The mountain laurel is in bloom now, and we have two large shrubs on our property. One is behind the house, the other on the edge of the meadow. I love these pink-tinged flowers with the red lines radiating from the center.

My bargain New Guinea impatiens have doubled in size and are blooming well. They seem to be very happy here. I really like the variegated coloring on the flowers.

My other bargain plant is a verbena. It also seems to be coming back well, getting larger and now sporting several blooms along with a bunch of buds for more flowers soon.

I got my doves repainted, and placed them in the planter box among the clover.

It was baking day one day last week, and I started out with my own recipe. This Caramel Apple Cake is one of My Sweet Babboo’s favorites. He likes a liberal amount of cinnamon and big chunks of apples.

I made some blueberry muffin tops from a mix, too. It seems like I do this combination of baked goods quite often. I will sometimes add a bit of vanilla or a pinch of cinnamon to box mixes to make them just a bit better. Wilton makes PFAS free muffin top pans. See my post on Sunday Chat and an Alarming Discovery to see why this is so important.

I made some Cranberry donuts last week too.

My donut pans from Wilton are PFAS Free as well.

Download my Carole’s Cake Donuts Recipe Ebook for four donut recipes in one pdf file.

I also made some biscuits from a mix My Sweet Babboo loves, Red Lobster Cheddar Bay Biscuit Mix. It calls for 1/2-cup of shredded cheddar, but I add 2/3 cup and also some green onions.

You add cheddar cheese and water to the mix, then drop it by spoonfuls onto a baking sheet.

When they are baked, mix up the garlic and seasoning packet with melted butter and brush over the tops.

These are so good!! The mix makes about a dozen, and more than half were gone on the first night. They also have a Gluten Free version.

The big news of the week is that my Freedom Waves Quilt pattern is featured on the Quilting Daily website this month! I am really excited about this. The digital download pattern can be purchased separately (no affiliation here, and no, I do not get any royalties). Click on Freedom Waves pattern to see it. The print magazine has been published, and is being shipped to stores now. Today only, for Mother’s Day, use coupon code MOMSTITCH to get 25% off!

I have received the quilt back, and got out my bag of sleeves so I could attach one. Beginnings Quilt Shop has ordered the magazine and wants to display the quilt with it. I love the backing fabric, and it goes perfectly with the fabrics on the top. These are all Benartex fabrics with vivid red and blue colors, and crisp white.

Our resident black bear has made a couple of visits to the house this past week. My Sweet Babboo kept running him off before I could take a new photo, but it looks just like this one from last year. He/she is about 200 pounds.

I saw Wilson last week too, while driving down the road, but could not get his photo either. But he looks pretty much the same as well.

Yesterday, we once again had a murder of crows in the meadow. This time, I could photograph them because they were not up next to the house. These were at the driveway circle, and the edge of the meadow.

More were in the meadow. There were still more in the trees. Total number was about two dozen.

On the feeder, a chickadee posed for a profile shot.

A pair of house finches came for a meal. The male is on the left, with some purplish red, while the female is all spotted brown.

We watched Remarkably Bright Creatures on Netflix, and I was very disappointed. The movie does not faithfully follow the book, and the role of Marcellus was reduced so much that the charm is lost. It is just another ho-hum story of loss that we’ve all seen before many times. Read the book, skip the movie.

This week is going to be insanely busy, with our quilt show next weekend. On Monday we begin taking in all the quilts and items for the gift shop, and I am working a shift that day. I’ll also be there on Thursday for set up, and Friday to work the bookstore and see the show. In the intervening days, I have two car club events plus a meeting one afternoon. But, when the show is over, I’ll have two weeks of virtually nothing to do, and plan to get in some quality sewing time.

What are your plans this week?

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