Happy St. Patrick's Day

St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, is one of Christianity's most widely known figures. St. Patrick's Day is celebrated on March 17, his religious feast day and the anniversary of his death in the fifth century. The Irish have observed this day as a religious holiday for over a thousand years. The first St. Patrick's Day parade took place not in Ireland, but in the United States. Irish soldiers serving in the English military marched through New York City on March 17, 1762. Along with their music, the parade helped the soldiers to reconnect with their Irish roots, as well as fellow Irishmen serving in the English army. The shamrock, which was also called the "seamroy" by the Celts, was a sacred plant in ancient Ireland because it symbolized the rebirth of spring. By the seventeenth century, the shamrock had become a symbol of emerging Irish nationalism. As the English began to seize Irish land and make laws against the use of the Irish language and the practice of Catholicism, many Irish began to wear the shamrock as a symbol of their pride in their heritage and their displeasure with English rule. Just a little history trivia for today! I have no idea where the corn beef and cabbage comes in nor getting pinched if you are not wearing green! No pinches for me and corn beef on rye for supper tonight! Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Equilibrium

I had to look this word up in the dictionary to be certain I spelled it correctly so I could blog about it. It was then that I looked at the definition! It wasn't until about the 3rd one down that it talked about your body and balance. First definition is "a state of intellectual or emotional balance". lol that's probably what I have also! This morning early when I got up it was like, whoa......we are dizzy and off balance. And it never went away. So, after much debate I slipped in to the doctor. I have some fluid on the ear and that is causing the unbalance. It wasn't until he asked me if I had had a cold that I remembered about two weeks ago I had a bad sore throat and dry cough for maybe a week but it went away.....right to my ear! Viral so no drugs. Really feels wierd. Missed my morning walk but will see if I can't get out later. All I can do is fall and roll down a hill! But with friends along they can pick me up!

snow whiskers

Yesterday AM and this morning both were cold. Like 8 degrees with a wind chill making it "feel like" below zero. Cold is just cold. I go out to the park every morning at 7:30 AM with a girlfriend and we brisk walk 4 miles. Yesterday we were both up to starting to jog again. First I was overdressed. Silk underwear, long sleeve t-shirt and hoodie. Should have left the t-shirt off. I do have a wonderful running cap, kind of a poly beanie. Absorbs the sweat so it is nice and warm. When we run, we both have ipods so the music is on and off we go. Well, after a mile we were sweating profusely and at 8 degrees that stuff freezes. When we got back to the pickup I thought I'd wet my pants I was laughing so hard. Kim had on a knit stocking cap and her entire cap was frosted white, her eye lashes were white with frozen moisture and her little wisps of hair hanging out from the cap were white. Even what little facial hair was white. She, in turn, was laughing hysterically at me. My cap wasn't white but I looked like a bobcat with whiskers. For some reason the sweat all collected by my ear lobes and I had these dangling snow whiskers, crystal stuff. Eyelashes and brows frosted white. It would have been great to have gotten a picture. Kim commented that if anyone saw us then they would think we were nuts!! We must be.............we went out and did it again this morning!! Stay warm!

Preparing.....The solar test

We passed!! LaVern has been studying solar power for months now. When we went to the home show in Denver and he was talking to a "solar power guru" LaVern told him that we wanted to get down to 3 kw a day (I think that is 3000 watts). The guy told LaVern that was pretty agressive but we still thought it was something we could do. LaVern has been checking everything with a meter. So, one day last week we tried it. Now we have been using an average of about 20-25 kw a day, at least. But then, no regard to leaving lights on, etc etc. He shut the water heater off (since it is electric) and the corn/pellet stove as we wouldn't have that off grid but we used everything else as normal. In 24 hours we used less than 2 kw!!!! Amazing! He turned the stove and water heater on and in one hour we had used 5 kw! lol We have been making an effort not to use so much electricity and we are seeing the results. LaVern tracks our meter daily and we have slowly brought it down. Now we pay attention to not leaving lights on and what actually uses electricity. I have an old electric egg cooker for hard boiled eggs and it went in to the trash the other day. I have weeded out a box of electric appliances that I barely use once a year. Can't wait to be off grid some day. I know some of you think we are crazy but it is kind of like the "my vote won't count" theory. It does and we know we can make a difference for Mother Earth and be kinder.