Snowdrops, Cameras & Gaekkebrev (Snowdrop Letters)

It was a very chilly day with strong easterly winds. I spent an hour or so outside during a sunnier spell and took a few pictures including a couple of shots of the visually intriguing ecosystem involving rusting metal, flaking paint and algae on the roof of the garden potting shed. But these didn't come out too well so I will try again on a warmer day.
Meanwhile I finally discovered a few more functions on my point and shoot camera. I realise I am a bit of a camera snob because I was brought up in a household with a father who was an artist and photographer. He had two or three cameras, including an old plate camera, a twin lens reflex and a single lens reflex. So I was used to using a camera from an early age and allowed to use the darkroom from time to time. One thing I miss about the move towards digital photography is the extraordinary magic of standing in a darkened room, with the unpleasant yet mysterious smell of chemicals in the air, as a shadowy monochrome image begins to emerge out of thin air on a sheet of white photographic paper. But of course I am a dinosaur and things have moved on in the last twenty years!
Anyway I have realised that even my point and shoot camera, a Canon Powershot s95, is more sophisticated that I have been able to credit. And that if I learn how to use more of its functions, I should be able to get some more interesting pictures out of it. This image comes from discovering how the macro setting works. I am now encouraged to keep experimenting and to find out what I can get out of this little box, though at some stage I will probably invest in a digital SLR. I am still trying to figure out what would suit me best...I don't like carrying heavy bits of kit but I like fine detail and visual clarity.

The Danes have an old spring tradition concerning the snowdrop called the "gaekkebrev" or snowdrop letter. My daughter J.'s Danish granny sends her one most years. When the first snowdrops emerge, you pick one and send it to someone with a short unsigned note - instead of a name at the end, you pinprick the paper with as many holes as there are letters in your name. If the person can guess who sent it, they will receive an egg at Easter. I am afraid Granny has been rumbled...