Radcliffe Arms Free House

So be it.

Having congratulated myself on having properly secured the loose pipework behind and sealing up the loose floor tiles under my washing machine, this morning I found water was still dripping through the ceiling below. So after some more rude words, I had another look upstairs, and found where the leak had really been (and was still) coming from - the (concealed) cistern of the upstairs WC, the adjustment screw of the ballcock in which had never been properly tightened. I've now fixed it (it took seconds), but if I'd done that sooner it would have saved a lot of time, effort and expense.

I'm going on a 3-day photographic holiday in Somerset, organised by a professional. Even using the new camera, it's unlikely to be very successful; Exmoor must be nearly as dead and dry as the countryside in the SE. I booked it months ago, in expectation of normal conditions.

I hope the professional has as much "photographular sagacity" as Roy!

Even if he has, he can't turn a brown landscape green, clear the air of dust, make the heather flower or refill the rivers and streams. My expectations are not high.

But unlike on my photographic holiday in China, 5 years ago, I won't be the least serious or well-equipped photographer in the group, but nor will I come home with comparable pictures or memories.

It was better than expected, and although the dust-dry conditions and dried-up rivers were hardly ideal, the lighting at least (sun and blue sky throughout) were, and brown grass can be turned green in PhotoShop. Many of the 'easy' pictures have already been uploaded and I'm braced for the deluge of derogatory comments from Roy. The harder ones (e.g. of Dunster, a picture-postcard place cluttered up and spoiled by cars 24/7, 365 day a year) are going to take a lot of work and time before they can be.

The new, full-frame, 3-pound sledgehammer was used for all but one of them. But what's been achieved by buying it is a good question. The results (on Flickr and Ipernity) really are indistinguishable from those taken on my much smaller, lighter and older other digital cameras.