Safety moment with Bertie in Ballochbuie

As lots of my friends in the Northern Hemisphere have been dealing, to various degrees, with snow and ice this week, I feel a 'Cold Weather Safety Moment' is appropriate today.

Yesterday Gail and I ventured inland to Ballochbuie Forest (part of the Queen's Balmoral estate) where the snow was deep and powdery.

Too deep in fact for us to be able to complete our planned route, but we did manage a short walk along the River Dee.

You see in the picture below that the river looks much narrower than usual, as ice has formed along the banks. It's hard to make out exactly where the solid earth stops and the ice starts, as it's all covered in snow. 

Since I am (mostly) a Good Boy these days, I do not have wear a lead on country walks, unless we are near farm livestock or roads. However, you will notice that here beside the river I am attached to Gail by my 'walking string'. 

This is because, in addition to being a 'Good Boy' I am also, at the age of nearly nine, a 'Sensible Chap', and am comforted by the thought that Gail will will keep me safely away from venturing on to any treacherously thin ice and falling into the fast flowing water.   

It later occurred to me that I would have been even safer had I been wearing my harness (the one normally reserved for train journeys through Newcastle).

Away from the river bank, the main hazard is a chilly bum!