Under the Influence of Rocks

The Munich Show

2009-12-13T14:29:00.006+08:00

Glenn was asked if he would like to do the Munich Show this year.
It is a very different type of venue and clientele to the American shows that he does each year. Consequently, it was a learning experience but a successful one.

The eye-catcher was the large slab of Tiger Eye (see photo above).

In the foreground of this same photo is a 800kg block of Mookaite. On the table next to it were polished slabs of that rock showing its beautiful colours.

In the foreground of the above photo is a 800kg block of gaspeite and on the table some slabs.

The top slab against the back wall under the light is a slice of a meteorite.

The large specimen to the left is orbicular granite.

The light green polished piece on the stand next to it is Variscite.

The show was contained in four halls like this (below).

Glenn was the only Australian there and the material he was selling was completely different to anything else in the show.

People were fascinated by the variety of colour and types of rocks.

We were told many times that Australian Outback Mining was the best booth in the show.

If we had charged for photos we could have made millions!

At one point we counted 58 people in the booth.

It was successful enough for Glenn to seriously consider going again next year.

Wallaby "Ted"

2008-04-25T11:47:00.004+08:00

Say hello to Wallaby Ted.

(click on images to enlarge - it's worth it!)

Glenn was recently at a privately owned mine in Queensland to collect and buy rock. The owners only visit this area on their property maybe every six months or so but every time they have been there up pops (or should I say "hops") this wallaby. Probably because they feed him.

It was morning teatime and Glenn stopped for a cuppa and along comes Ted.

He looks such a character!
Glenn was to discover that this was a wallaby not to be reckoned with!

He should have known by the state of his ears - half the flaps missing and tattered as a result of fighting, no doubt.

As he broke off pieces of biscuit to give Ted he obviously wasn't going fast enough.

Ted made a move towards him and tried grabbing the whole packet! They have sharp claws and can do a huge amount of damage with their back legs too so Glenn pushed at him before he get the advantage.

Mooka - Phase III

2007-10-03T09:09:00.000+08:00

We head off for Mooka on a Monday afternoon. Glenn is up front with the truck carrying the backhoe and I follow in the Land Cruiser with trailer loaded with, amongst other things, the fridge! We'd prefer to leave earlier but Glenn had to deliver rock to the shipping company in the morning. We get as far as Dongara by tea time and have a roast beef dinner at the roadhouse.
Another couple of hours' driving and we pull off to sleep. The spot Glenn chooses (in the dark) happens to be an old Main Roads camping area where the concrete slabs from site offices still remain. Nice and flat to sleep on! (And no ants!) It rains during the night and in the morning there are puddles on our swags. Inside our swags, however, was cosy and warm and where I have my best sleeps.

Travelling in the north of Western Australia on these long, mostly straight, flat roads can be monotonous. The scenery can rich and colourful at times but other times it can get a bit 'samey'. We can go for what seems like ages, hardly having to turn the wheel or use the brake, just watching the signs counting down the kilometres to the next roadhouse. Trips up here should be organised around the distances between roadhouses as these can be hundreds of kilometres apart. This is not just to be able to refuel the vehicles but to refuel us too.

You can always tell a good roadhouse by the number of trucks parked outside. A truckie likes a good feed, a shower and 'truckie talk' so you quite often find them frequenting the same roadhouses.

There's a roadhouse called "Billabong" and I noticed some wag had changed the sign to "Fillabong". Nice one.

But you never feel lonely on these roads. As we fly along, nine out of ten oncoming vehicles will wave to you as you pass so you always keep a hand at two o'clock on the steering wheel to return the salute. I consider this to be part of the "driving in the north west" culture. You may not have seen another vehicle for an hour or so, so when you pass someone, of course you wave - "Hello!" It's like walking past someone in the street of a small town. How could you pass by without some sort of acknowledgement? Tourists think it's great and wave with fervour. They've never come across such friendliness! Most miners do, they're used to it, and times we've stopped for Glenn to fix something, it's always a white ute with the yellow light on top that slows down to check we're ok. City people towing boats, don't. I passed one vehicle with a cardboard cutout of a hand fixed to the windscreen on a spring so it continually waved! Won't be stopping for him, then.

