While going through images I took in May, I came across this one and have to share.
Kjell made this coaster tile with his new laser for me for Mother's Day. He's perfecting the process so that we will have similar coasters in the shop soon.
This is fantastic!
Thanks, Sweetie.
Love,
Lois
This is so lovely. Kjell made a new sail for the wind chime he recently made for our back yard. Above is one side of it...
So very lovely!
Thank you, Sweetheart,
Lois
Memorial Day - United States of America
Take time today to stop and thank all those who gave their lives to make this and every day a day of freedom possible for us.
Flash back to Mother's Day.
I received this from one of my sons for Mother's Day. He knows me so well! Ah, yes, chocolate, strawberries, cheesecake....
Thank you, Don!
I love you!
:),
Mom
We have "last call" for potty time for the pups before we go to bed each night.
Of course, we get them outside and moving and they want to play.
They are all such good pups. It's not too often that one of them needs to go out in the middle of the night, but when they do, they always tell us.
Good dogs!
:),
Lois
Summer meals can be very light around here. In fact, they sometimes just look like appetizers, but they are so very good!
A little shrimp, mayonnaise (a Norwegian thing with shrimp), a squirt of lemon, and some Ritz Crackers....
Great!
Lois
Lily is putting all that food she eats to good use! She is getting so big! Lily is on a raw diet that we prepare for her from people foods purchased at our grocery and butcher. No doggie food for our pups. They thrive on the raw diet and have long, healthy lives. Win-win!
Again, she is chewing on a stick. Yum! OK, ewwww, to me....
Puppies are so much fun!
:),
Lois
So many things to try! Lily has more soft and chewy doggie toys than she can possibly explore. In addition to the toys we pick up for them, every time our pups do a great job at the dog club, they are awarded a new toy. That results in more toys than they can possibly play with in any one month, much less in years!
The trick, though, is getting the pups to keep the sticks outside! The shop vacuum works over time when they bring one inside.
We are so pleased to have our Lily. She is a gem and a great addition to our "pack."
:),
Lois
We have two large clumps of these classic iris.
So lovely and such great memories.
Lois
I took these images through glass and a screen, but am still glad I have them.
A groundhog seems to like my bread that was knocked off of the bird feeder.
We had problems with them under our porch a couple of years ago. Here's the whole story.
Lois
Isn't this lovely!
Catherine and a friend took a very short trip to Las Vegas where her friend gave a speech and Catherine enjoyed an after-tax-season break.
While her friend was in meetings, Catherine had time to stroll around the property and relax.
A well-deserved trip!
:),
Lois
It is beautiful to see the relationship between our fourteen year old Erik and our three month old Lily.
Erik is a gentleman and very good with puppies. He tolerates their antics and doesn't mind a soft cuddle with a playful puppy. He's a little stiff with age, but still gets around quite well.
We cherish the time we have with them both.
Lois
Good morning,
Happy Birthday number nine to our Dear Sweet Wendy!
Wendy's formal AKC name with titles: Idlebrook Wendy Darling Evensen AX AXJ OF DS CGC
She also holds National Dock Diving titles: DJ DM DSX2
Above you see Wendy enjoying Disney's Lady and the Tramp from her comfy seat in Daddy's recliner. She's loving the Disney Channel!
Update on the pack: Wendy is doing a great job with our new baby. Wendy was sleeping, but awoke and moved over so that Lily could join her. She may look a little put-off by baby Lily sharing her deck chair, but they are getting more and more friendly and happy to be together. It's hard not to like baby Lily, that's for sure!
It's party time for Wendy today!
:),
Lois
Salt and Pepper Shakers? Vanilla and Licorice?
Erik and Wendy are enjoying the warmth of Spring Sun.
My brother and sister-in-law gave us Labrador salt and pepper shakers many years ago. Here they are in real life.
;),
Lois
Constitution Day - Kingdom of Norway
Happy May 17 to all of our Norwegian Family and Friends!
Good morning,
Here's a short video of our nine year old Wendy and baby Lily.
Wendy was the last of our pack to warm up to Lily. In fact, I swear the looks I got from Wendy for the first week meant, "When are you taking her back?"
Finally, they are playing together as we knew they would eventually do.
It's all working out very well.
Sweet!
Lois
Catherine has done it again! She makes sure we have some real treats and this is one of them!
That's a filet mignon she prepared to perfection on the grill, baked potato, fresh salad, and sauteed mushrooms.
Oh, my, that was good....
