I see on the BBC website that the East Coast of the States is getting an ‘extremely dangerous’ snowstorm where over a metre of snow is expected. I have friends on the East Coast and in Virginia or thereabouts, I wish them all well through this storm.

A number of years ago 11 of us were hit by a cyclone whilst on holiday in France. Many people on the campsite we were on were injured, three were killed and 3000 in the area, including us, had to be evacuated. I have great respect for extreme weather.

I’m over in the city again but am going to head west on Monday and will probably head back to Iona for a few days.

Amateur photographers are very like amateur golfers. We are always wanting to upgrade our gear to attain the next level. I bought my current DSLR about two and a half years ago and have had great use out of it. However since then there have been a number of major improvements in the Canon range of DSLRs. However, the perfect camera is still not quite out there. Improvements include better sensor, HD video, Liveview and faster autofocus.

I have various choices to make if I want to take advantage of some of these improvements. Perhaps the first thing I need to settle in my own mind is to clarify exactly what I want to do with a camera. Do I want to take high quality still photos or mix that with medium quality video? I think the answer is that I want a high quality stills camera and if I want to take video, use a dedicated video camera. Next is the speed of the autofocus and rapidity of the number of frames a second it can take. I’m very much a ‘landscape’ photographer who occasionally captures an otter or a jetskier. Speedy autofocus is not my highest priority and neither is rapidity of frames.

Higher pixel count is nice but is only beneficial with a better sensor. To get a better sensor I would have to jump to the professional standard camera and that is a lot of dosh.

Looking at what I’ve written clarifies the position for me. There is nothing wrong with my present camera and my money would be better spent on getting to more impressive locations that buying a more expensive camera body to get a marginal and arguable improvement in picture quality.

I wonder how long it will be before I have a better camera? If this post suddenly disappears - you know I’ve cracked.

Today we escaped from chilly Achnamara and took a drive up to Glencoe. J was keen to see it in winter conditions revisiting her days as a climber. We resisted taking the cheesy shot of Blackrock Cottage with the Buachaille behind it and opted to do the cheesy shot of the Blackmount - too late for the light but nonetheless beautiful and very cold.

We went for a drive down the west side of Loch Sween to Keills. The photo is of the seaweed on rocks poking through the receding ice. On the way back we stopped at a wonderful clearing in the forest and took some photos but none of mine were much good. You win some ….

It was a beautiful morning but snowed heavily this evening.

Yesterday I took my car back to the dealership to get the brakes sorted. They were dramatically fierce and I had been assured by the salesman that this was normal and I just had to adjust my driving. Rubbish, the front pads were worn and needed replaced. The car drives fine now and it was all done as part of the warranty.

Today I had to go and get yet another tooth repaired but this was a very minor repair indeed.

J and I travelled over west as she is needing a break away from her house. We arrived to a house like a fridge. Thank goodness for the stove. Forecast is for heavy snow tomorrow.

I keep thinking my shoulder is now fine and then I try to do something which is very normal and it reminds me it is not fine at all. I tapped a nail with a hammer 3 times yesterday to hang a picture, that set me back a few days, goodness it was painful.

I’m bashing on with the strengthening exercise but it all takes so much longer than I would hope.

I need to do something.