Mr Cardinal

 Good morning,

Kjell captured this beautiful image of Mr. Cardinal.

We are so fortunate to have so many Cardinals living in our area.  I have a feeling our bird feeder and pond help, too.

All the best,

Lois

Gravlax ala Kjell

 Good morning,

Daddy's in the kitchen again!  :)

He cured raw salmon with salt, sugar, dill, and the very best ingredient:  cognac!

Marvelous! 

I published his recipe earlier here.  Back then he used Aquavit (Norwegian shooter) in place of cognac.  I think we all prefer cognac.  :)

Enjoy!

Lois

Neighbor's Trees in Bloom

 Good morning,

Kjell captured this image of our neighbor's trees in bloom on the other side of our garage.

Beautiful!  The entire neighborhood is alive with Spring flowers!

Enjoy,

Lois

Old Fashioned Lilac

 Good morning,

My Mother had a number of lilac bushes along the side of our home where I grew up.  I made sure to plant a similar bush in her memory.  She loved flowers, all kinds of flowers, but I know lilacs were some of her favorites.  

What a lovely way to remember my Mother.

All the best,

Lois

White Iris

 Good morning,

These pretty white iris remind me of my dear friend Barb.  

Barb gave me the bulbs that she rescued before she moved.  Now that she is gone, the iris come back every year to bring fond memories of our friendship.

There is something wonderful about living in the same home for so many years.  

Happy Spring!

Lois

Sauteed Shrimp

 Good morning,

My Honey made dinner and it was fabulous!

Shrimp sauteed in olive oil and garlic served on spinach salad.

It's almost healthy!

Yum!

Thanks, Sweetie,

Lois

Peanut Elsa

 Good morning,

This is our Elsa snoozing on the patio on a beautiful Spring day.

You can see how she gets her nickname:  Peanut.

Perhaps I didn't read directions correctly before assembling my Labrador....  Hmmm...

;),

Lois

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

 Good morning,

It's going to be another beautiful day in our neighborhood.

Our pups don't let me sleep through a beautiful sunrise.  Aren't they wonderful? ;)  

All the best,

Lois

Fresh Bread Day

 Good morning,

It's fresh bread day again.  This batch is oats, sour cream, brown sugar.  

My goodness, it smells good here!

What are you making, baking, growing today?

:),

Lois

Needlework and Woodworking Update - April 2024

 Good morning,

Welcome to this month's Needlework and Wood Working Update where we gather all of the items that we have completed since the last update.

Above you see an afghan blanket in the colors of a Southwest Desert Sunset.  The colors just blend together beautifully from the sand, to the orange sun, to the night sky.  It is a generous 50" x 50".  $165.  More images and information here.

 This 48" x 48" blanket is the colors of glowing embers in the fireplace.  $75.  This will make a lovely Mothers or Fathers Day gift.  More images and information here.

 Toilet Tissue Toppers are always popular.  They're a great way to liven up the bathroom with fresh color.  This one is here.  $8.

This burnt orange Tissue Topper is made of thick wool blend yarn.  $10.  More information and images are here.

There are many more in a variety of colors here.  From $8.
 

I try to keep the Cloche Hats stocked, also.  This one is here.  $10.  

There are many more from which to chose here.  From $8.

 And, finally, here is the beautiful Steel Guitar that Kjell made this month.  You won't find this in the shop because he is keeping it for himself.  :)  I don't blame him!  He's learning to play it, too!

We truly are enjoying our "retirement gig" of creating wood and needlework items.  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

Dinner at Ford's Garage

 Good morning,

Here are the usual characters having dinner together.  The waiter took this image with Diane's camera.  It is nice to have us all in the picture for a change.  L-R:  Catherine, Sophie, Me, Kjell, Anna, Les, Diane.

There is lots of good food on that table.  We dug right in so I didn't get pictures of all of the different tasty dinners.

 Kjell took this image so show the overall "feel" of this restaurant.

The entire restaurant has to do with the Ford Motor Company.  It's interesting to see, at the bottom of the front of the menu, that the restuarant is a licensee of the Ford Motor Company.

 The portions were so large that we had plenty of leftovers.  I put the "kids" names on this box so it wouldn't be confused in the refrigerator with other "doggie" boxes.

 Dessert!  My favorite, of course.  This is a toasted ice dream that was scrumptious.

Anna ordered the same...

as did Kjell.  That's his classic "I AM smiling," pose.  ;) 

This was a fun evening!  We had planned to eat at Longhorn, but when we got there at 5:30 we were told it would be an hour wait.  They don't take reservations.  Sooooo, we walked across the parking lot to Ford's Garage and are so very glad that we did!

All the best,

Lois

Sir Winston Churchill Daffodils

 Good morning,

These Sir Winston Churchill Daffodils are some of my favorites.  Not only do they have the lovely full blossoms, but the aroma is just magnificent.  

These are more of those I planted so many years ago.

Happy Spring!

Lois

Current WIP - Large Afghan Blanket

 Good morning,

I have flowers growing in a box in the dining room again.

