Rare Black Moon This Weekend

A waning crescent moon, pictured here, occurs right before a new moon. The second new moon in a single calendar month is often called a black moon. NASA

A rare black moon will occur on April 30 and cause the first partial solar eclipse of 2022. Black moons are not an official astronomical term, but one common definition of them states they occur when a second new moon falls in a single calendar month. New moons happen when the moon’s Earth-facing side is fully shrouded in shadow and is nearly invisible. This year’s black moon is the only one for 2022.

The black moon’s partial solar eclipse will begin 90 minutes before sunset on April 30. The best place to see the phenomenon is Chile, where the black moon will block up to 54 percent of the sun. Observers farther north will see less of the sun covered, Forbes reports. The event will only be seen from parts of Antarctica, South America, the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean, according to People. Astronomy fans in North America can view the event on a livestream.


The black moon will make it easier to see other key features in the sky, including a rare conjunction of Jupiter and Venus, according to Forbes.

A second defintion of a black moon says that it is the third new moon in a season of four new moons, according to Space.com. The next date that type of black moon will occur is May 19, 2023.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/view-aprils-rare-black-moon-this-weekend-180979987/?utm_source=smithsoniandaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20220428-daily-responsive&spMailingID=46760228&spUserID=Mjc5OTUyODM0MjYyS0&spJobID=2223100053&spReportId=MjIyMzEwMDA1MwS2

LAST NIGHT

Last night you came to see me

when the darkness had no light

you stepped into my room

and I held your spirit tight

you told me you were happy

and removed of earthly pain

you said I must believe

that our paths would cross again

you told me you were proud

of the life I carry on

you told me you were close

that I will never be alone

last night you came to see me

and when morning came around

I knew I wasn’t dreaming

by your feather on the ground.

Donna Ashworth

My new book https://amzn.to/3JVMJlZ

#feathers #grief #lossquotes #griefpoetry

To A Mountain Stream

 

by Kate Slaughter McKinney

Artist Lisa Maier

Glad as childish laughter

From a childish throng,

Sweet as bird voice after

Daybreak is your song.

Racing down the mountain

On your shining feet,

Waltzing at the fountain

To its love song sweet.

On and on you travel,

Leaving me behind,

Like a silken ravel

With the weeds you wind.

Laughing at distresses;

Braving battles, too;

Who your trouble guesses,

And your sorrow—who?

Tell me as you hurry

Through the stubble field,

Why not stop to worry—

But no frown’s revealed.

Sometime you must weary

Of this constant strife;

When the clouds are dreary,

Tire you not of life?

Of the dead leaves drifted

On your saddened face,

And the snow flakes sifted

From the cloudland place?

Yet you ne’er repineth,

But alike content

With the sun that shineth,

And the rainstorm sent.

Teach me half the beauty

That your heart must know,

And through fields of duty

Like you, will I go.

EarthMagick

 

Dogs - Wieselblitz

 

Wieselblitz is feeling joyful.

So this happened. My images on the renowned Science magazine. I'm over the moon and you might see me grinning from ear to ear the next few days.

#importantlifeevents

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abk0639

Please start your day ......

 

Mary Berry’s Best Ginger Biscuits

 

Ingredients

50g (2oz)	butter
1 level tbsp	golden syrup
175g (6oz)	self-raising flour
1 level tbsp	ground ginger
75g (3oz)	crystallised ginger, finely chopped
1 tsp	bicarbonate of soda
50g (2oz)	demerara sugar
50g (2oz)	light muscovado sugar
1	medium egg, beaten

Method

Preheat the oven to 160°C/140°C fan/Gas 3. Line two baking sheets with non-stick baking paper.

Measure the butter and golden syrup into a saucepan. Heat gently, stirring, until melted.

Place the flour, ground ginger, chopped ginger, bicarb and demerara and muscovado sugars in a mixing bowl. Mix well, then stir in the melted ingredients. Add the egg and bring the mixture together to form a dough.

Divide into 16 equal pieces and roll with your hands into small balls. Place on the baking sheets and slightly flatten to about 1cm (½in) thick. Bake for about 25 minutes, until golden and firm around the edges. ( I would say a couple of minutes less in a fan oven)

Leave to firm up on the baking sheets for a few minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Judging

 

"Never judge another knight without first knowing the strength and cunning of the dragons he fights."

~ Richelle E. Goodrich

"Judging others is easy because it distracts us from the responsibility of judging ourselves."

~ Charles F. Glassman

Stop judging and have a happy Wednesday!

Photo credit: Thank you Tom (Bull)

The Dandelion

 

“Hello, I'm a dandelion.

