Who is Oscar?

Good morning,

At the beginning of every cruise, guests are required to attend the muster drill in compliance with the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS), 1974.  This insures all guests know the emergency evacuation plan and how to use it.

Later in the cruise, though, you may hear various code words over the public address system.  One of them is "Oscar, Oscar, Oscar."

Who is Oscar, anyway?

If you hear Oscar being called and it is not a drill, it means there is someone overboard and the rescue team goes into action.

To be sure the crew is always ready, drills are held every month while in port so the crew can practice. These images are of a drill.

It is amazing how fast the rescue crew gets into the rescue boat, lowers it into the water...

 ...and speeds to the person in the water.  In this case, Oscar is a crew member in an orange wet suit.

 The green dye in the water is to mark the spot.

Oscar plays his part well allowing the rescue crew...

...to do all the work to get him into the rescue boat.

While bringing the rescued Oscar back to the ship...

...the rescue team provides first aid.

So, now you know who Oscar is when he is paged on board a ship.

Very best,
Lois

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

United States Coast Guard Approved 19 Inch Life Ring Life Preserver 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sourdough Pancakes - Recipe

Good morning,

It's time for something to eat again.  :)  Breakfast can be anytime for us!

These sourdough pancakes are so yummy regardless of how you make them.  Make them thinner as a Scandinavian treat, thicker for American tastes, or however you like them where you live.  My Honey likes them made thin and served with fruit jam so he can roll them up.  I like them thicker and stacked with butter between them and maple syrup on top.

So, just enjoy them any way you wish.  :)

Best,
Lois

-----------------------------------------------

Sourdough Pancakes

-----------------------------------------------

2 cups sourdough culture at room temperature

1 T butter softened (Additional butter required for frying pancakes.)

2 eggs

1 level teaspoon baking soda

1/2 t salt

2 T milk (or amount needed for desired consistency)

Yield: 6 large pancakes

Directions:

Combine ingredients in bowl and stir with wisk.

Soften butter in skillet, fry pancake batter on both sides until golden brown.

Serve with your choice of butter, syrup, jam, whipped cream.... Yum!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 Sourdough Starter Jar

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Another Flower Garden Afghan - Crochet

Good morning,

Here is another of my flower garden afghans.  Each time it is made with a different color combination, it looks so very different.  This time I had a great time taking images...

...as the flowers grew...

...and grew on my coffee table.

And now, here are 80 round flowers that have a third round that has turned them into squares...

...and a fourth round that has changed their whole look.

I then moved to the bedroom where I laid them all out and arranged all of the squares to produce the color combination I wanted...

...tied a piece of yarn on the corner of the first one...

...then strung them all in the order I wanted to put them together.  I placed them in a box so they wouldn't get out of order before I could crochet them together.

After adding that final round five and the border, here is the result.

It looks very pretty here in my home away from home, but it is a gift for a dear friend of my husband's and mine.  We've given it away already and the recipient was VERY happy. 

As soon as I finished the one above that I just gave away, I made this one to take home to donate to our dog club.  They make a lot of money on these when they raffle them.  I spread it out on the bed to take the picture, but it's all packed up to go home now. 

For comparison, here is an afghan I made a couple of years ago with the same pattern, but with a different color arrangement. This one was a 40th wedding anniversary present.

And, still another. I've published this picture before.  This one was made in the more traditional multi-color arrangement with rounds three and four of the same color.  This demonstrates how very different this beautiful design can look by using different color combinations.

I hope you enjoyed seeing the images of my flower garden afghan grow.

Very best,
Lois

Update October, 2012:

Afghans made with my original patterns are available in my Etsy Shop EvensensProductions.com. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bernat Super Value Yarn: Solids, Peach 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Our View - Sailing Off Into the Sunset

Good morning,

This image taken through a front window in our suite as we were sailing off into the sunset speaks for itself.

Sadly, I didn't have my "grown up" Canon camera quickly available, but my "baby" camera, a Canon Powershot, did a nice job.

Being at sea on such a calm evening is one of the most beautiful, peaceful places in the world.

Enjoy,
Lois

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 Canon PowerShot SD1300IS 12 MP Digital Camera with 4x Wide Angle Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 2.7-Inch LCD (Blue)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ice Basket and Watermelon Art

Good morning,

This table is part of the decorations prepared by the culinary staff aboard Majesty of the Seas for a private party held in the Viking Crown Lounge. 

