Wild Deer Stampede The Woodlands.

I was shocked to see so much ground reduced to divots on the walk i take each day, it looks as thou there has been a mammoth orgy staged during the hour’s of darkness on just one stretch of our long walk

As i walked i took the time to count the droppings or poo and was surprised to end my count at 27 heaps, what has been going on in the hour’s of darkness? is it time for me to get the thick winter thermals on and my night lamp that would light the ground area far better than Wembley stadium? I am going to take my chances one of these nights in the hope of just catching a glimpse of who is responsible and would i be lucky enough to spot the young one’s that seem to have vanished out of sight.

Would this little lot make good manure for the tomatoes i wonder? would you believe that much is possible from a couple roaming, each pile was varying in size and hoof marks had churned the normally flat ground in to a rugby pitch, i have never witnessed this before and i am convinced this was a orgy on a mass scale with a very tired stag or stags at the end of it all.

We walked around late this afternoon to keep a check on things and the area is quiet and no sign of a deer, but another pile of poo was laying in wait very close to where my 2 young rest often, but sadly on further inspection there hiding place was empty without any sign of a recent visitor, so i have to keep walking until i can find them, they are very close and laying low and it is i hope only a matter of time before i see them again.

I keep busy picking up the golf balls as tilly heads away to try and climb a tree hoping to get her paws on the squirrel, these golf balls just keep dropping and we keep finding them and taking them back to the yard to be washed and cleaned before we send them to destination anywhere, we have been sending them to Albania….Dublin..Latvia and Scotland and all over the country, here are a few

Every make of ball you can think of in them sacks.

Make your choice and buy with confidence, we do not sell any rubbish or damaged golf ball, we have walked golf courses and woodlands far to long and we know a good ball when we see one, we take care and wash the old fashioned way by hand, yes every ball passes through my hands and is inspected far better than Morse would ever do, but my hands and fingers do take a beating.

Right have to go as it is time to sort out dinner for Scraggy Fox, not sure what i will put out tonight but something warm will do him good on this cold night, i will do him chicken and potatoes and cabbage and this will be warmed through about 01:30 as he has started arriving at this time in the last week and i will wait up until he has arrived then i will go to bed, but not before i feed him, he is a huge beast of a dog fox and you could saddle him and he has been coming for a couple of years at various times, but he is arriving in the early hour’s more now so he is obviously doing his rounds….Until next time take care and thanks for your visit…!

Deer watch and dog watch…what a week !

What a week of walking as usual and how nice to have company for tilly whilst i am left to search out golf balls whilst tilly has fun with her new best friend Riley.

Riley has become part of the walking gang and each day i shout him at the gate or if i am lucky riley is there waiting, but what is peculiar on Thursday /Friday at around 03:00am i was woken to the sound of barking and this was followed by even louder barking which got me out of my bed and to the window, there outside was riley on my garden and on the road the biggest dog fox yapping away and getting ready to no doubt fight, i shouted and they both scampered away in very different  directions and i went back to my bed. I could not believe riley had walked to my home from his home which has to be navigated on a very busy dark road that has lots of fast night traffic and it is also a cut through to motorway and other hiding places for the local pond life that live in the outer areas, but he made it home safe and sound and joined us the next day.

Now then do you people know if these mushrooms are edible or are they poison? we have lots growing in the woods and the fields and they look lovely and make me think of a couple of slices of bacon and a couple of eggs, but very weary to poison myself at this moment in time

Whilst walking through the leaves on the other side of the course i thought i would move some leaf mould from a small area and see what was there? goodness me i could believe that a near total of 40 balls were laid under the pile, how long had they been there? they were not really cold either, so i rescued them and got them home for a sort out

which resulted in some very good pro v balls and a nice Ryder Cup ball

What a week chasing round after the deer, they are running me mad, but could not imagine a day without them as the young get bigger and bolder and mum is also becoming a mischief chasing to one side of the fields to the other, but i caught her on the road this morning and she played me hell as i tried to coax her back in to the field.

Up and down the road mum was jumping road to hedge then back, i had to stop two cars and warn them, then she comes trotting towards me and stands still and tilly-miss arrives and you then think who is going to chase who? but it was nothing to worry about and it passed peaceful thank goodness

I could spend forever watching them they are all so pretty

I hope you enjoy my pictures and my love of wildlife as much as i do, i will add more as and when something of interest catches my eye, until then stay safe and enjoy the woodlands and walkways wherever you are.

No stopping the golf balls hitting the field.

Despite the rain we get out there collecting what we can and i just cannot believe how many we have collected over the last few days. I have had my mate the young farmer at hand helping me clear the field daily and we decided to go underground in the thorn bushes, like commando’s we started to crawl through the most uncomfortable ground you could imagine but what a collection was waiting for us, i hate to think if any golfer had looked in and seen us, they would never have believed what they were looking at, 2 adults and a dog crawling round like babies pockets bulging with golf balls of all colours.

