Helena Handbasket

By Tivoli

Campsis

For several years while sitting at our favourite taverna I have admired a pink Campsis growing up the side of a neighbouring building. It took me a while to realise that it was indeed a Campsis because they are usually more like orange in colour. I tried taking cuttings but they never took. I tried ordering one from the local garden centre but it seems that the species he receives do not always match the orders that he places (part of the joys of living on an island).

Then, at the start of this season, I noticed that it had been cut down! Horror! I peeked over the fence and saw a few little stumpy bits and resolved to find a discreet time of day to hop over the fence and grub up whatever I could find with any root attached.

So early one morning after dropping Spouseman off at the port in time to catch his sailing to the mainland, I nipped along the waterfront to see if nobody was around. I was in luck! Not only was nobody about but also the gate had been left open because more garden destruction was obviously a work in progress, though apparently not at that time in the morning. What now remained of the plant was dramatically less than at my previous viewing so I went through the gate to see if anything at all was rescueable. Happily a shoot was exploring its way along the paved ground putting out hopeful roots so I removed it, dashed home, put it in a pot with soil and plenty of water and crossed my fingers. It has been happy from that day to this and despite being only a few inches high has started rewarding me with flowers.

Separately, I have set up a little spreadsheet to compare camera settings when both cameras are set to Program Auto and tasked with taking the same scene. My findings so far are thus;
Usually the Sony has a faster shutter speed and a lower F-stop than the Canon.
When the two cameras have the same shutter speed, the Sony has the higher F-stop of the two

Arachne has commented that in her opinion both cameras are producing over-exposed images but presumably I can work on that with the Sony which has an exposure compensation dial though the Canon does not. Still awfully keen for any comments, observations and advice. Thanks :-)

Update; Sony died again at dusk, and overheated again because the LCD screen wouldn't shut down. Removed battery, let it all cool down, put battery back in again, put it on charge, when charging light went out pressed off button and lens closed, so working again by bed time.

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