Regular readers of this drivel (you know who you are) will be aware that I spend a lot of time in our local woods, walking the dog,  and that – as per my last post – I sometimes find myself in various situations… I mean, who can forget last year’s shenanigans with the hormonal teenagers or the County Lines encounter?  Or even the petty arsonists?

This year has been less eventful, but there is nearly always something going on.  This year’s theme appears to have been camps, with groups of kids building them from fallen branches tied together with string or washing line. Some of them have been quite expertly built.  I particularly liked this one, though it must have taken some effort to get that sofa in there!

And this week, someone has been trying to improve everyone’s disposition, by placing motivational sayings around the woods.

It hasn’t worked for me.

However, I am always quite buoyed when I find stuff and this week – on the same day –  I found a very useful 13mm ratchet spanner (which went straight into my toolbox)  and a USB Lightning cable… which can go to my daughter, as she is the only Apple fan in the house. It’s amazing what people drop, when walking.

Earlier this year, I found a USB charger pack, which – being 5V – has proved very useful for powering some of my Arduino projects. I was actually considering getting one anyway, so this find has saved me about thirty quid.  And a week later, I found a set of Google pixel earbuds which retails at over 100 quid! Cleaned them up, sanitised them (plenty of that stuff in the cupboard, thanks to Covid) and they work perfectly.

Annoyingly, I’ve not found any money, so far this year. Last year, I found over seventeen pounds.

Even so, I think I’m doing OK:  it seems walking the dog can be quite lucrative.