margo - jeanne is hosting May and posting early... dont worry!

Oops wrong group, my bad. I meant it for OBF. I deleted it. 😬

Got myself another dirt manicure today cleaning out a garden. I also managed to get two perennials planted and I’m about to go out and plant gourd seeds. If we end up to get a cold spell or frost, I have back up seeds so I’ll just replant. If I’m lucky, these will take off and thrive. hopefully the vine borer wont hit like last year.

I posted the May heading this evening. Come by to pick the Kentucky Derby winner by noon on April 30th and no need to sign up for the swap this much ahead of time, but I hope you will consider joining in once we get to May. I don't know anything about the entries this year but they do have some interesting names. The May swap is definitely a simple one.

I've been trimming back my azalea bushes which had gotten huge. I really can't do more than 1 or 2 a day so I'll be at it for awhile. Hopefully the rain they forecast for tomorrow will wash away some of the pollen. I come in coughing after I work with trimming and carrying away what I trimmed off. For the most part we are not talking "tiny snips" - there are some thick branches about 5 feet in height getting trimmed out. They grew a lot last year because we got so much rain.

Amy, I finally got to the post office and mailed your package. It is expected to arrive on Wednesday.

Tracking: 9505514508431114400080

I got Heidi’s package today. Thank you so much, Heidi! You clearly put a lot of thought into this.

Heidi sent me a whole bunch of seeds, a personalized travel mug, a straw, and some reusable ice cubes. She also sent me some wonderful handmade cards that she says is not part of the swap but I think they fit right in with the handmade theme. Thank you again, Heidi. This was a wonderful package and so creative of you.

Annie, you’re awesome package arrived today. Thank you so much for the adorable pillows. They are awesome and definitely something I would have picked out. So kind of you. I will also enjoy the seeds. I am growing more in pots this year so those cute seeds will be fantastic for that purpose. The bok choy and lettuce are great too. Thank you thank you thank you.

Did you make the beautiful card? That’s one I can’t throw away.

I forgot to mention that Heidi also sent me this pair of gardening gloves. Useful and decorative. Thanks again, Heidi!

I'm so glad the box made it Emily. As you can see I had a lot of fun, too! Heidi

On April 22 I planted my lupine seeds. I also transplanted 2 little Marigold plants and some crimson clover plants that were growing in my dining room. I have trouble transplanting and keeping them alive,, but here's hoping. Heidi

Heidi, I'm glad you were able to get something in the ground on Earth Day. We went to Home Depot yesterday and grabbed some perennials 2 hanging baskets and a decorative arrangement for outside. We also bought some Pathos plants, and a pathos with a tree of some sorts and one more indoor arrangement. Needless to say the kitty has already eaten up most of the items but we will work on a solution for that. its dark here now and I will try to post some pictures tomorrow.

BINGO - 2 for today and 2 for yesterday as I didn't get to post.

Climate

Recycle

Clean

power

Updates -

Urooj sends to Heidi - Sent

Heidi sends to Emily -Sent/Received

Emily sends to Amy - Sent

Amy sends to Annie - Sent/Received

Annie sends to Margo - Sent/Received

Margo sends to Urooj - Sent/ Received

glad to see the packages are arriving. they are so nice and most importantly, so thoughtful! i am happy that people recycled and send reusable items! good job guys!

I didn't go over to May but please do go and pick your horse for the Derby so you don't miss out.

we called a landscaper to see if i can make a garden bed in another spot for this year but i don't know if it will happen, the fence guy didn't come to finish the fence either. so many unfinished projects!

going to sneak in a little game down in here - can anyone guess the one word that all 4 bingo players have picked? 1 guess per day. will give clues if stuck for too long. still 1.5 hours to get a guess in tonight.....

I’m guessing Earth day.

Today I’ll guess compost

I'll guess plants.

Heard a radio story about the freeze in Texas. Every home, business, school and city want to replace trees. The local nurseries lost their trees to sell. They are shipping in from other states and costs are way up. It will take years to replace what was lost. It made me appreciate what is coming up. I lost a little row of seedlings to snow, but nothing like what Texas experienced.

The city took out 6 trees from my backyard. Now I need the stumps ground out. Can't think about the garden area yet because that's the best entrance for t heir machinery. Probably will happen in 2 weeks and then I can think about freeing the tomato plants in the dining room! Heidi

Advice please. Would you consider this weed or flower? Cloverfield bloom, poppy like leaves.

I've tried 4 times to post n then got wrong picture. Clover like bloom. Poppy like foliage. Sorry.

