Pine MountainHello from Pine Mountain. It is the third week in February already. Winter can not make up it's mind whether it wants to leave or stay. The first part of the week was warm and mild and the snow started to melt then another winter storm came. This storm brought cold artic air with it and the snowline went all the way down to 1200 feet.
It has been an exciting week here on the mountain. We finally have our new vertical wind turbine up and running. It took about 4 months on a waiting list because of all the demand that Jay Leno stirred up when he installed a Delta II on his green garage. The Pacwind company has been swamped with orders since September. All I can say is the results are well worth the wait. Up here on this windy mountain it is turning constantly and producing power. It is a state of the art piece of machinery. It sits glistening white on top of a 30 foot tower. We are averaging 7 kilowatts compared to only 4 to 5 kilowatts our Bergey wind turbine produces at the same wind speeds. If you are ready for wind power I recommend the Pacwind vertical turbines. You just have to be a little patient while the company catches up with the demand. To view all the Pacwind vertical turbines go to http://www.pacwind.net/.
This week I have been in my wood shop. The little furniture shop down the mountain needed some small cherry wood bookcases and a couple small end tables. Their usual supplier was out of stock so they called and asked if I could make them instead. I find working with fine wood relaxing and I have sold a few of my creations to the little furniture shop before. I worked all week making the bookcases and end tables and just returned from delivering them to the furniture shop. I stopped at the country store and bought some ground beef for supper tonight. That is why I am a little late sending out this week's story. I am glad I do not have to buy milk or eggs because prices are going through the roof.
I am writing while making my dinner. Dinner tonight is country chili. I start with a can of kidney beans, add a pound of ground beef that I have browned in a skillet, then I add tomatoes, green peppers, and anaheim chili peppers from my greenhouse. I add a few spices including a dash of cayenne pepper and simmer for about an hour. While I am waiting for the chili to cook I make a pot of this weeks coffee from http://www.coffeefool.com/. I am trying a flavored coffee called buttered rum. It has a smooth rich taste that is meant to be savored. I make a salad from lettuce, tomatoes and bell peppers from my garden greenhouse. I add a dash of ranch dressing and put the dinner rolls in the oven. I have a large dish of my chili, some dinner rolls and apple pie for dessert. The apples for the pie came from our own orchards.
After dinner I retire to my easy chair in the family room beside the warm fire in our stone fireplace. I put Squeakers my African Grey parrot on his perch by the fire and hang his peanut holder so that he can work pulling peanuts out of the holes. Squeakers pulls a peanut out of a hole with his beak, holds the shell with his left foot takes the peanuts out with his beak then drops the shell in the plastic tray that his stand sits in. He jabbers away and says all kinds of comical things even laughing at himself sometimes with his parrot laugh. I read my Discover magazine and enjoy my buttered rum coffee. After an hour or so the fire has burned down and I am tired so I put Squeakers back in his cage and and close the firescreen on the fireplace. I head off to bed. Another day is done. Good night all. See you next week.
