Wind Turbines , Bookcases, and Country Chili

Pine Mountain

Hello 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.

February on Pine Mountain

Pine Mountain

Hello all. We are starting to get readers in many countries around the world. I want to welcome all of you. Pine mountain is a place to relax and enjoy yourself.

February has arrived on Pine Mountain and it is acting more like March. Another big storm is arriving with high winds and more snow. I have finished my barn chores and just sat down for breakfast. I have raisan bran and milk and scrambled eggs with bacon. I am trying another coffee from http://www.coffeefool.com/. Today I am trying Pacific Expresso. This is a dark roasted coffee with a smooth but strong after taste. Just the coffee to start the day.

Wind Turbines

Today we are starting on this years energy upgrade. We already have a Bergey 10 k wind turbine on an 80 foot tower, a pelton water turbine, twenty130 watt solar panels, and a 10 k diesel generator. Most of the time we sell power back to the local power company at least when the power lines are up and working. This winter we have had 3 power outages because of winter storms. Each outage has lasted 3 or 4 days. This has made our diesel generator run more than I would like. Right now our state is offering a large rebate on additional renewable power generation. You receive $2.50 per watt on the first 7500 watts and $1.50 a watt from 7500 to 30 k watts. We are going to put in a vertical 10 k turbine this time. Our first turbine was made by Bergey Wind Power in Norman, Oklahoma. It is a 10 k yellow and white excel model that looks like a small airplane on it's 80 foot tower. The three blade rotor begins turning at about 10 mph but produces less than 1 k watts at that speed. It takes a 35 mph wind to get 10 k watts out of this turbine. Here on Pine mountain we have a lot of wind but our average wind is 18 to 20 mph not 35 mph. At 18 mph we only get 5 k watts not 10 k watts. Even with the power from the water turbine and the solar panels we are only about 8 k watts. When I run any machinery in the barn or the shop the generator has to run and with the ever increasing fuel costs it can get expensive. The vertical turbine is a Delta II from a new solar company called Pacwind in Torrance California. They just finished installing one on Jay Leno's garage. They have 4 models to choose from, the Seahawk, the Aeolian, the Delta I, and the Delta II. The Seahawk is a 500 watt unit that is only 30 inches in diameter by 48 inches high. The Aeolian is 120 inches in diameter and 60 inches high and produces 5 k watts. The Delta I is a 2 K watt unit that is 78 inches in diameter and 48 inches high. The Delta II is a 10 k watt unit that is 156 inches in diameter by 156 inches high. The Delta II is the one that we are putting in. It will be producing power much sooner 6 mph compared to 10 mph for our Bergey. To find out more information on Pacwind go to http://www.pacwind.net/. If you are one of those individuals that is handy with their hands and want to try and built a homemade unit go to www.otherpower.com/windbasics1.html. If you would like to become an expert on wind power go to http://deserthab.offgrid07.hop.clickbank.net/. Here you will find the book refered to as the alternative energy bible.

Pine Mountain Evening

It is evening now. We have spent the day in the basement running new conduit and junction boxes for our new wind generator while the latest winter storm howled outside. I make a light supper of chicken soup and crackers followed by apple sauce and hot chocolate. I then go into the family room and soon have a nice fire going in the fireplace. I let Squeakers the african grey parrot out of his cage and put him on his perch. I feed him some treats and he starts talking away mostly to himself. He even has this strange bird laugh that he does that makes him sound like he is in an old pirate movie. I read some e mails on my computer then I read my Discover magazine. I am falling asleep in my easy chair so I put Squeekers back in his cage and head off to bed. Good night from Pine Mountain. See you next week.