Old boiler

Empty boiler room! Now What? There are holes in the ceiling, wall and floor. It will take more work to make it an office.

Old boiler is now gone! New one in the basement.

This happened a week ago saturday. They took out the old boiler and I lived for three days without heat or hot water. I spent evenings with Nicole, using her shower and sleeping at home. Monday I got a call from the guys putting in the new boiler to say that the thermostat was broken and they wouldn't be able to come for a week to put the new boiler in. "NO, NO, NO! I have no heat or hot water. I need it tomorrow!" "OKAY! ", he says, "I'll send someone to Minneapolis to get a thermostat." WHEW! He almost got an earful!

This is my house.

Side yard facing house!


Cally loves this yard! Below is the garage, the side my kitchen window faces. So cute, she left the birdbath for me.

Pantry Cupboards and cupboard over range--I hope to put a new microwave in above the range.

Home of new microwave!

WIP! 10/2007

Ellie's new Navy sweater out of "Special Knits" It is supposed to have beads, but I left those off. Here is a close up of the pattern.

Ellie's Wallaby - up to the sleeves! I love this pattern. This striped pattern will match Josh's blue/white sweater and then I'll do a baby blue one for Logan.

Ellie's pink socks out of Classic Elite's stretch yarn. I have totally forgotten the name but will add when I remember. A little light on the memory these days.








Today is Sunday. I had the shop open Thurs, Fri and Sat this week. It was a great week. I have lots of customers stopping in to say goodbye. Cheryl Gansy came in with a yellow rose on Friday. I haven't seen her for awhile because she has been in school. She is now working on her practicum. It was such a treat to see her and have her bring me a rose and a hug. I hope alot of my regular customers will attend the Bungee group on Saturdays. We will meet at Betsy's Back Porch on the 27th of October and then we'll continue two Saturdays a month. I will post the dates on my website and if you'd like to be on the email list just shoot me an email at Bonny@creativefibers.com

Still fighting bugs! Let's have a frost. Working in the garden today - more updates later.

Old friends

I have not been a good blogger lately. Sorry about that. It's just been a little crazy around here.
Here's the update.

No buyer for the shop. So, I am now trying to get everything sold and out of there before the 30th. My customers are the best, however, they keep coming back and buying just to help me out. I really appreciate their support. I'm very stressed right now due to the closing and moving. The possibility of a buyer was exciting and then that fell through so now I have to get rid of everything. Makes me a little crazy!

The house is coming along. The windows are repaired and the boiler was taken out Sat. Therefore, I have no heat or hot water, (just a few more inconveniences). New boiler to arrive on Tuesday and hot water heater. Meanwhile I shower at Nicole's and so far I can sleep at the house at night.

The water softener tank is leaking so it will probably have to be replaced. The electrician is scheduled for Wednesday so I should be pretty okay by then. I have to find fixtures tomorrow, get a hair cut and have a physical.

This weekend was quite fun, actually. The church I used to go to, Transfiguration Lutheran Church in Bloomington had it's 50th Anniversary this weekend. I was invited back for the Banquet and 7 PM service Sat. night. My daugher, Nicole and baby Logan came with me. My dear friend, KLW also attended and was part of the program. She sang a beautiful song for the service. It was a very special evening with lots of memories with old friends. I was a member at this church for about 20 year during the growing years of my family. The children were very involved in the programs at church and I volunteered for 15 years before I got a paid position as Sunday School Coordinator and KLW was the Youth Director and the current ELCA Bishop, Craig Johnson was Sr. Pastor. Ray Ormand and Rich Chronis were the other two pastors. They have moved onto other churches but sent video messages to us during the service.

Since I left 10 years ago - they have built a new addition to the church. It is a gorgeous facility. Vern Christoferson is the Sr. Pastor and has been for 10 years. It was so good to connect with all the old friends that I hardly get to see anymore. Sunday morning Nicole and all three babies and Jenna came with me to church. KLW arrived with her husband and my other two grandchildren. Bishop Johnson preached and we had great music and lots of great memories. We had so much fun the 5 years Craig was Pastor and KLW was Youth Director. Those were the best years at that church, I believe. My children have great memories from the church family. Craig's wife, Cindy, made it to the service and it was so good to see her. She is such a good friend and I hardly get a chance to visit with her cuz she's so busy. She is the director of Camp Noah a branch of LSS. Wherever there is a dissaster, there is Cindy. She works like a crazy woman but this career fits her well. I have volunteered with Cindy and Craig and I have been employed by both of them at different times.

