I took today's image as we were crossing the Ohio River from Kentucky to Ohio. High atop Mount Adams is the Church of the Immaculata.
This gorgeous Roman Catholic Church has been a landmark in Cincinnati since 1859. There is wonderful information about it here as well as images of the inside of the church.
The interior of the church is spectacular. I've attended weddings here and must say it is one of the most beautiful I've ever seen.
Happy Weekend!
All the best,
Lois
We had lunch with friends Tor and Teresa at the Buckhead Mountain Grille yesterday. It was a rainy/overcast day - definitely a bad hair day!
Photo credit for the first image goes to Tor.
We have to do this again soon!
:),
Lois
I took this image last night of the view down our driveway just before 10 PM when I had the pups out for "last call."
The image is fuzzy, but the "feel" is still there. We had rain much of the day, then the skies cleared in the late afternoon.
The September Moon is so very bright and beautiful!
Enjoy,
Lois
I've been keeping my crochet hooks very busy lately. I've finished the turquoise afghan and listed it, have made a pair of white large potholders and have listed those, and am now working on a blue and gray lap blanket.
The blue and gray lap blanket is to restock one that was recently sold. I like that color combination for a number of reasons: Georgetown University colors, a symbolic combination of colors joining the North and the South of the USA, and they are just pretty together.
What are you making, baking, growing this week? I love hearing from you and seeing what you are doing on your blogs.
All the very best,
Lois
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Original and Traditional
Hand Crafted Designs
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Me: That's a grasshopper. Just watch him, don't hurt him.
Me: I don't think so, Lily. I think he is trying to get away.
Outcome: Mr. Grasshopper got away and we went back in the house after late night potty time.
Lily has decided she is a lap dog and plunks herself into our laps from time to time. She and Daddy have become great friends.
She's growing up, isn't she!
:),
Lois
Kjell took this image yesterday of a hibiscus blooming along the fence by our driveway.
These hearty hibiscus grow wild here in colors from pure white to a lavender-pink.
Just gorgeous!
Enjoy,
Lois
It's somewhat hard to see in the image above, but Lily has a nearly five foot section of a busy that she is working on diligently.
Lily has been clearing an area along the fence on the side of our property by chewing off pieces of the bushes at the bottom near the ground, bringing them to her "deck chair" to dismantle, then leaving them in a heap nearby.
Since these aren't plants that we are trying to keep, it's not a problem. We're sure she'll outgrow this, but it is interesting to see what she is doing and wonder if there is any sort of plan to it.
In a couple of weeks it will be cool enough to start our fireplace. The stack of wood near her deck chair will be first to go into the fireplace as I clean up the wood scraps in the back yard.
Ah, yes, Fall is upon us and it can't come soon enough for me!
All the best,
Lois
We have several games we play with the pups and this one is an inside game for when it is too hot or too wet outside. We had just brought up a basket of soft toys that I had washed and dried after they had been outside. We played the toy toss game - similar to "fetch" only on a smaller scale inside.
In this case, the colorful octopus landed on Elsa's back. It didn't take her long to figure out where it had gone, but it was cute for the couple of seconds when she wondered how it could have disappeared. It appears she is looking at Wendy as if to ask, "Did you take that one?"
These are the sweetest pups.
All the best,
Lois
I have more than half of the 80 squares joined for my Shades of Turquoise Large Afghan Blanket. I still have to crochet the scalloped border, sew in a label, photograph and format pictures, then write the listing before it will appear in the shop. I hope to have all of that accomplished in the next few days.
I am thrilled with how these colors are coming together. This blanket will be stunning.
There are other afghan blankets finished and in the shop here.
What are you making, baking, growing this week?
All the very best,
Lois
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Good morning,
We are so proud of our granddaughter Sophie!
She is the 2023 SOC (School of Communications) Student Commencement Speaker.
And, she is also featured on the header of American University's SOC web page.
And, on AU's Masters Program page.
Wow! Congratulations, Sophie!
Love you,
Proud Grandma Lois
Our pups celebrated Jimmy Buffett this weekend at our dog club. That's Lily on the left and Elsa on the right.
Is this precious or what!
