Forgotten treasures

Hi.  My name is Linda.  I'm a rock hoarder.

Well, not really.  Or at least not quite.  The rocks haven't taken over every available space in the house.  I am able to throw away rocks I don't need.  And I don't comulsively buy every rock I can afford.

But I do have a lot of them.

With the purchase of the new saw a month ago, I began the process of, well, of processing some of the rocks I've accumulated over my almost 30 years in Arizona.  It's amazing, and a little bit discouraging, to see how many slices are produced by how few rocks.   I spent almost five solid hours on the saw yesterday, producing quite a pile of little slices, and yet the difference in the raw inventory was negligible!

With the tumbler occupied for the next two and a half weeks with already-filled barrels, I don't have any real pressure to cut a lot for immediate use.  With what I had cut a few weeks ago and this latest batch, I have enough to keep the tumbler running for at least the next ten to twelve weeks.  the old tumbler needs a new motor, so it's out of commission for a while, but even if I replace the motor and fire that machine up, I probably won't need to cut any more until July or August.

But that new saw is waiting, just itching to sink its diamond-studded teeth into the next chunk of agate or jasper.

I started yesterday with my signature stones, the angel feathers.

Then I moved on, for the sake of a little variety, to some agate nodules I'd picked up at Fourth of July Butte probably 20 years ago.  They were in a box labeled "Bue-Grey Agate," and I suspected some of them might display a bit of lavender or purple shading as well.  Sure enough, the first three or so stones I sliced had distinct purplish zones in the agate.  Of course, that purple doesn't show up very well when photographing small, unpolished rocks in less than optimal light, but trust me:  These are purple.  Well, purple-ish.  The white angel feathers on either side show the contrast, but the shade just isn't exact.  You will have to take my word for it.  (And anyway, it's my blog!  ;-)  )

I sorted through some more of those blue-grey rocks this morning, but didn't find anything that demanded I cut right into it.  As the temperature was already warming up, I wanted to do some more investigation in the workshop before it got too hot.

 

To be honest, the plastic shoeboxes on the shelves to the right do not all contain rocks.  I think only two of them do.  Those on the industrial shelves on the left, however, are all rocks.  There are other boxes not visible in this picture.  There are 20 or so five-gallon buckets in another storage area, all filled with rocks.  The task is daunting.  But it is not without its rewards.

This morning, for example, one of the first shoeboxes I opened contained a chunk of lavender flower agate from Fourth of July Butte.  We had cut a few slices from it years ago, one of which yielded this cabochon.  When I sold the pendant, the buyer asked if I had any more similar to it.  I didn't then; I will now.

Finished items, including agates from Fourth of July Butte, are for sale in my AZ Angel Feathers shop on Etsy.