An early morning view from the veranda this past week showed fog in the valley, and low clouds. We so desperately need rain that this was a welcome sight. The fire danger in this area is huge, as the downed trees and dead limbs from Helene are still prevalent all over the county, and may never be cleaned up.
Hearing a commotion one day last week, I looked out the front to see about 2 dozen crows were pecking around in the front yard. As the least bit of movement will startle them, they all flew into the trees.
There are five in this photo, hidden among the branches. The rest were hanging around in other trees nearby.
A moment later, they began flying away a few at a time.
I really wanted them to lift off at once, so you could see how many there were. But they didn’t cooperate with that.
Later on, an indigo bunting stopped by. I wasn’t fast enough to get his picture this time, but he looked just like this one.
A downy woodpecker took advantage of the seed bounty. The easiest way to distinguish these from a hairy woodpecker is the red patch on the back of the head. The downy is red all across, while the hairy has a black vertical line bisecting the red into two sections.
In the garden, a lone iris bloomed. I thought I had dug up all these small lavendar ones.
In doing the planting last week, I found my yard art project needed a new coat of paint. This was a plastic cake topper that was on our wedding cake many, many years ago. See how I originally did this project on my post Creating Yard Art.
Yesterday, a Quilt of Valor made by Karen K and Crystal was awarded to USMC veteran Heather M. in a ceremony at the library. Thank you, ladies, for helping us reach our goal on quilts.
At retreat, I picked up a bunch of quilt theme stickers, and thought they would be fun to use on cards.
A fun few hours of stamping later, and I had more cards ready to put in our guild shop for the upcoming show.
Added to the ones I previously made, the basket is full and ready for browsing.
In the kitchen, I had to get these luscious strawberries when I saw them at the store. I’ve been craving them since seeing a fellow blogger harvest buckets of them out of her own yard.
You still have time to enter the giveaway for the EQ8 Starter Box. Entries close at noon today! Click HERE to enter the drawing.
This week is our Area A meeting, and I’m looking forward to a day of sewing with friends. I’m finishing up a very small art piece for a challenge, and I’ll show it to you when it is done. I have a panel and some blocks for a Quilt of Valor to put together. Then, I still have the embroidery and fabrics for the tote bag I want to make. I think I have the dimensions and design ready, so that will be up next.
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From My Carolina Home 
I love the indigo bunting that is a beautiful bird. I ended up having 12 quarts frozen strawberries and numerous desserts of strawberry shortcake and sometimes without the cake! I think there is enough to pick a couple more times before they are done but the bounty is less each time now.
Yes, it was your blog that made me crave strawberries!
I’m glad I have a berry garden but I have gotten tired of picking them. It’s been 3 weeks and I know they will go another week or two but I’m picking not as often and not getting as much
The cards are delightful! I have one of those stickers and had not decided what to do with it. Feeling inspired!
Those berries look so good. I just planted six strawberry plants yesterday and have a hanging basket too. Just flowers now but hopefully soon. The ones in the ground tend to get crowded out by black-eyed Susans and my transplanting efforts seem to have failed. Got lettuce in too.
Those birds are wonderful — especially the bunting. I don’t even know if we have these around here!
I’m sorry it’s so dry there – I think of N. Carolina as a rainy place. Colorado is terribly dry – at least the trees are green, but not much else is! I love your quilting stickers – my favorite is the retirement plan one! I think crows are really fascinating birds. Have you read the book, Crow Talk, by Eileen Garvin. I learned a lot about crows from it!
Every winter a large number of crows try to roost in the city and the city works hard to redirect them to a huge park adjacent to the river. It’s hard to imagine why those crows would pick the city over the park. Not so many winter picnickers in the park I guess so fewer opportunities for a snack. I have one of those stickers. The silly one that says “Quilting is painting with needles”, but shows a pair of hands knitting.
The strawberries have been really good here this year. I think the early heat helped tremendously. Your cards came out so nicely. With the high cost of cards nowadays, it’s great that you can make such nice ones.
The indigo bunting is fabulous. I’ve only seen one once in NW Pennsylvania in the past 18 years. I just saw the Baltimore Oriole here on May 1st. We’ve had freeze warnings the past two nights so he hasn’t been back again. Rose-breasted Grosbecks are here everyday now, sometimes three at a time. Finches are back too! Still waiting on the hummers! I love bird-watching. It soothes my nerves.
Those strawberries look delicious!
Have a fantastic week, Carole!
I’ve never seen an indigo bunting; what amazing color! You made excellent use of those quilting stickers. We are in extreme fire danger here already. We had no snow to speak of, and have gotten just 1.5 inches of rain in April, which is usually one of the heaviest months of the year. The ground is powder dry and we are having 40 mph winds about once a week. 😔
We rarely see an Indigo Bunting, they are beautiful birds. We are seeing crows often in the front of our house. We think they have a nest in one of our wooded areas. I love strawberries, they should start coming in now around here! Have a good week!
Your bird photos are stunning. I do like the birds bobbing around on the lawns and garden but not at Strawberry time. Sometimes they massacre a lovely big Strawberry through the mesh!! The stickers are a giggle and you have made some lovely cards with them. So good to have when they cost a King’s ransom in the store.
My sewing machine has been in having a service and I brought it home today so tomorrow it’s bottom on chair to have some stitching fun.
Mary :))
cute little stickers and they made very nice cards!
Have a fun week! Love that indigo bunting – I have not seen them yet here ins SE MI., but I know they come and visit. The different woodpeckers we see a lot of! Great use of the stickers – thank you for that idea!
Love seeing all the goings on in your world (your garden a few days ago) and the beautiful birds. Was just out in the yard and heard a woodpecker but couldn’t see it. I must get out my hummingbird feeder.