I've started another large afghan blanket.  This one will have these lovely pink and red flowers surrounded by white and burgundy.  I'm much further along than this image now and the colors are just gorgeous together.  I have finished 80 of these, have added a round of white, and am now putting it all together. 

There is already a wide variety of other afghan blankets in the shop now that are ready to ship.

What are you making, baking, growing this week?

I hope you're having some of this beautiful Spring weather wherever you are, too!

 All the best,

Lois

 

Lily - My Little Helper

 Good morning,

That's our little Lily "helping" me with the Amazon packaging pillows.

Actually, she wasn't helping.  She grabbed those then ran to the top of the steps to see if I would chase her.

*sigh*  Puppies are so much fun.  ;)

Anyway, she's cute....

 Lois  

Daffodils and Peonies

 Good morning,

I love going out into the garden every day to see what is newly blooming.  We have several different types of daffodils that bloom at slightly different times so we have a constant parade of new blooms.

If you look carefully, you'll see the peonies are growing on each side of the daffodils, too.  Soon we'll have those large fragrant peonies to enjoy.

All the best,

Lois

Red Tulips

 Good morning,

These Red Tulips are survivors of more than 40 years.  I planted them that many years ago and they continue to return and provide Spring color every year.

I love our garden!

Enjoy,

Lois

Honey Bees and Dandelions

 Good morning,

If you look at the flower toward the bottom of the image, you'll see a honey bee hard at work collecting pollen.

To be sure the honey bees have enough pollen to harvest, many environmentalists encourage us to leave our dandelions alone rather than "weeding" our gardens.

An interesting note about dandelions:  they were originally planted to provide salad greens, but managed to spread so profusely that they became known as weeds.

Ah, yes, Spring....

:),

Lois

Red Bud Trees

 Good morning,

The Red Bud Trees are spectacular this year!  What makes them even more fun is that these are "volunteers."  

Forty five years ago I had a Red Bud tree planted just to the left of the two you see in the image above.  Eventually, a big storm took it out and I thought we were without our pretty spring flowering tree.

 But, here we are with more lovely blossoms.

The two trees you see in the first image grew on their own, whether from roots of the original tree or from seeds.  I certainly didn't plant them, but when I discovered they were growing there, I marked them so they would not be mowed down during grass cutting.

We have a third Red Bud tree "volunteer" out closer to the street.  For about a month, our front yard is just magical with the pink flowers.

Happy Spring!

Lois

Sweet Little Violets

 Good morning,

We have violets growing in the space between portions of our sidewalk and I'm not trying to get rid of them.  

The violets not only provide a lovely band of color, they remind me of my childhood when I, with some of the other girls in the neighborhood, picked violets and made chain necklaces out of them.  

Lovely childhood memories.

The pink petals are from the Tulip Magnolia.  See yesterday's post.

All the best,

Lois

Tulip Magnolia

 Good morning,

Our Tulip Magnolia continues to provide us with beautiful flowers.  

We had a night of several hours of frost this week so many of the flowers turned dark, but there were still more available to bloom.  

So lovely!

Enjoy,

Lois

The Eclipse in Ohio

 Good morning,

We had clear skies on Monday so were able to enjoy the Eclipse as it passed through our part of the world.  Usually, when I look up, there are many, many contrails indicating a great deal of traffic in the skies above us.  Monday afternoon, however, there was a single sign of an airplane.  I'm sure those aboard had a great view of the eclipse.

The Eclipse began here just before 2 PM.  We took our four dogs outside to enjoy the beautiful weather while watching the sunlight fade, then reappear.  The dogs had no reaction to the whole thing.  Note the crescent-shaped shadows on the patio.  Of course, this was during the actual eclipse when the moon was passing in front of the sun, then the sunlight was filtered through the trees above our patio.

As the sky darkened, the floodlights began to come on.  It was actually darker than it appears in these pictures.

I found myself in the spotlight on the patio.  It was extremely dark inside the house.

As it was getting lighter again, I pointed my phone camera to the sky and snapped this picture.  I didn't try to look at the sun.

This was a fun experience.  We had an eclipse back in 2017, but it wasn't as complete as this year.  This year we had 99.4 % blackout.  What's coincidental about that here in Cincinnati, if you're old enough, you may remember Procter & Gamble's Ivory Soap being "99, 44, 100% pure."  For some silly reason that just rang a bell with me.  Cincinnati is P&G's home town.

So that's my "eclipse report."  If you were so inclined, I hope you were able to see it wherever you were last Monday.

All the best,

Lois

A Larger JoAnn Store

 Good morning,

I am so pleased that we will have a larger JoAnn store in our favorite shopping area.  If you look carefully, you can see the "JO" of the sign on the old store waaay to the right side of the image.  The new Joann store location and Kohl's are moving into an abandoned grocery store building.  This building has been under renovation for ages - probably a couple of years.

Although I source materials from a number of locations, I like JoAnn's for so many craft items.  The old store was much smaller so didn't carry a very big range of yarns.  When I needed specific fibers and/or colors to fill orders for our shop,  I generally ordered on line to get enough of the same dye lot or bought elsewhere.

