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Cygnus
Lorien
Jan 18 2019, 4:30am
Post #51 of 102
(1013 views)
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What an awesome story. It sure put a smile on my face. It's nice to meet you Roheryn. This place has likely brought a lot of friends together but your story sounds like it belongs on the top of that list. *smiling again* I love happy endings and I'm not embarressed to admit it.
"I found it is the small things.....everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keeps the darkness at bay.....simple acts of kindness and love." - Gandalf
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Starling
Half-elven
Jan 18 2019, 4:34am
Post #52 of 102
(1009 views)
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who would like to make hay from it I wonder?I say this because a friend of mine has an arrangement with a local farmer who comes and cuts and bales their paddock, and then takes away the meadow hay. A win for all.
Hello, by the way! 
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Roheryn
Tol Eressea
Jan 18 2019, 6:38am
Post #54 of 102
(1008 views)
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And I love you for it.
You want me to reveal my darkest secret? Pfft....
A request that but earns my denial!
Instead of my answering, I'll
Deepen the mystery,
Leaving to history
Her name in the sand of an isle.
Riddle that.
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Roheryn
Tol Eressea
Jan 18 2019, 9:45am
Post #55 of 102
(996 views)
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I did manage to get somebody to come cut it for hay in our first year here. Since then, I've tried to get our neighbor to do it -- he cuts his own hay and does a great job, but he's declared he's not interested in dealing with our property because there's far too many steep and slopey bits. Picky, picky. That aside, this has been a rough summer for haying; there's been so much rain that farmers (at least around us!) have had a rough time finding enough dry days in a row, when the ground is dry enough. Our neighbor, who takes his haying very seriously, just cut his about 2 weeks ago, which was about a month late with the grass well past its prime.
Great to see you, Starling! We should catch up sometime!
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Starling
Half-elven
Jan 18 2019, 10:28am
Post #56 of 102
(995 views)
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the steep and slopey bits.Yes, it has been a weird season alright.
My hydrangeas are gigantic after all the rain and are threatening to take over the whole of Sydenham. 
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dernwyn
Forum Admin
/ Moderator
Jan 18 2019, 1:09pm
Post #57 of 102
(986 views)
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That hurts just thinking about it - the poor bairn, I hope it heals well and swiftly!
Will Eldarion be getting his laptop through the school, or do you purchase it for him? 13 years...it seems like yesterday! What an amazing life you've had, and are having. 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I desired dragons with a profound desire"
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Annael
Immortal
Jan 18 2019, 4:36pm
Post #58 of 102
(884 views)
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I remember when Eldarion was born - seems like just a few years ago!
Good to see you on the boards.
I am a dreamer of words, of written words. I think I am reading; a word stops me. I leave the page. The syllables of the words begin to move around … The words take on other meanings as if they had the right to be young.
-- Gaston Bachelard
* * * * * * * * * *
NARF and member of Deplorable Cultus since 1967
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CuriousG
Half-elven
Jan 18 2019, 5:58pm
Post #59 of 102
(876 views)
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I wish I could my regrets into awesome limericks like you do. Nice to see you. //
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Ataahua
Forum Admin
/ Moderator
Jan 18 2019, 7:49pm
Post #60 of 102
(871 views)
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Celebrimbor: "Pretty rings..."
Dwarves: "Pretty rings..."
Men: "Pretty rings..."
Sauron: "Mine's better."
"Ah, how ironic, the addictive qualities of Sauron’s master weapon led to its own destruction. Which just goes to show, kids - if you want two small and noble souls to succeed on a mission of dire importance... send an evil-minded beggar with them too." - Gandalf's Diaries, final par, by Ufthak.
Ataahua's stories
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CuriousG
Half-elven
Jan 18 2019, 7:57pm
Post #61 of 102
(880 views)
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If planets appeared in our sky, as close as the Moon (fun video)
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Forget the gravitational consequences. The video is about showing how big they would be. The most impressive are at the end (Jupiter and Saturn). For some reason they left out Mercury, and of course, Pluto. (I think you can view this without a Twitter account.)
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Starling
Half-elven
Jan 18 2019, 9:43pm
Post #62 of 102
(842 views)
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Gigantic mop-headed pink, lilac, and blue flowers pressed menacingly against every window, including the police station which is just down the road. 
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squire
Half-elven
Jan 19 2019, 1:07am
Post #63 of 102
(823 views)
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What fun (with one little niggle)
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That's a cool way to visualize the planets' sizes. It makes you realize that, at a certain point, we would be the moon, not the planet, compared to the gas giants.
