Gotti Movie Coming Soon! Filmed in Cincinnati

Good morning,

Since he graduated from The Ohio State University Dental School, my family and I have been patients of the Thielen Dental Practice.  That's Dr. Chris Thielen in the image above standing next to John (Gotti) Travolta.  The image was taken outside Dr. Thielen's office in Cincinnati at the time of the shooting of scenes for the upcoming movie.

The Movie, "The Life and Death of John Gotti" will be released in 2017, with no actual release date yet confirmed. 

While sitting in the waiting room waiting for My Honey while he had an appointment, I shot a few pictures of the inside of the office that was used as the movie set.  I'm confident the flat screen TV in the image above wasn't in the movie.  ;)

The woodwork and old pocket doors are perfect sets for the movie.

My home is of the same vintage and have a fireplace with the same type of tile on the second floor of my home.

Original leaded glass decorates the stairway to the second floor.

This is tile on the front porch of the old home, now a dental office.  Again, we had similar tile in our home before we remodeled our master bathroom. 

The front door with side lights is also perfect for the period.

I look forward to seeing how much of the office and building will appear in the movie. 

Even the gardening outside is beautiful!

 As soon as the movie is released, we are looking forward to seeing it!

All the best,
Lois

Hardy Hibiscus - Rose of Sharon

Good morning,

We are now enjoying the blooms of our Hardy Hibiscus that were also here on the property when we moved here in 1979.  A common name for these is Rose of Sharon.

This particular "bush" is one that I transplanted out in the front of the house from some that had grown from seed in the back yard.

I have groomed it into a tree shape, rather than the traditional bush that is often used as a hedge.

We have these in a variety of deep pink (show), lighter pink, and white. 

Lovely!

Enjoy,
Lois

Cardinal Buffet

Good morning,

I did a great deal of zooming with my phone camera to get this picture of the cardinal at the end of the hose I was using to siphon water from our gold fish pond.  Since there has been limited rain here recently, the ground was soaking up the water from the pond and there were plenty of yummy critters that became cardinal snacks.

In this image you can see the drain hose in the pond at the top of the picture.  I drain approximately one third of the water a couple of times a year and refill with fresh water.  That keeps the fish happy with plenty of places to hide among the leaves and other matter in the pond.  The objective is not to have it totally cleaned out or the food sources of algae, worms, and bugs that the fish eat would no longer be available.

The pond is self sustaining.  The large gold fish we have in it have been living there for at least the last eight years.  They started out as feeder fish from a local pet store and grew up to be beautiful gold fish.

What is (and who are!) growing in your garden?

:),
Lois

Recreation Room Update

Good morning,

We have made a great deal of progress on our recreation room.  This has been a four year journey to develop this space.  We had the basement room finished four years ago for our granddaughter to use as her bedroom while she went to XU across the street from our home. 

We wanted to help our granddaughter with her education.  She had gotten a scholarship, but didn't have cash for housing.  Since we live across the street, we finished a space in our basement for her to use until she was finished at XU.  Win-Win!

Now that she has moved, My Honey has built the bar you see above in this picture and we've just gotten the bar stools, table, chairs, and rug to complete the room.

There is also an adjoining full bathroom.

Penny has approved of all of these changes, especially the color scheme that is a perfect match for her.

:),
Lois

Day Lilies

Good morning,

The Day Lilies are here once again!

These are common day lilies that are found just about everywhere in both gardens and along the roadside.

These were here in our garden when we moved here in 1979.  They are very welcome!

Enjoy,
Lois

Welcome Summer!

Good morning,

Today's images are from the Summer Solstice Party that we had with Sons of Norway here in Southern Ohio.

We certainly do know how to eat!

The pool looked very inviting, but most of us were happy to eat and talk.

The food line. ;)

Thanks to Susie and Glenn Mikaloff for hosting this event again this year at their beautiful home.

