Catherine sent me this picture of Elsa and Lily (using Elsa as a pillow.)
Usually, we have to separate these two when they play too rough, but it seems they have come to an agreement about snuggle time.
Just darling.
Thanks for sending the image, Catherine.
Love you,
Mom
This is Wendy, one of our four canine burglar alarms on her charger.
It's a ruff life....
;),
Lois
I showed you the ham we enjoyed a few days ago. That ham lasted for several days with so few people in the house. Of course, the pups got some, too
We had quite a few apples on the dining room table that weren't going to last much longer so I made fried apples. Well, they aren't exactly fried, but close. I put about 1/3 stick of butter into a large skillet, sliced 8 or 9 apples, added two heaping tablespoons of brown sugar, and shook some cinnamon into it. Then I covered it and let it cook in the juice of the apples until soft. Oh, so good! I left the skin on the apples.
This was just perfect with ham and also maked a great topping for ice cream!
Yum!
;),
Lois
Ten days ago:
Catherine: Mom, have you seen my other shoe?
Me: No, sorry. I'll keep a lookout for it. Have you asked Lily?
Catherine: If Lily had it, it could be anywhere.
Me: We'll know if she took it outside when the snow melts....
Four days ago:
Me: I found it!
Catherine: Where was it?
Me: The snow melted....
Catherine sent me this picture with the title: Feeding the Livestock with my Farm Dog Teddy.
Catherine's friend, Erica, is out of town so Catherine is tending to Erica's dogs, pigeons, and any other critters that need tending.
Teddy is also very close to Kjell and wants to sit on his lap every time he visits here. When Teddy was a pup he spent a great deal of time with us and went to work with Catherine for socialization. He's a very sweet dog. Catherine also runs Teddy in agility trials at our dog club. Catherine and Teddy bring home lots of ribbons. :)
It's a small world....
All the best,
Lois
Here's a pretty scene on a winter day. Kjell sent me this picture that he came across while going through pictures he took while we were in the Blue Ridge Mountains a few years ago.
This picture and others he took there have us convinced we will go back.
Just gorgeous!
Where do you want to travel next?
All the best,
Lois
Catherine, our daughter, is our super grocery shopper.
The honey glazed ham you see pictured is about 9.75 lbs and cost us a little over $8.00. I'm really sorry I had already thrown away the price tag with the markdown before I took this picture for the blog.
Anyway, Kroger must have ordered too many hams because the original price on this was about $34.00. The price was so good that Catherine bought several of them. She used ham for a group dinner of her dog club friends and we have more stored away here. The sell-by date on the ham is next month.
So, it pays to have a super shopper in the family. She gets some fantastic deals. Every little bit helps, doesn't it!
All the best,
Lois
It is so good to be retired and home with the pups.
Kjell took this image of Elsa (and Wendy on the left) while we were all taking a short nap in our bed yesterday. Elsa is touching Wendy and leaning on me. I'm under the black comforter. The pups just love nap time.
I think the contrast of the colors is beautiful.
All the best,
Lois
A friend is making sourdough again so we've been talking (actually emailing) about it. That got me going to start a new culture of sourdough.
This time I wrote on the lid of the jar I'm using so there will be no confusion about the yucky looking stuff in the jar. ;)
If you're interested in my whole process, it can be found here on this blog, complete with pictures: Sourdough Culture - Or - How to Grow Your Own Yeastie Beasties.
If you give it a try, let me know how yours turns out!
All the best,
Lois
Catherine, Elsa, and Lily spent the weekend at a dog show again. Lily goes along for socialization, Catherine and Elsa participate in the Agility Trials.
Elsa is collecting qualifying runs that transfer into points toward her titles. She is doing an excellent job and we are so very proud of her and her trainer/our daughter Catherine.
Congratulations!
Love you,
Mom & Dad
Here's Miss Wendy in the snow. She really loved going on and rubbing her nose through it. You can't see it in this still image, but her tail is wagging very happy wags.
Elsa and Lily were still in bed when I took these. Lily enjoyed her first snow and I had a hard time getting her to come in.
Happy Winter!
Lois
I took this image through the french doors in our dining room yesterday morning. After more than a week of warning us that snow was coming, the weather folks were finally right and it arrived.
With the snow has come some deadly-cold weather.
It's a good time to stay at home under a cozy afghan.
I hope you're comfy wherever you are.
Lois
Yesterday was bread baking day so the house smelled wonderful all afternoon. This one is has two huge scoops of sour cream in it that provides a smooth, rich texture to the bread.
Oh, yum!
:),
Lois
Good morning,
Catherine sent me this video of our puppy Lily playing with a friend's Brittany puppy.
The fun part is how they just flop, then fall over. They had a great time together.
So cute!
Lois
My "Christmas" Cactus has been blooming on and off since last Thanksgiving. No, I'm not complaining. I really love it that we get the extended blooming period. I'm sure it has to do with the differences in light and water from previous years when it would bloom only once just before Christmas.
So, all new blooms are welcome! There are many blooms and buds ready to open on the plant right now. I took the image above straight down from above the bloom. So delicate, so pretty!
It's it's delightful to have pretty blossoms inside when it is so very cold outside.
All the best,
Lois
I've recently finished a number of smaller items for the shop. Some still need to be photographed and listed.
So, I'm back on a bigger crochet project: another Bavarian Stitch Afghan Blanket. I took the picture without flash and was surprised to see the colors are really off when I downloaded it. The blanket at the top of the picture and under my crochet work is a pure white. The crochet work between the two lavender rows is antique white. Anyway, you'll surely see it correctly when I get it photographed and listed in the shop after it is finished.
