Still In Pentland

4-10- 09

I am still hanging out in Pentland!! We have found lots of gold! I am developing a good eye for spotting gold., even when it is covered in dirt. If I am not sure I put it in my mouth and then if you feel a cold hard rock in your mouth you know it is gold. It has been nice hanging out with a family. I enjoy being with the girls. It reminds me of home when I was a kid.

I just finished learning to use the ‘back hoe’. I sat in the drivers set and steered the tractor with one hand and controlled the ‘lifter’ with the other hand. I used the lifter to smooth out the ground so that we could metal detect the area Gordon just finished digging. I go forward while the lifter is on the ground, scooping up the dirt, and then stop and ‘lift the lifter’ up and dump the dirt onto a pile. Hopefully we will find a BIG piece of gold! Yesterday I found a 1.5 gram piece with the metal detector. Not bad for me! Although, Gordon has found a 5 ounce piece before. That is the biggest he has ever found though. I saw it and held it; it is stunning and really heavy. We are going to detect the oversize piles as well.

We went to Emma and Kate’s grandma Bonnie’s house. They were staying there for their school break. It is like an animal farm over there. There are 7 dogs, 20 cats (plus all the wild ones that come by), 2 chucks, 2 ponies, a horse, a goat that just had a baby the day before we came there, and a Joey (baby kangaroo)!