I can see clearly now….

….I’ve got a camera with a working LCD screen! Yes, I picked up my new camera yesterday, so there should be an improvement in the pictures, not necessarily  in quality, but probably in composition. Since my Samsung went completely doolally I‘ve been using my old Fuji with a dead screen, I’ve had pictures leaning drunkenly, out of focus and missing the subject altogether! Believe me, you’ve only seen the best….
I went for a like-for-like replacement, only the latest Samsung PL221 compact has 16 megapixies instead of the 14.2 of the expired PL211. This way I’ve a spare battery and cables (I kept them back when it went away for assessment) and life’s too short to spend the next several days learning yet another set of menus and modes. And another not inconsiderable factor was that the £199 MRP was reduced to £89 at Argos.

Here’s a couple of snaps to be going on with….

Macro……
…and zoom (10x optical x 2x digital). It'll go up to 5x digital, giving 50x total but quality suffers.

That’s a bit arty, isn’t it!

We went up to Yorkshire to make a flying visits to friends and family, and to pick up the mail including my race entry details for the Great Manchester Run on the 20th. Mel is much better now, thanks Carol. 

We’d stopped just north of Bollington, rather than going all the way to Macclesfield on Tuesday. Enterprise came out and picked me up yesterday morning, and dropped me back off after I returned the car this morning. Excellent service as echoed by the Hufflers.

I had a job to do before we got away; for the last couple of days we’ve been smelling fumes from the diesel heater exhaust inside the cabin in the morning. Not good. So I’d left it turned off till I could have a look, fearing a crack in the flue pipe. It turned out to be just a leaking joint, but to be sure I stripped and remade all four connections before a successful test. Another job done in the endless round of things to do. Still, keeps me off the streets.

We moved off at around midday, just a quarter mile to a winding hole where we turned and pointed our stern south for the last time for a bit. Instead of mooching about killing time, we’re now on a purposeful trip into Manchester, planning to arrive in Castlefield in a week's time. I said purposeful, not fast…. that comes later.

Bum towards Bollington

The day had started grey and didn’t get much brighter, but at least the heavy showers kept off till after we’d moored near Lyme View Marina.

Under Bridge 20

Locks 0, miles 1¾