A lot of people call me a weed but I'm a friend and come to help you!

.

When you see me, remember that I'm the ONLY one who wants and can grow in that particular spot. Because:

.

Either the soil is too compact / hard / stomped and I want to loosen it for you with my roots.

.

Or there is too little calcium in the soil - don't worry, I will replenish that for you with the dying of my leaves.

.

Or the soil is too acidic. But I will also improve that for you if you give me the chance.

Or a mixture of the above reasons, of course.

.

I'm here because your soil needs my help so best you let me grow without disturbing me! When everything is fixed, I will disappear again, I promise!

.

Are you trying to remove me prematurely with my root? However meticulous you are, I will return 2x as strong! Just until your soil is improved.

.

You can even tell by my growth at which stage my help is at. If my leaves are flat on the ground then I'm far from ready but if they all reach up then I'm already a long way on my way.

.

Something completely different is that I am 1 of the first bloomers in spring so I will announce spring / summer for you.

.

During the day when it's hot, I open my flowers but in the evening when it cools off I close them again quickly. In fact, if it's not hot enough during the day I won't open them at all!

.

My flowers are the first food for insects after hibernation and unlike most other plants, I have pollen AND nectar, not merely one OR the other! And I am generous with them!

.

My flowers are even delicious for you people by the way, did you know? I used to be called ′′honey (or gold) of the poor′′ because my flowers are so sweet in e.g. jam, sauce or salad! The internet is full of recipes - check them out.

But wait until the end of May or later before you start picking and even then, don't pick everything yet! The biodiversity and bees will be very grateful!”

Almond lentil stew

 

This easy vegetarian lentil stew is served with cherry tomatoes and cinnamon-flavoured almonds.

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for frying the almonds
• 1 carrot, chopped
• 1 stalk celery, chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 turnip, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 150g/5½oz baby button mushrooms, halved
• 250g/9oz green lentils
• 1.2 litres/2 pints vegetable stock
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 sprig rosemary
• 4 sprigs thyme
• handful almonds
• 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
• 10 cherry tomatoes, quartered

Method

1. Heat the olive oil in a large pan and fry the carrot, celery, onion and turnip until softened – about five minutes.

2. Add the garlic and mushrooms. Fry for a further five minutes.

3. Add the lentils to the pan. Pour over the stock and add the herbs. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 45 minutes.

4. Just before the end of the cooking time for the stew, in another pan, fry the almonds in a splash of olive oil with the cinnamon for two minutes.

5. Add the cherry tomatoes and warm through.

6. Serve the lentil stew with the almonds and tomatoes.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/almond_lentil_stew_69086

Saint George's Day

 

Petie Barre

Saint George's Day

From Wikipedia

Art by Anne Farmer

Feast of Saint George

Saint George's Day, also called the Feast of Saint George, is the feast day of Saint George as celebrated by various Christian Churches and by the several nations, old kingdoms, regions, states, countries and cities of which Saint George is the patron saint - including Bulgaria, England, Georgia, Portugal, Romania as well as the Spanish communities of Cáceres, Alcoy, Aragon and Catalonia. The saint also has his state holiday in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Saint George's Day is normally celebrated on 23 April. However, Church of England rules denote that no saints' day should be celebrated between Palm Sunday and the Sunday after Easter Day so if 23 April falls in that period the celebrations are transferred to after it. 23 April is the traditionally accepted date of the saint's death in the Diocletianic Persecution of AD 303.

English Catholic and Anglican tradition.

The earliest documented mention of St. George in England comes from the Catholic monk the venerable Bede (c. 673–735).[9] His feast day is also mentioned in the Durham Collectar, a ninth-century liturgical work. The will of Alfred the Great is said to refer to the saint, in a reference to the church of Fordington, Dorset. At Fordington a stone over the south door records the miraculous appearance of St. George to lead crusaders into battle. Early (c. 10th century) dedications of churches to St. George are noted in England, for example at Fordingham, Dorset, at Thetford, Southwark and Doncaster. In the past, historians mistakenly pointed to the Synod of Oxford in 1222 as elevating the feast to special prominence, but the earliest manuscripts of the synod's declaration do not mention the feast of St. George. The declarations of the Province of Canterbury in 1415 and the Province of York in 1421 elevated the feast to a double major, and as a result, work was prohibited and church attendance was mandatory. Edward III (1327–1377) put his Order of the Garter (founded c. 1348) under the banner of St. George. This order is still the foremost order of knighthood in England and St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle was built by Edward IV and Henry VII in honour of the order. The badge of the Order shows Saint George on horseback slaying the dragon. Froissart observed the English invoking St. George as a battle cry on several occasions during the Hundred Years' War (1337–1453). Certain English soldiers also displayed the pennon of St. George.

