SkyWatch Friday: The Moon

 

14 November 2024 (16:37)

I happened to be looking out of my kitchen window as the full moon was rising this afternoon (16:37). I went and got my separate camera as the mobile is no good at zooming.

14 November 2024 (16:38)

 

Around 20 minutes later, I saw these sunset clouds from my balcony, on the other side of my apartment.

14 November 2024 (17:02)

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I was reminded that I also had photos of the moon from last month in the camera, which I never got round to transferring to the computer then. So I'll enclose those here as well:

 

17 October 2024

17 October 2024

 

Did it take long to find me?
I asked the faithful light
Did it take long to find me?
And are you gonna stay the night?
- Cat Stevens -

 

  

Supermarket Reorganisation

 

Two days in a row now I've chosen the supermarket as the destination for my walks - primarily because they're in the process of reorganising things, and even though I do most of my grocery shopping online with home delivery (twice a month), I also like to try and keep up with where to find things when I do go there myself.

On both my visits this week, I was too busy with reorientation to think of taking photos; so for this post I asked AI for an illustration. The one above actually comes rather close to reality - some members of staff were still busy moving things, while other people (customers + staff working with home deliveries) were trying to find them... ;-)

On the whole I'm very thankful for the possibility (since 10 years back) to have the bulk of my groceries and everyday stuff delivered, and to neither have to search for them in the store nor carry them home myself. However, there are still certain items now and then that one does prefer to have a proper look at before buying. 

Christmas decorations and such have been put on display now, and I was looking for some battery candles. I don't like to to have real candles lit when going to and fro between rooms, but with battery candles one does not need to worry... I have some battery "tealights" since before, and also a couple of fake thick ones, but had decided that it might also be time for me to get some tall ones, to fit ordinary candlesticks. Yesterday I found and bought two red ones - but then back home decided that I don't want to introduce too much red before December. So today I went back and also bought two white ones of the same type, plus  some batteries of rechargeable kind.

I'm quite impressed with these LED candles, because: 1/ the "flames" move and flicker, so that in the dark, and especially from across the room (like from my TV chair), it's really hard to tell them apart from live ones (except that these candles don't shrink!!); and 2/ if you don't turn them off manually, they have an automatic timer which does that after six hours, and then lights them again after another 18 hours (i.e. the same time next day). 

I also bought an Amaryllis (a real one!) with three buds coming up - hoping it won't grow "too" fast (...but if it does, never mind...)

 

Gathering Evidence

 In my previous post I mentioned my observation (from innumerable walks around the old cemetery close to where I live) that trees seem to hold on longer to their leaves on the branches that grow very close to the streetlights. 

Today was a grey and gloomy day, and I did not get out until around 3 pm. The streetlights were lit up while I was still out, which gave me an opportunity to gather some more evidence for my theory... I'll let the photos speak for themselves:

 - - -

Meike (in a comment) was also asking after Barbie & Skipper. For anyone who happens to have missed the previous adventures of these two, perhaps I should repeat the explanation that around 1½ year ago I decided to donate a bunch of old Barbie dolls from my youth to a charity shop. (Before that, they had all been spending the last 50+ years in various storage rooms, packed away together in one big box.) At the last minute I decided to keep two of them after all (while six went off to unknown destinies). The two that I kept now live on a shelf in my sitting room, and have appeared on this blog now and then to show off outfits sewn by my mum back in the 1960s.

As by now they have been "out in the open" for over a year, some of my readers have already seen most of the clothes that I kept for them. But since Meike asked... Yes, they did get "dressed up" for the Halloween/All Saints' this year too (I think in the same outfits as last autumn); but have now "dressed down" to more casual autumn wear again. ;)

 

Leaves Kept Falling...

Below are some photos of the autumn changes in one and the same huge old horse chestnut tree through the month of October - until the very last few leaves still hanging on, one week into November...

11 October 2024

18 October 2024

20 October 2024

25 October 2024

8 November 2024

The very last leaves still left on this tree yesterday. I think the reason leaves on this branch stayed on longer than all the rest is that they're very close to the lamp post on the other side of the path (you can see it in the 2nd and 4th photos). I've noted the same thing with other trees as well: Branches very close to the light from the street lamps tend to keep their leaves longer!

Skywatch Friday / Weekend Reflections

 

 

Yesterday afternoon was one of those days with a clear blue sky, and the river still like a mirror. Most trees have dropped all their leaves now, and the reflections that caught my eye on this walk were all of bare branches.

 

On my way back I walked another way, and now these tall trees below stood out to me because they had not yet dropped their leaves. Having had a closer look, my guess is they must be some kind of oak, even if the trees as such aren't of the shape that I associate with the "usual" kind of oak. I do know that some oaks hold on to their brown dry leaves throughout winter, though, and don't drop them until it's time for them produce new ones.

Skywatch Friday

Weekend Street/Reflections