by Leslie Cox; March 17, 2025

Did you know…

                       …St. Patrick was not of Irish descent and his name was not Patrick?

He was born around 390 A.D. in Romanized England. (Some claim somewhere in what is now known as Scotland.) His name was Maewyn Succat and he was kidnapped by the Irish when in his late teens and taken to Ireland.

He later escaped and made his way to Gaul (now France) where he converted to Christianity, became a priest and eventually a bishop. And he changed his name to Patrick.

He returned to Ireland and played a substantial role as a missionary in converting the Irish to Christianity. After his death on March 17, 461 A.D., he was made a patron saint of Ireland.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

by Leslie Cox; Sunday; March 16, 2025

St. Patrick’s Day is an enchanted time – a day to begin transforming
winter’s dreams into summer’s magic.

~ Adrienne Cook

                       Front garden under snow                                                                                                                     Summer view from our front porch

by Leslie Cox; March 14, 2025

We had a total lunar eclipse on the evening of March 13 and into the early morning hours of March 14. I was fortunate to catch a glimpse of the blood red-coloured moon at almost its total eclipse point, even though the night sky in Black Creek was semi cloudy. Unfortunately, the conditions were not good enough for me to get a night photograph of the moon.

But I did capture a good image of the January 31 – February 1, 2018 total lunar eclipse. This event was extra special as it was the third in a series of “supermoons” according to Nasa’s website, as well as being the second full moon in January which made it a “blue moon”. And because the planets were all lined up in our part of the world that night, we were treated to a total lunar eclipse which made the moon turn a blood red colour as Earth aligned itself between its moon and the Sun. Nasa dubbed the event a “super blue blood moon”. 

by Leslie Cox; Monday; March 10, 2025

nobilis, nobile (NO-bil-is)

                    …means famous or renowned; could also mean noble

Examples:

• Hepatica nobilis – liverwort
• Laurus nobilis – bay laurel; a plant of great renown
• Corydalis nobilis – Siberian corydalis; one of the largest corydalis
• Achillea nobilis – noble yarrow
• Wollemia nobilis – in this case “nobilis” gives reference to the Australian botanist who discovered this remarkable tree, Davis Noble. (Also known as Wollemi Pine.)

Hepatica nobilis in flower

by Leslie Cox; Sunday; March 9, 2025

A flower blossoms for its own joy.

– Oscar Wilde