Thank you, dear Catherine.
Love,
Mom and Dad
Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers including surrogate mothers, pet mothers, and those who mother out of nothing but pure love. We are fortunate to have a beautiful family of children, grandchildren, and now even a great grand child.
This weekend was a special time for our granddaughter, Sophie, who
graduated from American University in Washington, DC. She was selected to be the undergraduate speaker and graduated with awards and honors.
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Sophie will intern through the summer, then continue her Masters Degree studies.
Congratulations, Sophie! We are so very proud of you!
Love,
Grandma and Grandpa
Those are two of my best friends in that image above: daughter Catherine and new baby Lily.
Lily is too young to train in Agility, but Catherine is taking her to the club to visit with other club members and to get used to being around the equipment. As soon as her body matures, Lily will be ready to train.
Lily is enrolled in Puppy Classes at the club now, too. We can't recommend AKC puppy classes highly enough.
Photo credit to Catherine and club friends.
So sweet,
Lois
Since we cleared all of the bushes and most of the vines along the stone wall in the back yard the pups have had a good time "walking the wall" again.
Here are Erik and Lily doing just that. We had three large compost bins behind those bushes since 1979, but they were destroyed when the last big tree fell in the back yard. We finally got the bins cleared and all the "stuff" that was still in them has been spread along the top level. The pups are finding all kinds of treasures in there! Old toys and balls were swept up in leaves during the year and tossed into the bin. Those things are great finds for the pups now.
Happy Spring!
Lois
Our pups go to work with our daughter, Catherine, regularly. Catherine owns her own building for her CPA practice, so is happy to do this, especially on days when clients who love dogs have appointments. Until clients say they would like to meet our pups, Catherine has out of sight/out of mind places where the pups quietly wait for the next client who wants to meet them.
Clients know the office is pet friendly, too, for those who bring their own pups. It's much better for them to be in the air conditioned office than waiting in a car outside.
Anyway, here you see Wendy doing her office job in the conference room. She gets paid in cookies, pets, love, and lots and lots of friendly visitors.
Now, if only she had opposable thumbs so she could use the computer and handle file folders....
;),
Lois
Every once in awhile Catherine purchases whole raw fish for each of our four pups to consume.
Baby Lily did a great job consuming her fish, but made a mistake of walking away toward the end of the event when distracted by a blowing leaf.
Lily found out very quickly that Wendy would swoop in and finish off the very end of her meal. Lily ate all of her fish except the head. Wendy ate all of her own fish and the head of Lily's fish.
Nutritious fun!
:),
Lois
Look carefully to see our daughter, Catherine, under her 130 pound heated weighted blanket.
:),
Lois
Catherine sent me this picture from our dog club. It's a cake in celebration of an AKC Grand Agility Champion Title!
What artistry! That's just too pretty to eat!
Beautiful! Congratulations!
:),
Lois
Our new baby, Lily, is quite the social butterfly. She's visiting with lots of friends and going to lots of places.
The lady holding Lily in the image above is our friend Susan Ball. Image credit goes to our daughter, Catherine.
Lily loves people and is so very happy meeting more and more of them.
Charlie Brown: "Happiness is a warm puppy dog."
Lois
Catherine helps train her friend's dogs at our dog club and also runs them in agility trials. Here she's receiving a ribbon for a new title for Sonic.
Sonic belongs to Catherine's friend Linda Macke and Catherine just helped him complete his Open Jumpers With Weaves Title.
That's our daughter, Catherine, on the left, and AKC Judge Jen Young on the right.
Congratulations to all!
:),
Lois
Here's a switch from all of the puppy images I've been posting lately.
We still have plenty of activity at our bird feeder outside our living room doors.
Sweet!
;),
Lois
We are carefully monitoring the socialization between our baby Lily and our older pups, Erik, Wendy, and Elsa.
Fourteen year old Erik is good with pups, but he's slower to move and stiff so doesn't interact more than to watch and monitor activities. Nine year old Wendy is still not sure about this puppy thing, but is becoming more involved with Lily. On the other hand, four year old Elsa was thrilled with the new puppy and they are best friends already sharing toys, zoomies, and naps.
Lily is fearless. She was born to a breeder who socializes her pups with her older dogs and people at appropriate ages. Our breeder, Alicia, also provides a large variety of toys, activities, and venues for the pups and even has them mostly potty trained before they go home to their furever homes.
Lois
Our inquisitive new puppy, Lily, must explore every inch of her surroundings.
;),
Lois
