It is 2024, and I am happy to turn the calendar over to a new page. I am looking forward to this new year in the hopes that the issues of the past couple of months are resolved enough to go smoothly now, at least for a while. I thought it was a good sign when more than 2 dozen robins showed up in the front yard and meadow. They are hard to pick out in the photo below, but you can see a bunch of them between the rails of the veranda.
The birds were all over the front yard and the meadow below. There are three in this shot, pecking at the ground and hopping around.
When I looked at the photos, I realized I also had a Northern flicker in one. These are migrating birds, and we usually only see them in winter. I was glad to see him be a part of the Christmas Bird Count for Cornell’s annual migration tally.
On the feeder, a red-bellied woodpecker came by for a meal of my homemade suet. See my post Making a Meal for Our Feathered Friends for the ingredients and method.
I had four bluebirds during the count as well. Here are two, with a downy woodpecker on the back side of the feeder.
In the meadow, deer have been coming through regularly. The long lens on the camera make getting photos easier as they are so skittish. This one is at the bottom of the meadow near the split rail fence that separates our property from our neighbor.
It has been weeks since we saw a squirrel in the yard. Then, one day, a little guy showed up to scratch around for seeds under the bird feeder. He was very shy, and ran off as I stepped out to the veranda. But I threw a sandwich out for him anyway, and eventually he found it.
A few days later, he was back, this time just a bit less shy. He came back around the rail when he heard my voice. He got a treat, and I have hope that he will come by more regularly now that he is more confident that I am not a threat. He needs a name, but we haven’t come up with one yet.
I got a fun gift last week. While visiting friends, I was presented with this adorable squirrel eating a peanut butter sandwich, made by woodworker Mark. It is a three part puzzle, and has such a sweet face. So thoughtful! It reminds me of Oliver.
Speaking of wildlife, the Chookshed Stitchers had a Zoom last week, much needed sewing and chat time. At this point we had quilter/bloggers from Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the US, with a quilter from Japan visiting one from Germany so they were on together. Show and tell was really fun! People came for a bit and left, at this point we had 17 on at once, with two in one box.
I got my copy of Milk Street’s Simple during Autumn Jubilee last October, and immediately began putting sticky notes on recipes I wanted to try. The first one I put a note on was on page 3! I finally got around to making the dish, and it will become one of those go-to recipes when I forget to defrost something for dinner. Frozen shrimp will thaw in 30 minutes. I usually have corn tortillas in the freezer as well, and avocado in the pantry. Download the recipe – Shrimp and Avocado Tostadas.
It is simple to do, and I like how the corn tortillas come out crispy without being greasy by being baked in the oven, rather than my usual cooking method of frying in a skillet.
In the sewing room, I have begun my challenge quilt for National Quilting Day. This is such a fun idea! The challenge is commemorating our guild’s 42nd year. Participants are given a non-quilting magazine. We are to take our inspiration from page 42 in the magazine. We also have to use the challenge fabric – the classified ads print on the top. My initial fabric pull for the design came after I drafted my idea on paper. I’ll show you more in the coming weeks.
This Friday will be our last Stashbuster report for 2023, and the beginning of a new year of Stashbusting. No pressure here, just a fun thing to keep us aware of what is coming in and going out.
So, not a lot going on at the moment, and that is just fine with me. How about you?
From My Carolina Home 
Welcome 2024 with joy, happiness, good health and an abundance of all things creative.
So many wonderful things in today’s post. Plenty of wildlife on your property always provide a changing scene.
I REALLY like your Challenge idea – create from a page in a magazine that matches the year anniversary. If you won’t mind, I think I will share this with some quilting friends.
Enjoy each and every day.
Donna Weeks
My end of winter joy is seeing my first robin. I’m envious of all the birds at your feeders too. Many of my yard birds must have flown south for the winter. I’m looking forward to seeing your inspiration in the coming months.
Happy New Year!
Fun to see all of the wildlife, especially a new squirrel friend. I’m looking forward to the kids going back to school tomorrow and starting to tackle some organization around my house. I did a challenge last year where I picked one closet each day for a week and put in 40min of time cleaning, organizing and donating what so didn’t need. It’s amazing what can get done in that little bit and it kept me motivated without being overwhelmed. I think I am going to do the same thing this year but with parts of my sewing space. Hopefully it will be just as fruitful. My other challenge to myself is to not buy any fabric this year unless it is to finish an already started project. I have many UFO’s that need to be finished and I find myself thinking up new projects instead. Time to buckle down and finish things. 🙂
this is really inspiring Rheanna
I am planning to do the same!! I have also chosen to do small chunks and well, each day, I do not know how long that will hold my interest but my realistic goal is two areas a week, trash and charity.
I wish you good luck and persistence and I will be with you in spirit and doing the same.
Happy New Year, Carole!
I hope 2024 is the best yet!
Lee Ann Jones
Sulky of America
Happy New Year Carole, This is a very exciting and enthusiastic blog today
Thank you for the lifting up.
the sewing challenge sounds fun, please show us page 42 when you start your project
I love all of the wild life in your yard. We have a lot here too in No Va
I hope you had a happy Christmas, ours was quiet, then my only daughter speaking to me and her adorable family came to visit and we had a good time all day snacking and playing games.
