just Bee" over a honeycomb print.Beautiful Gold napkins ^ packets of seeds and an adorable Metal Bee for outside. It will be fun to help him wander through the yard and gardens. Beautiful, embossed card with a totally bee theme.

Jeannie, I love the choices for my seeds and will be trying them starting tomorrow. Crimson clover and butterfly bush I have high hopes...sunflowers and zinnias are bee favorites everywhere that I have lived and anise hyssop seems popular with several different pollinators. I'll tuck those into several different areas

Many thanks Jeannie.

Karen your Bee Happy mail should arrive today or tomorrow.

Ohhhhh I love that sign, "Just Bee"! I looked around for bee things, but could only find rabbits and chicks (Easter). Even in the garden section! Of course, stores hadn't ramped up for gardening much.

I got a new machine to make cards. My first one broke. The second one I wore out. I've been having so much fun. I cleaned up my crafting room, rearranged and it's great. My husband made me a table awhile ago and then he put dowel rods on the sides so I can hang and see my duct tape and ribbon! I'm very spoiled.

The Cattlemen came yesterday to pick up 1300 pounds of beef. They buy half and half is donated. Every kid in Dawson County gets a free beef meal at school to promote beef. There are 8 schools in the area (small schools). It all went smoothly! That's the way I like it--smooth!

I love all the flower pictures. I have an allium budding and I'm going by the old house tonight to see what's coming up. Allium should be coming up there. It's so exciting! My daughter bought me my first plant of the year--a beautiful red geranium!

Your package is on the way! Should be there Saturday. 9505 5114 7443 9114 1103 39

Heidi

love that metal bee Jeanne! super cute ...Did you make that? I think its getting too hot here for my pollinators, they are out either early morning or late evening .... one resting in the shade on my EE, and the other is enjoying a suntan on my color guard yucca ... first time blooming so its been exciting watching the flower stalk rise, towering almost 6 feet right now... just incredible

Jeanne - half of you package is supposed to arrive today (it’s in 2 mailings). My notification says it’s in your mailbox :-) .

I grabbed some bee shots this morning. We hit 80 for a few days and the Columbines got a bit scorched.

I manage a few Facebook groups, so have a public account (no family stuff on it - Facebook is much better about security these days but accounts all got started 10 years ago). Anyhoo - you have to click the video and make sure your sound is on - if I have my coffee on the front porch this is what I listen to every morning and evening.

https://www.facebook.com/maggie.ceodraiocht/videos/2267115953355412/

Jayeanne - Yea! And, I also only have one plant this year. Letting it go to seed, so *should* get some fresh seed. But, It only has a few flowers, so we’ll see.

A few weeks ago.

Now.

Beth - that Verbena you’d sent a bit back is also one of the first plants in the border to start blooming.

And, thanks to generous folks at the Christmas swaps (a few of them) I was able to re-establish my forget me nots. Should have plenty of seed from these this year!

Margo ... your package is telling me it was delivered yesterday, hope you are doing better since your trip to the ER ....

Status

Delivered

April 24, 2019
at 2:04 pm

Delivered, In/At Mailbox

Maggie ... no flowers yet on my mustard, I too am hoping for fresh seed however I am LOVING the foliage

we have storms brewing and severe weather later so I am headed outside hoping to get some of my winter sown in ground and get things buttoned up

another pollinator enjoying the color guard

Package report:

Beth, I'm so glad your package got to you just fine. As for the bee block and metal bee, I got them at Hobby Lobby, They carry quite a few general decorative things and garden decor type items.

Maggie, I did receive your package yesterday! It has the cutest "light up bees" that are solar powered. I'll let you know when the other part arrives. Do you still watch videos and get patterns on what used to be Craftsy and is now Bluprint? I signed up for a year membership and love it. Since I sew, quilt, make cards, and occasionally knit and crochet, I have lots of videos to watch. There are only a few about gardening, but they are good. There are also lots relating to cooking and various kinds of food. I know I'll watch some of those, too.