The trucking fraternity not only wave to eachother but may also have a chat on the CB radio. Where they've been, where they're going to, what they're carting, etc etc. Rivetting stuff.

What I like the most is that if someone was in trouble on the side of the road there is no doubt the next vehicle would stop if they could. All recognize the vastness of this state, the distances between towns and hence the dangers of being stranded.

My saviour on these long drives is the radio and most of the time you can find a station to listen to, but not all the time.

When we stop along the way poor Woody has to tolerate wearing a muzzle. There is quite a problem with wild dogs up here and aerial baiting is carried out from time to time so there is no way of knowing where a bait might be. I don't want to take any risks as I've heard of many domestic dogs taking a bait by accident and it's a horrible death. Try telling Woody that! He's sitting there, indignant, looking at me as if to say, "What d'you call this?"

It's always nice to get back to Mooka. Such a peaceful place. It's warm and there's a gentle breeze. Mooka Creek trickling by. We soon have our camp all set up; the boudoir set up, fridge in place, pantry stocked. We've even got the shower cubicle this time! Great when it's windy.
The wildlife moves in. We had lots of amazing stick insects this time. They join us in the evening around the campfire, attracted by the spotlights. Last time it was thousands of moths. They were in my hair, my wine, my dinner, etc.
I'm not sure who won this 'stare out' competition. (There's a lizard sitting on the rock.)

The mining is soon on the way and the Mookaite comes out fast.

And Woody gets busy too.
Mookaite is the pavement of a creek bed so much of it is covered in mud when it comes out and needs to be washed (see hosing fiasco above). It then gets packed into bulka bags (by yours truly and Glenn) and loaded onto the 6WD truck ready for the 13km trip to Winnamia.

When I first met Glenn he told me he drove a Mercedes...

And here she is. Mm.. mmmm... I named her Our Rock Goddess.

Here she is (below) powering her way across the Gascoyne River. This time of year there is very little water running. There is, however, water below the surface so in places it's very soft. In the three years I've been working with Glenn we haven't really had any problems when crossing the river but previous years he has had some real 'sticky' situations. One year he had the truck, tractor and Land Cruiser all bogged in a line. They got them all out eventually. (Glad I wasn't there!)

At Winnamia we either transfer them to the road truck (below) or leave them on the ground ready for the road train from Carnarvon.
During these twelve days at Mooka we did five of these trips (50 bags) and that's a lot of digging and a lot of rock so during the day I take short breaks with Woody. It was very hot so we walk a little way down the creek where there are deep pools and he can enjoy a swim.

There's so much colour in the Northwest of Western Australia this time of year.

An eagle flies overhead and appears to have a battered wing. We see many eagles when driving - they thrive on roadkill and along with crows and foxes do a great cleanup job!

I came across this dead tree trunk with a vine of some sort growing up it just as if it was in someone's garden. (click on images to enlarge)
Not far from the creek can be found hundreds of aboriginal artifacts just laying on the surface. Strange to think they've been laying there for thousands of years. Mookaite is perfect for knapping and you can see how the aborigines have knapped the edges of these shards chipped from larger rocks to make perfect cutting tools.
Some might wonder why the government departments allow such devastation to these beautiful places but there are many limitations put on lease holders. These come in the form of permits, native title restrictions, rehabilitation regulations, etc etc.

As you can see, the area mined previous years (below) is coming back.

On the way to returning the 6WD truck to where it is stored we get a puncture. I've lost count of how many punctures we've had.

It's our last morning and the road train is due at Winnamia to collect 40bags of rock. It's early and on our way there I am able to get photos of the wildlife we see all the time.
Look closely at the photo below (or click on it to enlarge) to see Bustards. I've never seen so many at once. They tend to stay in flocks like this.
The roadtrain is loaded and we're off home!

