<h3>I'm still here</h3>

It has been a while since I updated the blog. Crikey - nearly two years. So why post now? Well, a very dear friend pointed out that during these uncertain and scary times people don't always want to ring and check why you've "gone quiet" in case the news is bad. They pointed out that regular updates let people know I am still here (because despite its best efforts, not everyone is on Facebook). So here I am signing in to let you know lovely readers that I am still doing my thing.

I've been focussed more on back garden photography and writing than on painting or sewing over the last year and a bit, so to whet your appetite before a proper update here is an image I shot of the moon.

What we think of as the surface of the moon is actually regolith. Isn't that a wonderful word. It is the loose dust and broken rocks that cover the actual surface of the moon. It is mostly made up of the materials found in that area of the moon but also contains traces of material from distant impact crators.

When we look at the moon, even with our naked eyes, we see the dark areas - the maria - which are large areas of cooled basalt lava. Those areas tend to be higher in iron and magnesium. Some of those basalts are high in ilemite - an iron-titanium oxide. The areas of the moon that appear lighter are the lunar highlands. They are predominantly calcium rich rather than iron.

The colours of the photograph have been boosted to show the different colours of the moon's surface (or regolith) mineral content. The bluer areas are rich in ilmenite. So the blue areas reveal titanium rich deposits. The purple and orange areas contain less titanium. The white areas contain more calcium.

So there you go - a little art, a little geology. I hope you found it interesting. Please leave a comment if you enjoyed the read. And while you're at it why not pick up the phone, send an email, send a text, comment on a Facebook post, let people know you're still there, doing your thing.