Jayeanne, I love the iris pictures you posted. I have so little luck with iris here. I finally decided they are happier in containers rather than the ground, but only one has bloomed this year so I still have very little luck with them.

Heidi, that's great that you got a space set up for your card making things. I moved lots of mine into what used to be my younger daughter's bedroom. However, I also have some of it in another room that is 2 rooms away. Way too many craft things in my house! I have fabric and sewing things in 3 different rooms and one is downstairs and two are upstairs. I'll be in big trouble if we ever have to move to a smaller place.

I'm going on a day trip to a rose nursery tomorrow. I know it will be wonderful! I've been there before but not for a long time and my roses are just into full bloom so there will be lots to see. The last 3 roses I got, I ordered from them, but had them shipped. They are so healthy and have needed so little care. The owner helped me pick out the kind I needed. I'll see if I can find a picture to post or try to take some later.

Jeanne

Seems like ALL packages have been sent!

jdmom_78 --> pinkiris --> sent --> received

pinkiris -->smitties --> sent --> received

smitties --> faerygardener --> sent --> received

faerygardener --> sandlapper_rose --> sent --> received

sandlapper_rose --> beth_b_kodiak --> sent --> received

beth_b_kodiak --> karen_holt --> sent --> received

karen_holt --> xiangirl --> sent --> received

xiangirl --> jdmom_78 --> sent --> received

so far the packages have been so much fun and interesting. i love the creativity. heidi i am so jealous i want a craft room. i have my sewing table in the guest bedroom and my card making supplies in the master bedroom closet. everything is just all over the place.

i love that little bee and beeeelieve it or not, i picked up the SAME one from hobby lobby but in the end couldn't get it because it didn't have a tag on it. i was so bummed about that. i love their craft stuff though, hobby lobby had some really nice items.

I think i forgot to post BINGO WORDS yesterday so I will post 4 for today - trying to wind up since its already the 25th, how is that even possible.

8. Pollination

9. Nectar

25. Honeycomb

10.Pollen

a friend of mine knew i was doing the swap and she handmade this card for me with her card making supplies. she had stamps and stencils and all kinds of things out. she had gotten me some local honey and decorated the bag. the honey was delicious.

Margo - how is your thumb? thumb injuries are the worst. so i also injured my thumb friday and i really thought i should have gone for stitches too because there's a huge gash in the middle of it. i tried opening the rest of the lid of a can by hand. why? why? why? #1 no no but i still did it. the one time i had my thumb get stuck in the car door i lost my nail. lets just say, i'm accident prone... lets call ourselves blue thumbs...

Thumb is doing good. Thanks for asking.

Do need some prayers. My son and dil have been involved with a young lady who is pregnant and was going to have the kids adopt her baby girl. We had the baby shower on Sunday. this young lady is due to have a csection on May 6th. She bought a cheap used van tuesday and has dropped out of sight with her 19 month old and 3 year old kids. Both sets of twins. My dil and I drive 2 hours to go with her to an ultrasound. I take care of the kids. She was a no show. The worst part is the not knowing a she does have a phone.

I did receive package from Jayeanne yesterday. It included candy bees and bugs, a cute flower chime, and lavender, white coneflower, and columbine seeds. Thank you so much.

I tried to post a pic but no luck. I'll try again later.

Ouch you guys! These injuries sound horrible (and that fire - yikes!)

Margo - Thank you so much for the beautiful package! Even traveling and then injured you managed to get it out. The socks are perfect as I got new Crocs to wear in the garden and if I’m wearing them for long periods, I prefer socks with them. The yellow and black is so “bee”. :-) Beautiful scarf and such a generous (uh oh) helping of honey candy (I love honey btw). The seeds are perfect too - Lemon Balm and Tithonia Torch. I’ get them soaking so I can get them planted right away (everyone here knows you can soak any seed for 24 hours to get a jump on germination time, right? See the pre-soaking bit https://www.finegardening.com/article/jump-start-your-seeds ).

