Outside Looking In - New Year's Eve

Good morning,

We hope you are all having a safe and fun New Years Eve and will have a happy and prosperous New Year!

All the very best,
Lois

Christmas Piggie

Good morning,

I believe I took piggie's picture a couple of years ago when we went to the meat store to buy our meat for Norwegian Jule Ribbe.  I snapped this picture when we were at Stehlin Meats to purchase our standing rib roast for New Years eve.  Oh, my, so much good food this year!

Such fun and so yummy!

Lois

New Hats for Christmas!

Good morning,

Here are number one son, Les, and his lovely wife, Diane, modeling their Christmas hats. 

Les was exhausted after driving for 20 hours, but managed to sit up and eat dinner with us before collapsing for the night.  It was a last minute trip for them to be able to be here for Christmas and we are delighted that they could come!

Happy New Year!

Lois

Presents for the Pups

Good morning,

The tails are moving so fast here it's hard to see what is going on, but Sophie and Sarah are distributing the dogs' gifts and they are so very excited to get them!

Of course, Santa remembers the pups and they just love opening their own gifts.

:),
Lois

Getting There - Sweater Progress

 Good morning,

A week or so ago I showed you this sweater (not quite as far along as pictured above) and told you I expected to have it finished in a couple of days.  Well, those couple of days have stretched out to at least a week or more.  We were happy to welcome more family members here for the holidays so my knitting time was cut back drastically! :)  Not a problem.

Now the guess is to have this one finished, photographed, listed, and available in the shop within the next week.

Someone asked the size of the sweater.  It's a 34-38 inch (86-96 cm) chest size.

All the best,
Lois

Update:  This sweater is now finished and available in the shop here.  

Catherine's Salmon

Good morning,

Catherine made baked salmon for one of our holiday meals.  My goodness, this was terrific!

We have such a good time taking turns in the kitchen. 

Diet tomorrow!

Lois

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! 

It appears Santa has been here!

We hope Santa made it to you and your family, too, and that you have a blessed Christmas with those you love.

Lois

Merry Christmas Eve!

Good morning and Merry Christmas Eve!

We are celebrating Christmas all week!  Different parts of the family are traveling at different times so we are having more than one holiday dinner.  It's so good now that we are no longer at sea for weeks and weeks at a time so can be home for all holidays, not just some of them.

In the image above are from the left, Kjell, Catherine, Bill, number one son Les, grand twins Sophie and Sarah, daughter-in-law Diane, and Aunt Carol.  How wonderful to have everyone here!  Oh, yes, that's me behind the camera.  ;)

We hope you're having a wonderful holiday season, too!

Lois

So Tired After a Long Day in the Kitchen!

Good morning,

Wendy and Erik are so tired after patrolling the kitchen to be sure nothing landed on the floor while the humans were cooking all day long!

Catherine started in the morning marinating the steak for tomorrow followed by Daddy who made the meat cakes.  Then, when this image was taken in the evening I was in the process of making the cranberry sauce and liver pate for tomorrow and dinner for tonight.

If only I could teach the pups to load and unload the dishwasher!  They have offered to lick everything clean enough so I can put it away in the cabinets.  Uh, no, I'll use the dishwasher.... 

;),
Lois

Medisterkaker

Good morning,

The Christmas foods are now rolling out of the kitchen!

Above you see medisterkaker, Norwegian pork meat cakes.  They have special spices that bring the aroma of Christmas to the table.

Yum!

More to come!

Lois

Sushi Night

Good morning,

Catherine and I made quick work of this plate of sushi last night.  Daddy was with us, too, but he had a large bowl of seafood soup. 

Tomorrow will be a busy day in the kitchen preparing food for the holidays. 

Yum!

:),
Lois

Lap Dogs

Good morning,

Son Don and Grandson Alex were here for dinner last night.  Alex called Wendy to get on their laps and she obliged very quickly - probably more quickly than Alex expected.  Erik followed, too, but I missed that picture.  It got very busy on that couch!