Emily, Thank you so much for the wonderful package. I love the cute card and wonderful seeds and beautiful succulents. They look so healthy! I love the plates so pretty! I And the lip balm and face moisturizer. Most of all I am so excited to try your homemade lemon marmalade! Thank you for such a special package! Amy

Urooj, I will guess earthworms.

Heidi, I think it depends on how you look at it. Those don't look like poppy leaves to me. I think it looks like Shepherd's Purse. I would consider it a weed but not everyone does.

Amy, I am so surprised you got the package already. Post office can be very impressive sometimes, especially considering I didn't drop it off at the post office until Saturday afternoon. I figured you could use some SPF coverage when you are outside in the hot Florida sun. Meyer lemon marmalade is one of my favorite marmalades. My other favorite is kumquat marmalade but I don't have a kumquat tree at the moment. Glad you liked your package!

Urooj, I forgot to mention that I did manage to sign up for the Lowe's Butterfly kit. I did it when sign ups opened since it was only 9 PM on the West Coast. I know they were gone within 6 minutes, at least at my store, because I know someone who tried to sign up then and was unable to get one. It says you need to bring proof of registration when you go pick it up. I don't know if they will ask to see it or not. Anyway, thanks for letting me know about the Lowe's event because I have not heard about it anywhere else, and I don't usually shop at Lowe's. I usually go to Home Depot if I need something since that is only a quarter mile from Costco for me.

Close up of the super cute bird plates and I love my birds!

Updates -

Urooj sends to Heidi - Sent

Heidi sends to Emily -Sent/Received

Emily sends to Amy - Sent/Received

Amy sends to Annie - Sent/Received

Annie sends to Margo - Sent/Received

Margo sends to Urooj - Sent/ Received

Glad you got the Kit Emily. Seems like this was the last one of the season. 6 minutes! wow thats insane. post a pic when you get it so we can see what we missed out on.

What a nice package Amy, wow lots of goodies in there. I saw a Meyer Lemon tree at home depot over the weekend but we didn't get it. I am still waiting for the fence guy to some paint and then my husband called someone to make a raised bed, but he will be coming over the weekend to see the backyard. seems like my gardening will be super low key this year.

Heidi, the situation here got really bad. most things ARE coming back at the base. for example my landscaping bushes and my fig tree, but my things are just a few years old and tiny enough to chop off and start over. the lady at the post office who i always talk to about gardening said her fig tree was huge and very well established and they are waiting for it to show signs of life, but it is sprouting at the base. so its bittersweet. those clovers look like flowers to me but those long long serrated leaves look like a weed! that carrot top type thing also looks like a weed. i don't know...

keep guessing everyone... no correct guesses yet.

BINGO -

Biome

traffic

Emily, do you have a recipe for kumquat marmalade? I have one of those growing! Thank you for the sun screen moisturizer I do need that I have been roasting outside. I have had skin cancer in the past and I need to be more careful

Amy, marmalade with regular lemons is also wonderful.

This is what I do for kumquat marmalade. I do the same thing for lemons or Meyer lemons.

Thinly slice the kumquats and remove the seeds and set aside.

Measure the kumquats after slicing.

Put the kumquats in a large pot and add equal volume of water.

Make a package of the seeds in a coffee filter or cheesecloth and tie up and add to pot. I tie this to the handle of the pot to keep it in place.

Boil 5-10 minutes, skimming off any foam.

Let cool and set aside ~12 hours.

Add equal volume of sugar as the sliced kumquats.

Boil 5-10 minutes, skimming off any foam.

Let cool and set aside ~12 hours.

Heat to rolling boil, stirring constantly, until thickened. (Drop put on cold plate does not run off)

Can 10 minutes in a water bath.

I will guess solar for today.

How about recycle?

Great Recipe Emily. Sounds easy, just time consuming, but i am sure its worth it because it sounds delicious.

Heidi, here are some pictures of whats happened in our landscaping. There's no way to salvage whats dead and we need to chop it off so the new can come in.

here are some pictures from our weekend trip to Home Depot. As you can see, someone has been pulling the leaves from this pathos, we have a cat that loves to eat plants! even fake ones!

this one is in the family room where no one sits.

this one is by my husbands nightstand because he said he wants to breathe oxygen.

a pathos in the family room

a pathos in my husbands study

a thing about the pathos is that we all them money plants. i don't know if its cultural or if they really are called money plants! Tradition has it that as your plant grows your wealth increases. So my husband decided we needed 3 plants. lets see what happens.

this little medley for the front porch

these petunias, my daughter picked, are by the front door.

this hanging basket is hanging from a tree in front of the house. they looked like little roses so we chose these.

