Yesterday evening after dinner I got so hungry. I could have easily sat down with a bag of chips, or opened a bag of cookies....
But., I opted for a few crackers with a taste of cheese. It was just enough.
I didn't used to have so much self control....
;),
Lois
Kjell and I shared the kitchen for most of the day yesterday.
We had a great dinner of Kjell's home made Split Pea with Ham Soup and my home made Whole Wheat made with Brown Sugar bread.
Win-Win!
Sorry I can't share samples here on the blog.
All the best,
Lois
We continue to have deep snow on the ground. Some of the roads are clear, but we are still at a Level 1 Snow Emergency meaning we should stay home unless absolutely necessary to go out.
Not a problem.
Catherine made a lovely dinner and we watched movies together. I'm still working on a custom order knit hat so all of these hours in the living room are great.
After this movie we watched a James Bond movie. We're getting hooked on all the old movies now.
We understand we are in for more snow next week. Hmmm.
Stay warm!
Lois
We got nearly a foot of snow a few days ago and no longer have a working snow blower. Kjell and I are no longer able to shovel snow. :(
Catherine, however, is our hero. She shoveled a path up the front steps and walk and also shoveled the driveway.
Fabulous! Thank you, Catherine.
Love you,
Mom & Dad
Yes, we're snowed in here in Cincinnati under a Snow Emergency which means we aren't supposed to be out driving around. I have no desire to go out and ride around in this snow anyway!
I put down the blue and white lap blanket I've been working on to make a custom order gray wool basket weave hat. I'll get back to the lap blanket when this is finished.
Are you stuck at home during this terrible weather in the USA? Are you enjoying some time to relax at home?
Stay warm!
Lois
Kjell took this image early yesterday morning. Look carefully to see Wendy on the upper level of our back yard.
Yes, the snow was still falling....
Stay warm!
Lois
While waiting for the snow to start falling yesterday, I made two loaves of bread. Above you see the dough after the first rise. I had just taken it out of the oven where I let it rise with only the oven light turned on. I was preparing to knead it once again, and place it into two bread pans to wait for the second rise.
Should we lose power tomorrow, I've made bread to get us through the next couple of days. Hopefully, though, we'll keep our power and everyone will stay warm and safe.
All the very best,
Lois
We have quite a few scheduling conflicts around the holidays so we enjoyed Christmas in January with son Don and family. Catherine made all the arrangements and Don took all of us to dinner at our favorite Tokyo Restaurant.
We enjoyed the hibachi this time and I grabbed a couple of images of the chef preparing our food.
Thank you, Don, this was a fantastic evening! The company and the food were fabulous! Thanks, Catherine, for making all the arrangements.
Love you all!
Mom
Our little seedling herbs are slow, but sure. Actually, I'm not concerned that this is going slowly because there is no way I can plant anything outside right now. This weekend we are expecting extremely low temperatures and snow so no outdoor gardening will happen.
This has been a fun adventure with our hydroponic garden. When I was a child, we started seeds using potting soil in old pressed paper egg cartons in metal sheet cake pans. They were great because we could plant the entire section of the egg carton and the new seedling out in the garden.
Wherever you are, I hope you are warm and comfortable (or those friends below the equator cool and comfortable) this weekend.
All the very best,
Lois
We've had very cold weather again this week and now snow is forecast for the weekend.
I've brought in some firewood, but I just can't carry very much any more because of my back. I appreciate it greatly when family members bring in firewood for me.
It's a funny thing about my back. It seems we can order anything on God's green earth from Amazon except a new spine....
OK, I know....
Lois
Lily is the chair checker when Daddy gets up from his recliner.
You see, on movie night we had popcorn and there just might be a piece or two of popcorn that he dropped in his chair. Lily is very good at checking for those things. Popcorn is never wasted here.
:),
Lois
Last week Kjell made meat cakes and this week it's fish cakes.
I did a little research here on my blog and find I published his recipe back in 2011 so here's the link if you're interested: Kjell's Fish Cakes.
We love this "taste of Norway."
Enjoy!
Lois
My project this week is a Blue and White Lap Blanket. These make wonderful gifts for students so school colors are very appropriate. When I was looking through my yarn supply for this project, I realized both my University and my High School had the same school colors: blue and white. When this one is finished, it'll be available in the shop.
I have a similar green and white lap blanket and many others in a variety of colors and sizes in the shop already.
What are you making, baking, growing this week?
All the very best,
Lois
Wonderful sounds are coming from our "library" where Kjell is learning new tunes on his guitar.
I'm regularly serenaded as I sit in the living room. I love it!
Retirement rocks!
;),
Lois
This is my lap dog. It's a good thing I can put my feet up in my recliner so I have more lap.
When we first brought Elsa home I used to hold her in my arms like a little baby. This is as close as we can get to that now.
Elsa is my comfort dog. Whenever I am not feeling well, she knows and is right there with me.
So sweet!
All the best,
Lois
Dad: Hi Elsa. May I help you?
Elsa: I notice you recently gave a cookie to Lily. May I have a cookie, too?
Dad: Of course, you may.
Kjell sent me this image of Lily.
Lily knows Dad is a soft touch. Yes, he gave her a cookie.
So cute!
If you have dogs, you know....