Jeanne - so happy you like the bees! I haven’t watched anything since Craftsy became BluePrint even though I’d enjoyed the videos I did watch last year. The videos do help keep the inspiration and momentum going.

Jayeanne - gorgeous Iris! And Heidi, congrats on the fun crafts space.

Margo, sounds horribly disappointing. So sorry to hear that.

thank you Karen! I love the package. look closely at the right top.corner. there's an elf I can stick in my watermelon planter!! she sent lots of seeds and I planted them all tonight in my flower beds. we'll see what happens. i.found a blue jay in my yard. such glorious color. thank you Karen! Heidi

Beth,

Thank you so much for the suncatcher, seeds, granola bars (I ate both before I could get a pic...) and a beautiful card made by Heidi. Your daughter is so awesome! My north gardens are shade. I have a woodsy theme I'm working on so the suncatcher went perfectly in that area. This will not be it's final resting place. Just convenient for the pic taking.

Heidi,

I'm so happy you like your package. The planter and gnome reminded me of you. The gnome was so cute I bought me one too, lol.

And here are the things keeping me busy where I do not have a moment to spare....

This is just one area I've been working on. I have composted by hand 6 inches down, then mulched. Some plants are new and the rest are coming up, coming up soon and overwintered plants. I'm not done by a long shot but it's a start. Still waiting on ferns and more hostas.

I bought these caladiums at Lowe's on Tuesday. The top one reminds me of a sliced cucumber. A very mellow, creamy white. The second one was just flat out gorgeous. What can I say? It was a must have. Then I found the coral bells... stunning in person. Carnival Rose Granita. Worth the 4 bucks!

Urooj ... thank you ever so kindly for the wonderful package .... LOVE the 'welcome to my garden' BEE stone, and the sunflowers on it, they are my absolute favorite flower =) the garden gloves will come in handy and so will the flip flops, cute! I was just looking for some zinnia seeds last night and guess what .... you sent zinnia! LOL thank you! Zinnia California Giant, Jasmine, and Calla Lily - perfect! and I absolutely LOVE the 3-D handmade card, its beautiful thank you Urooj for everything and for a fun swap! We are headed out to Talladega for the races this weekend with several friends.

we had rain this spring so the tulips I planted 10 years ago are putting on a show. Beside the walking trail and can be seen from the street. The park sprinklers don't hit them so they don't rot like the ones at home.
in the bed next to it I have an elf so I love the elf Karen sent! I may half to make new plastic mushroom houses this year for the elves!

Heidi! I got my package today. thank you so much for all of the seeds, i love growing tomatoes, and hope i can get them in the ground soon. thank you for all the stickers and all of those homemade cards. i was so shocked at how awesome they all are! just this morning i was running around looking for cards to give the principal and made a postcard out of scrapbook paper because i couldn't find one, but now these will come in handy for teacher appreciation. I have 4 kids in 4 different schools!

you really got me with that box of chocolates and my 10 year old was deciding what to eat before we opened the box! lol! I told her, we are friends of the earth, we recycle!

now that we are wrapping up the month, lets see if we can pull a winner for BINGO tonight -

12. Colony

22. Beehive

17. Buzz

~ THOUGHT FOR TODAY ~

Karen - Great work and adorable gnome.

Heidi - Those tulips are gorgeous!

