Today is a day for daydreaming.
The sky is slate-gray.
It's colder than a well-digger's hiney.
We're expecting a half-foot of snow on top of what we got a few days ago.
Typical.Ohio.Weather.
All this grayness and dreariness and last week's tragedy sort of forces the mind to wander, to find some solace, no matter how mundane. My mind has been set to metal-detecting lately.
I wanted to be an archaeologist when I was a little girl. Did you know that? When I was little, I'd use my grandmother's big serving spoons as trowels and dig behind the shed, close to the creek where the ground stayed soft and there had apparently been a burn pile in the previous century. What I dug up was treasure, at least to a 6 year old girl. Old blue glass bottles. Tools. Marbles. Broken pottery. An old leather child's shoe. License plates. Even now that I'm a big girl, I still want to be an archaeologist but as I don't foresee that happening in the near future, metal-detecting kind of feeds that passion.
Jeff and I started metal-detecting about 10 years ago BC (Before Children) when we had a lot of free time and disposable income. Our White's metal detector was a joint Christmas gift, to each from the other, and it's been one of those gifts that has staying power. It may get relegated to the back of the closet for a season, but then that hunger for discovery raises it's head and we dust it off and locate a spot to hunt.
We've managed a couple really good spots over the course of the last 10 years. An old log cabin site. A 200-year old church. A present-day feed lot that was a pre-Civil War livery-one of my favorite sites! And just a few weeks ago, a new site presented itself: an OLD family farm. This farm has been in the same family for 100 years and possibly goes back farther than that, with 3 old home sites and a creek whose course hasn't changed (much) over the passage of time. I think there's so much potential in this site! By the looks of the site, it hasn't been bulldozed or back-filled; at least not in living memory. The farmer *knows* where the old home sites were located. The area is very close to a lake, meaning the ground probably stays damp and that means a deeper reading. And there was gold found just 5 miles downstream a year or so ago : ) Yeah, the chances of that happening to me would be slim/none, but a girl can dream right?
I'm anticipating old coins, possibly some small toys, perhaps a lost piece of jewelry, maybe some farming implementia like small hand tools and horse shoes.
This could be a good site.
Really really good.
What are you daydreaming about to get through the dark days of winter?
13 comments:
Oh how I love to metal detect. Beaches are good sites also. I do hope you find some interesting items on your hunts.
In these winter days I long for the greenhouse to be done. But while I wait for the weather to break we have been making plans to add on and preparing to get an outdoor wood furnace. this will heat our home and our hot water as well. We are really excited about it, I have been busy getting wood split and stacked in waits for our new addition.
We've never had much luck on beaches...of course the last time we tried the beach, we were being evacuated for a hurricane ;)
Jan...have you ever heard of a HAHSA furnace? I have an article from an old newspaper about them, with a diagram of the general design. I did some searching online, but didn't find much. It appeared that the designer (the first H, I think) was selling the specification drawings, but then wasn't and everything sort of disappeared after that.
Basically, it's an outside furnace built of cement block, filled with sand that has metal pipes running through it and attached in some fashion to a central fire box. The fire box is used to burn any trash, wood or combustible, the pipes connect to the house and the sand collects the heat and helps maintain the temperature for a long period of time.
It looked to me like a great idea...(so I cut it out and saved it! just don't have anymore info, and no need at the moment. Someday though...!)
Andrea...
I almost bought a metal detector at Harbor Freight - they were on sale for $39, as I recall - but didn't because I know absolutely _nothing_ about them. I'm not into the archeology, but the idea of stuff "hidden" in the ground appeals to me. Can you recommend a site where I can learn something? I'd probably prefer to buy a cheap used one for practice (and to find out if I'd actually get out there and use it)until I learned what features were worthwhile for an amateur.
You're in old Indian territory as well, I think. Long long ago I visited those old Indian Mounds down by the Ohio River. They were amazing. Didn't learn much about the actual indians who made them though...a missed opportunity for whoever it was that sponsored the trip!
Yes, I'm in Indian territory. There was a large village not too far from present day *here* and there are arrowheads to be found all over the place. Enon Mound is just a 10 minute drive away. I try to stay clear of places like those....I can see me getting into a lot of trouble, running off with relics and such LOL.
I don't know of any metal detecting sites off hand...I'm sure there are a few, but I've never looked. One of the most important features, in my opinion, is a good discrimination setting. It allows you to set your machine so that it ignores old rusty nails and soda pop tabs. That's very helpful. We have a fairly basic White's model that we paid around $600 for new...and liked it so much we picked up a second used one for under $200. If you can find a dealer in your area, they generally sell new AND used detectors.
"It's colder than a well-digger's hiney."
Boy. I haven't heard that expression for a _long_ time!