All the best,
Lois

Erik's Water Tread Mill Physical Therapy

Good morning,

As many of you are aware, our eight year old Black Labrador Retriever, Erik, has recently undergone orthopedic surgery on his knee.

As part of his physical therapy, he is enjoying the water tread mill at the therapist's office.  He enjoys this so much he keeps trying to swim instead of walk.

I hope this film clip works.  I've had problems uploading it.  I know it works in Edge.

Enjoy,
Lois

Linking to Camera Critters.

Back Porch Visitor

Good morning,

This lovely creature visited our back porch recently. 

I saw this beauty when I went out of the kitchen door to put a bag of trash in the trash can.  It stayed long enough for me to go get my phone from the charger to snap a picture of it.

Then, as so often happens, Wendy came through the doggie door and the butterfly moved on to safer spaces. 

:),
Lois

Whole Wheat Cheddar and Onion Loaves

Good morning,

Today's bread is Whole Wheat with Cheddar and Onion. 

The onion flavor is enhanced because the onions were caramelized in butter before being added to the other ingredients. 

This one smells and tastes fabulous!

Retirement is so good!


Lois

Current Project: Babyghan

Good morning,

Lavender and green are the colors of the day for a new "babyghan".  I took this picture shortly before I finished it.

It will be paired with a matching crocheted doll and be available in the shop soon.

What are you making today?

Lois

UPDATE!  This baby blanket and matching doll have been finished and the set is now available in the shop.  Click the image to see more: 

Banana Bread!

Good morning,

The bread of the day is Banana Bread.

I consulted Betty Crocker's very old cookbook that I inherited from my Mom for this one.

I've added 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg to Betty's recipe. 

YUM!

Lois

Puppy Pedicures

Good morning,

Our pups line up to get their pedicures from Catherine.

This is Wendy having her nails done while Penny waits in line for her turn.

Total trust.

Look carefully on the right side of the image above and you can see Erik is waiting his turn, too. 

So sweet!

:),
Lois

Happy Father's Day and Lily Pads

Good morning,

 Happy Father's Day to all the great Dads out there especially My Honey who is a fantastic Dad and Grandpa.  Today our son and grandson will be here to celebrate.  It's raining so our picnic will be inside.   

I sure do miss my dad, too.  He would be 113 years old this year. I think of him every day and of all the love he had for us.

It's a stay-at-home family day.  The water lilies are flourishing this year in our fish pond. I took that picture a few days ago when the sun was shining and the water lilies were growing faster than the weeds. 

Stay tuned for blossoms!

Lois

Today's Bread

Good morning,

Here's the bread of the day.  This batch is whole wheat with cottage cheese.  I have quite a few of my bread recipes here on my blog.  Click on the image above to see my bread recipes.

I've been asked about the wall tile design in our kitchen.  When we remodeled our kitchen a few years ago we selected the fruit basket theme.  These are hand made tiles from a company in Indiana. We're so glad we made the decision to include this artwork.

All the best,
Lois

Catherine's Chicken Tortilla

Good morning,

Catherine made white chicken chili recently that worked very well to make chicken tortillas. 

It's good to have a daughter who likes to cook!

I'm not a fan of Mexican food, but this was good.

;),
Lois

Patio Project

Good morning,

The weather has been absolutely gorgeous in Cincinnati this Spring.  We spend a great deal of time on our patio enjoying the weather, the birds, and the garden.

I take different projects along depending where I am and what we're doing.  The patio seems to be where I make hats this Spring.  :)  The one in the image is to restock the shop for one just sold and delivered in Arizona.

Retirement is good!

Lois

Click here to see the finished hat.

Flag Day - United States of America

Flag Day

United States of America

Feels So Good!

Wendy:  Oh, yes, Daddy, that's the spot!  Just keep scratching right there!

Peaches

Good morning,

These peaches are growing in our front yard.  We also have squirrels in our front yard and those squirrels will pull off one peach after another, take one bite, then throw them on the ground.