Beth - I’d planned to do a sun catcher too! Things got too swamped so I went with the Bee solar lights Had cut and washed Manzanita branches and got the beads out. I still have the branches and some beads on a towel & tray (the towel stops the beads rolling all over) to finish. Maybe I’ll get to a large one for me :-) . I don’t like the noise of wind chimes - prefer to hear the birds here, but like the look of all the different sun catchers on Etsy and Pinterest. https://www.pinterest.com/ceodraiocht/crafts-outdoor/

Another Columbine

ENABLING HERE - Pinetree Garden Seeds has 50% off all seed packets this weekend. https://www.superseeds.com Many become 75 or 88 cents. I placed an order last night even though I need more seeds like I need a hole in the head. I usually place my next year seed orders in the fall so anything that needs cold chill has enough time for me to refrigerate here, so I’m usually getting the previous year’s "packed for” anyway. Depending on your internet speed, it may take a few moments for the half off to appear in your cart (no coupon needed) but it will load. Just be sure to check what you're getting, my johnny jump up Violas have 45 seeds, but all others and the pansies look to just have 10 seeds (so I skipped those). Veggies are all plentiful.

Calendula Fiesta also in full bloom now.

Parkseed has a free shipping weekend - code right on their landing page. https://parkseed.com

It’s difficult as I should move to all short plants for summer/fall - and the kind of planting where you have space between plants, not all cottage-y together for fire safety. Had to make myself go back and take some of the taller choices out of my cart. But, they had some nice ones.

Hoping to get the veggie beds together and tomatoes in. After the heat wave the soil should be warm enough even if we cool down. The last few weeks were about potting up. Dropped off my 3 trays worth of plants for our plant sale and took some pics. https://www.facebook.com/CalaverasCountyMasterGardeners/ 

Such beautiful pictures. I can tell many of you put a lot more time into your gardens that I do, but here are a few pictures of some of my rose bushes.

Gourmet Popcorn

Polar Express (bud)

Jeanne Lajoie (I need to tie down that wandering branch!)

I had a wonderful time visiting Roses Unlimited yesterday. I bought a Lemon Fizz rose and a Pope John Paul II rose bush. Now to figure out where they may be happy in my garden. I'm not getting much done today. I'm worn out from yesterday.

I received more of my swap from Maggie. She sent a beautiful card and seeds for salvia, forget-me-nots, and dianthus. Thanks so much, Maggie.

Margo, so sorry to hear about your disappointment for you and your family. I can only hope she gets back in touch and reconsiders. And Margo and Urooj, I hope those finger injuries are starting to heal - sounds so painful. Wishing everyone a good weekend. I heard about the storms on the evening news - some places even have snow.. We had quite a bit of wind yesterday, but it's nice here other than that. In fact, we are in need of rain and have none in the forecast. Always something with the weather, isn't it?

Jeanne

Margo and Urooj.you can debut a new rap album, "The Blue Thumbed Green Thumbs" Your album cover can feature solos on turntables with your good thumbs and songs about flowers and veggies. Your hit single will be Friends Don't Let Friends Buy Annuals. lol ! Hope you can heal up.

Urooj - I’ve been meaning to ask and hadn’t gotten to it. Last week you said you were participating at a local art festival. Do you make and sell something or helping out behind the scenes. Inquiring minds need to know! If you make and sell something, do you have a web presence?

I read through the Busy Busy Bees thread this morning....fun, fun swap!! It occurred to me, I have not been on HOUZZ in nearly a month.....where does the time go?

I will be hosting FOTESS for the month of May. Not sure what I am doing yet but I know for sure it will be simple....LOL! I will most likely post it on Wednesday, May 1.

Happy Monday!!

Annie

hey guys... sorry i missed posting yesterday... the weekend was so busy... where does the time go??

Maggie the art festival was an islamic art festival at a local mosque. i do not make crafts (i do make cards here and there) but was selling some things for my friend. she has a business where she sells prayer beads and art work and me and my son sat at a table for her. she doesnt make those items either, she had them made by an artist.

heidi - im working on that rap song -

yea its my thumb, im really dumb,

i opened a can with my hand.

why gals why? tell me why?

i couldnt wash, i couldnt grab

i couldnt even hail a cab.

i was stuck, out of luck.

cuz i opened a can with my hand.

why gals why? please tell my why?

now i gotta fly

cuz the kids are on stand by

but before i go

heres the words for bingo

24. stinger

20. bluebonnets

18. drone

winner winner chicken dinner?

i dont think so...

btw - heres what i rescued from lowes today -

i absolutely love it. why it was on clearance beats me, but i guess it was my lucky day.

will pull 2 words for bingo tomorrow to end the swap with a winner (hopefully).

beth - you have 2 addresses on fotess, please confirm correct address for your prize for winning the poem contest. i think i know which one it is, but i wanted to double check before mailing.

excited about mays swap annie. this was my first time hosting and it was hard... there were days i forgot to post. lol. but it was fun. i loved it and will definitely do it again!

Address is ONLY MO. I guess I need to get it changed.

Urooj, you did an awesome job as a first time host. Thank you for your time and energy to do a successful swap.

as far as I can tell, I still need 2 more words for Bingo.

As for my thumb,

I did something dumb.

I shut the car door and the

damage was done.

It was bleeding bad,

no paper towel to be had.

I was at a store

I ran to the door.

To the bathroom with haste,

no time to waste.

I cleaned it up good,

as fast as I could.

Son of a _ _ _ _ _ _ _

I needed some stitches,

To the ER I went,

Lots of money was spent.

It feels better,

that's the end of this letter.

hey ladies... so its the last day of April and I pulled 2 words today. we have 3 left but if i had pulled all 3, then everyone would have won...

5. Carpenter

15. Wax

.......................................

heidi... what do you think of our rap songs? would you stream us...

photo taken from shutter stock...

Urooi, This has been fun! Great job!

soooooo..... no one has called BINGO.... and that's because.... all 4 players have the SAME missing word - QUEEN

I have decided that all 4 people will be winners! (that's better than zero winners :)

congrats everyone! i had a great time hosting and will sign up for April again next year! i must say that i could not have done it without the help of everyone on the group, so thank you.

Great job Orooj and your rap was really fun.

Many thanks for my prizes. Not generally "lucky" so winning twice was amazing.

glad you liked the the prize for the poem. i have yet to mail the bingo prizes... might run and grab those today if i have time. started pulling weeds and they are never ending. omg god help me, i might die out there, but at least the weeds will be pulled.

one quick question... may not be the best place to post... i started my seeds at the end of january. and put them outside so i wouldnt have to harden them and so the cats wouldnt knock them over. then we had hail a bunch of times. no snow... and no days super cold... i watered them here and there. but zero activity what so ever. zero. can i save these seeds somehow or is it over? some of these were rare... help!

Sorry, I'll be no help about your seeds, Orooj. I'm sure seeds do differently based on weather conditions and locations. There are seeds that I winter sow here and I start sowing them in January, but did you use winter sowing techniques ... and the other issue would be if these were seeds that were okay with those January temperatures?

...aside from that, I was one of the people waiting for the bingo word "queen" - so hooray - almost bingo for me! Thanks again for bee-ing our hostess.

Jeanne

You did an awesome job this month Orooj. I appreciate the time and energy you put in to make this a great swap.

Urooj .... thank you for the beautiful sparkly handmade buttefly card and the Michael's gift card for the group BINGO win, you did not have to do that but it is very much appreciated. Love going to Michaels =) Hope you are enjoying your gardens, we are gonna be up to 97 here in a few days

jayeanne... heidi made the card. isnt it awesome. she so talented. i wanted to send card to a garden store but i didnt get time.... enjoy!

I received my Bingo prize, Urooj. Thank you so much. I'll definitely enjoy it! And thanks for sharing one of the lovely handmade cards. Heidi spread a lot of cheer in the group with her cards.

Wonderful swap for April with a great hostess! Thank you again.

Jeanne

Urooj, you went above and beyond with the generous gifts of gift cards. Thank you so much. It is true that Heidi does an awesome job at cards. I have many of them and always have such a hard time parting with them. LOL

You were a great hostess and I look forward to going to Michaels and probably picking up a string of beads for crafting jewelry. You're the best. Margo