Another shot from our post-Christmas walk in Bradgate Park, just north of Leicester. The plan was a walk along the surfaced path through the park, with granddaughters on their bikes, but the ice and snow proved just a bit too precarious for young cyclists, even when equipped with stabilisers on the younger girls’ bikes, and so we all walked instead. This at least meant that we could leave the busy bustle of the path, where much of the County population seemed to be walking off their Christmas excesses, and we climbed up to the higher ground above the path, giving
@shepherdmanswife ‘s lungs a post pneumonia work-out, which almost proved too much, as I assisted her up the last few feet. It was a wonderful winter walk, the frosty snow glistening under a clear blue sky providing lots of photo opportunities for both scenic shots and family groups.
It was just after taking this shot that I realised that my left coat pocket was empty. This was unfortunate because shortly after entering the park it had been full with Tia’s lead.
@shepherdmanswife had walked ahead with younger family members, and so my son-in-law and I, together with a leadless Tia, retraced our steps in the hope of locating the lead before the loss was discovered by shepherdmanswife, whose lungs had recovered sufficiently for her to have reminded me at length that losing dog-leads is a bit of habit of mine, and maybe I should take more care of them. We failed to locate the lead, and returned to the family, meeting
@shepherdmanswife who had been informed of the loss, and, after a bit of tut-tutting, she and I once again retraced the route, eventually reaching the area where we had climbed away from the path, and which myself and my son-in-law has searched methodically and diligently 20 minutes early.
@shepherdmanswife took the easiest route back down to the path, using her tripod as a walking stick to steady her descent, and in less than a minute she spotted the lead lying in the bracken. There were dark mutterings about me and my son-in-law having had a mere “man-look” for the lead as we re-joined the path to catch up with the rest of the party…
I am so glad that you and your photos and stories are back, and that Chantal is on the mend (especially if she can scold).