Another weekend of cold and dreary weather, with snow! At least not as much ice this time. Still, it is enough to empty out the stores of bread and milk, LOL!! Luckily, I had shopped earlier in the week. The birds have been here in big numbers all week. Ones I haven’t seen in a while, like a pair of towhees, are showing up now to get their share of the suet. Here, a cardinal on the left shares the seed with a chickadee. On the suet, a Carolina wren sits on top, while a downy woodpecker works on the side.

A moment later, a bluebird takes the left side perch, while two chickadees try to decide what to eat next.

A titmouse stops by for his share.

The downy woodpecker was sitting on a tree limb, and I tried to get a good picture of him. One of the categories for the photo competition at the fair is animals/birds in natural habitat, which I take to mean not on a bird feeder. It was so dark and cloudy that day that the photo is too dark for entry, even with lightening it up in my photo editing program.

The deer came through while the driveway was covered in ice last weekend. They moved pretty quickly, and I was afraid one would fall on that ice. But they all made it across safely.

Last Tuesday on our book chat, one of the authors mentioned was Ian McEwan for his book “What We Can Know”. Later, I watched a pretty good movie on Netflix and was surprised to see in the credits that it was based on a book by Ian McEwan. The Children Act is a story of a judge overseeing a court for decisions regarding children’s welfare while dealing with trouble in her marriage. Her main focus in court is on medical issues where the parents and a hospital do not agree on the best course of action. The story mainly centers around a teenager, months away from his 18th birthday, who has leukemia. The hospital wants to give him a blood transfusion to save his life. His parents are opposed on religious grounds. Her decision to meet him has consequences for both the boy and the judge. The writing is excellent, beautifully acted and stars Emma Thompson and Stanley Tucci. I will definitely look for more of this author’s books.

During one of the cold days at home, I decided to do a bit of stamping and card making. I pulled out a selection of papers that look like fabrics, and some quilting theme stamps.

These are earmarked for the quilt shop at the show. They were pretty good sellers last time. Each one comes with an envelope that is stamped with something that coordinates with the card inside.

These have a sentiment inside of “In the crazy quilt of life, I’m glad you are in my block of friends. Happy Birthday!”

Some of these have – “Happy Birthday! May your bobbin always be full.” Some say “That’s It, I quilt!”

Others I left the inside blank. I actually don’t know if it is better to have a stamped sentiment inside, or to leave the inside blank. What would you rather have?

Friday was baking day. I wanted to make several things for My Sweet Babboo to have for breakfast and treats. I made a Caramel Apple Coffee Cake from my original recipe, and some blueberry muffin tops from a mix. I also baked some banana bread.

Dawn yesterday morning revealed a winter wonderland of snow! When it got light enough for a photo, there was about 2 inches on the ground, with more coming down.

It looked like just a couple of inches on the tree limbs and top of the bird feeder.

As the morning progressed, the snow started to really come down. After about an hour, the snow has grown to about 5 inches on top of the feeder. Two titmouses were happy to have a meal.

They had to share with the red bellied woodpecker. You can see the streaks of snow coming down on both photos. Lots of birds came by to eat, and I could have taken pictures of them all day. The suet was gone, so that cage was taken down before the snow began.

Of course, snowy days like this are perfect for dishes in the slow cooker. I plan for this kind of meal in case our power goes out, and we are on our generator. When that happens, I don’t have use of my electric stove. This time, I made a new recipe for Bourbon Beef Tips, taking elements from my recipes for Garlic Beef Tips with my recipe for Bourbon Chicken. I like to use my six quart slow cooker, but it isn’t available anymore. Looking around, I almost wish I had bought this Crock-Pot 6 Quart Cook & Carry as it has a lockable lid for taking to pot lucks. I put all the ingredients in the slow cooker in the morning.

Dinner was ready in the evening. See the beef tips link above for step by step tutorial. The recipe has a few tweaks on the ingredient list, but the technique is the same.

It was served on rice this time. It has a wonderful smoky flavor, but don’t worry, all the alcohol cooks away. You could substitute red wine if you like, or even beer. If you want to leave it out entirely, you can, just add more beef broth.
Download a pdf of the recipe – Bourbon Beef Tips.

We will be housebound today and likely tomorrow as well. It will be a great time to sew, and do some household chores I’ve been putting off. If you are in the path of this snow storm, stay warm! For my southern hemisphere readers, stay cool! What’s going on at your place?

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Milk Street Sale! Made by Milk Street 30% off (through midnight Sunday 2/1).

Fat Quarter Shop’s newest February specials include 20% off the Basic of the Month Thatched by Moda, 30% Off the Notions of the Month Triangles on a Roll, and book of the month Triangles on a Roll Quilts Book. Take 30% off featured Patterns of the Month from Cluck Cluck Sew Patterns. Then, check out Today’s Flash Sale and see the Precuts of the Week.