Annie, no worries. God is using you to teach patience. Don't do any new shopping. It'll arrive sooner or later! You know, with all of us ordering online it's going to be more and more difficult to get things delivered. They say millennials should look at jobs in healthcare, IT/tech or truck driving! What a choice.

Tomorrow I go to a family wedding far away. She will be the first niece of this generation to get married. Katie/Katelyn is marrying Justin Notter. She is tall and looks like a model--related by marriage after you see our side of the family! LOL

Here's my crazy wedding poem:

Mrs. Notter

“Mrs.
Notter….Oh yes! I got her!”
Justin
bragged this day.
Oh,
how Justin Sought her, Called her, Caught her.
The
cute games Justin did play.

“Look
boy, don’t bother,” said Lance the father
The
first time they did meet.
“I
know my girl, my lovely daughter—
Be
patient, take a seat.”

Lance
the father, patting his rifle,
Decided
to explain the ways of his daughter.
“Every
time young bucks come round
I
tell you all, ‘Leave her alone. Nope, not her!’”

But
Justin was clever.
He
was wiser than any others.
Ignoring
the rifle-toting dad.
He
offered Katie a drink of water.

“Why
thank you, young man,” Katelyn began
On
a date as the sun grew hotter.
They
clinked their drinks, skin turning pink,
As
he sweat in a stink—and she gave him a wink!

Daddy
Lance was aghast!
“That’s
not what I taught her!”
He
grabbed his gun, took aim
and
shot at a stray otter.

Poor
Justin turned white
Nearly
passed out in fright.
He
recovered quite quickly
Despite
feeling sickly.

Then….he
recovered his voice!
And
he began to make noise.
“What
a nice job shooting, daddy Lance,"
Said
Justin as he began his verbal dance.

In
the end daddy Lance and Justin

Were
huggin’ and bustin’ (a move)
Katie
they nearly forgot
Until
she fired between them a shot!

“Mrs.
Notter….Oh yes! I caught her!”
Bragged
Justin as he tottered.
Katie,
twirling in a wedding gown, said,
“Come
and catch me, Mr. Notter!"

Katie
pranced down the carpet
in
her glass-slippered feet.
Justin
snapped a photo
And
started a Tweet.

But
before Justin could send

Katie
had something to recommend.
“YOU
think YOU caught ME?
Just remember….I’m your Queen Bee!”

We come back on Saturday and head out for another family/community birthday about 2 hours away on Sunday. Do you all have that one ornery uncle? My ornery uncle is the one turning 70. He and his wife and 3 kids + 2 grandkids will be there from TX/FL/NE. I found a cervical (dealing with the neck) device at Goodwill. You mount it to the wall, put the cloth loop under your chin and it helps back/neck pain. I'm wrapping it up and going to try and pass it off incognito. He may guess it's from me, but at any rate it should get us a good laugh. He's an avid golfer and hates it that he's aging at all. He wants to be 25 forever!

Weather-91 degrees and 58% humidity. Holy cow! We're breathing water!

I can't figure out how to make this post smaller so I apologize. I'm not trying to be the most irritating post-er. Heidi

Love the poem, Heidi. Have safe travels. Don't worry about the size of your post. Love to read what you have going on and the "gift" idea sounds like lots of laughs.

Okay, math is not a serious talent of mine, but I worked with the points and think this is accurate:

Amy - 19 Total

Nicole - 7 Total

Heidi - 6 Total

Maggie - 6 Total

Brooke - 5 Total

Amy, you blew away the competition and I'll send out a prize by the end of the month. I'll post here when it's on it's way. Now we wait to see who gets Bingo. I'll keep drawing 2 words a day.

Sounds like some strange schedules with the mail right now, but if you've mailed and the package is stalled somewhere, just give it a bit of time. I know some had slight delays waiting for things to come in to include in their package. It's okay as long as we know so don't worry. I won't either.

Here's what I summarized from the sent list posted:

Amy sent to Brooke

Brooke sent to Amy

Ruth sent to Jeanne

Jeanne sent to Ruth

More Bingo tomorrow!

Jeanne

Heidi - sounds like you're set to have fun with the family - Enjoy!

Hi Nicole - your package went out earlier today with "expected delivery" of Saturday. https://tools.usps.com/go/TrackConfirmAction?tLabels=9505515226717201073983  My PO tracking doesn't update until tomorrow morning.

Change of mind on my part....I decided to go Heidi shopping today. So Heidi your package will head out tomorrow. Tiz not exactly what I had planned for you but I would prefer playing it on the safe side....have a wonderful time at the wedding!

Congrats Amy!!

Annie

Happy Weekend to All!

