Remembering our European Honeymoon

 

Jeanne and I spent our honeymoon in Europe.  

I had graduated from Northern Michigan University in May of 1973 and then spent the summer working for a 'pre-fab' house construction company, socking away as much as I could for the adventure (Europe and married life) ahead of us. Our four-man crew always made it home on weekends, but boy, did we work some long days during the week. I didn't mind. All that time-and-a-half mounted up nicely.   

Jeanne had one more year to go for her Bachelor's degree. She wanted to spend the first semester of her senior year in Madrid studying Spanish.

So, off we flew to Madrid a few days after our wedding in September. (Yes, our 49th is upon us)  After getting most of our luggage situated at our pension, (Sort of like an expanded B&B: a room, but with three meals a day) which was owned by friends of Jeanne's favorite Spanish professor at NMU, we set off for the month before her classes started to explore Europe by train.   

I discovered immediately that there was an inexhaustible supply of interesting little stores in whatever country we were in. Many of the items in them were foods I had never heard of. I loved it. 

I thought of those days recently when I ran across a little store down at the very end of Lincoln Road which reminded me of those European stores. It's name is Euro-Dell.  A European deli!

I may be almost 50 years older than I was then, but I'm still a sucker for stores that offer Pulpo en su Tinta (Spanish-Octopus in its ink), Tartuffi (Italian-truffles), Stilton Cheese (English- blue cheese), or Cloudberries (Swedish).  

Oh, boy! Let's go in. 

And oh my, this is truly my kind of place.  

One of many shelves, filled with surprises. 

I gravitated toward the meat coolers. 

Sigh....

I would have liked to have said to the clerk, "Wrap up one of everything, please!"  but that would have broken the bank.  Instead, I chose one meat and one cheese, a small bottle of sour-cherry jam (Croatia) and a really small bottle of fancy anchovies (Italy).  Oh, and a few olives. 

This was the meat choice. It turned out to be the highlight of my visit to the store.  It is Jamon Iberico, ham made from the hind-quarter of an Iberian pig. 

An Iberian pig is unique, black with very little hair (for a pig that is).  It's a breed which has been bred in Spain for centuries.  This special breed lives free-range on farms and feeds on three species of acorns that grow in Spain. It is said that the flavor of the ham, in a large part, develops as it does because of their diet and the fact that they move around as they feed. This ham is salted/cured, and then air-dried for between 14 and 36 months. (or more)

Spain's other famous ham, Jamon Serrano, is somewhat similar, but does not use this special breed of pigs, nor are they fed an acorn diet.  Further, the Serrano is cured for about half as long as the Jamon Iberico.  

Jeanne and I tried some Jamon Serrano in a bar in Salamanca, which is northwest of Madrid, almost to Portugal, in 1973. I didn't really care for it then. Both the texture and flavor were unfamiliar, nothing at all like an American ham and a little beyond my comfort zone. My taste buds were very young and inexperienced in those days.  

My tastes have matured.  I think this jamon is very good. Not as salty as you might think (if you watch the video), very dense, and with a rich flavor that develops as you chew it. 

What you see above is sliced paper thin, and it's all spread out. 

I think they must teach that at butcher school. "When slicing up really expensive meat, make sure whatever the customer asks for looks like a lot more meat than it really is."  At $110.00/kilo or about $75.00 US., I didn't get much, but I had to try just a bit.  

Here is a video I ran across that shows how the pigs are raised and the hams produced. (Rated G)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYvHdf91pSs    

Here is another little gem I found.  The name surprised me.  I wondered if those flavors would  work.  I discovered as we tried it, that the cheese is only mildly salted, and the honey comes through, not as a noticeable sweet taste, but more as an impression of honey that you 'smell' as it melts in your mouth. Interesting stuff, made in Australia. Only $5.00, or about $3.75 US dollars.  It's actually whiter than it appears in this photo. (I didn't use the camera's flash) 

Jeanne thought that when this cheese was cold, it crumbled like a feta, but had a texture when she tasted it, of a cream cheese.  Once we let it warm to room temperature, the crumbliness  disappeared and it literally melted in our mouths.  Tangier than cream cheese.  

