A Field of Marigolds

I thought that Nightjar’s sunny Marigold photo from yesterday couldn’t be beat, but today she’s sent us an entire field of bright yellow Marigolds. I love the way the focus fades and the flowers start to look like bright yellow balloons bobbing in the breeze.

Marigolds (Calendula arvensis), ©Nightjar, all rights reserved

Thanks, Nightjar

Tummy Thursday: Book recommendation

I got a baking book for Christmas from, my brother in law. we might start a tradition of giving each other cooking books and baking books, though he doesn’t actually like baking much. He#s somebody who follows certain cooks and Yotam Ottolenghi is definitely one of his favourites (he asked for several of his books on other occasions.)

baking book

Interestingly, the international cover is different from the English one…

Now, cooking books are like other books. They’re for you to read, but they have the added benefit of also containing recipes. What I instantly liked about it was that it had a lot of cakes and cookies and such that looked absolutely doable. Now, as you know, I’m not one above spending three days in the kitchen to make a CAKE, but most occasions are for simple cakes that you make in an hour and then enjoy.

Of course I had to try one out as soon as possible and decided to go for cakes baked in a can for New Years Eve.

cake

Caaaaaaake, caaaaaaaaaake

These ones are with butternut squash, almonds, raisins and orange peel. I slightly upscaled the recipe because I only had medium eggs. Often recipes call for large eggs and if you only use medium eggs the cake gets dry. So I added an extra egg and a bit more of everything else. that way I ended up with three cans and was I glad.

That’s two of them cut into slices.

I thought I’d save the third so it wouldn’t become dry… After a while our host asked if there was anything left. I cut the third. Suddenly our other host said: Shit, my parents aren’t here yet and look at what we left!

Not much…

The cake was delicious in taste and very moist. We could have kept eating, obviously.

Which is why I decided to make it for my birthday breakfast at work, that’s why my kitchen currently looks like I was planning to open a stall at fun fairs…

cans

Three throws for a buck.

Perfect

Just goes to show, Estonians are show-offs. Even their rivers make perfect circles of ice (article in Latvian, but it’s the visual that’s important).

Video here, I can’t seem to embed it, except like this: .

At any rate, it’s another interesting natural ice phenomenon known by various names, and observed in various parts of the world. Here’s National Geographic:

While the Russian ice circle is rare for its large size, the phenomenon isn’t quite as unusual as it might seem. Ice disks have been filmed in North Dakota, Washington state, and Michigan.

Early theories of why the disks formed centered on erosion. Ice disks observed in 1987 and 1994 were in the path of flowing river waters. A paper published in 1997 by the Royal Meteorological Society theorized that flowing river water created a whirlpool effect. As the ice spun, researchers theorized, the borders eroded into a circular shape.

Published in the journal Physical Review E, researchers from the University of Liege in Belgium found that temperature changes—and not flowing rivers—prompted the spinning. As water warms it becomes less dense, and as it’s cooled by surface ice, a vortex forms.

Neat!

I was stuck between two songs, but this seems the most obvious choice:

(runnerup)

 

Jack’s Walk

Well nested, ©voyager, all rights reserved

This tree sits at the crossroad of several paths and is obviously well-favoured by some type of smallish bird. Jack and I pass this way often, but we’ve never seen an actual bird here only the nests. Maybe the birds are tucked up inside or maybe they’re out searching for food or maybe they’ve gone to Florida and won’t return until spring. We’ll keep looking, but something tells me I won’t see birds here any time soon.

A Little Snow

Well, actually a lot of snow. These breathtaking photos are from DavidinOz.

…here are some photos from when I lived in New Zealand. They are from Tekapo in McKenzie Country on the South Island.

1 & 3 are the Church of the Good Shepherd exterior, while No 2 is the view through the window behind the altar. How could anyone listen to a sermon with that view? I am sure they must have drawn a curtain. The last 3 are taken from the top of Mount John, site of an observatory. The sky at Tekapo is so clear it is now listed as a world heritage area to protect it from light pollution.

It is a magical place, one I was pleased to see in all seasons.

Tekapo 1. ©David Brindley, all rights reserved

[Read more…]

Jack’s Walk

Even my favorite resting spot seems uninviting today. ©voyager, all rights reserved

The warm, welcome sunshine of yesterday has given way to dark and gloomy skies today. It’s hard to tell what time it is outside because it always looks the same. There isn’t even any grainy  mist or fog to enhance the mood. It didn’t seem worth going back to the river because the ground is still muddy so Jack and I went exploring around the neighbourhood instead. I hope it gets colder soon (wow, I can’t believe I just said that!) because I think I know which direction the beaver den is, but I need firmer ground to get there. It’s winter. In Canada. It’s supposed to be cold.

Stepping Out of the Silence

I’m working on it. It doesn’t help that I have writings planned out in my head and keep choosing not to put them down in writing when I have half a chance.

In the meantime, see this excellent winter weather (this is Sunday morning around 11, in case anyone is wondering about my early rising habits).

©rq, all rights reserved.

Surrounded by Rocks: An Exploration Series, Introduction and Chapter 1

Nightjar has been working hard on a new series for us which is making its debut today. We’ll be posting a new chapter every other day, which will include weekends, so be sure to check in often because you won’t want to miss a single post. The first chapter is about trees which makes Tuesday the right day to begin, so I invite you to sit back, relax and enjoy exploring a bit of Portugal with Nightjar.

Introduction

This series was inspired by both Ice Swimmer’s “Harakka Island” series (starting here)  and a post by rq on the Macedonian rocks that made her homesick, here. . I have no islands nearby to visit but I do have hills with rocks. In fact, I live between two hills that are very different from each other and both mean a lot to me, bringing childhood memories of fossil and rock hunting with my family and childhood friends. I do not go up the hills as often as I used to, but they really aren’t far from home and an afternoon is more than enough to explore one of them. In a November afternoon I went East and had fun among limestone. In a December afternoon I went West and had fun among phyllites and quartz. And yes, my pockets were heavy on my way back home. I can’t resist it. But let’s start our journey… let’s go East! [Read more…]

Tree Tuesdsay

From Lofty,

A series of the small patch of forest that was selectively burned, one year on. 

©Lofty, all rights reserved

©Lofty, all rights reserved

©Lofty, all rights reserved

What a difference a year can make. The area doesn’t look fire ravaged at all. Maybe it’s because of the regrowth on the tall trees,. That’s not something I’ve seen before and it’s fascinating. Thanks for sharing. Lofty.

Jack’sWalk

The mark of the Eager Beaver, ©voyager, all rights reserved

Jack and I went down to the river today looking for beavers, but we didn’t have any luck. It was just too difficult to get off the path because the area is quite boggy right now. I fell 3 times (I’m dirty, but OK) before I finally decided to try again another day. We did see evidence of beavers, though, including this tree that some eager beaver started to gnaw and then abandoned. Maybe he’s coming back with a few friends to help. That looks like a mighty big tree for a single beaver to fell, even if it is an eager beaver.