Scrabble

Last night Meg and I took a break from TV watching and played Scrabble. It was a good idea of Meg's and we're definitely going to have to do it more. With Henry vegging out in from of the TV is sometimes the only thing we feel like doing. He can really tire us out. Hopefully we set aside a day or two every week to do something similar.

I searched a small amount of coin, mainly this morning.

2,000 dimes produced three Canadians and one UK 5 pence.

1,520 nickels yielded two Canadians (1 Ni) and one Thai 1 Baht.

3,400 pennies turned up twenty-one Wheats, thirty Canadians and one US dime. With these pennies I passed the 1.5 million mark! The Wheats were:

1928, 1934, 194?, 1942, 1944, 1945, 1947(2), 1949, 1950, 1952D, 1953D, 1955(2), 1956D(2), 1957, 1957D, 1958D(2)

Found: 3 pennies (1 at Stop & Shop, 2 at work), 1 nickel (at Stop & Shop)

Last night I searched a small amount of coin.

1,560 quarters turned up two Canadians.

1,600 dimes produced one Canadian and one Bermuda 10¢.

760 nickels yielded one War Time (1944P) and one Canadian.

And 3,700 pennies had nineteen Wheats, fourteen Canadians and one US dime. The Wheats were:

1919, 1928, 1939, 1940(2), 1942, 1944(2), 1945, 1946, 1947D, 1948, 1950, 1953D, 1955, 1956(2), 1957, 1958D

A teller saved me a Wheat too, a 1955D.

Found: 1 penny (at Wal-Mart)

Lean On Monkey - Tub of Wheats

The last two days have been good ones for Meg, Henry and I. On Monday we took him to the aquarium. We went there to meet up with my best man, his wife and their new baby girl. The bad news was the place was very crowded, hot and extremely expensive. The good news, which is what I'm choosing to remember, was Henry had a blast (at least for a good part of it). I've never seen him so excited. He was clapping, singing and doing his "more, more, please" sign like crazy. I especially enjoyed showing him the starfish. Last night we had more fun times watching Henry play dance with his monkey stuff animal. The song on the radio was "Lean On Me" and during it Henry held monkey with two outstretched arms and danced around with him. He also gave Monkey some good hugs. It was touching. Our camera was out of batteries so we didn't get a photo or video of it. Perhaps he'll do it again soon.





Henry has also displayed some greatly improved mobility lately. He can now take a couple of steps down or up (like a big boy) and crawl up on the dining room chairs (not so pleased with this development). I think he looks a lot like his Uncle Brian in this picture.



Last nights coins were so-so, except for the pennies (see below).

4,720 quarters turned up just five Canadians.

3,700 dimes produced one silver Rosie (1964D), three Canadians and one Bermuda 10¢.

2,480 nickels yielded one War Time (1943P) and eight (2 Ni) Canadians.

I was really excited to search the pennies I got because as I was buying them the teller pointed out to me that several rolls were marked with different dates. That's definitely a good sign! In all there were nineteen rolls with dates (1934, 2 x 1936, 2 x 1938, 3 x 1939, 2 x 1940, 1942, 2 x 1944, 3 x 1945, 1951, 2 x 1957, 1957D). I was assured that I got all the rolls the lady had brought in and told that she found them in her mother's house. 5,200 pennies had 974 Wheats, twenty-two Canadians, one US dime and one Bahamas 1¢. That's by far the most Wheats I've found at one time. It represents about a third of the Wheats I've found this year and definitely skewed my yearly find rate and my all-time find rate. Now I'm wondering, are there any more rolls that she'll bring in? The Wheats were:

1934(50), 1936(100), 1938(50), 1939(150), 1940(100), 1941(2), 1942(50), 1944(104), 1945(153), 1948(2), 1949, 1951(52), 1952D, 1953D, 1956, 1957(101), 1957D(52), 1958D(4)

Buzz Cut

This weekend has gone pretty well for us. On Friday Meg's sister and brother-in-law watched Henry. This allowed us to go out to dinner and get some dessert. A two location date-night! That hasn't happened in a while. Henry was behaved well at home ... or so we were told. ;) On Saturday I went blueberry picking with my brother-in-law and father. We went to our secret spot on public lands for all-you-can-pick. While we picked Henry was watched by my mother, with his two cousins. Meg and her sister enjoyed some nice times by themselves. In the afternoon I took Henry for haircut. It was a very trying experience. He looks great with his short, summer cut, but it was some rough going. At one point two people had to hold him down while a third trimmed around his ears. After the trauma we went to Target to get some cars.





