Welcome to my new blog, Yarns from the Lake. I will be writing about a variety of topics including observations on life in Otter Tail County compared to life in the Twin Cities, retirement, my yarn adventures, things that happen, projects I am working on, cool photos I take, essays on various topics, traveling, and whatever else I think of.

My husband and I recently moved to my parents’ home on Jewett Lake, about 12 miles north of Fergus Falls, and about 200 miles north and west of the Twin Cities. It is a big change after spending most of our lives in “the Cities” as they say here. We have spent a lot of time at Jewett Lake over the years due to my extended family having a cabin here, and my parents building their retirement home on the lake 20 years ago. We are happy to be here but a little nervous about January and February. The Twin Cities is not exactly tropical either, but this is a land where there are gates to close off the highway during snow and high wind conditions. Think of the winter scenes in the movie “Fargo”.

I find no end of things to do with knitting, spinning, reading, watching movies and shows, doing bookkeeping and other duties for the family cabin, walking and hiking, visiting my Dad in the nursing home, helping with Tangles to Treasures Weaving Studio and Yarn shop in Fergus Falls (http://www.tanglestotreasures.com/) , and sorting, purging and rearranging stuff in my parents’ house. My husband, Wayne, is more worried than I am about cabin fever during the winter, so he just bought a bunch of ice fishing equipment. Watch for a post about that later.

Thank you Cindy Lindgren for creating my site logo that you see above, as well as a business logo and business card for my sales of yarn and handmade goods. My sister-in-law Marlene Maloney came up with some sketches of possible looks, and Cindy took one of those and made it look awesome and perfect. Cindy is a professional graphic designer who designed the St Paul Winter Carnival button for this winter…how cool is that? Luckily for me, she is good friends with Marlene. Cindy has cards and other products for sale at multiple stores and online including images of Paul Bunyon and Babe the Blue Ox riding a bike, playing hockey, etc. Following is a link to her web site: http://www.cindylindgren.com/

I will be posting photos of things that you don’t see in Minnetonka, and other pictures I take. Following are two for today.

I hope you enjoy my blog!