When many of you think of Iowa you probably think of farming, large fields of corn and beans, and pigs roaming around. You are right, except our pigs for the most part do not roam around freely. LOL!!
Did you know there is a new form of farming going on in Iowa? It is wind farming. Our state sits along a ridge called, the Buffalo Ridge. This ridge runs through Iowa and Minnesota. Areas along this ridge experience more wind then other areas. Yes, it is windy here...most days! Our farmers are now contracting small plots of their land to wind turbine companies and wind turbines are being built. Our windy weather turnes these huge turbine blades, which in turn create energy, the energy is captured and then turned into energy. The farmer still plants fields of corn and beans around the windmills. Iowa is a front runner in wind energy.
From the below photo it is hard to imagine how big these windmills really are. When a wind farm is going up, the roadways will be filled with semi's bring parts to the construction sight. One blade extends the length of a normal semi-trailer, yes one blade at a time is moved into the sights.
I've spent most of my weekend, as probably many of you have, glued to CNN & FOX watching the catastrophic happenings in Japan, with cross stitch in my lap. It is incomprehensible for those of us who sit and watch this, in the comforts of our homes, enjoying all things we take for granted. Life, safety, electricity, clean running water, phone service, ample supply of food and the list goes on. Our hearts go out to the Japanese people and their country.
I've learned a thing or two over the past two days about nuclear energy. I will be the first to admit that physics and chemistry were never my strong suits in school. I really didn't even know what nuclear energy was, or was made from, yes call me stupid!! I even now know that a melt-down is something much bigger and much more serious then a little one throwing a fit. This disaster has piqued my interest in nuclear energy, even doing Google searches on the very topic. We have over 100 nuclear power plants in this country in 31 states. I learned we have one in my state...I didn't know this, call me stupid again!! The readings I found also says there is a big push for more plants to be built in the states, enabling us to be less dependant on foreign oil. My concern is, is it safe? Did we learn enough from Three Mile Island event??
As I sit afar and watch this, a little part of me is scared of the global affect something such as this could have. A total nuclear melt-down sounds scary to me. The fall out can be moved by weather with mention of it possibly reaching the California coast...this IS scary!
Hmmm....
I'm liking the sights & sounds of whirring windmills that dot our local countryside more & more. There is comfort in knowing that they pose no risk of causing a catastrophic event. Most important, they are clean, safe, renewable, and wind is free!
Have a good week,
Brenda
The larger then normal border was another feature of this antique sampler that grabbed and wowed me...I liked it's uniqueness. There are some leaf placement errors made by young Anne (age 13), throughout the border. In keeping true to the original sampler, the pattern will be charted with these errors as well.
The Ann Dickinson 1819 that I've been stitching for sometime now....or should I say, a lack of stitching??!! I started her around the holidays. This poor "Ann piece" has been set aside for the moment as I've had other irons in the fire - aka "Mystery Sampler Club". I hope to get back to this sampler in a couple of weeks with an anticipated release date of this pattern pushed back to late summer. 