St. George's Day was a major feast and national holiday in England on a par with Christmas from the early 15th century. The tradition of celebration St. George's day had waned by the end of the 18th century after the union of England and Scotland. Nevertheless, the link with St. George continues today, for example Salisbury holds an annual St. George's Day pageant, the origins of which are believed to go back to the 13th century. In recent years the popularity of St. George's Day appears to be increasing gradually. BBC Radio 3 had a full programme of St. George's Day events in 2006, and Andrew Rosindell, Conservative MP for Romford, has been putting the argument forward in the House of Commons to make St. George's Day a public holiday. In early 2009, Mayor of London Boris Johnson spearheaded a campaign to encourage the celebration of St. George's Day, and during the 2017 and 2019 General Elections the Labour Party campaigned for it to be a public holiday. Today, St. George's day may be celebrated with anything English including morris dancing and Punch and Judy shows.

A traditional custom on St. George's day is fly or adorn the St. George's Cross flag in some way: pubs in particular can be seen on 23 April festooned with garlands of St. George's crosses.[citation needed] It is customary for the hymn "Jerusalem" to be sung in cathedrals, churches and chapels on St. George's Day, or on the Sunday closest to it. Traditional English food and drink may be consumed.

There is a growing reaction to the recent indifference to St. George's Day. Organisations such as English Heritage and the Royal Society of St. George have been encouraging celebrations. There have also been calls to replace St. George as patron saint of England on the grounds that he was an obscure figure who had no direct connection with the country. However, there is no obvious consensus as to whom to replace him with, though names suggested include Edmund the Martyr, Cuthbert of Lindisfarne, or Saint Alban, with the last having topped a BBC Radio 4 poll on the subject. Recently there have been calls to reinstate St. Edmund as the patron Saint of England as he was displaced by George some 400 years ago.

Religious observance of St. George's day changes when it is too close to Easter. According to the Church of England's calendar, when St. George's Day falls between Palm Sunday and the Second Sunday of Easter inclusive, it is moved to the Monday after the Second Sunday of Easter. In 2011, for example, 23 April was Holy Saturday, so St. George's Day was moved to Monday 2 May. The Catholic Church in England and Wales has a similar practice.

Saint George is the patron saint of The Scout Movement, which has held St. George's Day parades since its first years. St. George is the patron saint of many other organisations. In the United States, the National Catholic Committee on Scouting uses the saint for many of their awards and activities.

Strawberry shortcake

  

SHORTCAKES

• 250g of plain flour
• 50g of sugar, plus extra for dusting
• 1 tbsp of baking powder
• 1 pinch of salt
• 85g of butter, chilled and diced into 1cm cubes
• 80g of milk
• 80g of double cream, plus a little extra to glaze

STRAWBERRY COMPOTE

• 300g of strawberries, hulled and halved
• 1 tbsp of sugar

TOPPINGS

• 300ml of double cream
• 1/2 vanilla pod, seeds scraped
• 300g of strawberries, hulled and halved
• 1 tbsp of sugar
• 1/2 lemon

Method

1
Place the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and cubed butter into a food processor and pulse until you have a coarse rubble. It is important you don’t blend to a fine crumb as you need some larger pieces to create a nice crumbly texture

2
Add the milk and cream and pulse until a dough comes together (it will be quite a wet dough)

3
Tip out onto a floured surface and divide the dough into 6 equal pieces. Shape each piece into a little round cake and place on a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper, leaving gaps between each as they will expand during baking. It’s OK if they look a little rough around the edges as this is a rustic dessert, so try not to overwork the dough too much. Place in the fridge to rest for 30 minutes

4
Preheat the oven to 200°C/gas mark

5
Glaze each cake with a little cream and then sprinkle with some sugar. Bake for 20–30 minutes until golden, then set aside to cool

6
While the shortcakes are baking, make a strawberry compote by placing the strawberries in a pan with a tablespoon of sugar and simmering until collapsed (about 5 minutes). Leave to cool

7
Place the halved strawberries for the topping in a bowl with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice and 1 tbsp of sugar. Stir and set aside to macerate

8
Whip the cream to soft peaks and fold in the vanilla seeds

9
Once everything has cooled, it’s time to assemble the shortcakes. Use a serrated knife to slice each shortcake in half horizontally. Dollop some whipped cream over the base of each one, then drizzle with the strawberry compote and the macerated strawberries. Place the other half of the cake on top and finish with more cream and strawberries, then garnish with baby mint leaves