I was disappointed with the Saturn slide, though. The angle was different from the others, possibly to enhance the visual effect of the rings, but the effect was that the Earth was radically out of line with the planet's local ecliptic (that is, we weren't orbiting the planet roughly in line with its orbital equator). As well, the rings were not shadowed by the planet, as all our probes show is the case once one gets around to the side or rear of the planet with respect to the sun.
squire online:
RR Discussions: The Valaquenta, A Shortcut to Mushrooms, and Of Herbs and Stewed Rabbit
Lights! Action! Discuss on the Movie board!: 'A Journey in the Dark'. and 'Designing The Two Towers'.
Archive: All the TORn Reading Room Book Discussions (including the 1st BotR Discussion!) and Footerama: "Tolkien would have LOVED it!"
Dr. Squire introduces the J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia: A Reader's Diary
 = Forum has no new posts. Forum needs no new posts.
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Cygnus
Lorien
Jan 19 2019, 3:54am
Post #64 of 102
(812 views)
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Saturday morning I'll start posting stuff about the eclipse coming up Sunday night.
"I found it is the small things.....everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keeps the darkness at bay.....simple acts of kindness and love." - Gandalf
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cats16
Half-elven
Jan 19 2019, 4:11am
Post #65 of 102
(809 views)
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Great to "see" you here!
Join us every weekend in the Hobbit movie forum for this week's CHOW (Chapter of the Week) discussion!
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Roheryn
Tol Eressea
Jan 19 2019, 7:42am
Post #67 of 102
(789 views)
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She's delighted to be allowed a smidgen of actual walking today, though. It's a hard way to lose 10 days of summer fun.
We have to buy Eldarion's laptop for him. He's thrilled. We're not! It's a big pinch for us, but we'll cope. I don't know how many families manage -- it's a pretty steep cost.
I honestly don't know where these 13 years have gone...
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Cygnus
Lorien
Jan 19 2019, 2:54pm
Post #68 of 102
(779 views)
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Besides our emotions and the natural things we do to stay alive, there's few things that all cultures throughout all of human history have had in common. Observing the Moon and Sun is an exception. The way our Earth turns everybody on our planet cannot see the same stars but the Sun and Moon are enjoyed by all. Unfortunately, eclipses are something that are limited to certain areas because they don't last that long. The total lunar eclipse coming up Sunday night is something that will be visible in all of the Americas if those pesky clouds stay away. A total solar eclipse occurs when the Moon blocks the Sun and turns the daytime dark. A total lunar eclipse happens when the Earth blocks sunlight from striking the Moon and darkens it. You would think that these would each happen once a month since the Moon goes around the Earth once a month (it's no coincidence the words month and Moon are similar). The reason they don't is that they don't line up perfectly. Don't forget, there's a lot of space between them. A lunar eclipse is a little more complicated than a solar eclipse because of the way light bends. We'll talk about that in my next post. In an effort to avoid long speeches I'll post several times this weekend covering different aspects of this event.
"I found it is the small things.....everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keeps the darkness at bay.....simple acts of kindness and love." - Gandalf
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Cygnus
Lorien
Jan 19 2019, 6:14pm
Post #69 of 102
(771 views)
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Here's a little something that you good folks might be interested in. Right after the hobbits meet the elves in the chapter "Three is Company" Tolkien mentions Orion, calling him Menelvagor. He writes "the Swordsman of the Sky, Menelvagor with his shining belt." I suspect that Borgil is the red-orange star we know as Betelgeuse. I also think that the netted stars could be the Pleiades, also known as M45 or the Seven Sisters. I couldn't tell by the way it was written if the Netted Stars was another name for Remmirath or if they are the same thing (there is a comma between them). Does anybody know?
I just can't imagine it could be anything else. I'll write a little more about Orion when I get more time later today.
"I found it is the small things.....everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keeps the darkness at bay.....simple acts of kindness and love." - Gandalf (movie quote)
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dernwyn
Forum Admin
/ Moderator
Jan 19 2019, 6:44pm
Post #70 of 102
(762 views)
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when you read about the constellation! Yes, Remmirath is the Netted Stars/Pleiades.
In a few chapters you will come upon another astronomical observation...but this time, it will be an enigma, and you'll be asking us "What in the world is....?" Oh, the stuff you have to look forward to!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I desired dragons with a profound desire"
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Ataahua
Forum Admin
/ Moderator
Jan 19 2019, 8:09pm
Post #71 of 102
(761 views)
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How are they used in school? Do students still hand-write assignments during class time?
And do schools offer typing class to all students or just to those who want to take it?
(Cygnus: sorry for going way off topic.)
Celebrimbor: "Pretty rings..."
Dwarves: "Pretty rings..."
Men: "Pretty rings..."
Sauron: "Mine's better."