A sign on the front of the new location indicates this location will open soon.  I look forward to browsing - and most probably buying.  ;)

All the best,

Lois

Misty Morning

Good morning,

Well, we have another misty morning.  More rain!  I truly believe the old saying:  April Showers will bring May Flowers.

Actually, the fog is almost magical with the pink flowers.  Very pretty!

Enjoy....

Lois

So Much Rain!

 Good morning,

There has been so much rain that the yard is becoming a jungle. Grass cutting will occur very soon.   I love the flowers, but another hard frost is on the way.  That's not so bad, though, because it will keep the bug population down....

Spring in Ohio is always an adventure....

All the best,

Lois

Waiting Can Be Dangerous

 Good morning,

Waiting in line can be dangerous.  Well, to your wallet and perhaps your diet.  ;)

There was a long line at Walgreens when I picked up a prescription this week.  I managed to do a little extra shopping while I was waiting before I got to the counter.  

I was able to pay for all of my shopping while paying for the prescription and when the lady I know bagged everything, I told her, "The best medicine in this bag is the Hershey's Chocolate."  

Everyone agreed.

;),

Lois

Night Sky

 Good morning,

Kjell took this image with his phone camera last night while we had the pups out for last call potty time before bed.  It was just after 10 PM.

In the foreground is our vine covered fence between our driveway and the property next door.  Beyond is our neighborhood and the night sky.

I absolutely love the cameras we have in our Samsung phones now!  

Enjoy!

Lois

Escape Artist Lily

 Good morning,

I published this image of our one-year-old Lily a week or so ago.  Well, this sweet, little, innocent (?), darling terror has done it again.

Back in 2016, I published a post about our wonderful neighbor (also an Elsa) who often met our pups at the small section of fence at the corners of our property.  Through a very short part of the fence that separates her yard from ours for the last 100+ years, Wendy loved seeing this sweet lady who brought her treats almost daily.  Sadly, our neighbor died six years ago.  Her home as been purchased by a family with two young children.  

I've met these new people and am so glad to have them as neighbors.  It's fun to have children in the neighborhood again.  BUT, Wendy hasn't been able to get over the "strangers" in her friend's home.  When the family is out in their own yard, Wendy barks so I bring her inside to enjoy the silence.  No way can I keep her from being so upset.  

On Easter Saturday, the young girl living on the other side of that fence called to us to give us some Easter cookies.  How sweet!

Wellllllll, the rest of the story:  All three of our girls, Wendy, Elsa, and Lily, were outside with us.  Wendy started barking at the fence.  Then Elsa.  Then Lily.   As Kjell and I tried to restrain all three of the girls who wanted to play with the young girl in her yard, our Lily managed to get through the corner of their old fence and had a short play time with them.

Lily had so much fun that there was no way she would let the children's father lift her back over the fence.  The solution was for him with his children to walk her home.  I met them out in front, thanked them profusely for the cookies and return of our renegade pup, and brought Lily inside.  Then we called our friend Bill....

Bill showed up the next day - Easter Sunday!  He cut down greenery to get to the problem, then he went to work on reinforcing the neighbor's fence from our side and...

 look at it now!  Lily won't be able to escape from this part of the fence!  The rest of the yard has chain link fence we installed when we moved here.  That fence has held all our Labrador Retrievers and German Shepherd Dogs for 45 years.  Soon, the fence and wall will again be covered with ivy and other greenery.

Catherine took Lily for a ride-along on her rounds to friends' and gatherings on Easter so she wasn't here to hinder fence reinforcements.  

Move forward to Easter Monday.  Several times during the day Lily went to the corner to try to get through the side of the fence again.  Ah, ha!  Foiled this time!

 *Sigh*  So, that's our Easter Week story that we thought would be a very quiet week at home.

It's always something, isn't it. ;)  

Lois

Elsa Sunbathing

 Good morning,

As I was working in the kitchen, I heard Elsa go out the doggie door behind me.  When she didn't come back in a couple of minutes I looked out and spotted her sun bathing.

The warmer weather is so very welcome here.  Of course, we get a little cooler weather every couple of days, too.  Spring around here:  Now you see it, now you don't.  After all, this is the Midwest....

:),

Lois

Rainy Easter Sunday

 Good morning,

We enjoyed a day at home on Easter Sunday.  

The weather gave us light rain and a sort of mist with moments of sunshine throughout the day.

This was our view from the dining room.  The Tulip Magnolia, Red Bud Trees, and Daffodils are all enjoying the gentle rain.

Lovely!

All the best,

Lois

Gimme That Cookie!

 Good morning,

Kjell sent me this image and I had to look at it carefully to see what it was.  

We just got new patio furniture.  The new table is very different from the solid table we had before.  Kjell always takes a few doggie cookies outside with him and puts them on the table to give to good doggies while they are all outside.

It seems little Lily thought she could get this one from the bottom side of the new table.  I love that tongue and those teeth!

Of course, Daddy gave her the cookie, but this sure is cute.

Lois