Happy Easter!

 

A Blessed Happy Easter
To Our Family and Friends
From All of Us in the Evensen Household

Elsa's Stellar Performance

 Good morning,

These are just a few of the professional images of our Elsa taken by Game On Agility Photos at a recent dog show at our AKC club, Queen City Dog Training Club.

 We are so very proud of our Elsa and her trainer/our daughter Catherine.

I love those ears!

Catherine:  Weave!

Elsa:  I'm weaving!

Here I come!

We are so proud of both Elsa and Catherine!  

Such fun!

:),

Lois

New Patio Furniture

 Good morning,

Elsa is inspecting the new patio furniture that has begun to arrive.  Still to come are a side table for use near the grill, chair cushions, and a storage box to hold the cushions when not in use.

I have plenty of work to do on the plants and flowers for the patio, but that work has to wait until after the danger of frost has passed.  

We are looking forward to a lovely summer outside.  

Ah, yes Spring!

:),

Lois

Mr. Cardinal

 Good morning,

This beautiful fellow was singing his heart out in a tree at the back of our property.

 I was sitting on the patio with our pups.  I started mimicking his song by whistling and soon we were having a back-and-forth concert.

 He stayed for about 20 minutes.  Just beautiful!

Happy Spring!

Lois

Cauliflower Soup

 Good morning,

My Honey made cauliflower soup that was delicious.  

It was topped with chives, bacon, and cheese.  What can go wrong with that!

Yum!

:),

Lois

Our Tulip Magnolia Tree

 Good morning,

Our Tulip Magnolia Tree is beautifully in bloom!

 This sweet bird photo bombed my pictures of the Magnolia Tree.  He wasn't quiet, either.  I realized I hadn't  filled the bird feeder and he was letting me know about it.  After taking pictures, I took care of that problem.  :)

 These blossoms are just gorgeous every year.  The tree was here when we arrived nearly 45 years ago and honors us with its beautiful blossoms each Spring.

So pretty!

Happy Spring!

Lois

Daffodil Bouquet

 Good morning,

This is one of many daffodil "bouquets" we have on our property.  Of course, they are a result of the bulbs spreading year after year.

 These are King Alfred Daffodils - so pretty and hardy!

Happy Spring!

Lois

Elsa's Halo

 Good morning,

I snapped this image of Elsa early one morning as the sun was shining through the leaded glass of our entry door.

It made Elsa appear to have a halo.  That's just about right.

What a sweetheart!

:),

Lois

More Spring Flowers

 Good morning,

The Buttercups have taken over the yard and I love them.  Some people consider them to be weeds, but I see them as a welcome sign of Spring.

Each morning there is something new and different blooming our garden.

Beautiful!

All the best,

Lois

Bird Watching

 Good morning,

We're just getting outside to enjoy the warmer weather.  There is so much to get done out there already.

Here's our pretty girl, Lily, bird watching.

 Fortunately, the birds are faster than she is.  

:),

Lois

Coney Day

 Good morning,

This is definitely not diet food, but it is very popular in Cincinnati.  

When purchased at Skyline Chili or Good Star Chili, a Coney Dog is served on a hot dog bun, but here at home I made it on a piece of my fresh bread.  It's also good served on tacos. 

It's simple to make and yummy to eat:

Bread (or bun or tacos)

hot dog

chili

cheese

chopped fresh onions (for some reason I didn't chop any onions - perhaps because we were too hungry to wait)

Yum!

What treats are local to where you live?

Lois

Spring Flower Inspector

 Good morning,

Lily is still our Chief Flower Inspector.  She is also very interested in what is happening in the neighbor's yards now that the weather is nicer and more people are out.  Every time someone moves, the pups have something to say about it.

I'm looking forward to all of the trees, bushes, and vines to fill in so that the pups have less of a view outside the yard. 

Ah, yes, Spring....

Lois

Surf and Turf

Good morning,

We are celebrating our anniversary all month so went out to dinner at Longhorn for a yummy meal of surf and turf.

This was so good!

Next month we'll have to concentrate on our diets....

;),

Lois

More Roses

 Good morning,

Oh, I love flowers.  My Honey stopped at the store, invited me to come in, headed for the floral department, then said, "Pick out the ones you want."

Oh, so sweet!

Thank you, Kjell.

Love you,

Lois

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

 

Happy St. Patrick's Day
from Elsa (pictured), Erik, Wendy, Lily,
and all the rest of us in the Evensen Household!

Here come the Crocus

 Good morning,

I just love these delicate Crocus blossoms.  They are so very hardy and spread every year.  I planted the original bulbs more than 40 years ago.

Happy Spring!

Lois

Three Dogs in a Row

 Good morning,

Until you look carefully, it's hard to see there are three dogs in this image so I labeled them.  ;)

Erik was there first, then along came Elsa to cuddle up next to him.  Finally Lily got into the act.

It's a rare moment when Elsa and Lily aren't doing the "zoomies" around here.  

Sweet pups.

All the best,

Lois

Wet Moon

 Good morning,

I snapped this image with my phone camera when I took the pups out for last call before bedtime.