I'm always in awe of these decorations that are made and displayed by the experts.  With the light behind this display the carved ice basket is beautifully illuminated. 

The watermelons at the sides of the table are beautifully carved, too. 

I've always thought how great it would be to be able to make such a display for a party at home....  Ha!  No talent for that! 

They are just so pretty, though, that I thought I would share them here.

Very best,
Lois

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Ice Sculpting the Modern Way

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Funky Outfit in Key West - Crochet

Good morning,

Recently I published images taken during a walk down Duval Street in Key West, Florida. One of the images was of the crocheted top above and I commented it wouldn't work for a trip to the grocery back home.

Debbie of Happy Days made a comment that it is a "tricky" outfit and I totally agree that is a perfect description!  I like that.  It sure is "tricky." 

River Glorious mentioned a little more conservative version would look all right over a blouse for her daughter. She said if she could see more detail, perhaps she could crochet something similar. Yes, over a blouse or knit top it would be really cool and not at all "tricky."  In fact, over a fancy slim knit black dress it could look quite formal.

So, this week while in Key West I walked over to Energy again and took another couple of pictures of the top for River and anyone else interested to see more detail:

I hope this detail is helpful, River.

The top appears to be made of cotton with beads crocheted into the design while the top was being made.  There was no price tag and no one around to make a sale. Perhaps that is why I have seen this outfit in this doorway for years.

There are plenty of other outfits available for sale at Energy.  It's so pure Key West and pretty normal for what you see on the streets here.  In fact, most of these clothes are more conservative than much of what is seen in Key West.

I still didn't see anything that struck me as a good buy for myself, but enjoyed going back for more pictures.  It's a fun little shop.

River, if you develop a crochet pattern from these images, I would love to see it!

Very best,
Lois

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

White Jumbo Crochet Cotton 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Potato Cheddar Cheese Bread - Recipe

Good morning,

Here is one more of my bread recipes with images that I brought with me on my computer to work on while away from home for a few weeks.   I also have a recipe for sourdough pancakes coming soon.  Eventually, I will get all of these together in book form for my children, grandchildren, and anyone else who cares about them.  :)

Today you'll find below a recipe for Potato Cheddar Cheese Bread made with sourdough culture.  As always, if you don't have sourdough culture, I've listed the substitute for it in the ingredients and directions below.

What makes this one so good is the cheese that melts into the bread as it is baking.

Enjoy!

Lois

-----------------------------------------------------

Potato Cheddar Cheese Bread - Recipe

------------------------------------------------------

Ingredients:

1 cup sourdough culture (If you don't have sourdough culture, substitute 1/2 cup water, 1/2/ cup flour, 1/2 t dry yeast in addition to the ingredients listed below.)

1 egg

2 T vegetable oil

2 t salt

2 T sugar

1 cup cheddar cheese cut in small cubes

1 cup mashed potatoes (warm, not hot)

1 cup warm water

3 cups bread flour

2 rounded t dry yeast

Place all ingredients in large capacity bread machine in order given. Set on dough cycle and turn on.

The first dough cycle on most machines is about 40 minutes. Watch the action to be sure a dough ball forms at least 1/3 way through the cycle. Add a little flour or water if necessary to get the correct consistency.

When first dough cycle finished, remove from machine and place in a greased bowl for first rise. Place the bowl in a warm place such as the oven with the light, but no heat turned on. If you place it out on the counter in a warm place, cover with a damp cloth. This batch required about 1 hour for the first rise. Keep in mind that the temperature in your kitchen and the mood of the yeast can change the time required for the dough to rise.

If you are using crockery or glass pans/bowls for baking, set the empty bread pans in a warm place, too. I use my second oven with the light turned on.

If preheating pans, remove from oven.

Spray pans with vegetable oil.

After the first rise, punch down/knead gently the dough to remove excess bubbles.

Shape dough into portions to fit in the pans you are using and place in warm place again for the second rise.

When it is finished rising the second time, bake at 350 F for 35 mins if using small pans similar to those in the images. If using 2 standard loaf pans, bake at 350 F for 45 mins.

Remove from oven, turn out to cooling racks immediately.

Click here for more of my bread recipes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 Zojirushi BBCCX20 Home Bakery Supreme Bread Machine

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~