I've made cheese here a couple of times, once with my grandsons' help.  It was a complete success both times, and fun to do.  If you've never tried it, I think you should. Watching the curds develop in the hot milk is a rush. 

I wonder if I might make another batch of 'my' cheese and flavor it lightly with honey, just to see how close to this I can come.  Mine won't be as tangy.  

My lunch today. 

That's a fresh ciabatta bun. 

I don't know why, but it's rather hard to get ciabatta buns at the big Pak n Save on Lincoln.  Four times now while shopping I have had to wait for them to come out of the bakery. However, I forgive all concerned when I get them home while they are still warm from the oven.  You know that fresh-bread smell?      

Thanks for letting me reminisce and even digress today.  I've had an interesting life and stored up so many memories.  

Just think, we started our married lives together by having an adventure I would never have imagined and here we are, 49 years later, living a new batch of adventures in the Southern Hemisphere, over 8,200 miles away from our last residence.  Who'd have thought? (And the jamon we enjoyed traveled over 12,000 miles )    

Encore: 

I decided I would try my hand at making some honey cheese just as I said I might. The following pictures tell the story.  My cheese is 'Doug's Jersey salted honey.'   That's because I used Jersey cow un-homogenized milk for my cheese. 

Heating the milk to a simmer. Whoa, I predict a good yield. 

I used mostly lemon juice, but with a little white vinegar as well. Thanks, Ernie, for your gift of lemons. 

The honey is from our own Waitakere Garden bees.  Probably around 3 tsps. worth. I warmed it so it was very runny before mixing it into the warm cheese curds.  I ground 1/2 tsp+ of table salt very fine. (like popcorn salt-which I can't find here) 

  The reaction is almost complete.  I'm going to let it sit for another five minutes. The curds are quite small, maybe because of my enthusiastic stirring, but there are lots of them. The yield was every bit as good as I hoped it would be. Jersey milk is rich.   

The finished product. Jeanne described it as a paneer, with a mild honey taste.  

That was fun.  I think the next time I make cheese I am going to use rennet for it and see how that changes my product/yield.  

YouTube is full of 'make your own cheese' videos.  Watch a few if you want to give it a try.  It doesn't take very long, is quite easy to do, isn't too expensive, and tasting your product is fun.             -djf

Wonders in the night sky

My purpose in starting this blog years ago was to show my family and friends back home what New Zealand looks like and what we were seeing as we began our lives here; our interaction with it.  I didn't feel capable of writing continuous individual emails to each person or couple and showing the same batch of pictures over and over.  How much better I thought, if I were to put our experiences into a blog that they would all have access to.  And if other people happened to see and enjoy it, well, that was just icing on the cake.  

That having been said, I have to admit that this particular post is one that I'm doing mostly for myself. I'm hoping of course that family and friends enjoy it, but I've come to love planet and stargazing and I wanted to put some of my latest successes together into a post.  Right now, they're kind of spread out through several files in my computer's picture archive. This is a good way of consolidating and storing them.

I've said before in various posts that I want to spend my retirement years appreciating our world. I'm 70 now, and while I am currently healthy, I don't know when that could change and my abilities might then be compromised. Therefore, during this golden time while I can still explore our world, and have plenty of time to do so, I intend to enjoy the wonders that we have been given.  

This first picture is one I took in February of 2022. It shows the Southern Cross. You may already know that this constellation helps navigators find the southern celestial pole.  You may not be aware that there are two 'pointer stars' that seem to show where the Cross is in the sky. 

Do you understand what I mean by pointer stars? They are the two just to the left and above the center of this picture.  If you were to draw a line through them and extend it to the right, the line would pass very close to the top of the cross.    

This second shot is of the same constellation, but taken in August of '22.  You'll notice that the cross and it's 'pointer stars' rotate with time. The pointer stars are now at a downward angle and the cross is lying on its side.  And of course I have zoomed in on it a bit on this second photo. The stars are easier to see.  Take a moment to notice the pointer stars, especially the top one. 

