Bodmin moor walks and hounds

I and the hounds went out to Minions (village next to the Hurlers on Bodmin moor) today, there to meet with Clazook, an internet friend of mine who was staying in the village, and her wobbly old dogs - Sis the Oldies sponsor dog, Guinness and Sky the saluki.   By a strange coincidence it turned out that the old friends she was staying with were actually people I'd met before as their dogs started training class at the same time as Duke.

They have a gorgeous but slightly reactive red collie called JD and an absolutely adorable puppy called Lola.   I was so pleased with Duke : he was good with all of the dogs, from 18 year old Sis to 16 week old pup Lola (already in her second  home - the first was a high rise flat.  A border collie puppy in a high rise, no wonder that didn't work out!).   Batty old labrador cross Guinness seemed particularly enamoured of Duke and kept sitting next to him and grinning!  His reaction gives me greater confidence that Duke will integrate easily with his new owners dogs when they arrive from Canada next year.    

The autumn light over the moors was fabulous today, one of those wonderful golden late autumn days under a blue sky.

Camera decision!

 I finally chose a camera!  I've been reading up and wibbling over this for months and months and months and months.  

But I've finally made up my mind, and gone for a Sony Nex3 with an 18-55mm lens, on the grounds that it has a big DSLR sensor and a teeny weeny body, so should offer good quality but still be small enough that I'm actually likely to take it out and about with me, (and it's also cheaper than any of the other options!)

I hope it turns out to be a good decision!  On the plus side, if I'd been more decisive, I'd have bought a camera ages ago before this one came out, so YAY for indecisiveness.   

I did wonder whether to get the Nex 5, which is basically the same camera but with HD video, IR connectivity, and a metal rather than plastic case for a hundred quid more.  But I don't think I need HD video, and although I liked the last camera I owned with a metal case - it felt more solid and stylish than my current plastic one -  I found that it was rather heavy and easy to drop.  My current camera is plastic, and it's undeniably just that bit less likely to slip through your fingers, and easier to handle on cold days.  And a hundred quid is not to be sniffed at!

I'm thinking that if all goes well, I may still eventually buy another compact ultrazoom as well rather than stick a monstrous zoom lense onto this tiny camera, so as to have the zoom available if I want it.  I think I will miss the big zoom, so am planning to keep the Panasonic FZ7 as well for the time being.