Lois
The weather has been lovely lately here in the US Midwest: cooler than it has been for weeks, beautiful skies, nice breeze, great temperatures at night for sleeping....
This is wonderful weather to sit outside with the pups, too. The only improvement I would make would be to get rid of the mosquitos, but that will happen after the first hard frost.
So, I'm sharing this pretty image with you. I hope the weather is just as lovely wherever you are.
All the best,
Lois
Catherine sent me this image from our dog club where she is attending a dog show with Elsa and Lily.
The cake in the image is in celebration of a dog named Jackpot who has just achieved Master Agility Champion 9 (MACH 9)! That means he has completed the requirements to be Master Agility Champion 9 times. Wow! What an achievement.
Congratulations, Jackpot!
The celebration cake is just fantastic, too!
Enjoy,
Lois
Welcome to this month's Needlework and Wood Working Update. I snapped the image above while working on a heirloom Christening, Bris, Naming Ceremony Blanket for the shop. An identical one had just been sold so I was making another. The finished blanket is available in the shop now. $65. Click here for more images and information. Only one available.
There are many other sweaters in the shop ready to ship.
We have many Toilet Tissue Toppers available in a variety of colors. $8 each.
And, you may recognize Wendy from the blog header image. She is quite pretty on a coaster, too. He made this one for us.
Kjell has quite a few more items in process in his workshop. A little hint: he's working on carving a beautiful Viking Goddess in wood right now. Stay tuned....
Check out all of the items available in the shop and ready to ship now!
We sincerely appreciate your encouragement, comments, clicks, likes, favorites, pins, and purchases, too! When shopping for the holidays, other gifts, and for yourself, we hope you'll think of us. Thank you for supporting our small business since 2011!
All the very best,
Lois
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Hand Crafted in the USA
Original and Traditional Designs
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Monday was an interesting day. About Noon our power suddenly went out.
I'm on a text message system with Duke Energy to report outages and get updates. I learned the power loss was due to a traffic accident and it would be several hours before power would be restored. It's interesting that immediately after the power went out, we could hear loud bangs one after another. We could only guess the noises were transformers exploding one after another on the main street near us.
Anyway, by Noon I had my clothes washer and dryer both working, my dishwasher loaded and running, the TV on for the news while we ate lunch, when suddenly everything stopped. Well, we did keep eating lunch.
The one thing that did keep working all afternoon was my crochet hook. It was a sunny day so I had no problem with light to see what I was doing. Since Monday I've finished 80 of those circles pictured above and have started on the next color to make a large afghan blanket.
About 4 PM Monday the power suddenly returned and all of the electronics in the house flashed and beeped. The main concern was the ADT system that started making all sorts of noises. While trying to get it reset, the fire alarm was triggered and refused to allow us to type in the code to shut it off.
About ten minutes later we met some really nice firemen.... It's comforting to know how fast they can get here; we are literally down the street and around the corner from the firehouse.
Yep, Monday, was quite a day here....
I hope your week is much more calm....
All the best,
Lois
Kjell took this image yesterday evening. The hawk is perched atop a neighbor's chimney where he has a bird's eye view of the entire neighborhood. It's a shame he just turned his head around when Kjell took the picture.
Since the hawks moved in several years ago, we have stopped seeing feral cats and bunnies in our neighborhood.
When our dogs are tiny puppies, we are careful to go out with them each time because they could just be small enough to be of interest to that big feathered guy.
Ah, the critters in the city!
Lois
Daddy tried to hose off the patio and got more help than he needed. ;)
Happy Fall!
Lois
Kjell texted this image to me while he and the three oldest pups enjoyed a dog day of summer on the patio yesterday.
It's a rare moment when they are all lying down peacefully. Usually, at least one of them is involved in some activity involving a toy or gardening. ;)
Happy Last Days of Summer!
Lois
Since my back doesn't cooperate with my sitting on the ground to garden, I have only been container gardening in recent years.
The pot you see in the image is filled with flowers grown from seeds. I don't think I've ever had such a huge marigold before. Very pretty.
My tomatoes didn't do well this year, but I probably should have paid more attention to them. I'll try again next year, but will start from plants. This year I grew my tomato plants from seeds I had saved from last year's tomatoes. I probably should have started them inside much earlier.
