Tuesday, May 30, 2006

The Joys of Solar

The joys of solar... mowing! Well, OK, maybe mowing the lawn isn't a JOY, exactly, but I do appreciate the particular arrangement we have for mowing:


Tada! Mowing the grass with direct sun-power. The grass grew with sun-power, why not mow with the same? The loooong orange cord doesn't go directly to the panel because the power has to go through the inverter first, but it's about as direct as you can get. The electric mower is a kick, too... sounds like a vaccuum cleaner, with no noxious emissions. The chickens run away from it the same way the cats run away from the vaccuum inside. You just have to be a lot more careful about not running over the cord!


The other use for sun this weekend was airing and cleaning and confirming that the moths are gone (whoohooo!). Good Dog, do I have a lot of stuff. This is only about half of what was in that basement room. Sheesh. Would you like to see the very first dress I ever wore to a formal high school dance, ca. 1989? You would?!? Behold:



It wasn't even a favorite, really... WHY do I still have this stuff? Mostly it's all the stuff I ever abandoned at my parent's house when I left for college, etc, coming back to haunt me. They've moved and gotten rid of all this stuff, and thoughtfully sent it all back to me. Aieeee! Now I guess it's finally time for decisions and off-loading. Feels good to finally be rid of it, but that make-less-garbage part of me wants to make sure it doesn't just end up in the landfill. Old bridesmaid dresses, anyone??

2 comments:

Endment said...

would love to know more about your solar system...

Oh - the joys of memorabilia --- the amazing things we keep ;-)

Liz said...

Now *that's* the way to mow a lawn! I feel kind of embarrassed now, because we're considering getting a more powerful gas mower. I don't really know what else to do and the terrain is so hilly and lush that it nearly kills me everytime I mow (AND we each only mow half). I wish I could cut less grass, or rent a couple of sheep, but so far those options aren't viable. Yet.