The two pointer stars are named Alpha (it's the higher one) and Beta (the lower) Centauri. 

Alpha Centauri happens to be one of the stars that is fairly close to earth, but more about that later.  Alpha Centauri also happens to be very special in another way as well.  It is actually a binary star. 

A binary star is made up of two stars which orbit a central point located between the two of them.  It may look like one star at a distance, but it's not.  In the case of Alpha Centauri, its two stars are named Alpha Centauri A and Alpha Centauri B, and they complete their circling of one another every 79 Earth years.   

I decided recently that I would try to photograph the pair of stars, Alpha Centauri A and B, and show their separation. But would it be possible? Take a look at what I got.

This is the first picture I took, early in August, 2022.  The humidity was very high that night and that affects the clarity, but I think you can see that it appears there are two stars. And that's not camera wiggle. I had a solid rest. I was encouraged to keep trying. 

Alpha Centauri A is 1.1 times the size of our sun and Alpha Centauri B is 0.9 times our sun.  I'm guessing that 'A' is the star to the left, but I don't know that for sure. 

The picture below was taken on August 12th, McKenzie's birthday. The humidity that night was 71%, an improvement on the previous shot and look at that.  That's what I have been hoping to see and it thrills me. I did it.  

Alpha Centauri A and B are approximately 4.3 light-years away from us.  The distance between them is about the distance from our Sun to Uranus.  

That we are able to see such a wonder amazes me, delights me. 

I can see a very slight color variation between the two. The one on the right is a little redder than the other, and that matches what I read in Wikipedia about the pair.  Alpha Centauri B is slightly smaller, as I mentioned before, and it is cooler, than Alpha Centauri A is. Therefore, it would show as slightly less white, just as we see here. It think that's Alpha Centauri B on the right. I love it.   

I have included a link below which will show you Hubble's photograph of Alpha Centauri A and B. if you want to see the ultimate view.  I think I did pretty well with my 'backyard' shot from sea level. 

https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/styles/full_width_feature/public/thumbnails/image/hubble_friday_09022016.jpg  Furthermore, I think my shot shows the color variation more than Hubble's photo does. 

This next picture really excites me.  But it is a bit of a mystery. I don't know positively what I have. I know what I hope this is, but I have no proof as yet.  I am hoping that what you see here, below the  bright Alpha Centauri in the upper center, is Proxima Centauri. It's located at about 7 o'clock to A.C.  (disregard the star off to the right) 

You have already met Alpha and Beta Centauri, the pointer stars.  Well, this, I'm hoping, is the third star in the Centauri Cluster, Proxima Centauri.  While Alpha Centauri and Beta Centauri shine brightly, little Proxima Centauri is just 1/8th the size of our sun and is classified as a red dwarf.  It may be small, but it holds the distinction of being the star that is the closest to Earth. It is 'only' 4.24 light-years away.  
I have been trying for the last few days to determine if this is in fact Proxima Centauri, by looking at star charts and comparing my picture, but have come no closer to proving it to myself. I think it ought to be, it must be, according to what I've seen, but ???  Therefore, I contacted the Auckland Star Dome, which houses our local planetarium, and which also has some astronomers on staff, and asked if one of them could help me identify this small red star.  I'll let you know what happens.  

Update: As of today, 8/22/22, when I published this post, I have not heard back from the "Ask an Astronomer"  person at the Star Dome.  However, I have been through quite a few star charts, and specifically looked for red dwarf stars.  To date, I have not found another one shown as being anywhere near Proxima Centauri.  Therefore, I feel more confident that I did get a picture of it here. Until proven otherwise, I am going to believe that I did. 

You'll have no problem with identifying the planet is the picture below.  Saturn is in opposition right now, meaning that it is directly opposite the Sun and as close to Earth as it gets. A great time to get a picture of it. 

This photo was also taken on McKenzie's birthday. and is about as good a shot of that planet as I've ever been able to take to this point. Saturn was in the northeast sky and the Southern Cross was in the, well, south.  

My next picture will show you another view of what I saw that night as I took this picture. 

