I said on Wednesday's blog that the suspense was killing me. Little did I know that a couple of hours later I would be sitting in FACT Liverpool watching The Silent House and thinking that the suspense might well do just that. Talk about a scary movie! The audience (me and Marion included) were jumping out of their skins. But more of that later. The suspense in my headline referred to my excitement in trying out my new metal detector for the very first time. I arrived at the field at around ten o'clock and after a brief chat with the farmer about our replaced hips (he has two and now has one leg shorter than the other) I was off. The grass was a bit longer than I had hoped which meant that the detector was higher than I would like but it wasn't long before I started to get signals and started learning to use the machine.
I searched the field in the photo and found a nice little buckle which probably dates to the 18th century and a few buttons, washers and bits of bullets. Not a lot but, as I said on Wednesday, I expected nothing having searched this field on and off for twenty years and with the detector a good two inches higher than the ideal I was happy with the results. I moved on to an area which is grazed by sheep and the grass is much shorter. My brother Pete and I have found a number of Roman artefacts there but again I expected little as our last two or three outings had drawn blanks.
This was the result. I can't overstate how impressed I was with the machine - the XP Deus (hence today's headline). From a place that yielded nothing to two of us, I found over thirty items. As you can see, some of them are clearly junk but amongst that junk was the following.
A Romano British umbonate copper alloy brooch with traces of blue enamel from around the second century.
Three Roman coins (the third illegible).
A very old riveted strap end (probably from the same period).
An old copper coin. This is known as a Conder Token and dates to around 1792. It depicts John Of Gaunt Duke Of Lancaster.
As well as these items I also found £1.22 in spendable money and some old pre-decimal coins.
So the wait to try the new detector was well worth it. If I had found one of these items I could put it down to coincidence but to find them all indicates that the new XP Deus detector is certainly a winner and has reopened for us the sites that we thought were worked out.
I mentioned our trip to FACT to see The Silent House on Wednesday. It's a Uruguayan film with subtitles but don't be put off by that - there's very little dialogue. It's a short film and it is supposed to have been shot in one take which is a great achievement but not particularly relevant. It involves a girl and her father visiting a derelict house to do some tidying up before it is sold. But are they alone? There's no power and only a couple of lanterns and the director creates an extremely scary atmosphere as things go bump in the night. Although the suspense is extreme - and it's worth watching for that alone - the plot is confused and you will certainly leave wondering what exactly happened but if you get the chance and you like a good fright, give it a try.
As my regular readers will know, I'm a loyal (albeit atypical) Guardian reader. Having deserted The Times way back in the seventies when their printers went on strike I never returned to their fold and have been happy with the high quality reporting standards of my chosen newspaper. However I now buy The Times on a Saturday principally for their great crossword selection. I am impressed with their writers and enjoy reading India Knight and Giles Coren's columns and Caitlin Moran's TV reviews but the most compelling section of the paper is the weekly magazine column written by Melanie Reid. Melanie is a journalist who, twelve months ago, suffered an horrific horse riding accident which left her with a crippling spinal injury.
The injury left her with virtually no sensations from the neck down other than some feeling in one hand. She has stoically attempted to improve her life over the last year and her efforts, supported by the amazing spinal unit in Glasgow where she has been an inpatient since the fall, have brought sufficient success for her to have been discharged. Though still reliant upon her wheelchair, she has managed to make a few faltering steps with the aid of complex physiotherapy equipment. Her weekly diary of her life since the accident opens the readers' eyes to her incredible strength of character and the amazing NHS employees who support her.
This week, in a change from her weekly "Spinal Column" she reflected upon the twelve months that she has just been through. And what struck me most about this was the following :- "I learnt three absolute lessons. First, that the world is split into people who moan and people who don't. I have heard enough moaning in the past 12 months to last me a lifetime. In this regard, I refuse, ever again, to spend time with anyone who complains continually about the weather, their job, their relationship or their appearance. these people are death to the soul; they suck the oxygen out of the air; they need to be avoided at all costs" What a fabulous and true observation. People know me as a ridiculous optimist and mock my constant state of "extremely happy" on the LSE Mappiness application but it's true isn't it? What is the point of moaning? If you are a moaner you aren't pleasing anybody, you aren't pleasing yourself so lighten up. If Ms Reid doesn't moan (and she has far more reason to moan than most), then neither should you.
As she was once a keen rider I would be interested to know Melanie's view on the Grand National. It's a difficult one this one isn't it? On the one hand it is an exciting and colourful national institution loved by millions but on the other there's about a thirty to one chance of any one particular runner being dead before teatime. After the tragic death of two horses on Saturday, the race is today being likened in some circles to bullfighting. This is a little unfair as the death of the bull is always a certainty but there is no doubt that the horses' lives are being put at risk for public entertainment and unless those chances of the horses meeting an untimely death are made miniscule by changes to the course I am afraid that I have to support the abolitionists. The jockeys have a choice. The horses don't.
You may have noticed that I have had a week away. I've been in London to see our son and celebrate our daughter in law Josephine's birthday and to have a couple of days' break in the capital. There was no time to blog with a non stop three days of walking, shopping, eating and enjoying the incredible unseasonal hot weather. We went to see Blithe Spirit which was pretty much as the critics called it but never mind it was good to see an old fashioned bit of theatre the like of which we are unlikely ever to see again. The play has haunting as a theme as too does this week's choice of Orange Wednesday movie - The Silent House. This is a Uruguyan horror film that is based on a true story and supposedly shot in one take. The reviews were mixed but the Guardian's critic reported a roomful of critics jumping out of their seats which is good enough for Marion who loves this genre. I'll let you know what we think.
I may have mentioned on here that we were thinking of moving to London. While we were down there last week we had a look at the prices in some of the areas that we liked. I think we could end up with something like this.
Before I go, here's another great little video to make you smile highlighted by @Glinner on Twitter.
