St. Leon Wind Farm

Wind farms are being developed here on our windy prairie. There is one being proposed not too far from where we live and there's been plenty of local controversy about it. We had to drive through St. Leon on our way home from Boissevain (which was on the way home from Regina - see post below), and since they have a wind farm, we decided to take an up close look at one of the windmills, take some pics, and stretch our legs.






The screws that hold the windmill onto the concrete base are really big - they stick up about a foot or more. They're each covered with a plastic sleeve.




The windmills really are huge. Wouldn't it be neat to have a small one on your own yard and generate your own power?

The farm sits on the Pembina Escarpment and there are 63 windmills, occupying over 18,000 acres (with crop surrounding them) - enough to generate power for 41,000 homes. Having this up and running is supposedly the green equivalent of taking 70,000 cars off the road or planting 1.7 million trees.






They have an interpretive center there (K's class had a field trip here last year) and behind it there's a dock on the lake. The lake was so tranquil - it was a gorgeous eveing.



Soon we were back in the car for the rest of the ride home.

Tommy the Turtle

This is going back in time a bit, but when we came home from Regina the beginning of August, we had to make a stop in Boissevain so that A could do a tiny little job there for a customer. I'm never thrilled about doing this, because sometimes these little jobs can grow into bigger ones, and it ends up taking much longer than expected. This time I was promised "only 15 minutes!" and in actual fact it turned out to be less than 10. Meanwhile, I took the kids a couple blocks away to check out Boissevain's giant turtle, Tommy.



C was less than excited about being part of this shot. It is kind of little kid-ish, but he survived:



Apparently they have turtle races during their town festival.


Not too far from Tommy, there's a gift shop with some neat items for sale. Here's a chair made of antlers:



The International Peace Gardens are just a little ways down the road from Boissevain (25 miles or so) and I've always wanted to go, but it was getting late and we had some miles yet to cover to get home, so we decided against it. We'll have to check that out another time.

A Cowboy and some flowers (not in that order)

A few flowers are still blooming outside.

This is K's flower bed. Good old petunias - long lasting color:



A few containers on our unfinished deck:



'Matrona' sedum and a Bee:



And one of my favorites, Black Eyed Susans (rudbeckia):



This is Cowboy, C's golden retriever:



Since we taught him to shake a paw he often puts his paw on your knee or back when you get down to his level. Often when I'm out kneeling down at the flower beds weeding or whatever, I'll suddenly feel a paw on my shoulder.



I love him to pieces - he's not in your face and not a licky dog, but quite laid back and lovable, like a big teddy bear.



The other day there were geese congregating on the field across the road, and once he spotted them he was off like a shot. They were too fast for him.

Congratulations to J . . .

. . . who recently received a plaque at her high school's presentation of academic awards for the previous school year. In order to qualify for a plaque, a student must achieve greater than a 90% average in at least 5 subjects. She got greater than 90% in 8 subjects. Way to go, J!!! :o)

Fun Weekend

For Labour Day weekend, someone had the wonderful idea of having a get together with fun activities Saturday for the young and young at heart, with a sing for everyone in the evening, and then we had all day meetings on Sunday. Some came from Regina, Illinois, Minnesota, and of course the locals and some not so local locals. And I think I'm forgetting somewhere. Two lovely young ladies from Regina stayed at our house for the weekend - it was fun to have them! Come again, N & K!

Anyway - I didn't get in on the games on Saturday, but the kids did - they played Dutch Blitz with HUGE cards outside on the lawn, Bible Jeopardy, relays involving lipstick and eggs, and I'm not sure what all - sounded fun, and the kids had a good time. The sing was nice, and it was so good to be together for the meetings on the Lord's Day. It was a pretty warm weekend, and the building was not air-conditioned but someone generously loaned their window air-conditioner for Sunday, making things much more bearable. Thank you, thank you, thank you! (Me and the heat do not mix.)

Couldn't resist taking pics of some of the cute babies present.

A's talented mama made the top A is wearing here:



Big brown eyes:



It was fun to watch them together.



K is still sporting remnants of the lipstick game in this shot. She loves babies. Can you tell?



Can't to forget to mention the awesome waffle breakfast on Monday morning, hosted outside at F's parents' farm. In a word - YUMMY! Waffles, strawberries, and a delicious Mennonite pudding-like sauce - not sure what you call it, and probably couldn't spell the Low German word for it anyway! I DID get the recipe. :o)

Another town festival parade

On Saturday, a neighboring town had their town festival and had invited K's 4H club to ride their horses in their parade. Since K hasn't been able to ride all summer, she expected to just help carry the club banner, but upon arrival at the site, saw that her pony was there and was able to ride him in the parade. It was a nice surprise - she's missed so much riding time that any time she can be on Prince is a treat. I didn't find out she was riding until I saw them coming down the street. Another girl led him, but next time this shouldn't be necessary. Afterwards, she spent some time riding him around the school grounds with the other girls, and thoroughly enjoyed it. We hope to be able to finish our corral and barn in the next few days, and then bring Prince home to stay.

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

These are a favorite at our house!

2 cups flour (I like to use whole wheat)
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
pinch salt
1 cup chocolate chips (or carob chips)
2 cups mashed ripe bananas (3 large)
1/4 cup oil
1/4 cup milk
2 eggs

In large bowl, stir together dry ingredients, adding chocolate chips last. Blend together wet ingredients in another bowl. Stir wet and dry ingredients together until blended. Don't overmix.

Fill greased muffin cups 3/4 full. Bake at 350 F, 25 minutes or until golden brown and firm to touch.

Yields 18 muffins (at least!)

Yummy!