Europa in bloom

Well this morning I went to the headland with my new DSLR. I saw a subject, switched on the camera and - nothing!

Surely the battery wasn't flat, I gave it a quick top up charge before leaving  for the airport yesterday. Opened the battery compartment - empty.

I thought maybe I had left the battery in the charger, but when I got home the charger was empty.

So, although I could have sworn that I had put the battery in the camera, I resigned myself to having left it behind and would have to wait until could buy a replacement or receive the battery by post from England.

Later on I finished unpacking the last bits and bobs from my hand luggage and there, loose in the bottom of the suitcase, was the battery.

I guess that security at Stansted must have taken the camera out, checked that it turned on, then taken the battery out and tossed it into the suitcase.

Next time I will carry the camera and offer to switch it on and remove the battery myself.

So today's blip is from my trusty Nikon compact, which had just survived a near crushing when I went sprawling thanks to a combination of wet pavement and otherwise very good, but lethal in the wet, Clarks shoes. As a bystander helped me to my feet I reflected that I was becoming rather blasé about finding myself horizontal on the pavement, due to familiarity. Time for a visit to the shoe shop I think.

Anyhow, the sun was partially out today and Gijon's Plaza Europa was looking vibrant with the blossom out. Taken from the vantage point of my mother-in-law's flat.

Delighted that she seemed in fine spirits, despite having lost her speech to a stroke several months ago and having just suffered a first epileptic fit while I was away. Fortunately, other than the speech, she seems almost her old self both physically and mentally.