Why I changed my camera

I have two cameras, one of which I keep in the car "just in case". That is the elder of the two and has an irritating glitch - which was partly what made me decide to buy a new one. The problem can be seen in both yesterday's pictures, but is even more obvious in this picture of Venice. There is a dark blob in the upper left section of the picture, beside the pointy bit of the tower. It is particularly annoying in this shot, which I would otherwise like very much. It was taken as long ago as March 2007 on our one and only visit to the city. We took a boat to a small island and went up the tower of the church of San Giorgio Maggiore from where there is a terrific view over the city. Here we have the campanile and the Doge's palace with the domes of the cathedral behind it, and numerous towers of the churches across the city. In the distance are the snow-covered Dolomite Mountains, and there is a row of gondolas tied up in front of the palace.

Fireworks

There's a better chance of it being seen here than on Facebook.

Roman camp

The Roman camp isn't really. By which I mean that it isn't Roman - it predates the Romans and was built in one of the ages, though I can't remember if it was stone, iron or bronze age. And no, I wasn't around to witness the construction. It is roughly circular, about 100 yards in diameter, and is on the summit of a hill overlooking Brighton and the sea. The camp originally had a ditch around it inside which was an earth rampart, with the living area inside that. The ditch and rampart still exist - at least in part - and the rampart provides a popular walk. All around the camp is a golf course. On a fine day I like to walk across Thirty-nine Acre Field, through the wood and across the golf course to the camp - which is what I did this afternoon.

The ditch acts as a trap for many golfers.



The view from the camp looking approximately southwards across Brighton to the sea (into the sun!).

Another old chestnut?

One of those old country customs which is new to me was mentioned on the letters page of tomorrow's fish-wrap. Spiders can't abide the smell of conkers, so a few placed in a bowl in a room will keep the spiders away. I must start looking for conkers as Mrs S can't abide spiders.

Back home, but bucketless

Couldn't find a suitable bucket, but the weather was very kind to us. None of those 30+ temperatures, but in the low to mid 20s every day. Just one cloudy morning, otherwise bright blue skies all day every day. The wisteria had gone absolutely mad and needed a severe haircut!

That's all for now

I'm off to have supper, pack the case and then the car, and relax for a while before bed. Then off to la belle France in the morning. Back next week or sometime.

Red Arrows over Brighton

The first I knew of it was when I heard the roar of the jets overhead so I was unable to go down to the seafront to watch the display. There are videos on the web, but not as good as this one, shot over New York last year.