It's D Day tomorrow as I head off for a day's detecting with my shiny new wireless metal detector. I've always been a sucker for new gadgets and technology with HD and 3D in the house long before there was anything to watch in those formats so it's hardly surprising that I've gone for a new innovation when it comes to the metal detector. It's not exactly new as the XP Deus has been around for a short while now but it's new to me as I've been out of the hobby for a few years due to the need for a new hip (which is now recovering nicely and incidentally gives a brilliant signal on the machine). I've read so much about the new model that I'm almost bound to be disappointed tomorrow as I head for an area that my brother Peter and I have been searching for close on twenty years. On our last couple of visits we had barely a signal between us so it's a real test and the site is such that when I emailed Pete to tell him I was going he replied to the effect that it wasn't worth him coming as he knew that he would find nothing.
However it is an ancient site where we have found a fair number of Roman brooches, a couple of tiny silver medieval coins and a Romano British spear butt similar to this. (This is not the one that Peter found but I don't have a photo of his which is extremely fine, in perfect condition and intricately decorated - must get him to send me a photo). And by the way I don't recommend searching Google Images for "spear butt" unless you are pretty broad minded - it took me ages to find this photo even if it was the very first one to come up. Although my old detector is perfectly serviceable, it is eleven years old and very heavy and resulted in a visit to the doctor who diagnosed tennis elbow last time I used it. So a lightweight wireless machine is more than just a gimmick it's a boon. With creaky elbows and a brand new hip I can't help feeling that it's been designed with people like me in mind.
Come back on Friday and I'll let you know how I got on. If I find anything at all it will be a success so maybe it's not the fairest test for my first try.
We're just back from dropping daughter Sarah off at Preston station for her journey back to St Andrews. Hopefully she has enjoyed seeing us as much as we have seeing her. It's sad that she lives so far away with our first grandchild on the way but that's the beauty of retirement, there's nothing to stop us going up there (apart from the cost of petrol and that's not going to keep us away). We've spent some of the time looking at prams - blimey how they've changed in the thirty years since she was an infant - some are so full of gadgets that there's a fifteen minute video explaining how to use them. It used to be pick up baby, place in pram - push.
At least having her here has made the binmens' week a bit easier. When they see our bottle box this week they'll wonder what's happened but with Sarah not drinking we've joined her by way of solidarity - it would have been a bit unfair for her to sit watching us quaffing glasses of Pinot and Merlot while she's sipping her water. We can always make up for it at the weekend as we are meeting some good friends Mark and Nita (whose son happens to own a fabulous wine shop) on Friday. I'm taking Mark out to try his hand at detecting in some fields by their home and he tells me that he's got a big bag ready for the gold. Hmmmm.
I've got a long drive ahead tomorrow. I'm going to keep a really safe distance from the vehicles in front.
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