Remember the other day ...

[Marna]

... how I said the hunting was crappy and discouraging? Well, today it was so bad, I just had to sit and laff about it. I found (and dug) an old corroded car side mirror, no glass; an old metal doorknob; a hunk of scrap metal; the pointy end of a drawing compass; and two fairly new pennies. Oh, and one other thing: it's going to RAIN ALL WEEKEND!

Marna

[marine03116092]

Don't loose heart! It will get better!!!

[leslie(nova scotia)]

From the land of the Bluenose....thats what makes this hobby so exciting...used car parts buried....hang in there as there is a pot of gold or pull tabs at the end of the rainbow!

[Gregory]

Better days will come Marna. Try to detect around home sites for now where there is less trash. Then as your skills improve you can move on to the harder trashier spots with the confidence to tell trash from treasure

[Marna]

I'm almost embarassed to tell you, Greg, that that crap was in my own back yard!!! Tomorrow -- a closed drive-in!


Marna

[portraitartist]

Hi - I know you probably already know this, but if the place has a play area, don't waste any time anywhere else... I've heard many stories of people finding lots and lots of silver around the play areas... never had a chance to hunt one myself, but maybe someday!

Good luck!

[PAPPY]

Dirt volley ball courts are KILLER too.....PAPPY

[Bruce]

Ya" dry times are tough! So take a break and keep your eyes open for a new spot and/or think of an area that at one time was good and think if you may have missed an area there because of tall grass or just didn't look good to you.
Now for the rain days, like this weekend, it gave me some time to get some other things out of the way so now next weekend I won't feel bad for not taking care of them.

[swizzle]

If you get too frustrated to metal detect try another treasure hunting hobby. Bottle digging, gold panning, try researching to locate better spots to try. Buy some halves at the bank and sort through them for silver. Sometimes you just have to pull away completely and relax in the outdoors. Clear your head , go fishing, hang out in the hammock all day, hit your own favorite swim hole. ectt... whatever you do to relax, just do it and take your mind away for a bit. Remember your out there to enjoy yourself and if you dig a rusty nail then oh well who cares. Throw it in your trash bag and think "wow I'll never have to dig that up again" and just remember this, for every pull tab and nail and rusty whosiwhatsit you dig that's one item closer to your next or first silver coin or gold ring or treasured relic. Good luck and happy hunting. Swiz

[Marna]

Great advice, Swiz, the same advice I give my knitter friends when they hit a wall: just leave it alone for a while.

I did go to the drive-in yesterday and found exactly one penny and not even an old one. It wasn't a gravel lot, but an old cracked asphalt one, and I think people don't lose as much on asphalt; easier to find I guess. But I kept reminding myself I was out there to get the sun and exercise and enjoy being outside since I sit inside and work all the time.

Later in the day, I stopped at a house that was being torn down to put up an office building. I talked to the neighbors who were rescuing plantings from the yard before it all got bulldozed so I snooped around with my MD. Not much to find, a few pennies, not old. And in talking with the older gentleman, I mentioned the drive-in that morning. He said that's been searched at least a million times since it closed 35 years ago. No wonder I couldn't find anything! I am so late to the ball with this hobby! But I spotted a couple of other places to check out including an old federal type house with just an old silo remaining in the back where a barn used to be. I'll have to see if I can get permission to hunt.

Anyway, I have two friends' houses to search. I'll probably do one this week. She just had her roof done and asked me if I'd pick up any nails I find while I'm MD'ing so the kids don't find them with their bare feet - yikes! It's a 1949-1952 circa house near a river and railroad tracks so I'm hoping to turn up something interesting. I'll keep y'all posted.

M.