Isn’t it telling that almost all Christmas gifts have come from the Far East in recent years? Whatever happened to Lapland?

I have to confess I’m hopeless at buying Christmas presents. So is everyone else, in my experience.

At least I attempt to ensure that gifts derive from a cold, northern country where snow makes an appearance sometime during the festive season. Reindeers are de rigueur.

To escape the usual flood of Christmas gift packs of puddings and pickled onions, I usually treat myself to exactly what I want at this time of year. Early thoughts included an Apple iPhone, but the deals here are not very tempting when you already have a better phone and a superior camera.

So today I ordered up my present to myself. I’d been hoping to find a decent old Leica camera on ebay — say, an M4 — with those never-to-be-repeated optics that the Zeiss perfectionists created back in the 1960s when cameras were truly male jewellery.

Hoping is not the same as finding though.

Then, yesterday, an online ad appearered in my inbox for a Panasonic digital SLR with … a Leica “superzoom” lens. It was too much to resist :

It arrives tomorrow, and I’ll be out immediately road testing it around the town. I’ll even favour you with a few shots to brighten up your weekend.

Where is it manufactured? My guess is China — but I live in hope it may be Lapland.

Almost everyone I know is on holiday right now. Mostly they’ve gone to sweltering latitudes to escape the constant rain and floods here in England.

A typical English summer scene — this year at least

Contrariwise — as usual — I’m staying at home this year, although living on the English Riviera is a good incentive not to leave.

Actually, we are planning a major location move in October to a new Syntagma Towers. So, instead of leaving everything to the last minute, I’m going to spread it out over the next two months to lessen the load.

All this is just to say, normal service will continue here at Syntagma over the holiday period. Wherever you’re going, have a great time — and stay in touch.

Mind how you go.