Noreena Jasper

2007-08-31T09:49:00.000+08:00

Next on the “digging list” for this year is Noreena Jasper. This is a stunning rock Glenn found and named himself.

When we reach the lease we find a bushfire has gone through since we were here last year and the area looks quite bleak. Only the eucalyptus trees have regrowth and there are very few of those. Even the Spinifex is only just sprouting again. However, there’s lots of colour here. All sorts of flowers are in bloom and where we make our camp it seemed as if we had a garden (much to my delight!) as we were surrounded by colourful plants.

Glenn gets the backhoe into operation and soon the bags are filling up.

Every piece we throw into the bag must be knapped first as the seams can be fickle. Just about every good piece of rock is geometric in shape and just a small tap on one corner will show the potential colours inside. It was very satisfying to give a plain red rock a little tap and see pretty colours just peeking out.

Here (below) Glenn is sitting against the seam and has sprayed the broken rock with water to show how it will polish.

(click on image to enlarge)

Crazy Lace Agate Mine

2007-08-31T08:21:00.000+08:00

We had an interruption to our digging - Glenn injured his wrist badly enough to have to rest it for a few days so we made a flying visit home. This proved beneficial, however, as we had mail to deal with and more importantly it meant we could pick up the dog from the kennels. We missed him more than we thought. The intention was to save him the discomfort he would suffer from the dreadful grass seeds. Last year each evening we would sit after dinner and pick them out of his skin and ears. I decided this time I would keep him away from the grassy areas one way or another.

As you can see, he was glad to be home.

We’d been home a few days when we heard rain was forecast for the Pilbara Region so we left in time to get there before the roads were closed. They are unsealed roads and with the Almighty Dust of the Pilbara it doesn’t take much to turn a road into a quagmire. We arrived late at night and it was nice to get into our cosy tent.

In the morning it was pouring with rain so Glenn strung up the tarp for shelter and that was where Woody and I sat waiting for the rain to stop while Glenn unloaded the truck.

It eased off by the afternoon, just as the weatherman said it would and work could begin again.

It’s not long before we have a truckload to take into town and this time His Lordship gets to ride in the sleeper cab!

Most of the road we use is the railway access road and it’s not surprising that we pass the Ore Train because it is going back and forth constantly, transporting iron ore to Port Hedland for shipping to China. It’s over a kilometre long and has two engines; one at the front and one in the middle, so I took three photos as we gradually overtook it. The train driver waves and gives us a blast on the train horn too!

A couple of days later we saw another ore train that was 2kms long and had two engines at the front, three in the middle and two at the rear.

Our black and grey dog is soon black and red.

Is he looking lovingly at Glenn?

No...

Anyone would think from reading this blog that our life revolves around the dog!!! Absolutely not!!!

Apart from punctures... (we woke up to this one)

(There's a man under that truck!)

...and mechanical problems, other small setbacks occur (see below). Fortunately there is another bucket Glenn can use but it’s half the size of this one.

The digging here is complete but before we leave the area we take a drive to a lease not too far away for Munjina Stone. It’s a beautiful place and yet another beautiful rock.

We pack up our camp at the Crazy Lace Agate mine and head off for Roy Hill.

Back to Mooka

2007-07-26T09:30:00.000+08:00

When we turn off the Gascoyne Junction/Carnarvon road to head down the dirt track to the Gascoyne River we can see how much rain has fallen while we were away. There's lots of water laying in the low parts of the track.

I started to worry about our river crossing but if you've got the right gear, there's no need to worry at all. In fact, it's just that little bit more exciting!

Now THAT'S a 4WD !!

We arrive at the minesite and nothing seems to have changed very much. Although we could see the creek had flowed quite heavily.

The Aloe Vera (donated by the local cattle station master a few years ago who said it's good for sandfly bites) is thriving.

And the wattles are blooming everywhere now that's it's winter.

