Laura's Rebel Journey

 The final week of a very poor stargazing logbook! Monday 19th - overcast again.  It's much warmer now, but the rain is back.

 This week the weather has been literally freezing.  We had a day of overcast conditions when it snowed, after which the sky was clear, but it was not the weather for standing outside and looking at stars.  Temperatures dropped well below freezing. The moon was visible in the morning sky, though.  Beautiful. Waxing gibbous. Saturday 17th - Jupiter was visible early on, but it clouded over quickly. Sunday 18th - today we had freezing rain.

 Monday 5th - overcast tonight, but the forecast for tomorrow until Sunday 11th is either clear skies or sun poking through clouds! Of course, then I totally forgot to lok at the sky at all.  Days of overcast and rainy evenings aren't making this very exciting! Thursday 8th - Full moon tonight.  This one is known as the Cold Moon, Long Night Moon or Oak Moon.  Decided I prefer Oak Moon.

 Monday 28th - foggy Tuesday 29th - overcast Wednesday 30th - the moon was breaking through the clouds about 5:15 this evening.  Noticeably a first quarter moon.  Jupiter also showing up through the cloud gaps.  Later in the evening it started to drizzle. Thursday 1st - foggy Friday 2nd - Sunday 4th - Hopeless, either raining or overcast

 Monday 21st - honestly, it's getting ridiculous.  RAIN! Tuesday 22nd - overcast today, but that's as it should be on the day that Lavender left us.😢 Wednesday 23rd - saw Jupiter on the way to football this evening.  By the time I got back home though...clouds. Thursday 24th - rain Friday 25th - brief break in the weather this evening, but I didn't get outside fast enough. Saturday 26th - rain Sunday 27th - rain

 This week I would hope to see the Leonids reaching their maximum on the nights of 17th and 18th November. Monday 14th - overcast and saw nothing Tuesday 15th - raining.  I checked the weather forecast, and it predicts overcast / rain for the rest of this week and into next! Wednesday 16th - raining.  I chose Autumn for this as it's usually crisp, clear evenings, the clocks go back and you can stargaze earlier in the evening.  Unlike the summer when you have to stay up until gone 10pm to see anything decent.  Oh well, I will continue to persevere! Thursday 17th - it rained again. Friday 18th - rain Saturday 19th - rain Sunday 20th - it was sunny all day! Of course, by the time evening fell it was overcast. What a wonderful week of Stargazing!

 Monday 7th November - rained. Tuesday 8th - today is the first full moon of November.  Fellow Rebel Emma tells me that this is a Beaver Moon.  Her neighbour celebrates the full moons by meeting with friends and drinking gin, which is irrelevant to stargazing but still a genius idea. Anyway, it is known as a Beaver Moon as this was the ideal time to set traps before the swamps froze.  Thus ensuring a good collection of pelts ready for the winter months. Despite the patchy clouds tonight I was able to see the moon, Jupiter and Mars.  Possibly Arcturus as well Wednesday 9th - the moon was beautiful tonight. Jupiter and Mars still looking good. Saw Vega in the early evening.

  Two pages from my Rebel Journal.  These are the upcoming Astronomical Events and the Phases of the Moon.  With some added stickers and washi tape from Under the Rowan Trees . 😍

 I have a physical logbook, which also counts towards the November Challenge of writing every day.  I'm writing this today, so here's some writing for November 6th. Tick! Tuesday 1st November - rained. Wednesday 2nd November - rained. Thursday 3rd November - clear skies, but out pretty early so the summer triangle was still visible in the sky.  Cygnus very easy to see. Moon is currently a waxing gibbous and Jupiter was clearly visible to the left of the moon. Friday 4th November - same conditions as yesterday.  I forgot to look at Jupiter with the binoculars to see if the moons were visible. Saturday 5th November - rained.  Didn't even bother with the fireworks. Sunday 6th November - clouds with a bit of moonshine poking through.

Clause 5 - A couple of pages from my Rebel Journal.  I chose ten of my favourite constellations in the Northern Hemisphere, which made more sense than chosing things in the Southern Hemisphere that I haven't seen for literal decades! I have also done a spread about the history of space exploration for Clause 6, but it didn't turn out as well I wanted.  So no photo!

  CRAFT - I have completed this, although I still have a candle kit to try. CRITIC - I have completed this and blogged about it.  I also used this for the Quarterly Challenge. WRITER - three months done and into the fourth month. CONSCIOUS CONSUMER   Clause 2 - two months left to only buy myself second-hand clothes. Clause 6 - I have the printing blocks and need to make at least two more items. I'm using this for the Quarterly Challenge. FUNDRAISER - made a final bank donation today, so this complete. BAKER - I'm using this for the Quarterly Challenge. Banana Bread done - two more breads needed. Rock cakes and Carrot Cake done - need one more cake. No progress made on biscuits. Apple crumble made twice and forgot to take photos twice. Savoury Pie - I'm unsure what to do for this when half the family won't even eat it.  May need to adapt. No progress made on eclairs. Sweet Tart - I'm going to make a pumpkin pie, which is actually a sweet tart, despite the name. Spo...

All eight Clauses have to be completed to gain this Badge.  Seven of them are totally doable, the eighth? Not so much.  Visit a Planetarium, Observatory or Science Centre.   I've done all these things in the past and more than once, theoretically I could just back date it and be done with it. I will be visiting a science centre (if all goes to plan) at Easter, so perhaps I will just not let myself buy the badge until then.  Either way, I won't be completing Clause 8 during the three months that I'm going to be doing this Badge, time and finances mean this isn't an option.  I'm still Consciously Consumering until the end of December, and beyond at this rate! Clause 1 - create a two month log book and observe the night sky twice a week .  I'm going to put the log book in my planner so everything is together.  As I'll be starting from November I will make this after I've made my November journalling spreads. Clause 2 - research any astronomical events ...

 Time for a new quarterly mission! Complete one badge from every section of the book Make a birthday cake and eat a slice Learn to sing or sign Happy Birthday in another language Make a Rebel birthday card and share it on the group! The badges I'm choosing are -  Creative - I'm counting Critic as this is ongoing in this time period Global - I'm counting Conscious Consumer as this is ongoing in this time period Grown Up - Baker .  Happy to use this challenge as a reason to complete baker. Self Aware - My Collection .  I really need to sort this out and not just keep adding things to the collection! Wellness - Self Care .  I feel most of these Clauses are doable. Wild - Stargazer .  I'd planned to start this in the Autumn anyway. Making a birthday cake and eating a slice will be easy, this is my birthday month! I'm going to get my friend to teach me the song in Welsh. I'm sure I can come up with something!