Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Thursday, March 26, 2009
For now, spring is in the air and we're throwing the windows open, pulling out splash suits and rubber boots and getting ready for Mudcreek's signature red clay mud being everywhere.
We'll also be unveiling a new blog for those interested in our HOMESCHOOLING adventures and we'll be guest bloggers on the Wolfville Farmer's Market BUY LOCAL CHALLENGE blog.
See you soon!
Monday, March 9, 2009
|A Ring Around The Moon|
The ring around the Moon is caused by the refraction of Moonlight (which of course is reflected sunlight) from ice crystals in the upper atmosphere. The shape of the ice crystals results in a focusing of the light into a ring. Since the ice crystals typically have the same shape, namely a hexagonal shape, the Moon ring is almost always the same size.
Less typical are the halos that may be produced by different angles in the crystals. They can create halos with an angle of 46 degrees.
| Moon Ring Weather Folklore|
Folklore has it that a ring around the moon signifies bad weather is coming, and in many cases this may be true. So how can rings around the moon be a predictor of weather to come? The ice crystals that cover the halo signify high altitude, thin cirrus clouds that normally precede a warm front by one or two days. Typically, a warm front will be associated with a low pressure system which is commonly referred to as a storm.
It is believed that the number of stars within a moon halo indicate the number days before bad weather will arrive. Give it a try the next time you observe a moon halo.
| Anatomy of a Moon Halo|
The ring that appears around the moon arises from light passing through six-sided ice crystals high in the atmosphere. These ice crystals refract, or bend, light in the same manner that a camera lens bends light. The ring has a diameter of 22° , and sometimes, if you are lucky, it is also possible to detect a second ring, 44° diameter. Thin high cirrus clouds lofting at 20,000 feet or more contain tiny ice crystals that originate from the freezing of super cooled water droplets. These crystals behave like jewels refracting and reflecting in different directions.
Cloud crystals are varieties of hexagonal prisms, (6 sides) and range in shapes from long columns to thin plate-like shapes that have different face sizes.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Monday, March 2, 2009
So from now on every Monday Nature Girl will be making dinner. She did an AMAZING job!
She canvassed her arch nemesis (of the day) Wild Thing about what we should have. He was in a cowboy frame of mind so they decided on a cowboy cookout theme. She made an EXCELLENT chili (Papa Pan volunteered to brown the meat and I volunteered to cut the onions and wrestle with our can opener for the cans of tomatoes and beans) but she did the rest herself. Then she made tortillas...32 tortillas with Wild Thing's help.
There was PEACE in the house from the time they set to work in the kitchen until bedtime!
Oh and cause we sing this every night, here's our evening meal blessing...
Before the flour the mill,
Before the mill the grain,
Before the grain the sun and rain,
The beauty of God's will.
This is just a jumble of "Oh I should blog about this" things that have passed through my head in the midst of being too busy to blog about anything.
With the basement leaking in the playroom - which was already an uncluttered little piece of paradise - I'm thinking MUST DECLUTTER and trying to imagine how little I could live with again. Then the dog pooped on a board game WE ACTUALLY PLAY WITH ALL THE TIME (Cooperative Games - Home Builders for anyone who is interested) that was on the floor because well, we have no other spot to play right now. I don't want to BUY anything else right now though. So what would you do? I told Nature Girl she had to put the game away last night, and then this happened. Would you replace the game?
I frequently get the decluttering urge with the stuffed animals (who really aren't out of control - they all fit happily in one treasure chest) and then the kids get every one out to be a pirate crew and fight over the orange tabby cat because he or she is the favorite. So there they all are and Nature Girl knows the story of every single one, and so does Papa Pan - they are SO ALIKE. So here's the story of the calico cat.
One day I went to empty out the dryer and it was FULL of stuffed animals! Apparently all the missing socks had been transformed. It's true!
and a warm thanks to the Lemons who decluttered before moving across the country to Victoria!
Anyhow, I'm frazzled...it's too icy to play outside and we can't get away from one another, and I'm mad at the dog...and I own too many things. I think a load of MY stuff being taken to the FREE Market is in order!
Oh yeah, the FREE Market is a much better deal for me than the FREECYCLE. It doesn't replace the freecycle by any means, but for all those little things that are more bother to post and negotiate collection than they are really worth it is great - especialy books. You know the book will go home with someone who wants IT when you leave it at the freemarket. Its just a table full of free stuff you browse and take home what you like, leave what you want. Awesome. I never bring home anything but Nature Girl usually finds stuff she wants - like hula hoops.
Oh and when I have a few more minutes I have my remedy for February to post - I spent the month redefining BLING with my camera.
Oh yeah and the freakiest thing I've ever seen - a tree holding a dead crow in it's branches like a ceremonial sacred death rite. The wind was trying to rip that bird from its final perch but the tree was holding on for dear death.