For a friend of mine, another attempt at photographing the moon with the little Lumix – and Venus too! It’s a wonderful night out there. I hope everyone has been enjoying the spectacle of Venus and Jupiter the last few weeks. It’s enough to make me want to be an astronomer when I grow up.
I was taught how to open a coconut by my husband yesterday. After asking for advice on Twitter, he revealed that he had a tried and trusted technique and disappeared into the garage – returned with a sledge hammer – did something with an old-fashioned twisty skewer involving the eyes of said nut, and then studied it for fault lines and whacked it and looked smug. (I would have looked smug too I have to say if I had done such a neat job.)
I made a green coconut chutney with some of it, but he ate most of it on the spot!
More white food – braised turnips and carrots, done in olive oil and lemon juice with chilli, garlic and herbs, thanks to Carla for pointing me in the right direction as to what to do with turnips!
Finally, and a little randomly, but he is on today’s photos which I just pulled off the camera…. and I can’t resist showing it to you….
A photo of a dog that we meet regularly on our walks who is so full of the essence of dog that he makes me smile with happiness every time I see him. He is 3/4 Basset Hound and a 1/4 Cocker Spaniel and he is wildly popular with everyone. Zeb adores him and I do too.
Zeb Bakes 
What a happy little chap, such a wonderful smile!
Isn’t he just gorgeous? he is happy all the time except when it is time to go home :)
That is the most perfect photo of the night sky and perfectly cropped too, such balance! I love your friendly dog.. you must be so glad to be home again.. c
You are always kind about my funny night photos ! There’s no cropping there though, that’s what I took straight off the card, I like diagonals in photos so if I see one I can’t quite resist trying to get them, how the camera manages to focus at all as I wobble about on the front doorstep is a mystery known only to Panasonic, ;)
It works tho Joanna!! c
That is a great shot of your night sky. And what a precious looking dog. Okay, so you got the coconut open but how to you remove the flesh? I love fresh coconuts but they are such a battle! xx
You need a coconut grater; it’s a tool shaped to scrape out the flesh………….sooooo much easier use!
Charlie – I’ve asked for you, this is what he says : He used a stiff bladed knife (no use using a thin one, it will break) He marked a triangle shaped wedge first, levered that out and then cut through in sections to the shell at right angles through the flesh before sliding the knife in between the edge of the nut and the shell and twist (like opening oysters, except he doesn’t eat them). It’s the way his Dad taught him ! One of those skills passed down through the generations, along with boning out a cicken and using ancient gardening tools :D
Elaine – another gadget for me to look for ;)
I love coconuts- my favorite was eating a fresh one in Hawaii- after we drank out the milk I took it back to the guy with the machete and asked him to slice it in half.
Then we scooped the inside out and made it into the base for a smoothie.
Your night sky is enchanted- your photography smashing.
And that dog is so cute- I’m not surprised that Zeb and you both love him.
Hawaii! i would love to go there, it sounds like a magical place and I bet the coconuts are incomparable :)
Every girl should have their own coconut cracker! ;)
He reckons I could do it, he says it’s just a sharp tap! I think he”s thrown down a challenge …. :)
I want to be an astronomer too! Great photo.
Fly me to the moon …. Come too :)
I adore that dog too – essence of dog indeed!
He’s so fit for a dog with such short legs, really muscley, charges about, does wonderful sideways rolls when he skids round a corner and is up on his turned out feet again – his feet are just wonderful :)
Joanna your photo of the night sky, of Venus and the Moon is enchanting and I am so grateful to you for getting it. Well done for wobbling on the doorstep to do so! My old friend will be so pleased to see this. Like everyone else I love the laughing dog what is his name ….
I need a better camera on a tripod to do it properly I suspect but that’s for another time :) So glad you liked it:)
Your picture of the night sky echoes the exact view I got when I looked through my bedroom window just before getting into bed last night! I couldn’t believe how bright the planet was, is it Venus? I am never very sure which is which….. lovely sight.
The dog looks so friendly, no wonder you all like him/her, I always liked Basset
Hounds but ended up with a miniature dachshund, but she was lovely too.
