Shirley/sjc48, thank you so much for the Christmas card.

Shirley -- I'm so sorry to hear about your "small" heart attack. It's so lucky that the clot was detected before it became more problematic. Sending hopes and prayers your way.

Shirley, sending prayers your way. Take care, please!

Glad to see the cards re arriving!

Heidi, sounds like it was fun, thanks for sharing!

Happy Tuesday, Everyone,
Shirley!

Shirley (sjc48) , thank you for the Solstic card you sent me and the cute magnet that you sent in it. You did an excellent job in making the card, wish I had some crafty talent.

Wishing everyone happy holidays and peace, joy and love in the New Year.

Suzanne (hibiscusfan)

Bubble Wrap Bonanza

At work we are distributing candy canes to 2400 employees tomorrow. Each candy cane is in it's own bubble wrap sleeve 6"x2". 24 candy canes come in a box with an additional layer of bubble wrap. 12 boxes come in a case. We have 10 cases. Don't do the math...it's a LOT of bubble wrap. Oh how I wish I had a way to economically send you all your own box of bubble wrap for future seed sending. Heidi

I rec'd a lovely solstice greeting card from Shirley! I love it, you did a great job! Thanks so much! Melinda

Shirley -- Thank you so much for the Solstice card and cute magnet!

Morning ALL! Happy day before the day before Christmas! At least, I think that's what it is!

Annie, thank you for the happy Santa Card, the vino will be drunk - drank - drunken?

Whatever, it will get done! Thank you!

Have a great Wednesday, Everyone,

Shirley!

Amy thank you for the wonderful Christmas tree card with children around it. Thank you so much for the creative wooden pieces. My creative juices are flowing thinking of all the things I can do with them. There are 2 snowmen, snowman coming out of a chimney, a stack of presents and holly--all 1/2" to 1" across. It's perfect! Thank you! Heidi

FOTESS mail....

Amy sent a happy snowman card with a package of the cutest canning labels....... ribbons that say "SERVED FRESH". They hang from twine and you write whatever you have canned....ie tomatoes ect. and then hang on the ball jars....Thanks so much!

Shirley (sjc) sent me one of her beautiful "hand crafted" cards with Solstice greetings and included a magnet "4th Annual FOTESS Holiday Card Swap 2015"...and on the magnet ornaments, a cool cat and a gift..... love it! Thanks so much!

Amy and Shirley, a Very Merry Christmas to you and yours. Cheers to a fantastic New Year.

Merry Christmas to all......

Annie

Shirley (in NC), Happy Birthday and so thankful you were diagnosed and treated so quickly. What a holiday experience!

Shirley (sjc), thank you for the wonderful solstice card and tuck-in. Also, thank you to Katie for your card and tuck-in. I loved both!

Heidi, between the nativity play and all the candy canes, you have been a busy little elf. I hope you get some time to rest on Christmas.

I hope everyone in FOTESS has a wonderful holiday and special times with family and friends.

Jeanne

Merry Christmas, FOTESSERs! May your day be Merry and Bright!

Shirley!

Merry Christmas to all my garden friends. May your gardens be ever bountiful in 2016.

Merry Christmas!

Shirley! Thanks for the solstice card with the magnetized photo. I loved that your photo is in the ornament!

My cards will arrive closer to New Years. That's me, bringing up the rear.

Alana, you and Katie are the only ones, so far, that have seen "me" in that picture! I need tp stand somewhere else while taking that shot!

And, no sweat about the cards. We have until the end of the year to send out. I'll be back sometime this weekend with who has sent and who has not!

Happy Christmas Weekend to All!

Shirley!

Merry Christmas to all my garden friends and a Happy and wonderful New Year!

I totally want to thank all of you who so graciously sent me Christmas cards anyway, even though I had to bow out of this one (would have been one too many irons in the fire for me).

