renewable energy info

Here's the url for Database of State Incentives for Renewable Energy:

http://www.dsireusa.org

OFFF (Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival)

I went to OFFF on Sunday and met up with Linda, and we started shopping around without any delay. It was a lovely, sunny and warm day, and there was something like 50 vendors set up on the grassy area, besides all the booths in 2 buildings. was almost overload on the senses... but we managed to keep our senses. At noon we met up with 2 Janes, and kept on shopping! Had a wonderful lamb kabob for lunch right there at the fairgrounds, even tho we'd planned to go into Canby for lunch. And we kept on shopping. Saw quite a few friends and twisted sisters, visited with and got hugs from lots of vendor friends... and Linda and I kept enjoying being able to spend the day having fun and NOT having to work in a booth!! Bravo!! and we kept on shopping! Now, one would think that with all that shopping we'd be loaded down with fibers... however, we didn't do a lot of buying. Here's what i bought:

the blue/green on the left is pygora from Peppermint Pastures (Darlene Chambers), as is the bag of white fiber on the right. I really love her packaging.. and her fibers! and in the middle is an irresistable bundle of merino/tussah from Dicentra,
Lisa Milliman. and i didn't even try to resist! unfortunately, my camera doesn't do well with accuracy in bright colors. (or the camera operator doesn't quite know what she's doing) what looks like purpley/pink is really a bright fuschia pink, which i totally love! i think i'll start spinning it tonight while watching Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert and then Boston Legal. the choices on the tube have gotten so crappy that those are the only shows that i go out of my way to watch.

You can find Lisa's lovely fibers at Crown Mountain Farms (and at fiber shows)
http://www.crownmountainfarms.com/
Dicentra Fibers

about solar panels

I just googled "energy trust" and came up with lots of leads on where to get information. We got a grant from Energy Trust of Oregon, after the company we bought the panels from submitted the papers and request. I think there was something from federal gov., too, plus tax credits, both state and fed, which brings the cost down considerably. If anyone has questions, let me know and i'll be happy to help you find answers! I was really hoping we could get a windmill, but a study done by some agency or other says that we don't get enough wind here to make it worthwhile. I just don't believe that!... we consistently get quite healthy winds coming up the ravine! so, now i want to get some sort of wind meter to record what we get here.

more solar

Although this won't be the case all the time... I was awed that after about 45 min. of collecting the solar power, the electric meter stopped and we were providing all the energy from the panels to supply the house. Would have been nice if we could have started in June, when we first started working on the project.. but that didn't happen. I'm finally learning not to believe those early estimates of "when it will be done"! lowered expectations make my life a lot less stressful. here's some pics i took today of the solar panels and Jim:

Solar Power!!!

At 3:35 pm today the electrician threw the switch and we started feeding solar power from our panels into the PGE system!! The meter, besides having a read-out for kw of power generated, also tells how many pounds of greenhouse gases are eliminated!
YAY!! Jim has put in a lot of long hours getting this system ready, together with Cliff from Inland Electric, from whom we bought the system. I'm so happy the sun is bright today so we could watch the meter tickin' away. stay tuned for photos....

Pleasure

Still going thru papers and stuff, sorting, throwing out, etc, and I found a yellowed and tattered clipping from a newspaper (1990). There is a quote from a book by Ruth Gendler, "The Book of Qualities": "Pleasure is wild and sweet. She likes purple flowers. She loves the sun and the wind and the night sky. She carries a silver bowl full of liquid moonlight. She has a cat named Midnight with stars on his paws. Many people mistrust Pleasure and even more misunderstand her. For a long time I could hardly stand to be in the same room with her. I thought she was a gossip and a flirt and she drank too much. In school we learned that she was dangerous, and I was sure that she would distract me from my work. I didn't realize she could nurture me. As I have changed, Pleasure has changed. I have learned to value her friendship." It has taken a long long time for me to look at pleasure as something to be cherished, rather than quiltily sneak a peek at her. 'spose that comes from the Presbyterian/Southern Baptist upbringing?? I've come a long way, baby!

OPB

WOW! I've always enjoyed programming on OPB, but this week is outstanding! Last night was over the top. There was Bruce Springsteen in a concert from England "We Shall Overcome", The Pete Seeger Sessions. I have the cd of this and love listening to it, and seeing it done was so excellent! And there was a show on John Denver which was very nostalgic and sweet. always did love him. Then coming up later this week is Dixie Chicks, who i listen to over and over. I've especially admired them since they publically dissed dubya, got "in trouble" for that and never backed down! All this goodness is even sweeter because Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert are still reruns of previous shows... very disappointing!! Just don't know why they think they can take time off and only appear 4 nights/week when they ARE working. They are my most enjoyed source of "news", after all!

going shopping now... to the fabric store to fill in the gaps in the fabric stash so I can work on Zylie's quilt.

oh... and how could i forget? a couple of nights ago they had a show with "the best of Stars on Ice".. and figure skating is another of my gotta see it shows! it is, of course, one of their fund raising weeks, but they seem to let programs run longer before they do their pleasae donate pitching. and, yes, i have donated! wish i could give more. it is worth it to have the kind of programming they do AND to not have the damn commercials.

fabric stash runneth over

Wow! too bad my memory's gotten so lame, or i'd have remembered what a lovely stash of quilting fabric i've accumulated... and would have gotten back to it sooner. Have been thinking lately about finishing a quilt i just barely started a couple of years ago for Zylie. So having grown exceedingly tired of the ongoing chore of reorganizing my office room (dear goddess, where on earth did all these papers come from???) - today i pulled out the fabric, cleared off the work table and started pawing thru all this bounty. Now i remember why i was stumped with Zylie's quilt, and figured out a way to remedy that. The fabric is Moda in soft cotton/flannel and looks a lot like this. http://www.connectingthreads.com/books/books_display.aspx?itemid=991077

but the figures on mine are the elephant with the bird on its back, the mouse-looking creature in a tutu and the jack-in-a-box, and has some narrower strips with different designs in them. Also have some fabric in the same colors which has same
figures, but very small and scattered on a background of cream or light purple. will take pictures somewhere along the way. And i'm working with my muse on a design for a quilt for Alex. He has totally outgrown the baby quilt i made for him, though he does still sleep with it (aawwww), so it's time for a new one.

if the link isn't highlighted so you can just click on it, try copy and paste. am having trouble getting this to work. ratz!!