My Dad and Mom always had peach and apple trees on their property.  Dad would spray them every Spring and we would have so much fruit we hardly had time to eat it, make pies with it, and can it.  Of course, we gave plenty of it away, too.

Perhaps it's time for me to figure a way to guard these peaches from the squirrels so we can enjoy some of them. :)

Lois

A Garden for the Birds

Good morning,

We still haven't rented out our bird house which is quite a surprise considering how many birds we have on our property.  We're wondering if it has to do with three dogs outside so much of the time.  We have numerous nests of birds on our property, but no one has moved into the bird house yet.  That's OK, it'll happen.

We have, as we have had for quite some time, an unusually high number of Cardinal couples nesting on our property as well as Robins, Doves, and smaller birds. 

The orange Trumpet Vine has taken over our very large tree in the middle of our back yard.  It grows more than sixty feet up the tree and has dropped so many seeds that it has baby vines all over our garden.  The Trumpet Vine attracts Humming Birds so we have plenty of those, too.

We just love sitting on our patio watching and listening to all of the beautiful birds.  What a blessing.

Lois

Mint Julip? Mojito? Mint Tea?

Good morning,

We have a half barrel of mint growing on our patio so have enough to make whatever we'd like to have.  It smells just wonderful and also keeps some bugs away from bothering us while we're outside.

I like it with iced tea or lemonade.  Refreshing!

Enjoy,
Lois

Parking Lot Pet Peeve

Good morning,

My car is on the left;  someone else's car is on the right. 

Do you ever take pictures of cars that park so close they will have difficulty opening their door without hitting your car?  I not only took this picture, I took a picture showing both of our license tags.

Fortunately, when I came out of the store, the car on the right was gone and the side of my car was still OK.  Another car, a red one, had parked in that spot on the right.  That red car had parked properly in the center of the space.

*sigh*

Lois

Road Trip Knitting

Good morning,

Whenever we take a road trip I take along some knitting.  This time I started a new basket weave sweater with a new color yarn.  Wow, I love the way this color works up!

This is the progress I made in two hours between Cincinnati and Louisville.   On the way home I doubled the amount completed.  This is fun!

The sweater will be fit a 34-36-38 inch chest and will be available in the shop when finished. Let me know if you'd like one in a different size. 

All the best,
Lois

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EvensensProductions.com

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Comfort Food

Good morning,

Meatloaf.  Yes, definitely comfort food around here!

Our daughter requested I make this dinner and we all enjoyed it:  Mom's meatloaf, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, lettuce and tomatoes (I took the picture before I added the cottage cheese on top of the lettuce and tomatoes). 

Yum!

:),
Lois

Fungus Among Us

Good morning,

There's a fungus among us.  We get some pretty fungi growing on an old tree trunk on our property.

It's amazing what a variety of changes within a short period of time can be found in a small area, isn't it!

Enjoy,
Lois

Is Someone at the Gate?

Good morning,

There was a noise in the driveway around the corner from the patio where we were with the pups the other day. All three of them stood in a row at attention listening to see if they could hear or see someone coming into the back yard.

This time there was no one at the gate.  The sound was probably a squirrel in the driveway.

I love the way they react in unison. Don't mess with our security team!

:),
Lois

More Indoor Blooms

Good morning,

I am loving my indoor garden.  I haven't added anything new to it, I'm just working with all the plants that have accumulated here over the past few years.  We don't have a lot of space to offer sunshine to our indoor plants, but I have plans to improve on that situation.

While traveling ten weeks away, then ten weeks at home, the plants suffered.  I would work on them when I was home, then they were pretty much on their own while I was gone.  They were watered once in awhile, but I'm sure no one else talked to them and groomed them daily.  ;)  Of course, I didn't expect anyone else to put the time into them.  I was happy they were alive when I got home.

It has been seven months since we came home full time and the plants are quite happy about it.  That basket of plants was what we sent to Catherine when she was hospitalized in January, 2015.  The plants in it are not only still alive, they are thriving. 

What are you growing in your garden?

Lois