March 2023 Hello and welcome to the March 2023 newsletter. I am hoping that I can get this months’ newsletter out on time. Time will be a crunch. Because of how Micro.blog, the host for my blog and newsletter, is structured, I will have a small window of opportunity to do the final editing and add this letter before jumping on a airplane to San Francisco. I shall probably be doing that editing sitting at the departure gate at Maui airport.
March 2023 Photoblogging Challenge
Day 30: Mirror, suggested by @Rori
Rows of Parmesan cheese mirror each other as they wait their turn to be cleaned - each cheese is picked out, polished, put back, and then the machine moves onto the next one. Scandiano, Italy.
I look out on this scene every time that I step outside of my front door. Yet it was someone’s words a couple of years back that changed what I see when I step out. This friend mentioned that it was possible to see the curvature of the Earth by looking out to the horizon. Sure enough, he was right. The expanse of the view allows one to see the Earth curving away off to the right. Maybe not in the photo that I linked to, but for sure when you are standing at the door on a clear day. That’s what I see now.
We watched The Swimmers on Netflix a few night’s ago, and enjoyed it - even if the delayed review suggests otherwise. A true story, about two sisters who were coached as swimmers by their father. One in particular was driven to swim in the Olympics representing her country, Syria. Based on a true story, it shows the challenges and dangers that refugees go to, to escape their troubled countries in an attempt to live the life that has been denied them. Recommended. 🍿
That last post was helpful to me. A little bit of accountability.
Twenty minutes writing. Go!
A couple of days ago I replaced a metal bar that held up a small solar panel. The panel has been sitting on our gate post for around five years, quietly doing its job - charging a battery, and when that is fully charged, operating a gate. The metal bar had also quietly been doing its job. Holding up the panel, making sure that it captures as much sunlight as it can as the sun traverses the sky.
March 2023 Photoblogging Challenge
Day 29: Slice, suggested by @meandering
A spiraling staircase, slicing its way through the floors. Taken at Antinori nel Chianti Classico, a winery in Tuscany, Italy.
March 2023 Photoblogging Challenge
Day 28: Prompt, suggested by @moonmehta
This little guy looks as though she’s waiting for a train. I hope that it was on time and prompt. Taken at Temple Meads Station in Bristol, England.
I’ve just been scrolling through the new Apple Classical app. I can’t speak to how good the app is, but I see that there is a lot of potential for me to learn about music here.
I am constantly amazed at the number of times that I don’t really delve into what is on offer with MacOS or iOS. The same could go for pieces of software. Yes, I can competently find my way around, but then I discover a feature that I have just ignored exploring, possibly due to habits formed with earlier iterations of the OS….or laziness.
Although I use the Control Center on iOS, I have ignored it on MacOS. Today, with the new OS update, I righted that wrong and because of it feel that I no longer need Bartender to manage my menu bar items. Don’t get me wrong, I still think that Bartender is a worth while purchase if you are suffering from menu bar clutter, but for me now things appear to be under control without it. Some pruning of what didn’t need to be up there, together with moving a couple of other things over to the Control Center, have done the trick.
March 2023 Photoblogging Challenge
Day 27: Support, suggested by @JohnAN
A detail of the support that the Japanese give to long branches on trees. A long wooden pole, tied in place by rope. This photo was taken in the Gyoen National Garden in Kyoto.
March 2023 Photoblogging Challenge
Day 26: Instrument, suggested by @UnfocusedWanderlust
A display of Ukuleles in the store front of Porto Guitarra in Porto, Portugal.
I always thought that the Ukulele was a Hawaiian instrument but Wikipedia says that it is of Portuguese origin.
I usually can’t start my day unless my bed is made. It is 7:45am on Sunday morning and the bed is made for today. I can now get on with my day. But yesterday was different… I didn’t make my bed. No one reason - I felt unwell and so got up later, and went back to bed mid-afternoon - but I was also up and about doing things through out the day.
March 2023 Photoblogging Challenge
Day 25: Spice, suggested by @cygnoir
The spice draw in our kitchen.
🤕 Nurturing a headache and sniffles this morning. I could do with a a quiet Saturday, but there are things to do. I hope that this cold leaves soon.
🤕 Nurturing a headache and sniffles this morning. I could do with a a quiet Saturday, but there are things to do. I hope that this cold leaves soon.
My not so good or clear attempt at catching Venus above a sliver of a new moon, last night.
March 2023 Photoblogging Challenge
Day 24: Court, suggested by @rom
I want to say that I didn’t get to the court today because I was sick. However, while the latter is true, I actually never get to the court. 😔
🤧 I don’t know where this cold has come from, but I am definitely running on a half tank at the moment.