Sounds like fun Duncan! When the weather is bad here in Brisbane I pull out a few text books myself. I'm on one at the moment called "What star is that - Astronomy fundamentals" but it's anything but fundamental I reckon. I'm up to chapter 3, the solar system, and a discourse on Kepler's equation and orbital elements.
It's facinating but the maths revision bogs you down to a snails pace. makes me sleepy too.
http://www.aao.gov.au/images/captions/misc006.html here is that business about the clouds too.