Playing at the Dog Club

 Good morning,

Catherine took Elsa (pictured) and Lily to the dog club yesterday to play on the agility equipment.  Actually, they were there training, but the pups think of it as playing.  They have so much fun!

Thanks for the image, Catherine.

All the best,

Lois

Lemon Butter Dill Salmon

 Good morning,

This was a quick and easy dinner that was also delicious.

Lemon Butter Dill Salmon is just what the name says.  In an ovenware dish I poured just enough lemon juice to cover the bottom of the dish, added two portions of salmon skin down, a thin sprinkling of lemon juice on the fish, added pats of butter, then dill.

 I preheated the oven to 350 F, covered the dish, and baked for 35 minutes.

 It was perfectly flaky and delicious!

Yum!

All the best,

Lois

Happy Birthday Number One Son

 Good morning,

Yesterday was number one son, Les', birthday so Catherine, Kjell, and I took him to lunch at Izzy's.

I just had to have Izzy's Famous Reuben, a potato pancake, and apple sauce.

Oh, yes, this was good!

Happy Birthday, Les!

Love you,

Mom

Bath Time for Elsa

 Good morning,

I was sitting in the living room when Elsa came running down the stairs wearing her purple bathrobe.  Catherine had given her a bath and Elsa came down to dry off.  

She had brought me a toy and was so excited that she wouldn't hold still so I could get a picture that wasn't blurry.  I snapped several pictures and this was the least blurry one.  :)

She was so happy!  Labs love water.  

Sweet!

Lois

Downtown Cincinnati

 Good morning,

Kjell took today's images when we had an appointment in downtown Cincinnati.  We were on the 19th floor of the First Financial Building.

The image above is of Procter & Gamble World Headquarters.  Behind the towers is Mount Adams.  The church on the right side of the picture is Holy Cross - Immaculata.  We've attended wedding in this pretty old church.  The modern building in the center is Highland Towers Apartments;  what a gorgeous view they have!  The famous Rookwood Pottery is also atop Mt. Adams.  We are happy to have a Rookwood fireplace in our 100 + year old home.

 This is a view of the Ohio River.  You can see why the bridge is locally known as the Big Mac Bridge.  We are in Ohio;  that is Northern Kentucky on the other side of the river.

Here is a wider view of the Ohio River.

Lovely, isn't it!  We are having beautiful weather for a few days.  That certainly makes up for the horrible snow and cold we have had for the past three weeks!

All the best,

Lois

A Gorgeous Winter Day

 Good morning,

We had beautiful weather in Cincinnati yesterday.  It was sunny and the temperature stayed above freezing for a full 24 hours.  The snow in our front yard is about gone, but we still have snow in the back yard where we get little sunshine.

I took the above image as we were almost home from the post office yesterday morning.  We were passing Xavier University which has been building and expanding faster than I can keep up with the changes.  I graduated from XU many years ago, but the place certainly has changed since I was there.  

We live across the street from XU a couple of blocks away and around the corner from where I took this image.  It's a lovely neighborhood.

Happy Winter!  I hope the weather is pleasant wherever you are.

All the best,
Lois

 

Work in Process this Week

 Good morning,

I have started another Bavarian Stitch afghan blanket for the shop.  The colors come together so nicely.  For some reason, I've been "stuck" on Valentine colors recently.  :)

What are you making, baking, growing this week?

All the best,

Lois

Coyotes in the Neighborhood

 

Good morning,

If you look carefully at the short video, you'll see a coyote come up my front stps, walk to the side of my porch, and after a few seconds, he passes by the camera once again.

We're not happy to see the coyotes this close to the house.  They are known to attack pets and fences don't stop them from coming onto the property.  I've stopped filling my bird feeder near my front porch.  I think the character in the video was here checking the bird feeder.

So, life goes on in the city!  Now we have coyotes!

All the best,

Lois

Catherine in the Kitchen

 Good morning,

We so appreciate Catherine's great meals that she prepares.  My back just doesn't like for me to stand for very long, so it gets difficult to prepare a meal that requires more than a can opener and the microwave.

Having real food prepared by Catherine is wonderful.  

