Let the Bells Ring...

Our church actually has a real bell tower.
On Christmas Eve someone pulls on the rope in the entrance to make the bell ring.
I love it!

I've been singing one of my favorite Christmas Carols. I love it because of the second and third verses:

I heard the bells on Christmas Day
their old familiar carols play,
and wild and sweet the words repeat of
peace on earth, goodwill toward men.

Then in despair I bowed my head,
"There is no peace on earth," I said,
"For hate is strong and mocks the song of
peace on earth, goodwill toward men."

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep,
"God is not dead, nor doeth He sleep.
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail, with
peace on earth, goodwill toward men!"

God is not dead...Let the bells ring!
Merry Christmas.

Moon Eclipse

I didn't catch the moon going into eclipse (couldn't stay up until 11 pm -lol), but I did wake up at 2 am and caught it coming out of the eclipse. This first picture was taken at 2:11 am. You sure can tell it's the earth's shadow covering the moon.

This is at 2:22 and half the moon is showing already.

At 2:42 most of the moon is showing, but it's beginning to get cloudy. The clouds covered the moon quickly after that, so I took my frozen body to bed to warm up!

At 7:21 am the moon is back to normal, though still with a light cloud cover.

We've got a thing about clocks...

We bought a mantle clock for our 40th Anniversary. We were looking for a new one but decided this 70-plus-year old chime clock was a better value. It has been totally redone, inside and out.

It's an 8-day wind-up clock. We're always supposed to wind it up the same day of the week.
It's a Junghans, made in the Black Forest of Germany. We compared the chimes of this old clock with a new one, and the difference was incredible! I love these chimes. You can hear them in the posting below.

So what's with us and clocks? For our 10th anniversary we bought a cuckoo clock, which we no longer have. For our 15th we bought this weighted oak clock from Koop's Jewellers in Kelowna and have enjoyed it. It gives the hour, but there's no music.

For our 25th anniversary we were given this clock from friends in Kelowna who had a surprise party for us. That was fun, and we've enjoyed this clock as well.

So how many clocks can you have in a room? I don't know, but in some rooms we have several. And they all have a story.

I guess there is a connection between the passing of time in a marriage, and the purchasing of a clock to celebrate the passing of the years.... Or is that stretching it?

Let's face it, we love clocks!

Don't forget to listen to the chimes below.

I've added this picture because this very bright star has been appearing in the night sky for awhile. I got up early one morning and it was so bright in the eastern sky that I had to take a picture. If you click on it to enlarge it, you'll see the green colours around the edge.

I don't know what it is - it may be a planet.

Christmas is a good time for it to appear!

Clock chime

This is the half-hour chime.
The 15 after chime is 8 notes, the half hour is 16, the quarter to chime is 24 notes, and on the hour it chimes 32 notes and then bongs the hour.
I really enjoy listening to it.