Tuesday was a trip down memory lane. We had a small job in London only a mile or so from where i used to live 30 years ago. So after we had finished I took them for a brief walk in Belair Park. This is where I took my first spaniel 'Bracken' I still remember her first encounter with ice - racing across the snow she saw some duck in a small patch of water; without stopping at the edge of the pond she continued only to realise the change in surface texture. Classic cartoon reverse paddling with her feet ensued as she slid across the ice.

I thought a little visit might be useful for Catja as the duck are very tame and used to dogs so we could get quite close without them flying off. I even managed to get her to go into the water on command (but only with insistence in the voice and me standing right behind her) which I think was a good step. Mind she had the last word on the subject as she smelt like a stale muddy puddle all the way home.

Funny what memories spring to mind from little triggers - I then remembered how we had first got Bracken - we went to see a litter and left saying we would think about it. However our vehicle suffered a puncture about half a mile away - something we saw as an omen about leaving without a pup - so we went back and said we would have one.