"Ah, how ironic, the addictive qualities of Sauron’s master weapon led to its own destruction. Which just goes to show, kids - if you want two small and noble souls to succeed on a mission of dire importance... send an evil-minded beggar with them too." - Gandalf's Diaries, final par, by Ufthak.
Ataahua's stories
(This post was edited by Ataahua on Jan 19 2019, 8:10pm)
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Lissuin
Valinor
Jan 19 2019, 8:37pm
Post #72 of 102
(751 views)
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according to Tolkien Gateway,
http://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Remmirath
Remmirath is quite accurately translated with its Westron name the Netted Stars. The word is composed of three elements: rem, "mesh", mir, "jewel", and the collective plural suffix -ath. It has been translated as "group of gems in a net" and "group of jewels caught in a net".[3] Two other names were used for Pleiades at early stages of the legendarium: Gnomish Sithaloth or Sithaloctha, which means "fly-cluster",[4] and Qenya Itselokte of similar meaning.[5]
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Cygnus
Lorien
Jan 20 2019, 12:13am
Post #73 of 102
(713 views)
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A solar eclipse happens during a New Moon but a lunar eclipse happens during a Full Moon. Since the Moon is on the opposite side of the Sun from our perspective (during a Full Moon) it is in the shape of a full circle, reflecting as much light as it possible can. Since they are opposite at that time, the Full Moon rises at the same time that the Sun sets. Sunday night, not only will they be opposite each other they will be exactly opposite. The Earth casts two kinds of shadows towards the Moon. The umbra is the darkest part of the shadow and is smaller and more centered on the giant ball in the sky we live on. The penumbra is a shadow that is not as dark and larger. At 10:10 pm Eastern Standard Time in the US the Moon will start to enter into the penumbra. You won't notice a color change immediately though. Total lunar eclipses are slow motion events. Then at 10:34 the Moon will start entering the umbra. This will be more dramatic because you will start to see a "bite" taken out of the Moon and this will be happening while the color changes will continue to intensify. At 11:41 the entire Moon will be entirely inside the umbra and 12:12 am will be in the middle of totality. It will then do the opposite coming out of totality, the complete event ending at 2:15. Predicting the changes in color can be difficult. Reddish, orangish, yellowish, greyish, brownish, bluish? Part of the fun is not knowing what to expect because of atmospheric conditions. In extreme cases the Moon can nearly disappear but that could only happen if there was volcanic or forest fire ash up high. The brightness of the colors is also something to look for.
Most folks here already know I'm Mr. Low Tech so I won't be posting any links here. So now (and in the future) I wouldn't mind if anyone else did though. And once again, if I ever post anything that doesn't sound right please let me know. I would rather be embarressed from messing up than posting an innaccuracy. More on the eclipse later. It's 27 hours away. (cloud forecast here isn't good)
"I found it is the small things.....everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keeps the darkness at bay.....simple acts of kindness and love." - Gandalf (movie quote)
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Roheryn
Tol Eressea
Jan 20 2019, 1:02am
Post #74 of 102
(712 views)
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Hand-writing seems to be nearly a thing of the past. Cursive writing is not taught at all, and kids can't even read it, let alone write it. We think this is an egregious omission from the curriculum, so NZS has been giving the boys lessons in cursive writing this summer. They should have had this years ago. NZS is also doing daily math lessons with them -- on calculus. Eldarion the Younger just won his school's trophy for being the top math student in the school. Eldarion the Elder is miffed at being shown up by his younger brother, hence NZS catching him up. NZS last year also took them both through a first-year course in Latin. We realize that the Latin and calculus are going well beyond a standard curriculum for their ages, but teaching cursive writing shouldn't be!
I haven't yet seen any typing classes offered. That was the single most useful class I ever had in primary/secondary school. Kids now are just learning hunt-and-peck on their own, which I think is abysmal, given how dependent they are on typing. Sigh. I guess the next homeschool course we'll be doing is typing.
(And yes: apologies again, Cygnus!)
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Kimi
Forum Admin
/ Moderator
Jan 20 2019, 1:50am
Post #75 of 102
(709 views)
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Continuing to highjack Cygnus' thread:
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(Thanks for your tolerance, Cygnus!)
This made me smile so hard, Ro! You probably don't remember, but two of my secondary characters share names with your boys. In the 1920s they're at a small country school with the limited sort of curriculum associated with such a place, but their father, thinking of the future, is tutoring them... in Latin :). Of course it was vital for higher education.
(And because he's an enlightened man, he's only too happy to tutor his bright young niece as well. :))
The Passing of Mistress Rose
My historical novels
Do we find happiness so often that we should turn it off the box when it happens to sit there?
- A Room With a View
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