Shortly after we got married, we moved into a house that had no running water. I don't remember what we used for the kitchen, but we had the standard old fashioned outhouse for the other necessaries. The house owner was still putting in a well - but we were in a hurry because the apt we were in was over a restaurant, and was _loaded_ with cockroaches (I got up one night and discovered we were _not_ alone!)and of course, the 1st of the month issue probably cam into play.
Anyway, the result was that I got to watch them putting in the well - by the aforementioned well diggers, by hand. It was really interesting - They would dig down about three feet, put in a concrete ring (about three feet high and about 5-6 ft in diameter), then start digging the sides below it. It would start to sink as they dug it out. When it had gotten about level with the ground, they put another ring on top and resumed digging, and the rings just kept sinking, and they just kept stacking. This kept up until they hit the water table, and then they quit and the well filled with water.
Very interesting...I wonder how they did it when they had to brick them in - that must have been even more difficult. Put rows of bricks _beneath_ what you've already dug??? I wonder.
Believe it or not, I've wondered how they dug wells. We had a new well put in 2 years ago and that was fascinating with the big equipment and all, but I'm sure it's not at all as interesting as the way they usta do it.
Andrea,my family has been using Whites since I was a child.I have been using my 6000Di pro for about 15 years now.It was the best one at the time with a needle,I wasn't into digital! Old home sites esp. abandoned farms are the best.I never fail to find silver coins at them.If money permits I may upgrade this summer.Good hunting!
China
III
>>It allows you to set your machine so that it ignores old rusty nails and soda pop tabs.>>
I have horses. Picking up old rusty nails is a good thing! soda pop tabs...not so much!
Suek,don't take this to be snobbish but don't buy a cheap new like harbor freight.The really cheao ones are so frustrating you will get mad and quit.As Andrea suggested get one with goo discrimination a feature which helps you tell if its junk or worth digging.There are billions of old pull tabs and bottle tops in the ground,but still massive amounts of money and items in the ground.I did buy a cheap one once AARRHH never again.
China
III
Thank you China for saying what I didn't want to say! Yeah, when you buy a cheap detector, that's what you get: a cheap detector. And they're frustrating and beep at everything whether it's a gold ring or the foil wrapper from bubble gum.
Believe it or not Sue, you can change the discrimination on some detectors so they'll recognize the metal signatures of the old square cut nails, but not the newer aluminum ones. I love the old nails...it's the pop tabs, caps, bits of aluminum siding and barbed wire fence that make me crazy.
China-I think we use the 6000 series too although I can't recall off the top of my head. My father-in-law bought one of the digital ones and he likes his well enough.
Well...that's kind of why I decided against the HF one - but really, only because I realized I was totally ignorant. If you don't know the difference between lead and gold, it's a trifle foolish to buy a heavy metal bar just because someone _says_ it's gold!
I've use Ebay and Craigslist to try to learn - when you know absolutely nothing, it's hard not to learn _something_!
I don't mind buying cheap sometimes, and when you're just learning cheap can be a good thing - at the very least it will tell you stuff about what you _don't_ want. The frustrating part though - that's a bad thing. It the way in which something is cheap means it won't do the job at all - as opposed to not doing it _well_ - then you've thrown the money away.
So what features do you look for? It sounds like you're saying "good discrimination" and "ability to adjust the discrimination level". Weight? design? anything else to look for? Brands? You say "Smith"...I'll look for a website. Any other _good_ or _bad_ brands that you know of? (besides your outstanding opinion of HF!!)
Suek, if I may,you will probably be better off to purchase a name brand ie Whites,Garret,etc but buy an older used machine if the person selling doesn't have an owners manual make sure they can show you how to set and tune it.Most treasure hunters are nice people and will be happy to share info.
http://www.treasurenet.com/westeast/
This is one of better treasure hunting mags. Hope this helps,don't let it scare you off,fun and interesting hobby-good exercise too!
China
III
See???
You _do_ have a link!!
I'll check it out and just read for a while before I do anything.
Ebay had a White 6000Di listed yesterday. It was at $135 or so, with an hour left, and 21 bids. I didn't check to see if it was just a couple of determined bidders, or a bunch. I checked the description, and although it said it was used, no date of manufacture was given. I also checked the White site, and didn't see that particular one - but I just checked into the "Beginner" page, and didn't look for specs on that particular model.
One thing at a time!
PS...opinions about stuff is not going to offend me. If I differ, I'll discuss (also called argue!). But just saying "it's cheap" is not enough. "poor quality", "doesn't last", "doesn't do the job"...those are definitely things to consider. There's "cheap" and there's "inexpensive". And then there are "really good deals"!
I'm hoping to pick up a FoodSaver for $40 today - that falls into the "really good deal" category! What I mean is that we're so limited with conversation via the internet, and yet so broad a variety of backgrounds that it simply doesn't pay to get offended. Way too much to learn out there!
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