This Week's Finds

I wrote about the plunging temperatures on yesterday's blog and when I set out with the metal detector for this week's outing there was snow on the distant mountaintops. It's difficult to see on this photo but it's certainly there. I worried that the ground would be too hard for me to dig but, as temperatures have only just plunged below freezing at night, I was in luck. 

I started by searching a pasture close to an ancient landmark. I had high hopes for this new field but, being pasture and undisturbed land, finds had sunk out of the detector's range and I was limited to a few bits of scrap.

So I headed back to the stubble field that I detected on last week. It was another beautiful day and, once again, I wasn't short of signals to dig.

Nothing very exciting I am afraid but another extremely enjoyable day. It was really a case of so near but yet so far as nine of the ten coins are very old (some as early as 16th century) and if they had been in good condition and if the ring were silver instead of copper I would have been delighted. There's an old whistle, a couple of pot mends, a pocket watch winder and a Georgian shoe buckle to add to the collection of bits and pieces I've uncovered during our caravan stay.

One thing that's noticeable about living so much further north is the shortness of  the daylight hours. Shadows were extremely long before 3p.m and it was pretty much dark by 3.30 today.

Detecting apart, we're starting to feel the Christmas spirit here in St Andrews. On Sunday we went with Sarah, Duncan and Rose to the Christmas Fair at the Fairmont hotel. Rose was not keen on sitting on Santa's knee but she did like the gingerbread model of the hotel.

Tomorrow it's St Andrew's day and we're going to some of the many events lined up all around the town and culminating in a torchlit procession and fireworks. The weather forecast is good and we're looking forward to a great day.