At any rate, all of this is great fun. It has been a challenge this year to keep baby Lily out of the container garden. She especially likes the mint plant in the half barrel.
We haven't used the smoker at all this year. Our grilled food has been made by Catherine who likes to use the Weber kettle grill on the other side of the patio. If we had used the smoker, we would have moved it away from the container garden.
So, I hope you've had a lovely Summer and are ready for Fall. We are certainly ready for cooler weather here!
All the best,
Lois
Yesterday Kjell and I spent a couple of hours at our Ford Dealer having our Edge serviced. I snapped this image while Kjell was in the showroom looking at new cars.
Of course, I'll never sit and do nothing in a waiting room so I took along a sweater sleeve to knit while we waited. I write my own patterns and when it comes to sleeves, I make a chart in Excel so that I have the increases just the way I want them and, of course, by working from the chart, I'll make two sleeves alike - a good thing. ;)
I made a great deal of progress while we waited for the car. This evening I worked on the sleeve again and finished it. So, now I have both sleeves, the front and the back finished. All I need to do is the collar and put the whole thing together. I love seeing the light at the end of the tunnel on this one.
Concurrently, I have been working on a Shades of Turquoise large size afghan blanket for the shop. Images of that are coming soon.
This sweater is spoken for, but there are other sweaters and afghan blankets in the shop ready to ship if you'd like to take a look.
What are you making, baking, growing this week?
All the best,
Lois
Kjell is having fun with designs to etch on tile coasters. I especially like this sail ship.
He is doing etchings on glass now, too. I'll share some of those with you in the near future....
What are you making, baking, growing this week?
All the best,
Lois
Catherine was kind enough to carry up a basket of clean toys that I had washed for the pups. She put it in the living room...
The pups usually take a toy outside with them each time they go out. Needless to say, plenty of toys end up outside and are usually in the mud and rain before they come back in. We gather them up outside and put them down the laundry chute to be washed and dried, then they appear in the living room once again.
The fun part about all of this is that the pups act like they have just gotten a basket of brand new toys every time this happens.
Win-Win!
:),
Lois
One evening last week we had dinner at a river front restaurant in Kentucky. The view is of Downtown Cincinnati and the Ohio Riverbank.
What a pretty evening!
I hope you're enjoying the last days of Summer (or Winter) wherever you are!
All the best,
Lois
I hope all of our friends and family here in the USA are enjoying the Labor Day Holiday.
I made a breakfast bread for Kjell's birthday. This one is stuffed with blueberries and almonds and features a cognac frosting.
Here's how I make it if you'd like to take a look.
We went out to dinner on his birthday yesterday so will be cut and enjoyed this today.
Happy Birthday, again, Sweetie,
Lois
Today's image is courtesy of My Honey, Kjell, whose birthday we are celebrating today.
He took the image this week while we were dining on the Ohio River with Catherine, Les and family.
Although a little sunny at the beginning of the meal, the weather was perfect to dine outside on the deck of the restaurant.
Happy Birthday, Sweetheart!
Love you,
Lois
The recent rain and cooler temperatures have given the grass a great boost. The pups are acting like cattle enjoying the soft green grass before we get a chance to get it cut once again.
So cute! Years ago we had so many trees shading the back yard that there wasn't any decent grass at all. The trees were lovely to have and we still have part of the property shaded, but it's great to have a green lawn in the back yard, too. For obvious reasons, we don't use any chemicals on our property.
Photo credit goes to Kjell. :)
The temperature is so comfy here now that we opened the window and slept wonderfully last night.
I hope it's comfy where you are now, too.
Lois
Last Spring I spread a variety of seeds in a large flower pot on my patio. I do this every year with seeds I receive from non profit organizations to whom we give donations.
This year the seeds seemed to take forever to bloom, but yesterday, finally, we had the first marigold blossom. So pretty and so welcome!
I have also noticed flowers on the tomato plants that I grew from seeds. I hope there is enough warm weather left for us to get some tomatoes.
How is your garden growing? I enjoy seeing your blogs and all the lovely veggies you are harvesting now. If my knees and back would permit more serious gardening, I would plant veggies, too, but for now, my container gardening is how I get potting soil under my fingernails.
All the best,
Lois
