HAPPY NEW WEEK!
Last week's Chat Thread is here.
This is an important week with several major events for the global community!
SPRING EQUINOX
Spring arrives Friday, 20 March 2015, in the Northern Hemisphere at:
22:45 GMT/UTC10:45 p.m. in the U.K.06:45 p.m. in the eastern United States03:45 p.m. in California
Autumn Equinox is Saturday, 21 March 2015, in the Southern Hemisphere. Fall arrives at 09:15 a.m. in Adelaide, Australia.
NEW MOON
The Moon turns new on the day of the equinox at 09:36 GMT/UTC, only 14 hours after reaching lunar perigee (the moon's closest point to Earth in its orbit). The New Moon is at 09:36 a.m. in the U.K., 05:36 a.m. in the eastern U.S., 02:36 a.m. in California, and on 20 March at 08:06 p.m. in Adelaide, Australia.
SOLAR ECLIPSE
Here's the big news! On Equinox day, 20 March, the close perigee New Moon will swing right in front of the Sun to totally block out the solar disk. It's a Total Solar Eclipse!
You have to be in the right location -- the Faroe Islands or the Svalbard archipelago... -- to witness the eclipse in totality, but a much larger swatch of the globe will see varying degrees of partial solar eclipse -- Europe and parts of Africa and Asia. In much of the U.K., your view will be near total! (Oh, how I envy you. It won't be visible in the U.S. or Australia, I regret to say.)
For children who might read this, I have to add: Looking directly at the Sun during the eclipse could cause blindness or severe eye damage.
Eclipse information HERE
Watch a livestream broadcast of the event HERE
Edit: Slooh has redesigned their site. Here's an updated link for the livestream broadcast of the total solar eclipse: HERE
F Market this morning – for meat, cheese, chutney, cake and haggis pies! Gardening all afternoon, apart from short coffee break. Done too much once again, but pleased with what I achieved, and OH mowed the remaining lawn, so we look a lot tidier now. Had a good sleep last night, but now tired again, so replies will be limited.
Linda – sounds as if Bonnie has made a good start with just a short time of crying last night, and it’s good that you didn’t go down to her then.
Margo – you really don’t need to apologise when you are in a bad place and can’t post, but it’s good to know that you are now “on the up” again! I hope you enjoyed the carvery and some of the dessert! And have a nice time with your Sister on Monday, eating posh!
Brenda – I hope all is well for your OH at the eye hospital.
Clare – good sharp photos with your new camera; I enjoyed the garden birds.
Dibnlib – very nice Puffin picture. You haven’t said how your trip to Pitlochry went: I hope it was a good one.
Starling – great photos of young Baxter in his bed! He looks a lovely wee dog.
OH is helping J assemble a small desk which he thinks he will fit in his room; haven’t heard any arguments yet, so I assume they are co-operating with one another!
Ospreys Rule OK, but Goldfinches come a close second!
OG, Didn't you like the new chocolate stall?? You don't mention buying any !!
I love your Odin prediction post. You obviously thought about it. LOL
Déjà vu
I see that there are owners of several cute spaniels on here, and other dogs too, and I just thought I would post this warning I read in the local paper yesterday. You may know already of course, but a plant called Water Hemlock is very toxic, and a spaniel died recently in the same day as eating some of this plant which was growing on a river bank. The owner did not realise what the dog was eating at the time but the vet confirmed the cause was this plant. I looked it up and the plant looks very similar to other common plants such as Cow Parsely.
It has been a sunny day today, shame it was cloudy yesterday for the eclipse! I did get a couple of quick glimpses through thinning cloud though!
HeatherB - glad scan confirmed gallstones. It can be very dibilitating at times, my OH had them way back when we lived in Essex. Ended up having them out after he had pancreatitis precipitated by the gallstones. No problems since then on that front so hope he gets the treatment he needs now.
http://scottishwildlifetrust.org.uk/things-to-do/wildlife-webcams/loch-of-lowes/
RSPB Giving Nature a Home
Lovely to hear from you Margo and glad that you can now feel a little more positively. Take care and enjoy the sunshine whilst you can. Been a cold, miserable day down here.
Clare - lucky girl - sparrowhawk in the tree. Well done for capturing it. Will look at those further pics.
Dibnib - that is a stunning pic of the puffins
Starling - what a delightful looking puppy.
Haven't done a lot today, not unless you can call food shopping a lot. Dau took me in, had to go into the centre of town first so she could pick up her new glasses then on to the supermarket and then one other stop. Felt exhausted at the end.
What a shame England didn't manage to win but they came very close. Well done to Ireland which pipped Wales.
Enjoy the rest of the weekend folks.
Yadkin osprey tonight
STARTING A NEW THREAD: www.rspb.org.uk/.../115430.aspx