Author: Kimsmithdesigns

Documentary filmmaker, photographer, landscape designer, author, and illustrator. "Beauty on the Wing: Life Story of the Monarch Butterfly" currently airing on PBS. Current film projects include Piping Plovers, Gloucester's Feast of St. Joseph, and Saint Peter's Fiesta. Visit my websites for more information about film and design projects at kimsmithdesigns.com, monarchbutterflyfilm.com, and pipingploverproject.org. Author/illustrator "Oh Garden of Fresh Possibilities! Notes from a Gloucester Garden."

WINTER POP UP AT APRILLA FARM WITH FRESH CEDAR ROCK GARDENS GREENS

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Friend Elise Smith writes,

Hello!

Come on by Alprilla Farm (94 John Wise Ave. Essex, MA) this Saturday for a Pop Up Farm Stand!

10 am – 1pm

The pop up will be down in the greenhouse at Alprilla farm. There is parking right as you pull in the driveway, it is just a short walk past the barn to the greenhouse.

Alprilla will have lots of goodies to sell: roots, potatoes, squash, alliums, fresh milled grains, beans, ground beef and tomato sauce. They will also have kraut from Pigeon Cove Ferments. Chris from Grant Family Farm in Essex will be there with fresh eggs and chicken.

Tucker and I will be there with a bunch of fresh picked greens including spinach, arugula, Cape Ann mix and baby chard.

We look forward to seeing you! Hope the winter has been good and the holidays enjoyable!

All the best,
Elise and Tucker
Cedar Rock Gardens
CedarRockGardens@gmail.com

 

THE WINDING ROAD – WITH BEAUTIFUL SOLAR HALO PHENOMENON

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This morning’s sunrise walk was made more beautiful by the phenomenon known as a Solar Halo or Sun Halo.

“Halos around the sun or moon are caused by high, thin cirrus clouds drifting high above your head. Tiny ice crystals in Earth’s atmosphere create the halos. They do it by refracting and reflecting the light. Lunar halos are signs that storms are nearby.”

What makes a halo around the sun or moon?

Posted by in SPACE | June 2, 2018
A large ring or circle of light around the sun or moon is called a 22-degree halo by scientists.
We get many messages throughout each year from people who’ve just spotted a large ring or circle of light around the sun or moon. Scientists call them 22-degree halos. Why? Because the ring has a radius of approximately 22 degrees around the sun or moon.

People always ask, what causes these gigantic rings?

There’s an old weather saying: ring around the moon means rain soon. There’s truth to this saying, because high cirrus clouds often come before a storm. Notice in these photos that the sky looks fairly clear. After all, you can see the sun or moon. And yet halos are a sign of high, thin cirrus clouds drifting 20,000 feet or more above our heads.

These clouds contain millions of tiny ice crystals. The halos you see are caused by both refraction, or splitting of light, and also by reflection, or glints of light from these ice crystals. The crystals have to be oriented and positioned just so with respect to your eye, in order for the halo to appear.

That’s why, like rainbows, halos around the sun – or moon – are personal. Everyone sees their own particular halo, made by their own particular ice crystals, which are different from the ice crystals making the halo of the person standing next to you.

That’s a good question that is not easy to answer accurately because no halo frequency statistics are collected except in one or two mid latitude European countries.

We need to distinguish between (a) halos formed by low level diamond dust during very cold weather and (b) halos formed by ice crystals in high cirrus cloud.

Obviously (a) halos only occur in Polar regions or countries with very cold winters (Canada for example is not high latitude).

(b) Halos can occur anywhere on the planet during winter or summer. Their frequency depends on the frequency of cirrus coverage and whether it has had a history such that it contains halo forming crystals. The latter is hard to predict. For example, there are major differences in halo frequencies and types of halos across even 200 miles [300 km] in the UK.

Bottom line: Halos around the sun or moon are caused by high, thin cirrus clouds drifting high above your head. Tiny ice crystals in Earth’s atmosphere create the halos. They do it by refracting and reflecting the light. Lunar halos are signs that storms are nearby.

READ MORE HERE

VIBRANT CHRISTMAS DAY SUNSET FROM GLOUCESTER HARBOR, EASTERN POINT, AND NILES BEACH

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Gloucester Harbor

Rocky Neck

Niles Beach

Liv Hauck Eastern Point Lighthouse phone photo.

Bird Author John Nelson’s TV Interview and Upcoming Cape Ann Bird Trips

Posted on by Kimsmithdesigns
Author John Neslon shares the following notices of upcoming talks and appearances:
The Writer’s Block interview with John Ronan will air on Cape Ann TV at the following times:
Dec. 24   8:00 p.m.
Dec. 25   5:00 p.m.
Dec. 26   8:00 p.m.
Dec. 27   5:00 p.m.
Dec. 28   8:00 p.m.
Dec. 29   5:00 p.m.