That was our first haul and they kept on flowing and soon with our back broken we left the rest for another day, there has to be another 500 still laying in the cold wet night to be rescued, tilly-miss had great fun as for me and the farmer a few scratches and aches and pains that i am sure we will sleep off.

My first chance of the mum and young deer this morning, i stumbled by chance on them after spending an hour looking for them and there they were out in the sun, not great pictures but the closest i could get to them

Lovely to see them together and mum is there quite happy looking at me when i called, but the young are not yet used to me calling and were away quickly, but we will be patient and hopefully given time they will get used to me, but the young ones are as sharp as anything leading me a merry chase round the woodland, they certainly know how to wear me out and as young as they are they know all the short cuts and holes in the fences to get through and have worked out how to go under the metal gates and not to try going through the railings !

Tilly has been brilliant the last week, working so hard in the heat and the rain, but i know she wont be happy tomorrow when my bag gets packed for yet another journey that will take me away again on tour to Moscow…Sweden….Finland…but it will be for 12 days only and cannot wait for it to end before i have gone?

All machines topped up with new lines and another one sited, so i can go away happy knowing when i return i will have to do it all again,and in my dreams the field and woodland will be a wash with Pro V Golf Balls….aagh what a dream…..

Stay safe and take care

Golf Balls all over the fields

We have spent the last couple of days clearing the hedges that run alongside the the field and golf course, never seen so many laying in nettles and under thorn bushes, but tilly is doing a great job going under where she can bless her.

This is just a small sample in less than an hour

It is very hard work and quite time consuming trying to avoid the nettles and thorns that would cut you to pieces. but we keep going !

Tilly took time away from the golf ball to have a game of chase with bugs bunny, it was quite funny to watch them chasing round the field in the heat and lucky for Bugsy i was there to stop tilly killing her, the poor bunny has the dreadful maxi virus and cannot see anything but i couldn’t let her life end just like that maybe i am going soft in my age?

 

so bunny took of quite slowly and possibly survived the night somewhere safe but with the red kite flying above and the fox out hunting i don’t give much hope

Sweet machines filled and another being added to a local pub so our selection of new treats should keep everyone happy and i am delighted to be adding more to our total out at the moment.

My mate Daz arrived yesterday and took the golf balls, always nice to see him and maybe one day we will get to have a slurp or two when he is down this way, if you need any lakes clearing of golf balls he is your man.

Had to laugh out loud on seeing this doing the rounds on FB

Good to be back home.

Apologies for my recent lack of posts but i have been away travelling in Europe trying my best to earn some money to keep the wolf from the door. The day i left home started with a flight from Heathrow to Germany then a connection to Bilbao but 50 minutes in to the flight we have engine problems and head to Paris for an emergency landing, then 8 hours delay whilst hotels and flights organised, so finally weary and tired another flight this time to Portugal is arranged to meet my working crew who had now travelled coast bound, show that night and we head for the famous Montraux jazz festival for 3 days lazing on the beach, how bad is that ?

during the 11 days i have witnessed some very talented artists and songwriters at various festivals, one of my favourite live bands was the Stereophonics a band from Wales, can they play and sing you better believe it.

We trundled by road to many amazing shows and one of the highlights was our band playing in front of 60,000 people in Brittany on Saturday night.

Back home to find a huge welcome home from tilly-miss who was so happy to see me again, my wife then told me tilly had been at the vet for treatment as grass seed had gone in her ear, the cost to remove the seed was £191 plus a £30 consultation fee? talk about daylight robbery at least Dick Turpin wore a mask ? here is the picture below that caused tilly loss of balance on her right side and a lot of pain, but i am pleased to say tilly is getting better each day, a little bit of shock to her system and to my pocket after my wife told me she had used my card but i don’t mind and whatever it costs for tilly it will be paid.

In the scorching heat we cleared over a 130 golf balls from the fresh cut fields, we still have more to clear including the woodlands but when it cools down and we get respite from the scorching sun

Whilst in the field tonight i caught a glimpse of 2 very young deer who were disturbed by the horses and watched them run across the field at alarming speed, there was no sign of mum but i am sure she was watching every move the young made, hopefully i will catch a look early morning when i head out at around 06:00 before the sun.

What was in the field tonight before dark.

As usual we headed for the woodland to give tilly her last walk before dark, as i approached the field there laying in the long grass was “Mum” looking splendid in glorious brown colour, she looks so fit and healthy and was not in the least bit bothered at seeing me or tilly, as she laid with her ears pricked and her head moving side to side as i rambled on talking to her, i was delighted and happy to see her back in the field.

As we walked and as i scouted the field i noticed movement on the far side of the field and just couldn’t believe my luck to see 2 baby deer jumping and running together, sadly they were aware of someone being there and kept moving to keep a distance between us making it impossible to zoom in and get a picture, i tried as hard as i could but it was not to be this time, but what an incredible sight to watch those young ones running and jumping and thank god i had at least 10 minutes which made my day.