Friday Bingo words:

10. Thesaurus

21. Heteronym

Heteronyms are words that have the same spelling but different pronunciation and meaning. Example: Please excuse me while I think of an excuse.

Others: Polish/polish, record/record, minute/minute

Have a good weekend!

Jeanne

Received my package from Any today! Her fun with words word is "nest" and she sent: Notecards, Essential oil peaceful sleep, (I so love essential oils) Seasoning called JR's Tikka Chicken seasoning (can't wait to try this), Toothache plant seeds, dark purple columbine, coriander, Moulin rouge and yellow coreopsis, salvia bonfire and some broken colors 4o clocks. Perfect package Amy thank you sooooo much I love it! I was too late to get to the post office yesterday so I dropped it off right before they closed today it will go out tomorrow :)

Great package!

Here are our Bingo words for today:

species

eponym

Have a wonderful day. Hot here!

Jeanne

Eponym is a name from which another name or word is derived. For example Romulus giving rise to Rome and sandwich coming from The Earl of Sandwich. Thought I had posted that earlier but I guess not.

Jeanne

Hi, I was able to update the Google drive FOTESS address list with Margo's new addy (see OBF thread for her pics). Message me for the link - if you have an update for your own listing, let me know.

Heidi, I found your package on the porch this morning....I have a bunch of people over so I will open later. And I will post the tracking # for your package which departed yesterday.

Happy day girls!

Annie

The word she chose was HOPE so she sent me

H earts as in the charms, Helianthus as in Sunflower Pacino Cola dwarf), Holiday (as in Holiday stamp phrases), Hummingbird as in Texas Hummingbird Sage.

O riginate (Crafting is creating and a synonym for create is originate), Orange as in Calendula Fiesta, Osaka Purple Mustard

P roduce (a Synonym for Craft is Produce), Pacino as in Sunflower Pacino Gold Sunflower)

E nvelopes, Embossing power

Thank you so much for the goodies and I do enjoy stamping and especially getting sunflower seeds!!

Definitely hope to join in next months swap. Margo

Margo, Your new house and the setting look so peaceful. I hope you are soon able to relax and enjoy! Take care, Amy

Nice looking house, Margo, I think you will both very happy there!

Shirley

Thanks so much Heidi for my wonderful FUN package.

The word was SEEDS

S seeds from EBAY and Heidi's personal stash....Rudebeckia x 2 varieties and Columbine William Guiness, several Marigolds , Cosmos, Gaillardia Aristata x 4, Purple Coneflower...great selection...love my reseeders.

E envelopes and more

E envelopes

D dark chocolate...just had some pre dinner...YUM!!

S Sun Shine Gourmet coffee NE Twister...can not wait to try this.

As we all know, Heidi makes CUTE, CUTE, CUTE seed envelopes. And she sent me lots of them....several tomato seed envies without a variety (so I can fill it in) and tomatoes with a variety ie Brandywine, Marglobe ect...love these!!

Love it all....very much appreciated Heidi!! Thank You!

And your tracking # 9500 1150 6793 7202 2477 49....delivery shoud be Monday!

Happy Sunday!!

Annie

Great package received by Annie!

Sunday Bingo words:

27. Slang

28. Scrabble

Let's see if anyone got Bingo with those additions.

Jeanne

Jeanne - you need all 15 of your words - not 10 - for Bingo, right? Still new to how you play the game online (I have 12 words).

Nicole - so happy to hear you enjoy it!! Wasn't sure if all card creators / paper crafters knew what to do with unmounted stamps. If you get those sunflowers seeds in the ground (8 to 10 weeks according to the breeder) you can probably get sunflowers this year in your zone. http://www.benary.com/en/product/N0830 . Everyone who's gotten that seed from me knows that I collected both the Cola and the Gold in separate bags, then didn't mark which was which. Thus marking seeds A and seeds B as one is Cola and one is Gold. Jayene published photos (they are hybrids and saved seed) of hers last month. Mine didn't like the runs of 110 to 112 - not dead but not sure they'll take off either.

Maggie, yes, all 15 words for winning Bingo this month. Sometimes it's 10 of 10 when the original list you pick from is shorter, but I think with FOTESS it's always the whole list that you submit to the hostess must be called... We'll be there soon.

I know I've gotten a bit behind with packages received, etc. They sound fabulous and I now feel bad that I didn't send more. With my surgery early in June and the hot weather, things have been a bit "jumbled" here. This weekend we visited with our granddaughters and their parents so it was wonderful to see them, but a long hot drive each way and traffic tied up from a wreck on the way up and a downpour on the way back. The important part was we made it there and back safely. (The older granddaughter is 3 and the younger one is 7 months We saw the 7 mo. old at the perfect time. She just started to crawl and is babbling away.)

