In the complete absence of any observing whatsoever for ages I have been doing other things. Last week I went, with a friend, on a cruise on the P&O ship Oriana from Southampton to Amsterdam and Zeebrugge and back to Southampton and very nice it was too. Except for the rain as we departed and as we arrived home. However, I did manage to get a couple of spectacular sky shots.

Moon rising behind Oriana’s funnel

The tanker ‘Minerva-Julie’ against a spectacular sunset sky

Cloud shadows (upper part of picture) cast by the setting sun

My Deep Sky Binocular pin and certificate arrived while I was away. I haven’t got round to thinking about the next project – in fact I am wondering if the sky will ever clear again and why, exactly, I spent £3.5k on an 18″ telescope. Why did I take up such a frustrating hobby? So our latitude means that serious deep sky observing is not really possible between late May and late July but that’s not the point. Shit weather is still shit weather and it’s been going on for bloody months now! Observing is only part of it, I want some decent sunny weather and warm temperatures, something this country *is* capable of providing when it wants to.