Alex's exams are finished and he is now on Christmas vacation. We all had fun last night having dinner (thanks, Catherine!) and watching Christmas movies.

I hope you are enjoying the holidays as much as we are.

Lois

December Picnic - Indoors

Good morning,

There is a whole lot of holiday food going around these days at parties and at home.

Last night we opted for a picnic - indoors where it's warm and there are no ants.  ;)

It was quite refreshing after all of the holiday treats. There is plenty more holiday food coming this week, too.

Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah everyone!

Lois

On the Needles Now - Steel Blue, Pink, White Sweater

Good morning,

On the needles now is a steel blue sweater with white and pink intarsia stitching.  Gorgeous!

I hope to have this one finished and listed in the shop in the next couple of days.

All the best,
Lois

-------------------------------------

Original and Traditional Hand Crafted Designs

EvensensProductions.com

-------------------------------------

They're Home!

Good morning,

This bundle of love landed in the middle of our bed at exactly 5:00 AM this morning when she and Catherine arrived home from Orlando, Florida.  They had driven all night and it certainly was good to see them and have them safely home.

Wendy didn't win any ribbons this time, but she is still new at dock diving.  She had a fabulous time, though, and learned a great deal for the next time.  It was a great trip!

Lois

Orlando Invitational

Good morning,

Sadly, that image above is not clear, but I'm delighted to have it.  That's Catherine with our Wendy and our friend Erica's Tumble in Orlando, Florida, at the Dock Diving Invitationals.  We are delighted that Wendy was invited to compete.  We are so proud of both Catherine and Wendy.

Look carefully to see that huge inflated Black Lab behind Catherine and the pups.

This is our friend, Bill, who is also there helping to wrangle Wendy and Tumble.  Our friend, Erica, is also at the event as our local club's AKC representative.

Most of Wendy's dock diving here at home is in a natural pond that meets AKC Dock Diving regulations.  At the Invitationals, though, this above the ground diving pool is used.

I don't have results yet!  This is so much fun.  Daddy and I are home with Penny and Erik so are getting our news of these great events by phone and text.

Other AKC events are happening here, too. 

All the best,
Lois

What? In the House?

Wendy:  You won't let me bring sticks in the house and you bring in a whole tree?

Catherine:  Yes, and isn't it pretty!

Someone is Sleeping in My Bed

Good morning,

Wendy says this bed is "just right!"

That's total relaxation.

I managed to get her to move over enough so we could get in, too.

:),
Lois

Cincinnati Pops Christmas Concert

Good morning,

We love our Cincinnati Pops.  We finally are able to have season tickets again now that we aren't going back to sea every ten weeks. 

I took these pictures last weekend at the annual Christmas concert. 

Some special characters were in the lobby before the concert, too!  In the image above we spotted Rudolph...

...and Frosty is here, too!

Mr. and Mrs. Claus and several other important personalities were also strolling through the crowd.

Merry Christmas!  Happy Hanukkah!

Lois

High Tech Row Markers

Good morning,

Those are my high tech increase row markers on a sleeve courtesy of my friends Martha and Russell.  :)  They saw me using safety pins with my knitting and later brought me bags of them that they had collected from their dry cleaning.  I also use them to carefully attach identifying item number tags to some of my finished items.

It's the perfect Recycle-Reuse!  Thanks!

Lois

Sons of Norway Julefest

Good morning,

We always eat very well at the Sons of Norway Julefest (Christmas Party).  Of course, there are those trademark Norwegian meatballs in the foreground.

We enjoyed the party with nearly 100 others.  It is always good to see old friends here each year.

This was fun.  For those with any knowledge of Lutefisk, you'll get a kick out of this.  It was sung to the tune of O Tannenbaum.

There was serious Christmas music, too. 

It was a lovely evening.

All the best,
Lois

Couch Friend on a Cold Winter Day

Good morning,

This is my view of Wendy when she climbed up on the couch next to me on a cold winter day just after I had started a fire in the fireplace.

