Venus if you will

According to my buddies at NASA,on Friday evening, Feb. 27Th, the 10% crescent Moon will glide by Venus, forming a gorgeous and mesmerizing pair of lights in the sunset sky.

Yes, we know that Moon-Venus conjunctions are not unusual, but this conjunction

will have some special qualities:
(1) Venus is at maximum brightness: magnitude -4.6. The planet is twenty times brighter than Sirius, the brightest star in the sky. It is so luminous that it can actually shine through thin clouds and cast subtle shadows on the ground.
(2) As seen from North America, the Moon-Venus separation is only a little more than 1o. Stick up your thumb and hold it out at arm's length. Venus and the Moon will fit comfortably behind the thumb-tip. Tight conjunctions like this are the most beautiful of all.
(3) Not only is the Moon a crescent, but so is Venus. A small telescope pointed at the glittering planet will reveal a slender 20%-illuminated disk.
We'll be taking out this book

and looking up more information about what else is "up there".

Sorry, I am aware that many of you will now have Frankie Avalonsinging in your head all day, but I just could not help myself!

Thank you all for all your kind "get well" wishes of late, I am on the mend,

and looking forward to getting back into the swing of things.

We have germination on our heat mats mostly the mustard),

and this is flowering in the kitchen...

I think Pumpkin must be correct.

It is time to take down the winter snowflakes,

and prepare to sing a song of spring!

A close up, because these plum blossoms are too pretty to miss.


Have a lovely weekend.