HAPPY NEW WEEK and HAPPY FULL MOON!
The last full moon of 2024 will occur early Sunday morning (December 15) in the US and UK. The Geminid Meteor Shower will also be peaking, although the light of the full moon may impair the view of the meteors. This moon will be the Winter Solstice moon.
Last Tuesday (the 10th), my region had multiple meteorite falls as a result of the Geminid Shower. That's when the meteors don't fully burn up in the atmosphere and instead hit the ground.
Many people had security cam and doorbell cam footage of the bright light and the flash as a meteor hit. Others heard booms, and many heard an ongoing rumble like loud thunder (sometimes accompanied by a hissing sound). People also smelled a foul odor like burning metal and smoke.
The meteorite closest to me hit just after 4:00 a.m., so I was in bed. However, I heard the long, loud thunder and my floors shook. I also smelled that ghastly odor.
Many people here didn't know about the Geminids, so they immediately concluded that war had broken out--an indication of the fear and anxiety of our political climate right now.
Everyone have a good week. Love and hugs to all.
DIANE – There was nothing on our news about the meteor shower but we did see a report on large numbers of drones and people panicking. I think we see a lot more of overseas happenings than you see of us DownUnder. I hope your weather is warmer than last week. Ours is not good, expecting 40 C today in Adelaide; tomorrow 38 C with showers. Horrible. I must find instructions to change air con from heating to cooling.
I am out early morning watering some of the stressed shrubs. I poisoned the persistent nasty shrub again. I began pruning another but green bin is too full already. Both tomato bushes have lots of large green fruit; not likely to ripen by χmas, the expected first fruit date for backyard gardeners. I have wrapped Trio’s χmas gifts, except for the chocs which are in the fridge. Nothing planned for coming week but I have offered to Trio-sit while Dau goes shopping for herself or FC. School year ended last Friday.
Hi, AQ. Yes, indeed, those current temps of yours are horrible. Stay safe in that heat! It's true that I rarely see Australia news, unfortunately. My radio station plays the BBC World Service all night, so I do hear some UK news.
I have been following the news about the drone fleet breaching the airspace over our military bases and other sensitive areas in 5 states here in the East. Recent reports indicate that they have also flown over US bases in the UK and one in Germany. My government hasn't said or done anything except to issue vague assurances that they don't seem to be dangerous. :-(
Take care, AQ.
Drone info:
https://www.bbc.com/news/live/cq8q5q53ypjt
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c62785697v0o
DIANE - Have the authorities considered that the drones are Santa's elves checking who is naughty or nice?
Thank you Diane. We, apparently, could have seen the meteor shower if it hadn’t been a full moon and cloudy. That shower which actually landed around you sounded rather scary to me. I read about the drones. Maybe your government is doing things about them “behind the scenes?”
AQ - that heat would be far too much for me. No wonder your shrubs are stressed. I hope you get the cooling on the air con working.
Not sure whether I am going in my usual Sunday walk as my friend only got back from Portugal yesterday. I imagine she probably has too much to do. I have taken the liberty of copying my Saturday post here as it was quite long!!!
Lynnette - good to hear from you. I am sorry you are having a struggle just now. I hope things settle down.
Annette - it is good news that the AZ house is nearly settled and off your hands. That offer of credit in lieu of repairs save a lot of hassle doesn’t it? I hope you enjoyed the concert. Lindy - I know what you mean about there not being much on TV. Mind you, I enjoyed the Shetland series. Did you see it? I have bought the Christmas Radio Times (a long standing tradition) Frankly, in all that programming, there isn’t much I really need to watch!! Fortunately, I have some friends who keep supplying me with detective books and my sister gives me lighter ones she has bought at garden centres so I spend a lot of time reading,
Heather - excellent news re your suspected kidney problem. So pleased. I think you asked about my mammogram results. My appointment is on January 8th but the radiologist said if I hadn’t heard after 2 weeks I could probably assume all was well. It’s not 2 weeks yet so I still get feather apprehensive when the post arrives. i am wondering how OG and co are. I am hoping the lack of posting is because they are busy.
On Thursday I went birdwatching with the ladies at Erddig (a National Trust property) As it was very muddy (indeed flooded) on our usual path, we went in a different route which turned out to be a very pleasant 3 miles. We saw goldcrest (Britain’s smallest bird) which I love to see, long tailed tits (which are my favourite because they go round in twittering friendly flocks) and many others. We had lunch in the cafe there (just a sausage bap and a cup of tea) ans then went round the house which is decorated up for Christmas. To be honest, I was feather disappointed. It was based on the poem “Twas the Night Before Christmas “ A nice idea but they had decided that the place needed to be dark to represent night. The trees and artificial candles were very sparkly as were the chandeliers but I couldn’t really see the other displays in the rooms which they had obviously spent quite a lot of time creating. One interesting fact I gleaned from a guide. There were 13 trees and each one had to be sterilised before it could come into the house so that no bugs and beasties could get into the valuable furniture and carpets. (How do you sterilise a Christmas tree????)
Yesterday and today I was in and around home shopping and cleaning!!! A friend is coming this afternoon so I am going to put my little Christmas tree up.
multiple hugs and love to you too Diane. What an experience ! I hope you were able to allay people's fears regarding all the noise. I've never seen the Geminids, probably due to poor weather in December over here. And the last time I was able to watch the Leonids was in an August (?) lying in the sand dunes of Seaside ! but they are supposed to be visible in places over here now. I just don't understand that. I thought the Leonids were a summer event (what was I watching in America ???) . Our weather has been so overcast for so long... no chance of watching any meteor shower in Britain currently.
Morning all:
Diane How exciting! (Scary?) Any remaining bits of meteors in your neighborhood? NYT comments section from several pilots and other online news sources seem to insist the mystery drone are actally aircraft doing normal approach/departure patterns from various airports.
AQ: You're correct in that we have to go digging for non-US newsworthy items, unless of course it's a foreign tyrant fleeing to Russia. Would be nice to think Vlad might one day offer Orange Menace a bolthole...
Rusty//Heather: Yes, so glad the AZ house sale is going through, though the paperwork is just ridiculous what with all the disclosures. However, not as ridiculous as Caiifornia paperwork for real estate transactions, where you have to alert buyers to every last gas station or potential chemical hazard within a certain mileage. Would not be surprised to see, "have any neighbors sprayed their tomatoes or roses with anything non-organic in the last 10 years" (kidding of course, but....)
Had a chaotic end to the last week – won’t try to put any details in order. GD had a scan Thursday, her drain removed and sent back to her parents’ house to catch up on sleep and eating well. On Saturday, her wound erupted so she is back in hospital on double antibiotics by IV. Not good.
We had some difficulty trying to be ready for church this morning, and J’s symptoms worsened, so we all stayed at home all day. Have done some catch-up jobs during this afternoon. Haven’t had any update from cleaners, so we have wrapped their CH gifts and are expecting them to reappear tomorrow – after that we don’t expect them again till January 6th – too much bother trying to have them here until we have packed decorations away.
Hope everyone is having a good weekend.
OG: Sorry to hear complications have arisen re folks' health.
Oh dear OG more nightmares for you. On a much lesser scale OH and I are feeling poorly. It serves me right for saying that I seem to healthier than most others we meet up with
Monday is not starting great. Temp at 6 am is 33 C. Forecast for hot northerly winds with late cool change. How late? Evening.