A Lunar Corona With Jupiter And Saturn : Why Does A Cloudy Moon Sometimes Appear Colorful? The Effect,

Here’s the horror comic I drew for this year’s 24 hour comic day/48 hour comic weekend, called “The Night-Mother”.

Content warnings: miscarriage, child loss, violence, death, nudity

European Bee-eater (Merops apiaster)

© Nick Brischuk

Could you please share the recipe for the soup you made with the bug noodles? That looks amazing and I want it in my tummy.

Sure!

The ingredients always include onions, garlic, and carrots. Usually potatoes too. It depends on what I have in the fridge, but it can also include celery, parsnip, grated turnip, cabbage, green beans, mushrooms, cauliflower, broccoli, or zucchini.

I suppose corn would also be soup compatible, or perhaps bell pepper, though I can't recall ever putting those things in this kind of soup. All vegetables are friends when you boil them up together so it's probably hard to go wrong here.

I can't really give specific amounts because it will depend on the size of your pot, and I don't measure soup ingredients.

I chop up my vegetables and garlic and put them in a big pot with a little olive oil, and cook them on medium heat until the onions have gone clear and things are starting to look a tiny bit brownish on the edges. Or maybe not quite that long if there's a lot of stuff in the pot and it's taking a while and I'm feeling impatient.

Then I add water, or perhaps meat or vegetable stock, just until they're covered, leaving some room for the tomatoes. Sometimes when I boil parsnips and carrots together in the same pot (which is very good and better than having either vegetable individually) I save the water to use for soup because it's so dang flavourful and sweet.

At this point the salt and pepper also go in, and some Herbes de Provence, or something similar. I'm currently out of the blended H de P so for this soup I think I added thyme, basil, parsley, and dried chives. Might have put some ground coriander seed too?

The little noodles also go in now, or sometimes I do barley, or sometimes neither. I got these bug shaped noodles at the Bulk Barn, but that's only in Canada so I have no idea where people in other countries should look for bug noodles.

Then I bring it to a boil, and after it has boiled I turn it down and add a can of diced tomatoes and let it simmer for a while. If it has noodles or barley or something like that then it simmers until they're cooked.

Very shortly before it's done simmering I add some frozen peas, because they really don't need boiling, just to be heated up. If they boil then the colour and texture won't be as nice.

Then I eat soup for 2 or 3 days and it's nice! I like to have it with some buttered bread or rolls.

Usually I end up with so much vegetable stuff in the pot that there isn't much room for liquid, but that's ok, I like it when there's lots of soup in my soup.

I wish you a very good soup!

Playtime for young kea birds! There’s a benefit to this apparently carefree behavior. It helps establish long-lasting relationships between the youngsters and even diffuses tension. David Attenborough | BBC Earth

Bluethroat (Luscinia svecica), male, from a banding. Jerusalem Bird Observatory (JBO). 21.10.21

Milky Way over the Pinnacles in Australia : What strange world is this? Earth. In the foreground of the featured image are the Pinnacles, unusual rock spires in Nambung National Park in Western Australia. Made of ancient sea shells (limestone), how these human-sized picturesque spires formed remains unknown. In the background, just past the end of the central Pinnacle, is a bright crescent Moon. The eerie glow around the Moon is mostly zodiacal light, sunlight reflected by dust grains orbiting between the planets in the Solar System. Arching across the top is the central band of our Milky Way Galaxy. Many famous stars and nebulas are also visible in the background night sky. The featured 29-panel panorama was taken and composed in 2015 September after detailed planning that involved the Moon, the rock spires, and their corresponding shadows. Even so, the strong zodiacal light was a pleasant surprise. via NASA

Rainbow-bearded Thornbill (Chalcostigma herrani)

© Jei Pov

Moss Graffiti: A How To Guide

Lazuli bunting along the Snohomish River in Snohomish.  

I had a bit of a technical mishap yesterday and was not able to work on photos. Today, I will use the sunny weather and mild temperatures to close the pond for the season and set up the heated bath, so the livestream will be off for a bit. I hope everyone has a wonderful Halloween! Count Grackula is already excited 😎 New photos tomorrow evening.