For saying not a lot is going on at the moment, I think you have plenty with your stitching project coming up and a new squirrel friend. I love that puzzle. We’re seeing robins here too, which is incredibly weird. And I have daffs trying to push up. Strange weather. It’s supposed to get colder. We’ll see.
What a fun post to read… I was happy to see your wildlife visitors, especially knowing where the robins are because I miss them! Such a fun challenge you are working on… looking forward to seeing your result! Happy New Year! Kathy
Loving all the wildlife activity going on in your yard. So much fun to watch. The Quilt Challenge will be an exciting project. I look forward to seeing it unfold. Seems like many people I talk with are ready to move into 2024. I surely am. Too much illness the last two months. I have a pile of UFOs I plan to finish this year and a BOM I have joined which looks like a lot of fun. Wishing you a new year full of joy, happiness and good health.
What a great post! Love seeing all the birds! I love it when the robins flock, usually Feb for us, and I always thought that was their coming back from either further south or further from woodland cover. Would that be correct? The squirrel gift is precious. And how fun that you have so many people on your Zoom, from so many different places. Looking forward to seeing that anniversary quilt design. Have a great day.
That squirrel will be knocking on your window soon begging for treats. Love the squirrel puzzle, we have a similar rabbit one. It was in the top ten warmest Christmases around here; when I popped out for the mail I found worms & a gigantic toad! Not the usual year end visitors. Happy New Year.
Carole, wishing for you a better 2024! I know how much you love seeing the birds, squirrels, and deer! We enjoy all the birds and wildlife we view on a daily basis. Happy quilting!
I love it when the flocks of robins come around – they do that here, too. That’s great that you could participate in the bird count and you saw quite a few different varieties. Your sew day with the Zoom group looks fun! Sounds like a good start to the new year. I’m sending good thoughts that things stay that way!
Oh Carole, your friend knows you so well! I love the squirrel puzzle ! What a lovely and thoughtful gift. And you have a new squirrel friend too! I immediately thought his name should be Robbie. 😉 Your guild challenge sounds interesting. This year our guild president challenged us, by email, to a UFO list. You know, I could fill pages!! Happy New Year to you and your Sweet Babboo. Praying that you have a fresh start, and can focus again on doing the things you love. LOVED your bird photos and think that woodpecker on the suet is stunning. That photo is a prize winner!
Hi, Carole! Happy New year! I was wondering why Word Press was asking me to sign in when I made a comment just now on your blog post, when they had never asked before. I don’t have an account with them and have always just commented and posted. Weird! Hope you are feeling better and more at peace these days. Know you are always in my heart. Susan
Love your critter pics. I’m looking forward to Stashbuster 2024. I crumped out about October 2023 and need to get on board again. Happy New Year and I’m looking forward to sewing with you again this year.
Looking forward to the new year of stashbusting…this year has helped me so much! Just to see what comes and goes makes me more aware of the need NOT to buy as much.
As far as naming the new squirrel….Chester was the first name that popped into my head.
Wishing you a Happy New Year. It was lovely to see you in Zoom the other day. How wonderful to have so much wildlife near your home. The little squirrel is so cute.
Our temps have been unseasonably warm, and the “snow” lasted only a few minutes. We have a hill behind the library and a “lending library” of sleds for the taking. The birds are confused, as am I! I love the magazine idea! Dinner looks yummy! Thanks,
Hooray on turning the page to 2024! I had a cooper’s hawk in the backyard the other day…totally prevented my sewing as I was mesmerized. No critters were harmed in its visit, that is great. Hooray for your guild challenge…looks fun, good recipes, lovely wildlife and many more shares in the new year.
I always enjoy seeing the wildlife. The birds are beautiful.
Yes, let’s hope 2024 is good for all of us.
Happy New Year, Carole. Wishing you all the best in 2024. I still have 2 Christmas gifts to finish up and afraid life got in the way. At least one of them will be finished by the end of this week. At your suggestion, I checked out Milk Street and ended up ordering 2 cookbooks ~ one for a Christmas gift. For myself I ordered the Mediterranean one. Hoping it will get me into cooking again. Looking forward to tomorrow.
Happy New Year! I enjoyed seeing the photos of your wildlife. We have a deer feeder in our backyard, and we enjoy watching them at night (we have string lights out back). xo,
Ricki Jill
Happy New Year! The bluebird photo is wonderful. What seed do you have in the feeder? We have bluebirds occasionally and I would like to have the seed that seems to make them happy.
Alexandria
That really is a cool challenge! Very creative, and it sounds like you have ideas already so have fun! The squirrels, live and wooden look very sweet. Our squirrels are not…they taunt Bandit from the outside the garden fence and sometimes “bomb” him from the power lines!
What a pretty woodpecker! I love how you give your squirrels sandwiches! We had a blue heron adopt us last summer after my SIL gave him a fish to eat. He showed up every day and got braver and braver, not flying off when people were around. I’m sure your squirrel will be back often! That squirrel puzzle is adorable~
Jenna
Happy New Year, Carole. I hope 2024 will be a stellar year for you and yours. I recognized an itsy-bitsy portion of the magazine cover and dug out my copy (I remembered the gorgeous Red Velvet Doberge cake …who could forget that…lol)! I cannot even imagine what you’ll come up with for your guild challenge based on page 42 but I’m sure it will be worth waiting for! I look forward to another year with you…your tablescapes, recipes and beautiful photos. God bless….