:),
Lois
Wendy (left) and Elsa were all tuckered out during our movie night last night. Tomorrow will be a day of washing blankets, but tonight was worth it all.
We watched a movie on Netflix: We Have a Ghost. It was a very good movie and one you can watch with your children.
This was fun!
All the best,
Lois
Welcome to our Needlework and Wood Working Update featuring items we have completed since the last Update.
Above is a Large Afghan Blanket featuring beautiful pink and turquoise raised flowers bordered by matching turquoise. $185. Only one available. More information and images here.
Kjell has not been working with wood for a couple of months because he had cataract surgery and couldn't take the chance a wood chip or dust could get into his eyes. He has been busy with his 3D Printer, though! He made two of these chisel sharpers: one for himself and one for a gift for our friend Bill who is so helpful for so many things we need done here. All reports are that the sharpeners work perfectly.
Kjell has started wood projects again. Some are partially made, others are still in the drawing stage on his computer.
I also had cataract surgery that slowed me down, but I was able to keep crocheting and knitting for the past couple of months. Now that we've both recovered, we are up and running with new projects.
We sincerely appreciate your encouragement, likes, shares, favorites, pins, and purchases, too, from our little shop for the past fourteen, almost fifteen years: EvensensProductions.Etsy.com. Come take a look!
All the very best,
Lois & Kjell
The house smelled fantastic while Kjell was making his Norwegian Meat Cakes this week. Notice I started to cut the first bite, then remembered I needed to take a picture. Also, you'll see my security team leader at the top of the image. I'm not so sure whether she is guarding me or the meat cakes. ;)
Here's what he wrote on his blog about the ingredients:
"Homemade Medisterkaker (70% pork and 30% beef), mixed with egg, red onion, ginger, nutmeg, salt, pepper, potato starch, milk, and red wine. Side dishes: potatoes, mashed sweet green peas, and brown sauce with wine. Wine in food reminds me of a few years back when we visited the Cherokee Indians in North Carolina. If you can't drink alcohol, you can eat it."
This was fantastic! Kjell made several dozen so we have some frozen for future meals.
It's such fun to take turns cooking so we can enjoy so many different yummy meals!
All the best,
Lois
This week I'm working on a Christening Blanket for the shop. This one is a favorite for me to make and for our customers. It is so lacy and soft. It will become a family heirloom.
I have finished the large afghan turquoise blanket I showed you last week while I was making it. I took the pictures for the listing yesterday and will write and upload the listing in the next day or two.
There are many blankets and other items available in the shop now here: EvensensProductions.
What are you making, baking, growing this week?
All the very best,
Lois
I consider a BLT (Bacon Lettuce Tomato) sandwich comfort food that brings great memories of my childhood when my Mom made them.
I made mine with my toasted homemade whole wheat bread and was very generous with the mayonnaise.
Yum. Oh, yes, yum!
What's your favorite comfort food?
:),
Lois
This picture just popped up in my feed last night. I took it a last week when cities North of us were getting record amounts of snow.
We were just lucky!
Last night was even luckier. We're having a record warm spell for January. It was 61 F at 11 PM last night.
Last month, we had a very cold December with snow and continuous temps below freezing that kept the ice and snow on the ground and streets for much of the month.
There's a saying in Cincinnati: If you don't like the weather, wait ten minutes. It'll change.
I hope the weather is comfortable wherever you are.
All the best,
Lois
This is our beautiful eleven year old Wendy.
During the summer months, Wendy has a black nose. When the weather turns cold and she spends more time in the house out of sunlight, her nose turns pink.
I think she is pretty both ways.
:),
Lois
We have baby basil sprouting in our hydroponic garden.
This is a follow-up to my post detailing how we set up our Christmas gift from Santa.
Click here for the original post.
Perhaps we'll eventually get enough to use in cooking. ;)
This is fun!
Lois
Chef Catherine prepared our New Year's Eve dinner again this year. It has become tradition to enjoy prime rib. Of course, she prepared it to perfection!
I missed getting a picture of the chocolate pie for dessert. I'm not so sure I was still able to sit up and hold the camera by then....
Thank you, Catherine!
Happy New Year, again, everyone! We hope it is healthy and happy!
All the best,
Lois
Happy 7th Birthday, Elsa!
Elsa had a birthday party at our dog club yesterday!
Thank you, Catherine, for the cake.
Photo credit goes to our friend Susan Ball.
Now that the craziness of the holidays is fading into memory, I'm back to projects once again.
This will be a large afghan blanket that will be available in the shop when finished sometime in the next week and I've had time to photo and write the listing.
There are many blankets and other items in the shop already here: https://evensensproductions.etsy.com.
What are you making, baking, growing this week?
All the best,
Lois
Yesterday was whole wheat bread making day. These are the first two loaves of 2026.
My goodness, the house smelled good when I took them out of the oven.
All the best,
Lois
Santa brought me a hydroponic garden so we are growing herbs in our living room.
We set it all up, counted out tiny seeds (insert lots of laughter here), added water, and have waited several days so far. Sure enough, there are tiny green plants starting to grow.
Thank you Santa (Kjell) for a really fun gift!
Stay tuned. I'll get pictures of whatever we can grow.
All the best,
Lois
Happy New Year
from all of us in the
Evensen Household!
Wendy, Elsa (pictured), Lily, Kjell, Catherine, and me!
