Summer is gone, but she went out kicking and screaming. These past few weeks were downright brutal. The earth was baked solid--concealing the good signals and testing my patience for digging plugs. Also, I might be taking this one a bit too personal... but I'm pretty sure the sun tried to kill me last week. I've never sweated so much in my life. There was sweat beading on my nose and dripping into my eyes. By the end of the dig, my makeup had nearly melted off my face and all the flammable junk in my hair had almost ignited. In the end, all I had to show for my suffering was a few bobbles,...

Saturday, we visited my family in Central NY. We were up at 4:20AM, out the door by 5:00AM, and rolling into Fabius around 10AM. My great aunt's service was a intended to be a celebration of life--complete with a bubble maker, jazz music, and fancy red hats attributed to the society of the same name. At the grave-site, we continued the red theme by releasing red balloons. The balloons were whisked away in the breeze and struggled to rise above the treetops before being snagged and entangled in a malicious pine. In between visiting with relatives, I did a little putzing around with my detector--both...

It happened today. I was at church, watching my children skip across the rows of sanctuary chairs like circus acrobats--when a visitor posed the question, "You're that metal detecting girl, right?" I must have blushed ten shades of red. Had he been a regular at our church, I probably wouldn't have been so flattered--but he was just visiting for a baby dedication that morning. He recognized me from my blog! I asked if he metal detected--nope, he just followed my blog. Needless to say, this stranger made my day--perhaps even my month... dare I say year? This must qualify for celebrity status?...

I vividly recall the moment when I turned in my Makro Racer for the Summer. As a matter of fact, I caught that moment on video for your viewing pleasure: [embedyt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rLTX46_Jxg[/embedyt] I'm pretty sure I almost passed out from heat exhaustion that day, but anyone who digs with me knows that I'm a bit relentless. You haven't heard from me in a while. I've been laying low this Summer--fixing up the house, enjoying time with the kiddos, chugging through an online course, and focusing on my big-kid obligations. But the truth is, I miss sharing my relic hunting...

This is not my typical post. This is a compilation of tips and tricks I've learned about metal detecting... with a lot of help from my readers and my detecting family along the way. My goal in writing this post is to hep beginners and perhaps teach others a thing or two as well. - The Right Machine -  The right machine is important. Whether you're just starting out or looking to upgrade, you need a metal detector with the right features. I purchased my first (ACE 250)... and second (AT Pro) metal detector through Robert Wyatt at Quality Metal Detectors. Robert goes above and beyond. I encourage...

These past few weeks, I haven't been able to recruit any relatives to watch my kids. (For those of you who don't know, I have a eighteen-month-old daughter and a four-year-old son.) And let's face it, unless I'm plucking diamond rings off the beach or gold nuggets from the creek, I can't afford the going rate of a babysitter. Last I checked, South Central PA doesn't have very many beaches or gold deposits. So--being the compulsive digger that I am--I opted to strap the little one to my back and buy a dog harness for the other one. (Hah! Just kidding, though the thought had crossed my mind once...

Last week, I upgraded from my charming Garrett Ace 250 to the powerful AT Pro. He arrived last Thursday--tucked snuggly in his box with all his accessories--and spent his first couple days sitting on the granite counter-top mocking me. I fought the urge to take him out for a swing, but at the same time... I knew there was no one to watch the kids this weekend and I would only be setting myself up for disappointment. If I so much as peeked at him, there was no way I could restrain myself. I considered taking both kids with me--1.5 year old and a 4 year old--but figured that might be pressing...