Dec. 30   5:00 p.m.

The two Cape Ann bird trips will be co-led by Gloucester resident Susan Hedman and me and co-sponsored by the Brookline Bird Club and Essex County Ornithological Society. The trips are scheduled for Saturday, December 28 and Saturday, January 4. Each trip will last from 8:30 a.m. to about 1:00 p.m. We will meet at the Man at the Wheel and will be looking mostly for seabirds at the Fish Pier, Eastern Point, the Back Shore, and Andrews Point and Cathedral Ledge in Rockport. The trips are free and open to all comers and don’t require any advance registration. I have attached a few photos of seabirds for illustration, as well as the cover image for my book.

DECEMBER FULL COLD MOON SHINING OVER OUR LADY OF GOOD VOYAGE

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Wishing all our Readers a Joyous Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and Peace throughout the New Year ❤

December’s Full Cold Moon Descending

 

CHRISTMAS MUST BE TONIGHT

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Going down to Bethlehem, see the little son of man
Lying away in the manger, praise the Prince of Peace
Wheels start turning, fires start burning
Shine a light on the wise men journeying from the East.

[Chorus:]

How could a little baby boy, be bringing down so much joy
Son of a carpenter, Mary carried the light
It must be Christmas, must be tonight

See the shepards on a hillside, looking up at the sky
On a cold winter night they hear the angel’s sing
In a dream I heard a voice, said fear not, come rejoice
It’s the end of the beginning, praise the new born King

Just a little baby boy, he’s brining us so much joy
Son of a carpenter, Mary carried the light
It must be Christmas, must be tonight

[Chorus]

Then it came to pass, the child was born at last
Happened right before the star that shines on high

How could a little baby boy, be bringing down so much joy
Son of a carpenter, Mary carried the light
It must be Christmas, must be tonight

[Chorus]

Must be tonight, it must be tonight
Christmas must be tonight
Son of a carpenter, Mary carried the light
All right and it’s all right, Mary carried the holy light

The original recording by The Band (1977), written by Robbie Robertson.

REPOSTED

‘LITTLE WOMEN’ OPENS CHRISTMAS DAY – VISIT THE MASSACHUSETTS LOCATIONS WHERE THIS CLASSIC STORY WAS FILMED, INCLUDING CRANE BEACH!

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Made in Massachusetts! Don’t miss the terrific article by Regina Cole in this month’s issue of Forbes Magazine. Regina highlights many of the Massachusetts locations and historical homes where Little Women was filmed. Unlike the previous seven versions of Little Women, which were filmed on sound stages, Director Greta Gerwig’s film was shot at places where the Alcott family lived, at Orchard House in Concord, and Fruitlands Museum in Harvard. Crane Beach, Castle Hill, and the Lyman Estate also set the stage for this classic and beloved tale.

Visit The Places Where ‘Little Women’ Was Filmed

The Trustees of Reservations is featuring programs and exhibits based on Little Women. You can find the Trustees events schedule here.

Map of the locations where Little Women was filmed

Movie Info: Writer-director Greta Gerwig (Lady Bird) has crafted a Little Women that draws on both the classic novel and the writings of Louisa May Alcott, and unfolds as the author’s alter ego, Jo March, reflects back and forth on her fictional life. In Gerwig’s take, the beloved story of the March sisters – four young women each determined to live life on her own terms — is both timeless and timely. Portraying Jo, Meg, Amy, and Beth March, the film stars Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Florence Pugh, Eliza Scanlen, with Timothée Chalamet as their neighbor Laurie, Laura Dern as Marmee, and Meryl Streep as Aunt March.

CHRISTMAS SHOPPING SUNSET and BEST POSITION TO OBSERVE TONIGHT’S METEOR SHOWER

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Out shopping with Liv and we stopped top see the beautiful sunset at Cape Hedge.

We mentioned the Ursids during this morning’s podcast and in the meantime I found this handy chart. The best time to see the meteor shower is tonight until dawn.

