The Moon
The wind was a torrent of darkness among the gusty trees,
The moon was a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas,
The road was a ribbon of moonlight, over the purple moor,
And the highwayman came riding-
Riding-riding-
The highwayman came riding, up to the old inn-door.
Our moon is a big round lump of rock, and it goes anticlockwise round and round the earth about 238,857 miles away, appearing to follow the nearly same path across the fixed stars and constellations as the sun, and all the planets. In fact, the path the moon takes is angled at 5 degrees to the Ecliptic (the path that the Sun takes)
The moon used to spin quite fast on its axis, but now it has slowed down, and we always see the same side of it because it takes the same time to turn around itself as it takes to go around the earth. One day the earth will itself stop spinning, and will have the same side always turned to the sun. This will mean that all those people who bought holiday homes in the wrong hemisphere will not be able to get insurance, but we don't need to worry about that for a few years yet.
It takes 27 days and 8 hours for the moon to complete an orbit of the earth. However by the time it gets back to the same place, the earth has gone a bit further around the sun on its yearly orbit. This means that from New Moon to New Moon, (or Change to Change), it takes 29 days, 12 hours and 44 minutes, which is near enough 30 days.
So what do we see in the Corvedale? Well lets start at a Change (or New Moon). You can't see the moon, why?, because it is next to the sun, and crosses the sky in the daytime. It usually crosses above or below the sun, but occasionally it crosses in front, and then we get....a Solar Eclipse....In fact there are two solar eclipses per year around the world in March and September, but they aren't often visible in the Corvedale - it might be the wrong time of day or wrong latitude.
What then? Well as the moon moves leftwards against the background of the fixed stars at the speed of 12 degrees a day (a fist and a finger), we start to see the D shape appearing. It is now Waxing, in its Separation, and sailors used to say it was Abaft the Sun, i.e. it follows it across the sky during the day. By about day seven, it is at right angles to the sun, rising in the east about midday, and setting in the west at midnight.
On day 15, it is now Full, rises at sunset, sets at sunrise, and is directly opposite the sun, reflecting a lot of the suns rays back onto the earth in the form of Moonlight.
It now begins its Waning, is in its Application, and is said to be Afore the Sun. It rises later and later, consequently setting earlier, and by day 23 is rising at midnight, setting at midday, and looks like a C. Then, before you know it, we are back to Change, or New Moon on day 30.
In the same way as the sun is high in the sky in the summer, and low in the winter, the Full Moon is directly opposite, so it is high in the winter, and low in the summer. Thats why snowy landscapes at full moon are so bright. And at full moon we can get...a Lunar Eclipse... which again happen twice a year, and occur when the full moon moves into the shadow of the earth. It can be quite dramatic, the full moon will turn blood red as the earth's atmosphere distorts the light, wolves howl, clocks strike thirteen etc etc.

You can predict how old the moon will be on any particular date .............e.g. 25th December 2005

Take the year
 (2005)
and add 1(unless its Jan or Feb when you don't)
(2005 + 1 = 2006)
Divide by 19 (the cycle of the moon) and see what is left over
 (2006 / 19=105 and 11 remaining)
Multiply by 11 (the number of extra days in a solar year compared with a lunar year)
 (11 x 11 = 121)
Divide by 30 (days in the lunar month ) and see what is left over
 (121 / 30 = 4 and 1 remaining))
Add this to the number of months since March, inclusive, and the day of the month
 (1 + 10 + 25 = 36)
Take away 11(this system was worked out in 1594, and we've lost 11 days since then in 1752)
 (36 - 11 = 25)
You may need to add or subtract 30 to make the result come between 1 and 30
 (No need this time)
30 is New moon, 15 is Full moon. This method still seems to work, 400 years after it was described here.
(Day 25 is 5 days before New Moon)
How light is it ?

A lunar 'day' lasts 30 of our 'earth' days (29 days, 12 hrs 44 mins), and is divided into 15 days of light, and 15 days of darkness, which would make living there a bit trying.

Unromantically, there is no such thing as 'The Dark Side of the Moon' because every point gets the same amount of light, near enough.

Looking at the moon
Our moon is good in binoculars, both in the daytime (stay away from the sun) and at night. Surprisingly, full moon isn't the best time to look at it (the detail is lost as there are no shadows). Sadly you won't see any spacejunk or American flags, but its quite fun to identify the craters, the mountain ranges, the so-called seas, and any passing Clangers. You can buy a map of the moon here. And here is more info on the moon. And here is a video, shot from a space craft flying round it.