This time, as Woody isn't with us, at mealtimes we are joined by a fox. We can't resist throwing him scraps even though he looks well fed. He's been dining on the wildlife, no doubt; something we dislike them for intensely. But it's exciting having a wild animal come so close. Digging goes well and it's not long before we have a load to take into town. Glenn brings it from the mine on the 6WD Mercedes, across the river to the woolshed where the Kenworth is waiting. The Mercedes has a Hiab (crane) which he uses to transfer the bags of rock to the other truck. It's an hour and a half drive to Carnarvon.

There's still a bit of weather about giving us spectacular skies.

After a couple of weeks and a few tons dug we head north for the Crazy Lace Agate Mine. But on the way we meet up with some friends.

Not quite sure how we managed to find them, right in the middle of the outback, miles from anywhere. It was a combination of GPS and ESP.

After a couple of days of fossicking and lots of laughing we continue on our way north to the Pilbara Region and there's still rain about. This rainbow lasted for ages and cheered up the somewhat ordinary scenery.

We reach the minesite and soon set up camp ready for digging to begin.

Crazy Lace Agate is one of my favourites. You can read about it here.

Fortunately, there is a windmill nearby, 8kms down the track, where we can get water for washing, . Can you believe there are graffiti artists this far out? The tree trunk hanging over the side is for visiting ducks who probably wouldn't be able to get out, otherwise.

The soil up here is red dust. It isn't gravel, it isn't sand, it is literally DUST! When we first arrive it is quite compacted after the rain but it doesn't take long to loosen up. It gets into absolutely everything and it's pointless to try and fight it. Our camps always include a shower cubicle so that we can wash at the end of each day and sleep in clean bedding. But it doesn't take long after stepping out of the tent in the morning before the dust has 'taken you over'.

The first year I came up here to the Pilbara Region I learned very quickly to just live with it. And I wrote this:

The Dust

I breathe this red dust,
I eat this red dust,
It’s in my eyes, up my nose,
In my ears and between my toes.

It’s under my nails and in my hair,
The red dust it’s bloody everywhere!

I had a black/grey dog, now he’s red;
Thought I’d got a tan but it’s dust instead.
It’s in my book and in my bag,
It’s in my knickers and in my swag.

But I love it and accept it,
It’s all part of being here;
I’m in Mother Nature’s clutches;
I am safe, I am red, She is near.

Mining at Mooka - Phase One

2007-06-20T09:03:00.000+08:00

We've just completed the first three weeks of this year's mining.

This is my third year of accompanying Glenn to mine rock and after the first year I started to put together a list of what we needed to take. (It's a 'woman' thing, I suppose.) Glenn's been doing this for years and has never had anything written down; he just throws everything in and off he goes. I need a list and this list has become "The List" and I wouldn't be without it. We're miles from civilisation for sometimes weeks at a time so I must feel organised.

We've done the 'big shop' (groceries galore), Glenn's done his packing which amongst other things includes every vehicle spare he can carry and I've got enough first aid and medications to open a chemist shop. Plus newspapers and books to last a year.

We got away mid-morning making it to Geraldton for dinner. There can't be many roadhouses that overlook the ocean as this one does; you can see the sea from the restaurant over the top of three or four roadtrains parked in the carpark.

As I still have coverage on my mobile phone there I usually call my sons and as I did so this year I realised that this time last year I could only phone Doug. Matt was in Iraq. What a lovely feeling it was to be able to call him in Melbourne where he lives happily with his new wife.

After dinner we get back on the road and do a few more hours before we pull off and unroll our swags to get some sleep. We are awake before the sun is up and make an early start. We get to Carnarvon and have eggs and bacon for breakfast, yum! As we head further north I'm amazed at how green the verges are when there is such a drought. The wildlife and cattle are attracted to this luscious growth and this makes driving hazardous. They can be very unpredictable and I've seen one or two cow's carcasses along the way. However, kangaroos are another story. Dead bodies all over the place! The crows and eagles have a feast (if they don't get collected by a passing vehicle themselves!)