I did pretty well with my halves this weekend. 8,008 half dollars produced thirteen 90% silver halves (1940, 1943, 1946, 1949, 1951S, 1958D, 1962D, 5 x 1964, 1964D), twenty-one 40% silver halves (3 x 1966, 9 x 1967, 8 x 1968D, 1969D), four proofs (1971S, 1980S, 1985S, 1998S) and three mint set halves (1987D, 2002D, 2003D). The variety was fun to find!

Found: 4 pennies (1 at Target, 3 at White Hen Pantry)

Last night's coin results were OK.

4,000 nickels turned up two War Times (1943P, 1943S), four Canadians and one Bermuda 5¢.

7,050 pennies yielded thirty-two Wheats, twenty-five Canadians and three US dimes. The Wheats were:

19??, 1924, 194?, 1940, 1941(3), 1944(2), 1945(2), 1949, 1951, 1951D, 1952D, 1953D(3), 1955D, 1956, 1956D(7), 1957(2), 1957D(2), 1958D

Found: 3 pennies (at Costco)

Good Bath

Last night Meg and I gave Henry his best bath in ages. Yeah! Perhaps this fear of the tub is really on it's way out. I sure hope so. Now if only we could get him to be more agreeable in the evenings. He can really throw a strong fit when something doesn't go his way, lots of twisting, head throwing and crying, of course. Last night even a little TV didn't calm him down. Hope tonight (and all of today for Meg) goes a bit better.

I searched a big batch of pennies and did well. 12,950 pennies had seventy Wheats, ninety Canadians, three US dimes and one Bahamas 1¢. In the batch I found a new Wheat, the 1923S! It's the third rarest Wheat I've come across as only 8.7 million were minted. That one got me fist pumping! The Bahamas cent is a new variety for me as it is a bit older than the usual ones I find and is made of brass. The Wheats were:

1919D, 1920, 1923S, 1927, 1928, 1939(2), 1940, 1941, 1942(2), 1944(6), 1944D(2), 1945S, 1945(4), 1946(2), 1946D, 1947, 1948(2), 1949(3), 1950, 1951(3), 1951D, 1952(2), 1952D(3), 1953, 1953D(4), 1954D, 1955D, 1956(5), 1956D(7), 1957D(2), 1958, 1958D(3)



Found: 1 penny (at Sunoco), 1 dime (at Stop & Shop)

Dah Plane!

Last night I came home with a small gift for Henry. I got him a small, beginner Playmobil plane during my lunchtime. He seemed to like it a lot since it has a propeller and a set of wheels. He even put the little pilot back in the seat at times.






My coins results were OK.

25 small dollars had nothing.

7,840 quarters produced one shiny Washington (1964), ten Canadians, one Philippine 1 Piso and four US nickels.

1,100 dimes turned up one silver Rosie (1959).

960 nickels had three Canadians and one key date Jefferson, the 1955.

3,500 pennies yielded twenty-six Wheats and seven Canadians. The Wheats were:

1937, 1940, 1946(3), 1950, 1950S, 1952D, 1955D(2), 1956, 1956D(4), 1957(5), 1957D(4), 1958, 1958D



Yesterday I also finished a book I was reading, Aurel Stein: Pioneer of the Silk Road, by Annabel Walker. I first started reading another book about Aurel Stein, Sir Aurel Stein: Archaeological Explorer, by Jeannette Mirsky, but I couldn't stand the author's writing style so I switched books. I'm glad I did. Walker's book is really well written. It's just the sort of biography I like to read, lots of quotes from old letters, etc. (What will biographers write about in the future now that there are no easily preserved, written letters?) Aurel Stein was born in Budapest in 1862. Although of Jewish descent he was baptised. A favorite uncle and watchful brother led him into academia. Instead of becoming a professor in Europe he sought a position in India. He switched positions in India quite frequently, but remained based there for the rest of his life and fully adopted British Colonialism. He even became a British citizen.



Despite his official duties, Stein spent most of his life preparing for, participating in and writing about his trips. His adventures led him to Western China, Iran and Afghanistan. He is most famous (and infamous) for his exploration of the Caves of a Thousand Buddhas. There he controversially bribed a local caretaker to let him take many ancient manuscripts. Stein continued exploring until his death in 1943 at the age of eighty.



Found: 1 penny (at CVS), 1 dime (at CVS)