I wonder if the shovel remains equipped if digging results in being pulled into turn-based combat. If so, you would have to spend action points equipping another weapon instead. Although I imagine you would have noticed your character using a shovel as a melee weapon, so maybe that wasn't it.
I suppose that is possible. That skeleton popped up just after using the shovel. I may not have noticed that she wasn't using a sword. I'll have to watch for that next time.
