The Family Has Grown

Introducing Kola

The last couple of weeks have been manic and photography has gone out of the window. Something always has to go. It's all good, though. I continue to be focussed and happy to be able to keep my various plates spinning.

I enjoyed some downtime today. After going for a slow run on the moor this morning (the legs still not having come back to me after the marathon in Rome, which seems like months ago already), I was whisked up by Roam to go for a walk with Shenny and the dogs around Fewston Reservoir. I've had so little time that this is only the second occasion I've had a chance to see Kola, the latest addition to the extended family. I thought they were mad when they first introduced me a month ago. I still think they're mad but I'm beginning to get it. It doesn't seem possible that it's all of five years since Whiskey was this age (15 weeks old) and he loves the companionship of this little girly retriever.

It's already apparent that Kola has a very different personality to Whiskey. Today, as always when let off the lead, Whiskey made a beeline to the water. Kola followed, diving straight in with him and starting to swim right away - back to the shore. That was it. She was less than impressed with the whole experience and only ever dipped her toes in after that. It might be that she'll learn to like the water, when it's warmer, but perhaps she's just not the duck that Whiskey thinks he is. He always wants to go join them.

The weather again was extraordinarily beautiful. It was the sixth successive day of clear blue skies and a fresh north-easterly wind. Like all week, you're continually going from summer (in the sun and out of the wind) to winter (out of the sun and in the wind). It's very hard to work out what to wear. Yesterday, I was working at my little nook in just a pair of shorts, watching people walk past all wrapped in layers against the cold wind just a few yards away. The ground is parched. It feels like a long time since I've seen rain, and that was in Italy three weeks ago when it was warmer in Yorkshire. It's mad. Mind you, I'm still betting that we'll have more snow before the end of the month. We usually do.