Thank you Shirley (super nice homemade Solstice card!!), Jeanne (totally cute Dalmatian pup card! Elly's folks used to have a Dalmatian). And thanks for the Christmas word search! - Finally, thank you, Melinda, for the uber cute embossed white pup-dog card! Means a lot to Elly & I, seriously. :)

Shirley, Thank you so much for the beautiful homemade solstice card, I love it! And the beautiful magnet is going right on my refrigerator. Thank you so much for your thoughtfulness! amy

Ohhhh, what a pretty Solstice card and kitty magnet. It's right here beside me. Thank you Shirley! Are you all getting ready for the crazy January theme? It's coming soon!

Heidi

Shirley, thanks so much for the lovely Winter Solstice card and FOTESS magnet! I received it while we were out of town for the holidays, and came home to find it in the mailbox. :)

Hoping my cards make it to their destinations soon. They've been traveling for a week now! 0_o

My cards are in the mailbox.

Hoping you all had a great Christmas. Want to thank Jayeanne, Amy , Shirley and Katie for the beautiful cards and goodies. Katie, love the music.

I got a card from Jayeanne too. I just realized it was a FOTESS card, lol.

Thank you pink!

Evening, Everyone!

Well, it looks like everyone has sent their cards out! The only one I'm not sure of is Shirley/BG.

Shirley, if you have sent, please let me know, okay?

And remember we have until the end of the month to send out!

Everyone, please continue to post when you receive your cards!

Heidi has posted January's Swap and it sounds like a really great one! Head on over there and check it out!

Heidi, very clever idea!

We have had freezing rain here today, since about 11. Looks and sounds really nasty out there.

Stay warm, All,

Shirley!

Shirley-I did send out my cards some weeks ago, I saw where Amy received hers but could not find a post where Margo received hers and Sharon and Jamie no posts. I just received your Winter Solstice Card and magnet, how talented you always are with your crafts. The envelope was dated mailed on the 18th and I just received it. It took 18 days to get here.

Shirley

Shirley, thanks for letting me know.

18 days? Good Grief, must be because of the holidays.

I enjoyed making the cards. I found a neat web site with the Solstice stamps and some others I'd like to have. Altho, I can't quite figure out how or where to use a Raven stamp! Have to work on that!

Everyone, please remember to post when you receive your cards!

Shirley!

I did receive a card from Shirley but posted it on the Secret Santa swap site so that must have been a mistake I apologize for. Shirley included coneflower and three types of daylily seeds. Shirley, if there is a second one I should have received from you for this swap, let me know and I will double check my cards.

As you all know, I have been very sick during the holidays so that could account for my mistakes lol. I do have to share with all of you that my husband is in the hospital with blood clots in his lungs. He was bringing up boxes last night so we could start putting away Christmas stuff and he kept getting more and more winded with each box. I finally decided he should go to the county hospital here. He did and they discovered the several clots. Since some are very big, they ambulanced him to a hospital in Toledo for fear they might need to do a quick procedure to bust some of them up.

I was there til midnight last night and back again today at 7 am. Some info was given but we didn't get the good news until 6 this evening. His clots are bad but the stress on his heart is somewhat inbetween good and bad so they are hesitant to do a procedure that could cause complications. They are continuing his meds instead and he will be moved from ICU to a regular room now. They will keep him for a few days then he is off work for at least two weeks so he can recover and get his meds situated. They want to try to figure out why he got them if they possibly can.

Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers. Thanks Margo

I was halfway to the car to head home on Christmas Eve when my aunt jumped up, ran into the living room and came back. She had 6 kinds of seeds for me including Texas Bluebells. It's so much fun to have a seed buddy in the family.

Margo, we will pray for your husband and for you. Take good care of yourself and when people say, "What can I do?" you just send them to your house to pack up your Christmas stuff and put it in the basement!

I went to the store every day last week and it seemed like I bought them out. Today I had to go again-there was no milk, eggs or bread in the house. Can I make my family eat ham and cookies for 3 days straight until they're gone? Probably not a good idea, but I can't waste anything!

Bring your Blue Suede Shoes over to the January swap.

Heidi

Goodness I can't even subtract 29 from 18 = 11 days not 18! LOL

Faye, thank you for the card and the cleome seeds. I am so happy. An hour after I opened the card, put the seeds back carefully and put them on the table I found a little plastic baggie on the floor and a paper tag. I noticed the seeds and they were pretty big, but flat.,. I scooped them up--they weren't seeds. They were 2 extra buttons to a sweater I got for Christmas! Do you think I have seeds on the brain? Absolutely!

Heidi

Margo-Praying for your Husband today, please update us when you can. We never know when we get up each morning what unexpected thing can happen.

Heidi-Too funny...good you didn't plant them. LOL Without my contact in I might have planted a button or two.

I received a Christmas card from Alana with Papaver Laciniatum "Lilia Pompom' seeds. Thank you Alana looking forward to seeing these in bloom.

Hopefully all this rain and flooding will cease, wettest winter I can remember.

Shirley

Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers. Brought Adrian home late yesterday. He has to give himself 2 injections for 5 days or so. He was one lucky man to have gone in when he did. We are entering the New Year with a great thankfulness. Happy new year to all. Margo

Margo, so happy to hear he made it home and is on the mend. Wishing you both health and happiness in the new year!

Margo, so happy Adrian is home........

Shirley (sjc), THANKS again for a wonderful month.

Happy New Years FOTESSERS!! Be Well and Be Safe.........

Annie

Wishing Happy New Year to all the FOTESSERS!! So glad your hubby is home Margo! May the New Year bring health, blessings and happiness to all! I enjoyed this swap and loved all the cards!

Hi Everyone, and Happy New Year. I want to wish everyone a blessed year, filled with peace, love and contentment! Also lots of flowers, herbs and veggies!

I also want to thank everyone who took part in the 4th Annual FOTESS Card Swap. I really appreciate that you all took the time out of your busy lives to participate. As I've said, this swap is special to me and I Thank you ALL very much for making it a success. THANK YOU!!

Shirley!

Thank you Shirley. I enjoyed this swap. Simple and thoughtful.

Thank you Shirley, it was a fun swap! Happy New Year to All!

Margo, Hope you husband heals quickly and you both have a Healthy, Happy New Year!

Happy New Year Folks! Stopping by to say Thank you to Shirley and Alana for the lovely cards! Hope 2016 is a great year for you!

Promise :)

Hello,

I have finally gotten a day off from Amazon and the holiday shopping.

I wanted to thank Heidi for the lovely card she sent plus she sent an extra card I can forward to someone else. Heidi I thought that was a good idea. I will have to remember that.

Also Beth-b-Kodiak sent me a beautiful card with morning glory seeds of Grandpa Ott's. Beth I received another card from you with Italian Basil seeds. they both said FOTESS.

Thank you all very much and happy holidays everyone.

Faye!

Happy New Year Everyone!!!! :D I'm BACK!! I've been away for a year and made it my resolution to be a gw'er. Life's been so busy, that, I just need to make some me time. And this is it! I've missed you all! And want to thank you for including me in the wonderful Christmas card swap!! Happy 2016! vina

Hi Everyone!

I just wanted to thank those who sent me Christmas cards! I was so surprised to see them. I've been a bad little kid and haven't participated in any round robins in quite sometime! Thank you for making feel like I'm still a part of things here!

Becky

Becky, I'm glad to see Santa bumped you from the Naughty List to the Nice List and you got cards and seeds!

Heidi

Alana -- I received your card today. Thank you for the Lilac Pompom Poppy seeds. I just looked them up and they are beautiful. I can't wait to try them.

Happy 2016 ~ Shirley... thank you so much for the beautiful solstice card and cat magnet. Sure brought a smile to my face. It is setting here still on my desk reminding me to keep winter sowing. Ive had quite the time trying to get back on here since the change but I think I have figured it out. Had my hands full with health issues and a few surgeries last year, then DH recently had a heart attack few months back. Ive been missing all of you ... and all the gardening fun.

Jayeanne

Hey, Pink! Glad you liked the card and magnet. We've missed you too, and I hope your DH is doing well. Great to see ya posting again!

Shirley!