Stellar night

There's still something really mystical about an eclipse...even though we now understand the mechanism, and can predict exactly when they will occur...when the moon turns red, and the stars become brighter...

You can almost hear the murmurs of our ancestors, huddling together and watching with worry or awe, wondering what this event means...

It was a great show last night! :) This is my first try capturing an eclipse on camera - not bad! Not terrific, but not bad! ;)

Pickles with a message

In the States, Rabbi Mendy Margolin is doing a traveling show teaching congregations how to make Kosher pickles. The people learn the ins and outs of making something Kosher, a little about their Jewish heritage, and at the end of it, get some great pickles to take home.

And during this class, the congregation's Rabbi got in a pickle suit and danced around. Now that's the sort of dedication to pickles I can't help but admire!

I copied the story from the Herald this morning, my link is here. The article includes instructions on making your own Kosher pickles!

Chickens in Halifax update

Well, once again, a decision has been postponed in favor of a "study". How annoying. It never seems that anything actually gets done, it's always just useless study after useless study, dragging decision making out as long as possible. I mean, sometimes studies are necessary (like environmental impact studies, for example) but most of the time it's just a way to postpone actually doing something. *sigh*

Anyway, they're going to look at how other urban centres deal with chickens, so we won't hear anything new on this issue for 6 - 7 months.

Read the article from the CBC here.

Grosbeaks!

We've been having a ton of snow this last week, which has made the world all white and fluffy again! Really beautiful! And it's brought back some visitors! These grosbeaks have come for a couple of mornings now, haven't seen them in a while! They're the largest birds we get at the feeder, after blue jays. Very pretty!

Chilly Dove

Last evening I got a pic of this chilly little Mourning Dove, puffed up against the cold as night fell. We have a small group of doves that come every evening and roost either under or on top of our deck. It's cute to see them in the summertime, enjoying the last of the sun's rays. But in the winter, they look so cold! They don't sleep there, they must go further into the woods for that, but for a few hours in the evening, they have a sit and a final snack. Very cute!