Hi Jeannette, the skies are so clear right now. I think this is the after math of the conjunction of Venus and Jupiter earlier in the month when you could see both together very close in the early night Western sky. Someone will probably correct me, as I am not very cued up on serious astronomy. Here is a website with a bit more about it http://earthsky.org/tonight/best-venusjupiter-conjunction-in-years-mid-march-2012
I am very fond of miniature dachshunds too :)
Cute doggie all right. We too have been watching the Moon and Venus. Last night the Moon crescent was red. Looked amazing!
It gives me a sense of companionship to know you are all looking at the skies at night too, we had a golden crescent moon the night before but by the time I got out last night to look it was already silivering. Thanks Bridget !
I love the night sky; it’s amazing. I always feel like an itsy-bitsy insignificant whispy thingy when I try to find my place in its midst. And of course that dog is just spoiling for a cuddle. :)
I always get so excited when the stars and planets are visible and not obscured by clouds, I tend to squeak a bit. I get the insignificant thing if I am somewhere where it is really dark and you can see more of them, light pollution obscures the vast majority of the night sky in Bristol sadly. The dog is a good ‘un isn’t he Misky?
What a wonderful night sky photo! Hubby and I love watching the night sky. We should get out our telescope tonight. Of course, he has to tell me what I’m looking at, even though I did take Astronomy 101 in college. Congrats to Brian on the coconut opening job! I enjoyed watching the young, cute guys opening them each morning in the Carribbean when I vacationed there. I’ve often thought of buying a coconut just to see if I could get it open, nothing else. You should definitely try it yourself.
Great dog pic! If he’s got cocker in him, I’m not surprised he’s always happy. I’ll bet that tail goes a mile a minute.
You and your Hubby probably know much more than me (B told me they were satellites when he first saw them, we had one of those conversations which went
” Those are satellites” he said conifdently.
“”Are you sure?, they aren’t moving very fast” Me.
” Well, what else could they be?”
Googling ensued… :D :D
I did a short course in OU on astronomy and loved it. If I won the lottery I would buy one of those fancy telescopic lens attachments for photographing the wonders of space!
Love the cute doggy – he made me smile too.
And well done to the coconut cracker – great job!
Hi Lou, thanks for visiting. I think you should buy one of those attachments for sure. Once upon a time, we set up the birding ‘scope on a tripod and managed to get hold of Saturn in focus and I could see the rings! I nearly fell over with excitment and we viewed the transit of Venus last time (due again this year) in our back yard in our old house. I will see if I can find out photos of our efforts somewhere as the second one is due soon. I rely on the press to tell me what is going on in the skies though and sometimes, as recently, we don’t have a clue :)
Joanna
I love the photo of the dog, What is his name? He looks so proud.
Hi Glenda, he’s a sweetheart called Len :)
Such a happy post, Jo! And what a cheerful looking dog! :)
PS. Your B is very clever indeed. I’ve never opened a coconut before, I’d wouldn’t know where to start!!
Hi Celia – he has hidden depths and things lurking in his father’s old chest of drawers in the garage. He cut the grass on our little lawn the other day using a 70 year old manual mower, very tidy it looks too, except it doesn’t have a box to go with it. :)
Look at that furry hound, he’s smiling! He IS the very essence of dog :-)
We see a great dane most days on the way to school. Little Monkey is determined it’s called a ‘goat dane dog’. I haven’t the heart to correct him as it makes me laugh each time he says it.
I am fond of goat danes too, Zeb can usually run underneath their bellies!
Joanna – that is a beautiful night photo. Stunning. Your friendly dog photo is too. He looks so happy running to see you and Zeb.
Your turnips and carrots looking yummy!
Your green coconut curry sounds divine. Brian deserved to eat most of it on the spot after cracking the coconut code!
It’s amazing how one can get through life and just not know how to do some things that are second nature to millions of people. I always remember reading a book about IQ in which the writer wondered if the President of the United States knew how to milk a camel and thinking that he had a point. There are so many things I can’t do and I definitely don’t know how to milk a camel either ;)