Its the start of a new year, which means we also have to start thinking about our entries for January's Photo of the Month... send your pics (there's no theme) to photos@ourscotland.co.uk by the 15th of the month and we'll start voting on the 16th!

[Unfortunately we have decided not to continue with the international version of the Photo of the Month competition this year, but may open up at least one of the months (December probably) to photos not connected to Scotland... but of course that doesn't mean that your "Scottish" photos actually need to be taken in Scotland; as long as there is a Scottish connection then that's fine!]

Now that we have another Photo of the Year competition out of the way we can start to concentrate on a new year of Photo of the Month competitions and there's still plenty of time to send in your entries for January's competition; there's no theme so anything with a Scottish connection is acceptable... send your pics to photos@ourscotland.co.uk as usual and good luck to everyone who enters!

It might not surprise you to read that I am extending the deadline for entries... you now have until the 20th to send in your pics for January's Photo of the Month and we'll start voting on the 21st! Good luck to everyone who enters!