A neighbor picked up my mail for me so I'll post tomorrow if my package arrived and be back with an updated list of sent and received and more Bingo words.

And did I mention that our upstairs air-conditioning went out last Thursday? We're lucky if the temperature drops to 85 degrees overnight with the windows open and we don't even go upstairs during the day; it would be horrible. At least the downstairs unit is working and I hope we can get the upstairs taken care of early this week. I don't think I would live in the south without air-conditioning, but I know some other areas of the country are super hot as well.

Margo, I love your new house. It looks like a very relaxing place to live.

Jeanne

Annie, I'm so glad you liked it. Friends and family tell me Nebraska Twister Flavor Coffee is great--I wouldn't have a clue! I'm glad it got there safe and sound. We made it to the wedding on Friday, home on Saturday and to a family reunion today. We moved back to be close to family and we never regret that decision. We especially went to see my aunt/uncle's kids and grandkids. So much fun to watch everyone grow up and tell stories on each other.

*Garden Shortcut! A cousin found a water balloon creation. You attach one end to a hose and the water squirts through a dozen straws and fills a dozen balloons, one on the end of each straw. When they get too heavy they "plop" off and automatically tie. In minutes you have a basketful of water balloons. The extension piece, which most people throw away, becomes a great flower/plant waterer, especially for young new plants. So my aunt took one home and I got one, too! Heidi

Monday's Bingo words:

8. Synonym

25. Bilingual

I think it will take one more day for someone to get Bingo - but hopefully tomorrow! I'll be back a bit later in the day.

Jeanne

Nebraska Twister, now that is a darn good cup of coffee......enjoying now...smile!!

I was so excited when you drew Scrabble! I love that game and it's on my phone. I play against the computer. I grew up playing the game with my grandparents. My grandmother had no mercy. She'd play a Z on a double letter even if you were only 12 years old so I learned to really play! I think I'm only 1 word away from Bingo. Heidi

I received a fun, creative, homemade and personalized BEE package from Jeanne on Saturday. Jeanne made the Bee tissue holder. So cute. I'm loving my zinnia's this year and plan to have even more next year. Thanks so much.

Happy Monday Funday! I mailed out my package to faerygardener and messaged her the tracking number.

Have a great day everyone!

Brooke, Thank you for a wonderful MOTH package!

M- cute Love magnet

O- orange jing okra-love okra

T-towel (live,laugh,love)

H-helianthus red sun-love these

And more, beautiful stickers, note pot its, cute note pad, animal chip clips, huge clothes pin clip and pretty thank you notes! Great package Brooke! I love it all! Thanks so much! Amy

Amy, you received a lovely package.

I received my package from Ruth today and Ruth, you wowed me!

The word Ruth used was JAM. As you'll see I got a beautiful mug, a lovely journal, a Moon Pie (they are 100 years old this year - I had no idea!), Acai tea, a lovely note from Ruth --- and what a surprise - Georgia Moonshine Jelly. There were also several great packets of seeds: Japanese Morning Glories, Argemone Mexicana, Armenia Cucumber, and Mazurkia Zinnia. It will be fun to try these. Thank you so much, Ruth!

I don't know if I ever mentioned it here, but I keep a journal with the seeds I plant each year and the date planted, when they begin to grow, source of the seeds, etc. The journal I had was just about filled and then one day in the spring I forgot to bring it indoors and it rained that night. I managed to save the pages by using a hair dryer, page by page, but I will be using this new journal for future entries so I'll be thinking of you each time I make an entry or check to see what I planted.

Again, thank you so much.

Jeanne

An update on sent and received:

Ruth and Jeanne will be swap partners. (Both received)

Maggie and Nicole will be swap partners. (Nicole received and Maggie's package is on the way.)

Annie and Heidi will be swap partners. (Annie received and Heidi's is on the way.)

Brooke and Amy will be swap partners. (Both received)

We came home to thunderstorms without much delay - one that lasted over an hour last evening and another this afternoon. The gardens should be happy. I just picked some tomatoes and cucumbers. Some of my newly planted rose bushes are getting ready to bloom. Eager to see the flowers in person.

Back with Bingo words tomorrow.

Jeanne

You're very welcome Amy :) glad you enjoyed. I am planning on enjoying that chicken seasoning you sent me on Friday! Thank you for the awesome swap Jeanne it was a lot of fun. One word away from bingo woohoo

Two more Bingo words. Amazingly it looks like no one has Bingo today, but please check in case I'm wrong.

15. Encyclopedia

19. Retronym

Retronym is an adjective-noun pairing generated by a change in the meaning of the base noun, usually the result of a technological advance. For example, watch became pocket watch due to the introduction of the wrist watch and pen became fountain pen due to the introduction of ball-point pens.

