What ever next?

Nanny and Shouty Grandad were playing with the metal detectors in their back garden. Nanny found a few odds and sods, nails and such. Grandad had a terrific signal and started to dig. when nanny looked out of the window, he had dug a hole about 2 feet square and twice as deep. He found - a 1970's frying pan. (Nanny has chucked it in the bin twice but it may make an appearance in the cupboard if Grandad gets his way!)

Today Shouty Grandad dropped Little Fink off after horse riding. He began to recount his latest tussle with commercial enterprises. He'd spotted an advert for a free copy of Which? magazine which would detail everything you need to know about retirement and pensions. Right up Grandad's street as he is fast approaching the age. He phoned the company who proceeded to try and flog him a 12 month subscription. Grandad started to run out of excuses not to take out the 'tie-in' when out of his mouth came the following. "I don't want the subscription, to be honest, I can't read. I only want the pensions book and my grandaughter has agreed to read it to me." He has no shame. (yes he did get the booklet)

Dig Dig Digaroonie

This weekend, the Fink Family, Mr, Mrs and Little, plus Nanny went off to deepest Oxfordshire (near Wantage) to the Weekend Wanderers Metal Detecting Rally. This was 3 days of metal detecting across 21 fields, evening entertainment (casino, live band, bucking bronco all in the on site barns) and lots of good food and cider.

We met many of the metal detecting buddies I converse with on various detecting forums and gained a lot of knowledge from them. What a smashing bunch of people. I held a 'gold noble' (a gold coin from the 14th century, about the size of a 50p, beautifully ornate and as fresh as the day it was created despite being 700 years old) which the guy in the next pitch to us had found on Saturday, He was interviewed by Dr Alice for Digging For Britain and our rally will be a feature in a December episode.

Nanny and I didn't have any luck at all but Little Fink came up trumps. One of the detectorists from the forum I go on was so impressed by her enthusiasm for history, he gave her one of his metal detectors. So we couldn't be more lucky than that. Little Fink also found a piece of 'worked flint' which would be between 4000 and 2500 years old, Mr Fink found a large folded lead sheet and I found a lead ball (either a weight or a musket ball). Nanny found the biggest horseshoe known to man!

On Friday night we all went to the barn for Westons' cider and to chat to the other rallyists. Later in the evening Little Fink was getting tired so Nanny offered to go back to the tent with her. On the way they visited the portaloo, while Little Fink was in there, a drunk couple were having a domestic nearby, Nanny got nervous and crammed in the portaloo with Little Fink. Just at that moment the guys from the adjacent tent arrived back in their Transit van and accidentally bumped it into the portaloo. Cue screams and panic from inside the plastic toilet! No harm done, thankfully.

All in all we had a brilliant weekend, learned loads and made lots of new friends.

Not meant to be

On Saturday I had decided I would go metal detecting with the club I joined earlier in the year. The club had been recommended to me by a digging pal (much more dedicated than I am) so I took his advice and emailed the organiser. I wrote, "I really enjoy digging but the club I belong to goes to the same places all the time, so I'd like to join yours please." After I had sent the email I noticed a misspelling. I had put 'dogging' instead of 'digging'. Nooooooooooooo. The organiser wrote back, howling with laughter. The registration for the club was closed but he said i had made him laugh so much he was going to let me join.

So I had plucked up the courage to go and meet him and the other members of the club, only to go to my car at 7am to find the above sight greeting me. I changed the wheel but I didn't go digging, I only had one of those 'comedy' spare tyres that you can only do 50mph on, so by the time I would have got there they would have started digging and I would be wandering amongst the cars on my own. Hmm, not a good look considering my previous contact with the club!