That is a completely full, intensely bright moon. That's Saturn off to the left and very slightly above it.  They have both just cleared the top of our Millbrook Building, part of which is being renovated.  

My final picture for this post will show you what I deal with all too often in my role as planet and stargazer. They're the bane of astronomer's, the curse of Moon lover's, the presence that 'puts the cap back on the lens': clouds.  

Not long after I took the pictures that you've been looking at, this cloud bank moved in from the east across the entire sky.  

"That's it buddy, the curtain is coming down on this show," I seemed to hear.

Rats.  

Thanks for letting me share Henderson's night sky with you all.    

And don't forget, your night sky is filled with stuff too. Get out there, give your camera a real solid rest, and take some pictures.  

BTW, on September 10th, the Moon will pass within 0.02 degrees of Saturn.  Wow.  I hope I get the chance to record it.  -djf

More of the Sculpturium

For this second post about the Sculptureum, lets move indoors and look at some interesting pieces to be found there.  

We were told that the Sculptureum has the largest collection of glass art in the Southern Hemisphere.  Here are just a few of the many items. 

I like that they use matching chests of drawers to display these. 

Jeanne especially liked this piece, an all-fabric work.  She liked the textures and thought that it suggested a landscape. She felt that that the longer she studied it, the more she would appreciate it.  (This is considerably larger than it looks in this picture.)  

The perfect umbrella for a rainy day, don't you think? 

The trees and grounds themselves are part of the experience. It's gorgeous there, even in the rain. 

The diversity of the exhibits here reminds me of the seemingly endless assemblage of items at the House on the Rock, an attraction near the town of Spring Green in Wisconsin, USA. 

'Mark Twain' sits quietly on this bench and regards the crowds passing him.  

Samuel Clemens visited New Zealand during a lecture tour.

I'm including this picture below of a staghorn fern because they are so unique. Not only are they interesting to look at, they are an example of an epiphyte, a plant that grows on the surface of another plant and obtains its nutrients from the air, debris it finds on the surface of its host, and rain. (It's not a parasite and doesn't generally cause any harm to the host plant.) 

This one certainly shows why it is called a staghorn. (A ten-pointer trophy) 

It appears that the drain-cleaning elephant out front has a smaller intern learning the ropes, or more properly stated I suppose, the pipes.  Both have that physique that allows them to power through any obstructions.  

That's it for today folks.  Thanks for coming by.  

I'm excited about next week's post.  The Southern Cross, Alpha and Beta Centauri, an unknown red dwarf, and Saturn all play their part. The Moon, clouds and philosophizing.

It's an extravaganza not to be missed! (Well, in my opinion anyway)  So don't miss it.    -djf

Road Trip!

Oh boy! It's time for a road trip.  A bus load of us are heading north for a day of art appreciation.  We haven't done nearly enough day trips since Covid has been messing things up, so this is a real treat.  Come along with us.  

The photo just below shows the town of Matakana sixty-some kilometers (as the tui flies) north of Auckland. In the rolling hills around the town, we found The Sculpturium.  It's an eclectic collection of art works that the family who owns the place wanted to share with the public. Most of its exhibits lie outdoors.   

We left the Village at 9 a.m. and arrived about 10:15.  We then spent the next 2 hours or so exploring the grounds, which are extensive.  We had lunch at the RSA, or Returned Services' Association in Warkworth on our way home. 

I found when I got home and plugged my camera into the computer, that I had taken over 100 photos. Don't panic, I certainly don't intend to show them all to you, but I think the trip was worth devoting a couple of posts to sharing what we saw.  

I wish I could tell you that we enjoyed blue skies and ideal weather. That was not the case.  It began to rain lightly as we arrived and most of my pictures where taken one-handed, while I supported my umbrella with the other.  

You can see what sort of day we have as the bus arrives.  This picture was taken from our balcony.  

We're here.  

It was suggested that our group break into two groups, and head in different directions.  We headed this way. The other group first saw the indoors portion of the displays.  

Well, this post started with an elephant as the header. I think it makes sense to end it with another such sculpture. 

The next post will feature some displays that are quite different.  Keep watching.    -djf