Thanks, Catherine, for the ham, hash brown casserole, and brussel sprouts with bacon.  It was delicious and very appreciated.

Love,

Mom

 

 

 

Sushi for Christmas

 Good morning,

It's not easy to get the family together now that the grandchildren are older. So, this week we had dinner together at our favorite sushi restaurant to celebrate Christmas with Don and family.  

Tokoyo Japanese Restaurant is a favorite of ours not only because of the great food, but because of the people.  Service is perfection and we also just love the private room where we have privacy for our gathering.

So, it was Merry Christmas again this week!

How fun!

All the best,

Lois

Wedge Salad

 Good morning,

Catherine sent me this image of a salad she ordered at BJ's.  I responded that it looked wonderful!

When she got home she brought a salad for me.  When I said I liked it, she ordered one for carry out.  I'll enjoy it today for lunch.

Daughters are wonderful, aren't they!

All the best,

Lois

Kjell's Work in Process - Leaf Box

 Good morning,

Kjell is busy in his wood workshop once again.  

Above you see the top of a leaf jewelry box.

 The box will have two trays inside.

 

 And, all pieces fit together perfectly.

Of course, there is still plenty to do to finish the box.  

This will be quite lovely!  When finished, it will be available in the shop where there are many other beautiful items finished and available to ship now.

All the best,

Lois

It's a Dog's Life

 Good morning,

Wendy lead's a Dog's Life here as she snoozes on the couch.

Our pretty girl is ten years old.

Precious!

All the best,

Lois

IKEA Meatballs

 Good morning,

Catherine and Erica stopped at IDEA for a meatball dinner this week.  These are Swedish meatballs (note the flag), but in our home we make Norwegian meatballs.

Yes, they are similar, but not the same.

Yum!

Lois

Needlework and Wood Working Update

 Good morning,

This is the collection of what we've finished since the last update.  We've been busy recently so haven't finished so many things this time, but have more things in the works that you'll see next time.

Above is a large afghan blanket of pink flowers bordered in red.  It will be a beautiful Valentine gift and will be lovely to display throughout the year.  More information and images here.  $185.  Only one available. 

 This generous size lap blanket is in green and white for your favorite leprechaun or for anyone who goes to a school whose colors are green and white.  :)  More images and information here.  $65.  Only one available.

This Cloche Hat is new in the shop this month.  These are lovely to wear under a hoodie or to bed in very cold weather.  It's a great helmet liner and may also be used as a chemo cap.  Only $8.  This one is here.

We have more Cloche Hats in a large variety of colors and sizes here.

 Kjell made a new sign for our gate across our driveway.  The circle in the middle is for a camera.  We can see who is approaching even before they get to the gate.

So, that's the round up this time.  We hope you'll shop with us for Valentine's Day and every day.  Come see it all here:  https://EvensensProductions.etsy.com.

We sincerely appreciate your likes, shares, pins, favorites, and purchases, too!

All the very best,

Lois

Indoor Garden

 Good morning,

My indoor garden is quite happy these days.  I find it interesting that my Christmas Cactus is about a month late blooming this year.  These are the first buds that should be quite pretty when they open in a day or so.

 My Peace Lily is ready to open, also.

I truly enjoy my indoor garden.  I used to spend a great deal of time in my garden outside, but my back no longer cooperates, so my indoor garden and patio container garden (when weather permits) are about all I'm able to do.  

All the best,

Lois

Sunrise and Snow Through the Window

 Good morning,

The colors of the sunrise and the snow through the leaded glass of our front door are just beautiful.

Happy Winter!

Lois

Kjell's Sausage Soup

 Good morning,

Kjell made sausage soup and it was delicious on a cold winter day.  

This soup is one of those things that is never repeated because the ingredients are what is found in the fridge at any one time.

The dash of wine helps, too.

:),

Lois

Dirty Snow

 Good morning,

Yuck!  Usually, when it snows in Cincinnati, the temperature rises above freezing within a few hours and the snow disappears.  Not this week.

The snow was pretty coming down and the first few hours.  All 10.5" of it.  Of course, it was not to much fun for driving.

