OH DEER!

After a great service at Church this morning, we went out to look for some dereliction that I had noticed yesterday in an old barn.  We parked the car quite near to Liddington Hill and walked along the road leading to Badbury and eventually came to the barn.  There was a large notice on the barn that read “Private Land - Please do not Trespass”, so we didn’t actually go inside the barn, but I was able to take some photographs standing in the doorway.

But then…..as we walked a little further along the road Mr. HCB said that he thought he had seen a deer in the field of barley.  We stood and watched and waited and sure enough, a little deer raised its head just above the barley.  We were about fifty yards away, so I was glad that I had my Canon with the long zoom, so took a few shots - one of the times I wished I had had a tripod, but I just had to be content with trying to hold the camera steady, as it was rather windy.  We stood for another ten minutes, but think that the deer must have gone to sleep, because we didn’t see it pop its head back up again, so decided to walk back to the car.  How could I post a shot of a derelict plough when this little deer is so beautiful?

On the way back we saw a man walking towards us and as we got level with the barn again, asked if he knew whether the barn and house were part of the same farm, but he said he didn’t think so.  I explained to him about Blip and that we had come out to take photographs of the old and derelict plough inside the barn for the Derelict Sunday challenge, but that the little deer would probably get its fifteen minutes of fame on Blip, because we could come back out to the barn at any time, but weren’t as likely to see a deer again.  He did ask how he could see my Blips online, so I gave him one of my cards.  

We chatted to him for a while, when he told us that he lived in Badbury and often walked along this road and saw deer in the fields.  He told us that the field just to the right of the barn had been cut only last week and now looks very different.  He also told us that he has started taking photographs from the same spot on a weekly basis to send to his sons, who live away, and said that it is amazing how much the landscape changes over the weeks and months.  Both Mr. HCB and I said that so many people don’t even notice the countryside and what’s around them, which is so sad, but that we enjoyed coming out most Sundays after Church and enjoying the beauty just on our doorstep.

We could tell from his accent that he wasn’t local - although he did confirm that he had lived in Wiltshire for many years - he said he came originally from Yorkshire.  I remarked that he hadn’t lost his accent, but he told us that he realised when he went back home how much of it he had lost!

As Wiltshire-born people, we explained to him that Liddington Hill was very special to us, because if we had been away, as soon as we saw Liddington Hill with the clump of trees at the top, we knew we were almost home - see extra - and that we used to be able to see it from our bedroom, but now trees had grown up over the road from our house and had obscured our view - such a shame!

Both Mr. HCB and I chatted on the way back to the car and said what a wonderful sight we had seen and had met a lovely man too - we feel so blessed.

“I don't have to take a trip around the world 
     or be on a yacht in the Mediterranean 
          to have happiness. 
I can find it in the little things, 
     like looking out into my backyard 
          and seeing deer in the fields.”
Queen Latifah