Ursids meteor shower for Gloucester (Night between December 22 and December 23)
Time Azimuth/Direction Altitude
Sun 4:00 pm 345°North-northwest 34.8°
Sun 5:00 pm 348°North-northwest 32.2°
Sun 6:00 pm 352°North 30.2°
Sun 7:00 pm 355°North 29.0°
Sun 8:00 pm 0°North 28.5°
Sun 9:00 pm 4°North 28.8°
Sun 10:00 pm 8°North 29.9°
Sun 11:00 pm 11°North-northeast 31.8°
Mon 12:00 midnight 15°North-northeast 34.3°
Mon 1:00 am 17°North-northeast 37.3°
Mon 2:00 am 19°North-northeast 40.8°
Mon 3:00 am 19°North-northeast 44.4°
Mon 4:00 am 19°North-northeast 48.1°
Mon 5:00 am 16°North-northeast 51.5°
Mon 6:00 am 13°North-northeast 54.3°
Mon 7:00 am 7°North 56.2°

 

HAPPY WINTER SOLSTICE

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Today marks the first day of winter and the shortest day of the year. Everyday from now until June 20th, we can count on increasingly longer days. Hooray for that 🙂

GLORIOUS BRACE COVE SUNRISE (WITH SEALS)

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Although frigid, the well-insulated Harbor Seals were lolling on the rocks well before the sun rose.

 

BEAUTIFUL LOBSTER TRAP TREE IN THE FALLING SNOW #GLOUCESTERMA

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The Lobster Trap Tree in yesterday’s snowfall.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B6MNKhFHPnF/

https://www.instagram.com/p/B6MOF_NnafP/

 

LAST CHANCE TO SEE HAMMOND CASTLE DURING THEIR “DECK THE HALLS” EVENT -WITH ROOMS BEAUTIFULLY APPOINTED FOR THE HOLIDAYS BY LOCAL FLORISTS AND LANDSCAPERS INCLUDING ANNISQUAM LANDCARE, CHAPMAN’S, LINDA BROWN, HARBORSIDE INTERIORS, AND AUDREYS

Posted on by Kimsmithdesigns

Don’t miss this magical (and first annual newly reinstated) “Deck the Halls” holiday event at Hammond Castle. Each of the main rooms of the Castle has been exquisitely decorated by local florists and landscapers, and also draws from the Museum’s own vintage holiday decorations that had been packed away several decades ago.

“Deck the Halls” is just one of the many events designed to engage the greater Cape Ann community. Linda Harvey, the Museum’s Executive Director, and her staff, are transforming Hammond Castle, from a sleepy museum into a vibrant member of the Cape Ann arts and culture institutions.

“Deck the Halls” is open daily through the week, from 10am to 3pm, closing on Friday, December 20th. Plus, if you stop in at the gift shop and purchase an item in an amount greater than $20.00, admission to the Museum is FREE. This is a wonderful deal because the gift shop is chock-a-block full of unique, castle-by-the-sea inspired presents, especially for the youngest on your holiday gift list.

*Note- The nutcrackers are handmade in Germany, not Chinese factory made.

Thank you to Mayor Sefatia for the suggestion not to miss the exhibit, and to bring bring my camera along so our readers will also want to pop on over 🙂

 

 

 

MORE SNAPSHOTS FROM THE WORLD’S BEST LOBSTER TRAP MAGICAL TREE LIGHTING

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Photos from Saturday evening’s tree lighting event, including several of Traci Thayne Corbett, Art Haven’s director, and her super helpers Lily and Cee Cee. Traci is the person who helps the kids in creating all the fabulous hand painted buoys that adorn the tree.

Traci, Lily, and Cee Cee

Tremendous thanks and huge shout outs to David Brooks, Shawn Henry, Traci Corbett, Warren Waugh, Cape Ann Art Haven, Three Lantern Marine Fishing, Great Marsh Brewing Co, Gloucester Fire Department, the City of Gloucester, and to all the great people volunteering their time and money towards continuing this fabulous and uniquely Gloucester tradition ❤

David Brooks, also known as Spider Man, securing the star atop the tree.

WONDERFUL FAMILY FUN BREAKFAST TO BENEFIT THE ROSE BAKER SENIOR CENTER, WITH SPECIAL GUESTS SANTA, MAYOR SEFATIA, DOMINICK THE DONKEY, MICKEY, MINNIE, AND CHASE FROM PAWS PATROL

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Thank you to Roseanne Cody, Rosalie Nicastro, and all the volunteers for organizing the wonderfully fun family breakfast held at the Rose Baker Senior Center on Sunday morning. The center was packed with children eagerly anticipating the arrival of Santa and Friends. Santa did not disappoint and individual photos were taken with all the kids. Rosalie shares that 100 percent of the tickets and raffle sales benefit the Senior Center!

TEN, NINE, EIGHT… LIVE FROM THE LOBSTER TRAP TREE LIGHTING

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WONDERFUL FUN AT THE LOBSTER TRAP TREE LIGHTING TONIGHT!

Check out the new starry, starry night interior lights ❤ Posting more photos tomorrow.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B6EbtVrH522/

SUNDAY BREAKFAST WITH SANTA AND FRIENDSTO BENEFIT THE ROSE BAKER SENIOR CENTER

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