Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Fall Is In The Air

I really like this time of year.  I like the cooler temperatures especially the cool nights and warm days.  I like the colors of the changing leaves.  I like the smell of cinnamon and apples and pumpkin deserts.  I decorate almost as much for fall as I do for Christmas. 




In addition to fall decorating on the porch and in the house, we like to decorate sugar cookies.  Ewan still loves to make cookies with Nana, and every year we try to have a little weekend afternoon cookie session.  This year it was just our daughter Heather and five year old grandson Ewan.  It's sad that the other grandkids are getting too busy and soon even Ewan will move on to other things.  For now we are loving this time.  I cut out the cookies and baked them.  Then Ewan and Heather began decorating them.  They had fun being creative and sampling some.  Papa also had to taste test them to make sure they were of a high quality.





Another fun memory, that's for sure.

It is also time to cut and dry the hydrangeas.  They are beautiful this year, and they make wonderful fall decorations.  Anyone who lives near me is welcome to come and cut some.  I have a few left, but they need to be cut before the frost.  http://www.thecabincountess.com/2014/09/time-to-dry-your-hydrangea-blossoms.html 


 
Last year we didn't have any acorns, but this year they are plentiful.  Everyday we hear them falling on the roof.  We even have little corn stalks popping up all over.  I'm not sure how these little plants got seeded.  The field corn we feed the animals would make a regular size corn stalk.  These are cute, and I will be drying these as well.


There are so many happy signs of fall that I can't mention them all.  Today the 2015 Whooping Cranes started their migration with the assistance of the ultralight aircraft they have been training with.  We hope they have an easy migration because last year was a struggle due to bad weather and wind conditions.  Four cranes from previous years were spotted in the training area.  I will be anxious to hear if they are heading south as well.  Here is the link to keep track of their progress.  It is fun and educational.  http://operationmigration.org/InTheField/

Monday, September 28, 2015

Blood Moon Eclipse

This blog post is purely to document last night's total eclipse of the super moon.  A lunar eclipse (also known as a blood moon) happens when the Moon passes directly behind the Earth's shadow.  It occurs when the sun, earth and moon are lined up.   Since all my blog pieces end up in a book we make for the family, I wanted the September 27, 2015 eclipse to be included.  I will be 85 before the next one occurs in 2033, and so I thought I should take some photos just in case I can't be available for the next one, if you know what I mean. 

I am not a professional photographer and taking pictures of the moon is difficult for me.  I'm never sure how to adjust the settings up for such a dark background.  This is the best I could do.  There are tons of awesome photos of this event on TV and on the web, but these were captured from our deck in Princeton.

Beginning the wait for the lunar eclipse.  It's 7:04pm

The geese are looking for a place to spend the night at 7:05pm.

7:06pm

7:14pm and a few clouds are rolling in.



The eclipse is starting, it's 8:06pm.

8:16pm... . See the shadow on the left.

8:51pm

Supermoon eclipse 9:07pm.

9:08pm closeup


Lost in the trees at 10:36pm.  A bit hard to see and high in the sky.

Back to a normal full moon sometime during the night.