Brutkey

Prof. Sam Lawler
@sundogplanets@mastodon.social
Prof. Sam Lawler
@sundogplanets@mastodon.social

Ok this one is actually quite nice. Just not very many stars.

And this is with a ~75% moon, imagine with 4x full moonlight like fucking Reflect Orbital wants to do! Gross.

Nevermind, don't imagine that. Just look at this beautiful scene and appreciate the stars you can see, and also appreciate that it's probably not nearly as cold where you live right now.

A small clump of tall spruce trees, perfectly frosted, with a flat farm landscape in the background. There are also high clouds and a few stars peeking through, including the Pleiades.
Prof. Sam Lawler
@sundogplanets@mastodon.social
selfie (barely)

Hmmm high clouds+moonlight+snow makes these photos look like daylight! Oh well, now I know.

At least I found my cowl/gaiter/buff/snood/bunnyfacehugger before I went out! Time to drink warm tea.

A nighttime scene showing some frosty spruce trees and stars mostly obscured by high clouds. Me, looking at the camera from underneath many layers so only my eyes are visible. There's a green winter hat, a warm stripey face cover, a brown scarf over all that, and a black hood over all that, with a tan jacket covering everything.
Prof. Sam Lawler
@sundogplanets@mastodon.social

Tonight is the first clear(ish) night in a couple weeks, so I thought I'd go out and take a few sky pictures. But it's SO COLD ugh (Weather Canada says the windchill is current -30C)

Should I try anyway? Maybe very briefly...

Prof. Sam Lawler
@sundogplanets@mastodon.social

Nice to know from replies that there is a wide range of different names to call the neck-tube thing! (which I did not know existed before living in Saskatchewan, and now wear every day for probably ~1/3 of the year)

This is the pattern for my favourite one (the one that I need to find...) and it's called a cowl in the pattern! Yet another name! https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/sockhead-cowl

Prof. Sam Lawler
@sundogplanets@mastodon.social

Windchill is well below -20C (I really need to find my neck-tube/face-cover thingie... what is that even called?)

But the compost abides! Not super obvious in front of the sun dog, but there is a lot of steam coming out of this snow-covered pile of poo and hay that is full of happy, hard-working bacteria and fungus.

A large pile of compost covered with a light layer of snow. There's a bit of steam coming out of it, and a rainbow coloured sun dog right above it in the blue sky.
Prof. Sam Lawler
@sundogplanets@mastodon.social

I just got my draft Beatrice Tinsley lecture tour schedule for traveling around New Zealand, and I just spent a lot of time excitedly playing with New Zealand maps instead of writing an article like I was supposed to be doing... this is going to be soooo coooool!!! I very much appreciate that they specifically arranged the tour for me with farm visits in mind, so hopefully I won't have goat withdrawal too badly.

Prof. Sam Lawler
@sundogplanets@mastodon.social
food

I had to make pie today because of all the lovely American Thanksgiving food posts. But I just now realized I forgot to listen to Alice's Restaurant while making them. So I might have to make more pie tomorrow...

A berry pie on the left, and a pecan pie on the right, both in glass pie pans and sitting on an old towel while cooling. A slice of purplish berry pie and a slide of pecan pie, on a plate, each with a glob of whipped cream on top
Prof. Sam Lawler
@sundogplanets@mastodon.social

It's still absurdly pretty (and kinda cold)

The dogs love the snow, the goats and llama don't seem to mind it, and the chickens are so offended they won't come out of their coop.

A whole bunch of bare trees with white bark, that are covered with frost. There's a light dusting of snow on the ground, and the sky is grey with clouds. A yellowish dog is nearly the only spot of colour in a frosty snowy grass field, with an open-sided shed and a bunch of frosty trees in the background. The sky above is grey. A clump of perfectly frosted spruce trees, in a snow-covered field, with grey sky above. A view from inside a large, open barn. In the large doorway you can see a llama who has his front legs on the bottom rung of a hay-rack, and he's leaning way into the middle of the hay pile to eat. There's a fluffy white dog curled up at the base of the hay-rack, oblivious to the snow falling on her, a small black goat walking towards her, and a very very comfortable-looking yellow dog curled up on a fluffy straw pile in the corner of the barn.
Prof. Sam Lawler
@sundogplanets@mastodon.social

About 3 weeks until my epic trip, that will include lots of lectures (both for researchers and the general public), meeting with research collaborators, and hopefully a tiny bit of vacation time.

I have SO much to do to get house/farm animals ready for the farm sitter, packing, eating up freezer food... I am at the stage where I have lists started on scraps of paper scattered around my desk, my kitchen table, a notebook, and a couple on my phone and computer. Any good organization tips?

Prof. Sam Lawler
@sundogplanets@mastodon.social

I should add...other than obviously consolidate my lists into one list...

Are there things that you wished you had brought on a long road trip? Or international trips? Or keeping track of things while frequently moving between hotels/friends' houses on a long trip? Or setting up your house for someone else to live in it temporarily?

(I realize these are all incredibly privileged things to worry about, and I'm so grateful I get to do this)

Prof. Sam Lawler
@sundogplanets@mastodon.social

My new favourite exoplanet name: COCONUTS-2b https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.20923