Smartypants Woody, as soon as he sees the 'errant wildlife', pushes his way from behind the seats of the land cruiser and sits on the passenger seat. He decides he needs to ride 'shotgun' and proceeds to tell all wildlife where to go in no uncertain terms. I put a finger in my left ear.

I consequently have his breath misting up the windscreen and wet nose stains all over it too. But he's good company. He's excited. He knows exactly what's going on, where we're off to and what lies ahead. He's looking forward to lots of water to swim in and wildlife to chase.

Soon I can see the Kennedy Ranges in the distance and we turn off the bitumen and soon reach Winnamia which is where we bring the bags of rock to be loaded. There is a woolshed and living quarters here - all built of tin, run-down and completely abandoned. But there are still rain water tanks that fill from the roof gutters and when our supply has got low it has been a good standby as the water in the Gascoyne River and Mooka Creek is a bit too full of minerals to drink.
So we leave Glenn's truck there and drive to Jimba Jimba to collect the Mercedes. I have to say that I was impressed when Glenn told me he had a Mercedes. And here she is..

The people at this cattle station are quite happy for Glenn to store her there and have even done repairs on her for him free of charge. She's come in handy for the odd job for them too. I call her our "Rock Goddess". If not for this 6 Wheel Drive truck we would have to do an extra 160km round journey each time to get the rock to town. With the Rock Goddess we are able to transport the bags of rock from the mine across the Gascoyne River to Winnamia where it can be loaded on to a roadtrain.

Crossing the river the first time with fully loaded vehicles is usually a bit tricky. Woody couldn't care less - he's found what he came for:

The Land Cruiser is fully loaded and pulling a fully loaded trailer so I knew I'd be lucky to get across first time. I got so far but Glenn ended up towing me with the truck. I find this all a bit traumatic. He doesn't.

Before you know it, we're at Mooka, camp's set up, tarp's in place for shade, fridge is on the way to getting cold, tent is up and bedding in place and the kettle's on!

And it's not long before Glenn has unloaded the backhoe and is digging Mookaite. Turning this:

Into this:

And making lots of work for me!! Like this:

Digging rock like this:

To be made into things like beads, carvings,

or the really really top of the wozza stuff into things like this:

I now realise how easy we had it last year. Few mechanical problems and few flies. This year.. mechanical problems big time and more flies than you could poke multiple sticks at!

We came armed with numerous cans of personal fly repellant and a fly net for my face that I wore constantly. We cannot, however, carry a spare gear box for the Land Cruiser. Yep, almost completed one of our many river crossings when "Phhhht!" no gears. But never fear, bush mechanic is here. Glenn ordered a new gearbox from Perth, got it sent up to Carnarvon, we collect it, get the LC to the camp on the back of the Rock Goddess, and he fixes it. Amazing!

The offending article.

We tried a fly net for Woody as they'd made camp on his nose, poor thing.

Didn't last long, surprisingly.

The best times are early morning and evening when the flies go to bed and all is quiet.

Dog's are not allowed in the tent.

Afternoon in Perth

2007-05-11T19:37:00.000+08:00

We took some friends into Perth recently to visit two places; first was the Department of Industry and Resources and, second, was the Perth Museum.

At the Department of I & R I saw this map of Western Australia showing the "Recent Activity in Minerals" and was very impressed. (click on the photo to enlarge) What a rich state this is!! The legend at the top lists the minerals and in case you aren't familiar with the "Periodic Table of the Elements" as it were, Au is gold, Cu is copper, Ni is nickel. We were surprised at the amount of diamond mines.

Then we made our way to the Perth museum where we found a stunning display of meteorites! One of the best displays of meteorites in the world, in fact. Read here for more information about meteorites.

This is the "Mundrabilla" meteorite that fell about a million years ago and was found on the Nullabor Plain of Western Australia in 1966. The 'tide mark' across the lower part shows how much was showing above ground. It weighs 11.5tonnes.

But, wait, there's more!!

Gear Box - