I could shoot your eye out....

I set the can on the ground down by the birdfeeders, with the bottom facing the back door. From 60 feet away, one shot. I know it's not in the center, but from 60 feet and less than 3 inch target, pretty good! I had to find out what I could hit from what distance. Now I know nothing in the backyard is out of range. I was also amazed at how powerful this BB Gun is. It was fun learning how to shoot it and what it would do. I have developed a very healthy respect for this little gun.

Better Pictures

.......... I thought I'd provide a better picture of the coin I found. I wish I could get as good a close-up pictures as Mark does. I find it amazing how well silver coins hold up lost in the ground 70 years. They stay the same condition as when they were lost.
I also wish I could figure out how to place my pictures where I want them on my blog posts!

MY FIRST SILVER HALF DOLLAR!

I metal detected at Chance School again this afternoon, late. I didn't get over there until about 3:30 and quit about 5:00. I found 17 wheat pennies on the soccer field, and while 'trolling' back to the car, found this knife and half dollar. The half dollar was just off the gravel circle on the fence side, about 4 inches deep. I had to dig through gravel about 2 inches, the whole time hoping it was worth it. It was! The pocket knife is in really bad shape, but an interesting find. I can't quiet make out what it says on the little circle, but I think on the very bottom of the circle it says 'Louisville'. Also, the nickel is a 1940, and many of the pennies I could read were 1940, others were older. My guess is that these coins were lost in 1940. All of the wheat pennies came from about a 30 square foot area on the soccer field. It may have been where the bleacher seats were for the football games. I'm sure this field holds many more treasures and I hope Mark, Brian and I can get back there soon.

Sisters, Sisters, Sisters.....

"Lord help the Mister who comes between me and my sister!"

Clockwise from left: Julie and Mary Lynn; Beth, Aunt Mary Lynn, Susie; Jill and Erin. Proof that cute-ness is hereditary!

Metal Detecting at Chance School

I met Mark at Chance School today and be metal detected for close to 2 hours. I spent most of my time on the soccer field, and that's where I found the coins on the right. It's a 1914 and 1918 penny and a 1936 Buffalo nickel. The two jewels I found are probably priceless! I wish the coins were in better shape. They really have a 'rusted' look to them. The soil there was very wet and and probably stays pretty wet except for the middle of summer dry season. Mark also found a Buffalo nickel and he said he'd put it on his blog. I think his was a 1934. We didn't find a lot but we did find some old coins. I'd like to go back to the soccer field again. We didn't cover very much of it.

There's no such thing as a 'Free Lunch'

I found this token metal detecting at Atherton HS today. I would have to assume it was used as a Lunch Token. If someone knows different, let me know. It was down about 3-4 inches so I think it has been lost for awhile. Do they still use these tokens? If so, I'm stopping by for my 'Free Lunch'!

Golf at Shawnee, Round 70 for the Year

I played for the first time in three weeks today. It really felt good to get out and hit the ball again. I shot a 38 - 42 = 80. Not bad for being off 3 weeks! I thought my short game would suffer, but it wasn't bad. Overall, I played pretty consistant in all phases. Got off the tee well, hit fairway shots well, and my short game wasn't bad. I think I 3 putted one green, but it was a long first putt, and I ran it by the hole about 6 feet and missed the putt coming back. So, I feel like it wasn't that bad. I'd like to get in one more round before New Year. I can't believe I've played 70 rounds. I've played an additional 8-12 other rounds of golf, such as Scrambles, Alternate shot, etc., that I don't add to my total rounds for the year. I only count the rounds where I play my own ball.

The Tabler Girl's Sing

Metal Detecting and Jill's Christmas Program

I know Mary Lynn posted a couple of pictures from Jill's program today. But, I don't have very many pictures of me taken with Jill, so I had to post this one. She just got finished making her Christmas tree, an ice cream cone coated with green icing, and then decorating it with marshmallows, gum drops and sprinkles.

I metal detected at Cox's Park today and found $1.28. Cox's Park is really loaded with a lot of garbage in the ground. Bottle caps, mainly. So detecting there is pretty hard. I ended up going to the childrens playground and detecting around the edge of the dividers and found most of my coins there. I think there is some good finds to be had there, but just too much junk to wade through.

I went Christmas Shopping yesterday...well, almost

I went to Oxmoor Shopping Center yesterday. I didn't start out to do that, but ended up going. I started out metal detecting at Cox's Park. But, it was very cold yesterday and when I got to the park I found out my gloves were still wet from the day before. So, wearing wet gloves in 37 degree weather didn't last very long. So, I decided to go to Oxmoor Mall and walk around. AMAZING! I couldn't believe how crowded it was. I mean, I know it's Christmas time and all, but it was Noon, on a Tuesday, 2 weeks before Christmas! Don't any of these people work? I just walked around, what you would call 'window shopping' I guess. I've already got my Christmas shopping done, but I thought if I found something really cool, I'd buy it. Well, I didn't spend a penny. It was kinda neat though, watching everyone else spend a fortune. I saw so many people walking around with bags and bags of goodies. What's wrong with these people? Does everybody have to try to outdo everybody else in giving stuff for Christmas? If somebody gets 3 or 4 things for Christmas, isn't that enough?
No, I'm not a Scrooge. But I do think the giving is overdone. People are Nuts!
Anyway, for Kim's info.....the big Steamboat at Oxmoor is no longer there! Just a tile floor now.

Venturing close to the North Pole....

We headed north Saturday. Got pretty close to the North Pole. Spent the night in Columbus, Ohio. Well, that is pretty close to the North Pole.

Note poor Beth. She's crying because Mary Lynn and Julie are opening their Christmas Bonus presents, and Beth doesn't have any! Julie remedied that. She gave Beth one of her '26' presents as a bonus and said she'd replace it with a new one, so she will still have 26 presents Christmas Day.

Mary Lynn has pictures on her post also, but I thought I'd better put a couple of pictures of Julie's house lights from the outside. They were very pretty. I don't know why ML and Julie had to drive some other place to look at Christmas lights.

We played a game called Left, Right, Center. It was fun and a pretty good gambling game. I lost my shirt! It's a dice game with special dice and you start off with a given amount of money. You role 3 dice and either give money to the person on the left, right, or put money in the center (pot). The last person with money in front of them wins the money. It required absolutly NO skill, therefore I didn't win.

We did have a lot of fun!

The pictures taken outside were a little blurry. I didn't have my coat on and it was cold, therefore doing a little shivering.

The weather has kinda slowed me down a bit....

I haven't been able to get out to play golf or metal detect for the past week or so. It's either been too cold, windy, rainy, or all three. I thought I'd show you a picture of what I consider my 'nice' finds this past year. I don't believe there's much value in this batch, but I think it's interesting to look at. So far I've found $78.45 since my birthday in March. My goal is to top $100 by my birthday, which will be one year of metal detecting. With the weather being what it is, all I've been able to do lately is stay in and read. I tell ya, life ain't so easy when you're retired. I think I might go out and do a little Christmas shopping today, if I'm not busy.

Pearl Harbor Day

The attack on Pearl Harbor happened 4 years before I was born. Mary Lynn and I visited the Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor in 1968. That was 27 years after the attack, and it was 41 years ago that we visited. At the time we visited the site, I thought it had happened sooo long ago, but it doesn't seem very long ago that I visited the site. Hmmm. Time is funny. I think we look at things as happening a long time ago if it happened before we were born.
Still, on this day I always think about the soldiers and sailors that were in the service at that time. Every one of them knew that they would stay in the service until the War was over and having no idea how long that would be. I know I spent 4 years in the Navy and, at the time, it seemed awfully long. I imagine the people who had joined for a 4 year hitch, planning for it to be up in several months, and all of a sudden they've had their tour of duty extended for duration of the war. And, spending 8 or 9 years in the military, for a young man of 17 or 18, had to feel like a lifetime.
Anyway, I don't know how many Americans even stop to thing about what happened on this day 68 years ago, but I always do.

Winter Golf at Shawnee GC

I played round number 69 for the year today. I shot a 41 - 40 = 81. Not a bad round, but I had a few ugly holes with big numbers. Considering I birdied 3 holes today, the score doesn't look that good. But, I was off for almost 2 weeks, so my consistency was off a little. Getting in 18 holes this time of year is always nice, and walking the 18 is good exercise. Once again, the round won't be good enough to get me any money, but will probably lower my handicap. I had a little problem with the trees today. I hit two shots that hit trees that ended up further from the hole than my original lie. And, twice I had to chip out sideways from behind a tree. So, I guess even with 3 birdies, that kind of tree trouble could have led to a big score for the 18. So I guess I should be very happy with an 81. And, I am.

Bob's Christmas Wish List

I've finally gotten a list together of things I want for Christmas. These are in no particular order and, because this was requested, it is not fair making fun of the things on my list:

* Ear Phones with Adjustable volume for my metal detector

* B-B Rifle (I promise not to shoot my eye out)

* New Squirrel Trap

* Bird Bath (Lightweight like the one Mark has)

* CD, Fats Domino Greatest Hits (Original Recordings a must!)

* Any neat magic tricks that would amaze my granddaughters

* Ear Warmer Band that you wear with a ball cap (Has hole for cap bill)

* Peace on Earth and Good...oh wait, I'm not wasting a wish on something that's impossible.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.