Wind Turbines

Here are a couple of pics of the non assembled wind turbines near highway 21 (I think it's on highway 9). I should have left the vehicle to take them, but I was too lazy, it was cold. They are just soooooo cool. (Oh my goodness those pictures are horrible, Adam's schnoz is in the way, oh well). I love going to the Wind Farm on 21, it is surreal. I could just watch them forever. I would love to put one up in my back yard, but I think they need to be at least 400 metres from any house (well, I think it depends on the municipality, some setbacks are even more). I think my neighbours would protest. We have thought many times of going off grid, doing a strawbale addition, all pipedreams at this point. I think we need to concentrate on the inside reno's first, considering my house fell down off the supports a couple of weeks ago. We bought a huge steel I beam that we have to install. All the weight is resting in one area.

To Plant or Not To Plant. . .?

I saved my coveted black hollyhock and malva seeds. I am getting pretty antsy this week and I keep looking at them, wondering if Wiarton Willy the prognosticator was correct, and thinking, maybe I should start them indoors. I have no idea. . .I think you start things six to eight weeks before Spring. I definitely want to make sure that the black ones live. I want to make sure that the malva ( I am not sure of the actual generic type), grows. The malva species, is different than any other that I have had. It is bright pink, with large flowers, and is more on par with a hibiscus than any other malva I have encountered. The flowers were so fascinating, that I made sure that I saved them, and squirreled them away into a drawer in the Hoosier. It feels like this winter has gone on forever. But it wasn't until sometime in January that we actually had to start wearing snow gear, and drag our shovels out of the sheds. I want to see some green. I want to see some hope. Spring is hope. It was in December I had wandered out to the tin shed to try to remove the lawn tractor's battery, and actually found a yellow jacket nest, with a few dozy, but mobile wasps crawling around in it. I squashed the wasp's nest, but ended up forgetting to remove the battery. It wasn't coming out easily, and I figured I would come back out with a screw driver, and then got distracted by something else. Sometimes I wonder (in all seriousness) if I may have a form of Adult ADD. I will start something, and then something happens and then I am on to something else. I looked at some distance ed courses again. The Philosophy courses make me drool. My BIG ISSUE in my life is that what the heck can you do with Philosophy? My friends have heard my countless rants, about how it is a valid, and needed in life, and you can take Philosophy and use it in many different types of applications. Thomas Hurka did an excellent essay on the benefits of Philosophy. Philosophy is a great foundation for those pursuing a career in Law. But what the hell am I going to do with Philosophy? There is teaching, there are ethic boards (hospitals, etc). It can be a gateway to other careers. My other option is Psychology, my third option is Journalism. I have yet to find any distance ed courses in Journalism though. It's hard to fall head over heals in love with something, and then try to persuade yourself of it's utility. For eight years I have been humming and hawwing, and mulling and ruminating. I also have pushed it aside in the last few years, avoiding it. If I can take a full course load during the year, I can go back to work for the summer's. I just have to get the inertia going, and I did make a vow to myself that this will be the year. I just need to give myself a big swift kick in the bum, get my auctions up (when we get the new computer), and then dive in. My dishwasher (omg. . .see off topic again) is acting up. I am getting flecks. I threw a whack of pickling vinegar in it, scrubbed down the sides, tried to access the filter (no avail, need to find the instruction book), and then ran it through with some Citric Acid. It is still icky. Maybe if I take the shop vac to it and stick it in the filter area, it may clear it out. How rivetting. I am just so enthralled right now.