Did You See It?

There have been some spectacular astronomical conjunctions lately.  The Moon, Venus and Jupiter are very close tonight.  They will be close tomorrow night also.  Look to the west after sunset.

I shot this with my camera (a Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ4) at 3X.  This was a composite of a 15 sec "starry night" exposure and a 7 second "night scenery" exposure.  I replaced the Moon (which was overexposed) in the 15 second exposure with the image of the Moon from the 7 second exposure.

Jupiter is the bright object on the top of the photo.  The crescent Moon is obvious, with Venus nearby.

Go out and enjoy the scene!

Maybe I Need to Remodel My Barn

I spent the last week in China on business.  I was able to take in some sights, including the famed Terracotta Warriors, Tienanmen  Square and the Forbidden City.

While visiting the gate buildings and temples in the Forbidden City, I marveled at the detail of the structures.  The building were originally designed during the Ming Dynasty and were of wood construction with tile roofs.

Maybe I can redesign our gardens . . .

. . . or build a new ramp to the hay mow!

I could add some decoration to the gables . . .

. . . or paint the post and beam timbers.

I could add some decorative door hoods . . .

. . . or replace the door pulls and latches to the hay mow!

Maybe I should have put on a tile roof instead of a metal one?

What do you think?

Back Home

The past year has had us splitting our time between a job in Vermont and back at our home.  Work has brought us back to the farm!  We are so happy to be able to spend more time here with our old farm and barn!  We are much closer to family, and will have more time to putter about the barn.

I'll miss Vermont, especially the people, mountains and Lake Champlain . . .

. . . but we'll continue to enjoy the Finger Lakes area.

 It's good to be home!