So sweet!

:),
Lois

Cake and Roses

Good morning,

There was snow on the ground for my birthday this year, but it was warm and wonderful inside.  Pretty red roses courtesy of My Honey and...

a Raspberry Chocolate Chip Ice Cream cake from Graeters courtesy of our daughter, Catherine.

I'm such a lucky lady! 

Lois

Client Gift Baskets

Good morning,

It's that time of the year again.  Catherine gives gift baskets to clients at this time of the year.  That means...

...lots of assembly and bow-making happening in our dining room. 

This year the theme is fresh fruit so we are making them only a few at a time as she is able to deliver them.

This is a fun tradition around here and I think the recipients enjoy them, too.

I hope your holiday preparations are going well!

Lois

Ivy in the Autumn Sun

Good morning,

Our year-round ivy continues to shine in the cold Autumn sun. 

Our ground cover continues to move around our property and keep it green.  Sometimes it gets carried away with itself, though....  ;)

Happy Fall,

Lois

Birthday Dinner

Good morning,

Last weekend a good friend took a group of us out to dinner to celebrate my birthday.  Just looking at this picture of the steak I enjoyed makes my mouth water.

Thanks, Bill, for the lovely dinner.

Lois

Catherine's Texas Chili

Good morning,

It was Catherine's turn to cook again and this dinner was a big hit!

This is her Red Texas Chili recipe.  There's nothing better on a cold winter day.

Thanks, Catherine.  Yum!

Lois

Work in Process - Wool Intarsia Hat

Good morning,

Here is one of my current projects.  This is a Scandinavian Intarsia design hat in gray, white, and tan. 

I just love designing these hats and the wool blend yarn is so soft and warm.  It softly slides through my fingers as I knit and is delightful to wear.

 This hat will be finished sometime today and available in the shop here:  EvensensProductions.com.  $40.

All the best,
Lois

Update:  This hat is finished and available in the shop here.  

Penny in the Snow

Good morning,

We had a light snow that produced quite a pretty picture of Penny when the security lights came on while we were out for a late night walk in the front garden. 

She's such a lovely old lady.  

:),
Lois

Daddy's Stew

Good morning,

Kjell, Catherine, and I take turns cooking and it makes for quite a variety of excellent meals.

Pictured is Kjell's beef stew made in the crock pot.  It was excellent cold weather food! 

Yum!

Lois

Needlework and Wood Working Update - December, 2018

Good morning,

We have quite a few items to show you this month.  These wine bottle and wine glass holders are a delightful gift idea for Christmas, New Years, Weddings, Anniversaries, and yourself!

We have them engraved with "His" and "Hers" and...

..."Stay Calm Pour On."

These are available in fine furniture quality Cherry and Maple in the shop, $28 each.  Sorry, the wine and glasses are not included. 

This Mini Plaque is perfect for that small place on the wall within a group of pictures or alone, on or over a door, or on your desk.

We have them available for Ohio and Texas.

These engraved three dimensional Galloping Horse and...

 Eagle in Flight are also available.

 I made a hat similar to this one last month and it sold within a couple of days of being in the shop so I made another to restock.  These are gorgeous, soft wool.  $40.  At this writing it is still available in the shop.

This was definitely the month for hats.

 These are all made to restock the shop. 

 I'm working on other things, too, of course.  In the works are a Scandinavian Intarsia Knit sweater in Blue Heather with White and Pink accents as well as a Large Afghan Blanket in Pinks, Black, and Green.

That's this month's update!  We hope you'll come over and see what we have in the shop while you are doing your Holiday Shopping!  We have more than 330 items that are ready to ship world wide.  Gift wrap is an option at checkout and orders to USA addresses over $200 ship free.

All the very best,
Lois

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Hand Crafted Original and Traditional Designs

 EvensensProductions.com

-----------------------------------------------------------------------