BINGO -

Pollution

plastic

weather

I know i have been pulling a bunch of duds for most of you for the last few days so I will have the cat pick tomorrow.

Margo, how was your consultation? Any news?

the fence guy came and power washed the fence today to prepare for staining. turns out he had probably forgotten because as soon as i sent him a message asking when he was coming by he came the next morning. glad to see someones working in my garden!

Thank you Emily! I am going to try and make it soon! I am so happy to have something to do with those kumquats.

i tried to find the cat to pull bingo but i couldn't find him anywhere so i had to pull.

BINGO -

Dirt

Reuse

EDITED - checked bingo again and I don't have April on the choices of BINGO words but somehow I put it into my pulls.

BONUS BINGO - pulled by Bolt - I was able to convince him after I told him how much i needed his help -

Mountains

Solar

Amy, you are in for a yummy treat! Honestly, I can't buy jams and marmalades anymore. Homemade is so much better.

Heidi, did you get your package yet? otherwise I will dig up the receipt and pull the tracking...

also, no one has guessed the word correctly yet so you guys can keep guessing!

Trees

Heidi - took a look at the tracking and it seems like its still on the way! wow, it was supposed to be there by Monday.

tracking # - 9500110446821112654132

No problem. The funny part is that I've ordered numerous things in the last two weeks. The ones from China--which usually take a couple months--are already here. A UPS shipment got stashed in a warehouse somewhere for almost 2 weeks until the seller went to track it down. The seeds I ordered never arrived...they had to send out another shipment. Maybe it's aliens! Heidi

Today I’ll try animals.

love the little kitty.

Ocean

I got it Urooji! Thank you soooo much. I adore kitchen towels. Look what I have above my stove to match.
I love your seed baggies with the sticker and a picture. I might try that. Thank you for black eyed peas, Dill, gourmet bend radish, red coral carrot. I love it all.

BINGO -

litter

lights

yaaaay. so glad you got your package heidi. i was so afraid it was lost in the mail. my brother sent me a holiday package wit goody bags and things for the kids and it was supposed to arrive on Monday and the tracking just said arriving late at sorting facility... today i was about to file a lost claim and up popped an update that its on its way.

the weather has been wet and gloomy down here and there has been no gardening done by me. we do have a landscaper coming this weekend so lets see what he helps us plan out back.

keep guessing on the word everyone has on their list.

cant believe the month is almost over. may post bingo early so we can wrap up but i usually dont remember to post until the evening.

How about dirt?

Oxygen

wanted to post bingo around 9am so we may be able to wrap up early but i didn't have any helpers to pull for me and then i decided to take a mid-morning nap. fasting for ramadan has really gotten to me as most mornings I haven't been having my caffiene so am pretty much sleepy all the time.

BINGO -

Air

Biodiversity

Its really cold and wet here in dallas. there was an outdoor fast breaking celebration planned for today and that has been cancelled so we are indoors for dinner tonight.

no gardening or yard work going on over here...

today is the last day to guess the word that everyone has on their BINGO cards...

Bingo!

YAAAAYYYYYY! We have a winner. Congrats Emily!

the word all of you guys had was Mountains.

Here are the winners for this month - I will mail prizes out soon!

Photos of your garden - Emily

Watching the whole earth day video - Emily

My weeding garden hack - Emily

Garden Manicure - Margo *double whammy*

BINGO - Emily

thanks for joining this month everyone, see you over on the MAY FOTESS!

Thanks for a fun month Urooj!

Congratulations to Emily and Margo and thanks for hosting such a fun month, Urooj!

I'll be posting Bingo under the new May heading and there is still time to sign up for the May swap ... and later today check in to see the person in our group who becomes the winner in the Kentucky Derby.

Any member of the group is welcome to participate in the games even if you aren't swapping during that month.

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/6111610/may-fotess-swap-it-s-blue-grass-month-for-our-group

Thanks Urooj for a great month of "Reap What You Sow".......I wish I could have been on HOUZZ to post more. I am posting this at my friends house, as my computers are being fixed up!!

Congrats to all the game winner!!

Happy May!!

Tata!!

Annie

Urooj, thank you so much for a great swap month. You did an awesome job.

Amy, Im thrilled to hear you are over the moon about those bird plates, I thought those were just super FUN ... Emily ... wished you had mentioned to me when I sent those to you in the Fotess JULY BON APPETIT swap, that you didnt care for those I would have been happy to return those for you, and find you something else, Ive been looking for another set of those since with no success, you should have told me I would have sent something else your way. Either way, Happy to hear you are enjoying those Amy!

Thankyou Urooj for my manicure prize. these gloves are awesome and i cant wait to use them. They will definiteky keep my nails clean.