I think it was great to be back at TLC but it would never be like it was back then. It's a very different church right now and that is good but I don't feel the same about it as I did back then. It's just good to have all those memories and get hugs from all those old friends.

Not much knitting got done this week.

vegetable garden

Joshua called today to say, "Nanna I picked tomatoes and carrots from the garden." "Four tomatoes!" This from a garden no one tended all summer except the sprinkler system. It's amazing they got anything from this garden. He was so proud of his produce. The carrots were about the size of your pinky but at least he got to see where they came from other than the super market.



I went to the Farmer's market this morning and bought tomatoes, green beans, and potatoes. There were very few vendors this morning. Lots of great looking squash and pumpkins. I bought some mums a couple weeks ago and they are finally blooming this week. The same guy was at the market today - he had lots of mum plants left.



One of my favorite rug weavers is having an open house Tonight - I couldn't make it - she has a website http://www.artandes.com/ - Melanie is located in the Showroom at Northrup King Building. She has incredible rugs.



Have you heard about "Webkinz"? They are stuffed animals with a computer chip. They come with a secret code and then your animal becomes an interactive virtual pet. The pet must be watered, exercised, taken to the vet, etc. On the virtual world the user learns about different topics, reading, spelling, responsibility, games and activities. It's quite clever - you can check it out at http://www.webkinz.com/.



I think I'm winning the war against the bugs! I keep my vacuum handy and that seems to take care of the problem.



Working on Ellie's Blue sweater for Thanksgiving. It's Karabella Aurora 8 using a Debbie Bliss pattern from "Special Knits". I'm using the pattern called "beaded cardigan". I'm not beading it however. It's got a nice pattern that works well with the Karabella yarn. I forgot the baby blanket at the shop tonight. I'll get some photos up this week.



Happy Knitting

boxelder bugs

I have an abundance of boxelder (sp?) bugs on the house outside and crawling somehow into the house. They make me feel itchy. I vacuum them every night but more keep showing up. I hope it freezes soon.

I now have a new garage door and opener - this will be great during the winter. It's a bit of a tight squeeze getting my car into that small garage. I cleaned the garage on Sunday so I could get my car in. If I drive straight in, I'm good.

My windows are being repaired as well as the front door. I guess the boiler is in but I haven't got a date scheduled. Things are getting done but very slowly. At least I'll get my windows washed this fall. I also picked up a dehumidifier this week. After all the rain the basement smelled damp. I also got my washer and dryer hooked up so I feel alot better now.

I have had some time to knit. I'm now on the sleeves for Ellie's sweater and swatched her new blue sweater. Logan's blanket is finally coming along. I kept forgetting a yarn over and so it would look lopsided. I'm nearly done with the vest for me that I work on at the shop.

Monday I got my hair dyed. It had been a kind of brassy red and I couldn't get it blonde again. I tried a new salon in Chaska and finally got BLONDE! I'm planning on highlighting it when it grows out a little longer. I guess I have alot of red in my hair from what everyone tells me.

Had a great weekend with Ellie, Logan and Nicole. Peter and Josh went up to the lake so Ellie was feeling a little lonely. Saturday night they came over to play at the "Pink Park" and then we went to have ice cream in Chaska. Great ice cream parlor next to the liquor store. Then we came to my house and got her jammies on. She loves coming to my house. She really misses Josh when he's gone. They are so close. We shopped the Eden Prairie Mall and the Burnsville Mall. Ellie is a great shopper. Logan just eats and sleeps, oblivious to this shopping experience.

The shop is going well. We still have a fair amount of yarn, especially weaving cones, needles, books and buttons. Customers are being very generous. I am very grateful to them.

Gotta go knit!