There are a number of afghan blankets, including two Bavarian Stitch blankets currently in the shop.
It is so cold here on the South Coast of Ohio that it is a good day to stay home, sit by the fireplace, and crochet. Today, however, we'll go out to pick up our new eyeglasses and go to the post office to drop off some orders from the shop.
What are you making, baking, growing this week?
All the best,
Lois
Yesterday I showed you an image of Elsa getting my attention. Above you see how she gets Daddy's attention.
It's hard to ignore that stare! It was so cute he was taking a close up of Elsa.
;),
Lois
This will get my attention, all right! Elsa is standing on the foot rest of my recliner.
She was asking if she could come up and be a lap dog for awhile. Of course, I said yes.
If you have dogs or cats, how do they get your attention? ;)
Lois
Kjell took this image of Lily (left) and Wendy watching the ice storm outside.
This is a good weekend to stay inside by the fireplace!
Happy (?) Winter!
Lois
I've recently made a few afghan blankets for the shop, but have now paused the big projects for some smaller ones. I realized I had sold quite a few cloche hats and tissue toppers so I'm working on those for awhile so that there is a wide selection of each of those types of items available. The cloche hats are found in their own section here. Tissue toppers are in the Home Living Entertaining Section.
As soon as I have made a supply of these, I'll be back on the afghan blanket projects once again. I've already put together several color combinations and look forward to working on them.
What are you making, baking, growing this week?
All the very best,
Lois
When we returned home from an appointment yesterday we saw this large fellow sitting in a neighbor's tree.
Later in the day I found a partially dismembered small bird in our driveway. I can only guess the deceased was leftovers from Mr. Hawk's lunch.
Sad, but that's life, isn't it....
All the best,
Lois
As a very proud Mom, I'm sharing images of ribbons that Team Elsa (Our Five Year Old Labrador Retriever Elsa and our Daughter/Elsa's Trainer Catherine) brought home from the past two Agility Trials.
The ribbon above is for "High in Trial." Each of our pups (except baby Lily who isn't competing yet) has received at least one of these during his/her career.
We are so very proud of Elsa and Catherine! :)
Love you,
Mom and Dad
Thank you so much to those of you who have asked how Erik is doing. More than a week ago he started having balance issues that made him very uncomfortable.
The vet put him on meds and he has recovered nicely. Above you see him napping behind my recliner.
On April 4, Erik will be 15 years old which is quite elderly for a Labrador Retriever. Despite old age issues (I know about those things, too), he is doing quite well. We are so very lucky to still have him with us.
So, thanks again, for asking about Erik.
All the best,
Lois
This was excellent!
I made the oat bread, Hellman's made the real mayonnaise, Kjell boiled the raw shrimp in sea salt water (the way it is done in Norway), and I made the horse radish seafood sauce.
We each peeled our own shrimp.
This brings back memories of shrimp parties we had on board Splendour of the Seas more than 25 years ago. It was a crew thing to have these events. Fabulous memories and great shrimp.
All the best,
Lois
Welcome to the January, 2024, Needlework and Wood Working Update. This is where I collect images of all the items we've made since the last update into one place. It's fun to see what we've accomplished and provides a record that can be accessed in the future.
Above is an absolutely gorgeous clock that Kjell made for me for my birthday in December. He made all the pieces in his wood workshop. It is gorgeous! Thank you, Sweetheart!
So, I'm all caught up again. We have other projects in progress now that I'll share when finished in the next update.
We began our online shop in 2011 and are so very glad that we did. 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
Sweet Elsa climbed up on my bed and put her head on my shoulder before falling into a deep sleep after a day at Agility Trials last week.
Our canine athlete, Elsa, is the most cuddly dog I've ever had. Just precious.
All the best,
Lois
Lily seems to think those huge stacks of wood outside are her personal pile of chew sticks.
Of course, it's actually our firewood that she is "fetching." I'm convinced she must have a cellulose deficiency - not really - because of all of the wood she chews. She just leaves it in small pieces rather than swallowing it.
Anyway, by dragging the logs from the pile closer to the door, she is helping me get it inside. I just have to get it before she chews it into tiny pieces.
Ah, life with pups....
:),
Lois
Kjell sent me this picture that he snapped of Wendy. He had put a doggie blanket on the floor next to his computer chair in the living room as an invitation to our 14 year old Erik, but Wendy got there first. Our pups love to be close to us and she took the opportunity to get there in a hurry. So sweet.
Erik didn't seem to mind. He sat down next to my chair.
Being owned by a dog (or several of them) is such a pleasure.
:),
Lois
Catherine just sent me this image of both Elsa (left) and Lily in the Happy New Year photo shoot. The image I shared earlier only featured Elsa.
It's fun to see these pups side by side. Lily is ten months old now and has gotten so much more mature. Well, she looks mature, but she sure still acts like a puppy! ;)
Elsa is Lily's Aunt. We are so pleased with our Labs from this blood line.
So, again, Happy 2024!
Lois
One thing about our local dog club is that they certainly eat well. They do a great job on desserts, too.
The only thing wrong with this picture is that I didn't get any of that cake.
Don't feel sorry for me. I have so many sweets around the house from the holidays that I feel I'm walking through a sugar mine field just to walk from the living room to the kitchen. ;)
All the best,
Lois
Wendy just couldn't stay awake to welcome 2024. She's snoozing with her new bumble bee pillow that Santa brought to her.
We hope you have a happy and healthy 2024!
All the best,
Lois
