Curiosity Satisfied

Several years ago, from my east facing kitchen window, I noticed a row of blinking red lights in the distance. Because my travels never take me in that direction I had no idea what they were for.

But on clear days, I could see they coincided with a string of wind turbines. Last Fall, thinking they might be only four or five kilometers away, I decided to take a little drive and look for them. But my line of sight was obstructed with fields of tall corn, bush lots and rolling terrain. I never did find them and gave up looking. 

Well, last week my brother and his son were out for a visit and we decided to hunt them down. It was quite misty and visibility was not good but at least the corn fields had been harvested. We drove and drove without finding any trace of them. Then, FINALLY, there they were! Much farther away (about 20 km) and further to the south than I had reckoned. They were huge and utterly silent, with slowly turning blades. I checked the website of the company that owns them, Nation Rise Wind Farm. There are 29 wind turbines, all Enercon E-138 3.4 MW. Their parent company is EDP Group (Energias de Portugal), a multinational utility company. 

 

Even up close, they were completely silent.

Nation Rise S1 and Nation Rise S2.

There are six of them in this shot from my brother's van.

 

 

I like their logo design.

*   *   *   *   *

My sister has made and given away dozens of quilts. A couple of decades ago, she made one we call 'The Heritage Quilt'. The blocks are made from cotton and flannel shirts once worn by our mom and dad. 

But this quilt is not just a work of art or a fond reminder of our kind and hard working parents. Except for very hot summer nights, it's been keeping me snug and warm all these years. One of the lighter fabrics, originally a blouse mom wore, has started to fray. I decided to cover the damaged squares with patches from my stash. 

I gave each patch a square of polar fleece backing to maintain the quiltiness.

This photo was taken in 2007.

One of the fabrics has started to fray.

My first patch job.

My second block repair is a better style match.

 

*   *   *   *   *

 

I'm still loving to knit socks and have enough yarn on hand to see the winter through without aimlessly twiddling my fingers. 

One of my cousins is an expert knitter and even owned her own knitting shop. Some years back she surprised me with a gift of hand knitted, wool blend socks. They were gorgeous and my feet never felt so pampered!

So I asked her what her favourite brand of yarn was. Her opinion was that European yarn is superior to North American yarn. She recommended a German yarn called 'Regia'. I bought some and now see what she means. Much easier to work with. Better twist and little fuzz and splitting. Same content ratio of 75% wool and 25% nylon.

Yarn from Germany. So nice to work with.

Five pairs of socks in waiting.

 

*   *   *   *   *

November has been exceptionally mild. In fact we even had a green Christmas this year. So on Boxing Day, I decided to take a long walk to our bush lot.

Two things became clear:  

1.  I need more exercise.

2.  I need some rest benches along the trail.

*   *   *   *   *

Decided to make my own 2024 calendar. I used The City of Ottawa garbage schedule for the months. It worked out quite well I thought.

Kudos to my trusty Epson Econo Tank printer!

*   *   *   *   *

So as 2023 fades away, I'm wishing you all a splendid and peaceful 2024.