It's amazing how wonderful the cameras are now on our cell phones, isn't it.  I am using a Samsung S21 Ultra.

All the best,

Lois

Miss Lily Stopping to Smell the Flowers

 Good morning,

Our Lily is just one year old so many things she is experiencing are brand new to her.

It's so sweet to see her stop to smell the flowers.  New and different flowers are blooming at this time of the year here.  Then, the temperatures drop again and we have a little snow.  She is fascinated by all of it.

Happy Spring!

Lois

Needlework and Wood Working Update - March, 2024

 Good morning,

 Welcome to this month's Needlework and Wood Working Update.  This is where we share images and information about the items we have completed since the last update.  All of our items are designed and hand crafted by us in Ohio, USA.

Above is a new Highly Textured Blanket. This one may look a little familiar, but it is slightly different than the one I showed you last month.  The blanket made last month has already been sold.  

This is a bright and beautiful addition to any room on a chair, recliner, or bed.   $165.  More images and information here. 

  

 This Large Afghan Blanket features Glistening Yellow Flowers on Browns with an Antique White Scalloped border.  $185.  More here. Be sure to look at the flowers in the close-up images in the listing to see the raised flower glistening texture.

This pretty Lap Blanket is a perfect gift for any age for Easter, Mothers Day, Fathers Day, weddings, etc.....  Brighten up baby's room, your favorite living room reading chair, a hospital room, or a hospice room.  $75.  More information and images here.

I've added a new pair of Royal Purple Pot Holders/Table Pads this month.  They are 100% cotton and large enough to fit a man's or woman's hands.  They are a lovely color for Spring/Easter.  $20/pair.  They are available in many other colors in our Home Living Entertaining Section, too. 

This super soft Cloche Hat is new this month, too. $10.  This one is here.   

You can select from more than 50 Cloche Hats in a variety of sizes and colors here.  From $8.

And, finally, the "eye" you see above is a laser carving on slate drink coaster.  Kjell has been very busy making these.  I'm only going to publish this one in the update even though Kjell has made more than a dozen of them with images he has developed from photographs.  He made them as gifts and we know those family members read this blog, so we'll not spoil the fun of opening a gift by publishing pictures now here.  ;)

We began our online shop in 2011 and are so very glad that we did.  We sincerely appreciate your encouragement, likes, shares, pins, favorites, and purchases, too.    

Come see all of our made-by-us in the USA items:  https://evensensproductions.etsy.com

All the very best,

Lois

Elsa's Morning Nap

Good morning,

While enjoying my morning coffee in the living room, Elsa climbed into my lap for a little snooze.

That is 68 pounds of love right there.

;),

Lois

Erica's Pictures from Hawaii

 Good morning,

Catherine and her friend Erica went to Hawaii recently.  Erica was kind enough to send me some of her pictures to share on this blog, so here they are.  :)  

The fireworks show was visible from their hotel.

 

There is beautiful wildlife in the air and...
 

...on the shore.

Thank you, Erica, for sharing your pictures with us!

All the best,

Lois

Perfect Loaves

 Good morning,

It is yummy bread time again. This batch is sour cream and oat bread. Kjell made beef stew and I made fresh bread.  

What a perfect combination!  What is so great about making your own food is you know exactly what is in it.

What is your favorite entirely home made meal?

Lois

Sunrise Over Xavier University

 Good morning,

This was the view just outside our dining room french doors recently.  

So pretty!

All the best,

Lois

Here Comes Spring!

 Good morning,

This is happening all over our property.  

I love going outside each morning to see the new blossoms!

Happy Spring (or Fall to our friends on the other side of the world.)

All the best,

Lois

Work in Process - Bavarian Afghan Blanket

 Good morning,

This is my current work in process, a Bavarian Crochet Afghan Blanket.  This is highly textured and very warm.  When finished, it will be listed in the shop where there are already quite a few blankets available in a variety of colors, patterns, and sizes.

I wish I had more time to sit and work on these things.  This project feels as if it is taking forever.  I have so many ideas and so little time!

What are you making, baking, growing this week?

All the very best,

Lois 

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

Just Hangin' Out Here

 Good morning,

This is Elsa just hanging out with us in the living room one evening.

I think we're going to need a bigger ottoman....

;),

Lois

Two Woodpeckers

 Good morning,

Today's image is from Kjell.  He captured the image of these woodpeckers in our back yard.

We are so pleased with the variety of birds and other critters in our neighborhood.

Enjoy!

Lois

Snow Dogs

 Good morning,

Here are three of our pups out enjoying the snow in our back yard.  Lily is checking to be sure the fishies are still OK in our little pond.  The fish are just fine with a heater to keep the water from freezing.  That's our old guy Erik on the left and Wendy up there on the right.

 This is Lily's pink dragon - or is it an alligator?  I'm not sure.  Anyway, he's frozen stiff.

 And, finally, here is Erik trying to be a Dalmatian.  ;)  Erik has a super thick coat so doesn't mind the snow at all.  I don't want to stay out as long as he does, though.  We go out with him because he is unstable and we want to be sure he can get up and down the three small steps at our patio door.

 By the next day, the temperature was in the 60's.  

Go figure!

;),

Lois