Monday 13th January 2025

Back to work.

Though weeks to do are getting few.

It is still less than four weeks since the solstice, so there is no obvious longer days r more daylight yet. And yet, on bright days, some kind of gloaming lingers until nearly five, when at this time of the year, the near to full, or actual full moon rises away in the east.

Monday was the date of the full moon, the Wolf Moon, and also the planet Mars would be in conjunction with the Moon, and later in the night, over the US, the planet would pass behind our satellite.

Work is building slowly, with the promise of more "noise" this week. Except for us, there is no noise. In fact with our new manager off on a family emergency, its quieter than usual.

Otherwise it was a stunning, clear, sunny but cold day, and the garden filled with birds, including a Jay, who emptied the ground feeder of peanuts in about a minute, so it's crop of full to bursting.

At the factory, they have started to interview for Jools's replacement, making the whole thing seem real now.

I am up to date still, and ping replies to mails off as they come in, like electronic wiff waff.

I had left my coat in the car, so no walking for me, and anyway, it was so chilly out there I probably wouldn't have gone anyway.

No aquafit for Jools, so I prepare chorizo hash, which I know so well by now I could cook it with my eyes closed, but it involves a sharp knife, probably not for the best to have my eyes closed.

Dinner was good, of course, and my intention to only have booze at weekends was quietly forgotten.

As it was dark the cosmic dance between the Moon and Mars had begun, but there was high thin clouds partially obscuring the spectacle.

By half nine, skies had cleared and the Red Planet was within a solar disc of the Moon.

I take shots, though I get the exposure wrong.