To be so close is magical and to gain the trust is beyond belief but she certainly seem to trust me to get that close.

Today i had my little man George helping me in the woods, he was picking up colours and his total alone for the morning was 30 golf balls i had 58 and tilly  brought out 6 and also killed a young bird that scrambled in the hedgerow….here is my little helper looking a bit tired after his work experience with grandad

Back home and straight in the fields.

I have been away in Europe earning some money to keep the wolf from the door, my journey has taken me by road from the UK to Norway, Denmark &  France to some beautiful Islands especially in Norway, goodness me if i had the chance i would go and live there, it is an awesome place.

I arrived home late afternoon on Sunday to a welcome from my faithful companion tilly-miss, even my wife was happy to see me which is sometimes unusual (put your dog and wife in the boot of the car for an hour and see who would be happiest to see you…hahaha) not that i ever would ???

It was a scorching heat and in an hour we were collecting lots of golf balls that had laid idle and waiting no doubt for my return, was i happy to collect near enough a bag full in just a brisk walk due to the heat which played its part also on tilly, so i kept it low key and tried to keep as sheltered as we could in the woodland area.

Today i am cleaning an order of just Titleist Pro V Balls for a pub in Essex that has our golf ball vending machine sited, the request was for that specific brand of ball which is a bargain at only £1 at the moment i have a cleaning session going on in the back yard, lots of golf balls being washed, vending pots have been sorted and were almost ready to get the order in to a box ready for posting.

In the scorched field still no sign of Deer life, i miss those lovely animals and keep hoping they will return, i have noticed lots of Red Kite action today with near enough 8 flying mighty low around tilly and myself, have a feeling they are getting hungry?

Lots to do between now and Wednesday as i leave again Thursday for more travelling to Spain & Portugal for more music shows, also happy that i will get the chance to be at the Montraux Jazz Festival which i have also wished to visit, so dreams do come true?

Wishing you all happy and safe times ahead, enjoy the sun while you can and i hope to be back with some tales from my travels and some pictures.

Fresh cut fields.

After waiting what felt like forever i arrived home to find the fields had been cut, what a difference it has made, we have been busy collecting all the golf balls that have laid in the long grass and spent a lot of time digging other balls that had hit the ground so hard they had buried themselves good and proper.

Sadly we were finding very good balls that had been caught and cut by the blades of the mower, some lovely Titleist Prov balls were ruined along with various logo balls including this one.

Amazing what you find in the grass and these colours were a welcomed gift from the hedgerows.

Yesterday my grandson George was helping me collect and find what was out there and the little man went home with 17 balls that he found on the towpath and in the field, my goodness me that little lad has an eye for a ball and has a collection of colours and whites to match what i have, his mum was not to happy with another load going home thou as she says he has them hidden everywhere….hahaha  my mate Daz will have another customer in the future.

Sadly no sign anywhere of the Deer the woods is quite lonely without them and i think even tilly is missing them, but hopefully they will return soon in the future.

Keep on walking and searching.

How lovely to spend time with my faithful dog Tilly-Miss in the woodlands, we have walked and walked so many miles in the woodland and round the golf course from so many angles and guess what, we keep on finding more golf balls on each visit.

As you know i love finding logo golf balls and here are some from our recent outing, and what about this happy chappie who was buried in the fence line

As you can see we have also found various colour balls which brighten the collection and are always in demand when we sell.

I spent some time getting pictures of Tilly this week, not often will she enjoy her picture taken so i was quite privileged when the opportunity came along, i hope you like them !

Always eager to get a ball and as you can see she has earned her keep and a nice bone this week…hahaha

In between our search for golf balls i have been busy with our sweet machines and keeping them topped up, now i have to order more stock as everything has gone, the various brands are certainly going very well and need to keep on top of it all

Here is one of our wall mounted machines, nearly empty….just how we like to see them all.

Mother Deer has gone on her travels it seems, 3 days now she has not been seen and no sign of the young one either, hopefully soon the fields will be cut and it will make it easier to locate them, only a few weeks ago we had 6 roaming the fields the woodland seems very empty without them.

Another day in the woods.

Shall we clear the field or head to the woods, decisions decisions and the woods won.

In to the woods and the golf balls started to appear very quickly, as well as myself picking up what was there tilly-miss was on patrol through the hedgerows and soon started bringing out yellow and white balls along with the ritual of throwing the ball in the air and catching it.

We also had some good logo golf balls along with other logo balls for charity organisations and this one in particular caught my eye, obviously a good cause for the tradesmen who work in London on vast projects.

And what about this special staff members ball from Calloway

Its amazing how many golf balls carry a logo does it really work ? after all said and done who actually see’s that logo apart from yourself and of course me as the ball finder?…cannot get my head round that one.

And my good friend the Deer was wondering round in unusual  space today and i spent an hour with her watching what she was doing, sadly no sign at all of a young one.

And here is tilly sat under a garden seat watching every move the deer made

So now it is back to the woods to check on the mother before darkness