The pile of snow in the picture is still there after about a week.  

Tomorrow, it's supposed to be above freezing for a few hours again....

Happy Winter!

Lois

Great Desserts!

 Good morning,

One of our dog clubs has their holiday party in January each year so they don't compete with all the other holiday parties in the  month of December.

This year the party was held at a local casino and featured a buffet dinner of prime rib, chicken, and all the sides.

The image is of the dessert tray.  

Sadly, Kjell and I didn't attend this year, but Cath brought us a few left overs that we enjoyed tremendously!

Happy January!

Lois

Fresh Bread Today

 Good morning,

It's bread making day!  There's nothing like the wonderful aroma of home made fresh bread.  

I wish I could share that aroma with you here on the blog.

All the very best,

Lois

Bath Time for Lily!

 Good morning,

Lily is in Catherine's bath tub ready for a bath.  Labs do love water!

You can see her left arm is shaved for her IV on New Year's Eve.  Her belly is shaved, too, in preparation for surgery that we are so glad she didn't need to have.  See the post about her close encounter with the surgeon.  

Lily is her old happy self!

Thanks, Catherine, for the image.  It is darling.

Lois

No Grilling today.

 Good morning,

The title says it all.

Stay warm!

Lois

Here We Go Again

 

Good morning, 

Snow and more snow.

It's good to be retired so we can stay home.

All the best,

Lois

Fish Pudding ala Kjell

 Good morning,

Kjell made a Norwegian treat, Fish Pudding shown at the bottom of the image above.

I added rice, peas, and tomatoes to round out the meal.

It was very tasty!

Enjoy,

Lois

Here Comes More Snow!

 Good morning,

The snow keeps coming.  This is the view through our dining room french doors.

Stay warm!

Lois

Erik Checking Snow Fall Depth

 Good morning,

Kjell shot this image of Erik checking the snow depth in our back yard on Monday. 

And, it was still snowing!

Happy Winter!

Lois

Catherine's New Year Dinner

 Good morning,

Catherine's New Year dinner was another winner!  She started with cheesy mushroom appetizers.

 Oh, yes, cheesy mashed potatoes....

 ...and a traditional New Year dish, sour kraut and sausage.

I just loved this:  brussel sprouts with bacon.  Fortunately, there were leftovers for two more meals for me!

And, here's my plate.  In addition to the above there is baked cabbage, apple sauce, and cranberry sauce.  

Thank you, Catherine!  You've done it again!

Love you,

Mom and Dad

Cardinal in Winter

 Good morning,

This fellow was signing his heart out in the trees behind our home.

So pretty!

Ah, yes, winter....

Lois

Happy Birthday Elsa!

 Good morning,

Yesterday was Elsa's birthday so Catherine ordered a cake for her to share with her dog club friends.  

Thanks for the image, Catherine!

Happy Birthday again, Elsa!

Love,

Mom and Dad

Catherine's Christmas Dinner

 Good morning,

It's been so busy here that I haven't shared images and thanked Catherine for the beautiful Christmas Eve dinner that she prepared.  

I just love fresh salads and Catherine didn't disappoint with this one.  So many things I love:  fresh lettuce, blue cheese, bacon....  Yum!

 Catherine is famous for her mushrooms in wine sauce.  Oh, yes!

Also, I just love it that we use so many of my Mom's dishes, serving, and cooking items.  Wonderful memories of years past when she prepared dinners and I prepared dinners.

 The star of the dinner table was prime rib.  Perfectly made!

This was yummy, too.  No, not made at home, but surely terrific:  Tuxedo Chocolate Mousse Cake.

And, finally, flowers for the table from Kjell. Thanks, Sweetie. He has a secret shopper who brought them home for us.  

Thank you, Catherine, for a marvelous meal and being the secret shopper.

Love you,

Mom

Kalanchoe Blossoms

 Good morning,

This sweet Kalanchoe is blooming once again.

This plant is one of many taken as cuttings many times from a plant we sent to Catherine when she was in the hospital many years ago.  

I just love seeing it alive, well, and blooming.  Just like Catherine.

All the best,

Lois