I've been trying to decided about selecting a word (or words) for tomorrow. I think I will select one word. Otherwise everyone will have Bingo and I would hate for someone to have Bingo and miss being the first person to post by 1 minute or some similar situation. It's still hard to believe no one got it today.

Jeanne

Happy Tuesday Everyone!! I need one more word :)-

The RED package arrived from Annie! Go Haymakers! (our town mascot) Go Huskers!

R-Really...do you need any more seeds? Heirloom Emerald Giant Sweet Pepper, Cottage Red Marigold and Roma Tomato

E-Everyone needs these! Garden gloves! Woot! Woot!

D-Do you crochet? Beautiful premiere ribbon-like yarn. I had already carefully untied the red piece wrapped around the package it was so cute and there was a full skein of black, silver and multi colors inside!

Red Bonus** Simply Red Sequined Wired Ribbon and Ladybug stickers! Oh the fun will go on and on! I love every part of it. It's amazing! Heidi

Heidi has received her great package ...and now we are on to posting the Bingo word which will be the final one needed:

12. LIBRARY

Whoever posts Bingo first will be the winner, but I will also send out a small prize to the other Bingo winners who post. It has been a long, hard-fought Bingo match.

We're just waiting for Maggie to receive and her package is on the way.

Jeanne

Sorry I thought I had bingo but went to check again and I still have one more word. Sorry for all the trouble!

Bingo

Bingo!!

Bingo!

Amy is our Bingo winner! Congratulations!

Congratulations to Brooke and Heidi also. I will send a small gift to each of you as well. Out of all the original Bingo words (30 of them), we were down to the last 2 this morning. The word that never got selected was # 7. Antonym.

If you enjoy words and word games, this is the site I used for lots of the information. I never got a chance to follow all the links, but there's lots of information there.

http://www.fun-with-words.com/index.html

Have a great day!

Jeanne

faerygardener (Maggie) ~ the tracking says your package that I sent to you is ready for pick up right now :)

Thanks Nicole for your so very generous package!! Nicole's word was love and she sent a page of LOVE postage stamps (note the cute kitty stickers)

plus 16 packets of seeds, 2 pairs of garden gloves (so perfect, some of mine are really falling apart and I do use them!) cat toys in pretty organza drawstring bags, little envelopes (perfect for stamping on) and plant tags (that I never have enough of). Thank you so very much!

Nicole, you sent a great package ... and now that Maggie has received we are ready to close out the swap. I will be sending out prizes before the end of the month so those will go out soon. Since my husband and I were out of town over the weekend and tied up with getting our heat and air-conditioning replaced, it has been a crazy week.

Thanks so much to everyone who joined in this month. Next month will be lots of fun so watch for it to be posted.

Jeanne

Jeanne, Thank you for another great swap! Have a good night! Amy

Jeanne, many thanks for a wonderful July of words! I had not thought of many of your BINGO words for many, many years and some I had no clue as to what there definition was. Very educational!! I had lots of fun with my husband, quizzing him, as he thinks he has all the answers for pretty much everything in life. Needless to say, he failed miserably when I tested him on your words. Not that I did much better than he did but I don't claim to know it all...he does LOL! I always love putting him in his place.............

Thanks much for the fun!!

Annie

Congrats BINGO winners...Amy, Brooke and Heidi!

Happy Evening!

Annie

Jeanne - Thanks for a GREAT month! I really
enjoyed all the word info.

Hi all - Jeanne gave me the a-ok to post the August swap a few
days early as August 1st is Lughnassadh, the Celtic Harvest Holiday. Join us here:
http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/4773633/m=23/aug-fotess-celebrate-abundance

Prizes will go out tomorrow. I'll be trying to ship them by first class parcel if that works for the post office so they will take a few days to get to you. Thanks for playing the games and congratulations again to Amy, Heidi, and Brooke!

Jeanne

Jeanne, thank you so much for my bingo gift :) I love the flower cards and stickers and your note!

Jeanne, Thank you so much for the beautiful box. I am definitely going to use it to store my seeds. I really appreciate the cucumbers seeds too and I need all the help I can get with varieties because the past few years I have not had a good harvest. Also, I really love the hot pepper napkins and note! Amy

Thank you for the bingo gift, Jeanne. It was a surprise. I thought I was too late! It was fun getting Fun Mail! I love your creative pieces, too. It's got me thinking!! Jeanne made them out of an old dictionary...cute! Heidi

Although Amy posted Bingo first, Heidi, you and Brooke had Bingo that same day and were just a little behind her for posting so I sent something to each of you as well.

I enjoyed trying to make the flowers from dictionary paper. They didn't turn out great, but I thought they fit in with the theme. I might use more layers in them next time. The dictionary paper is so thin.

Have a wonderful day!

Jeanne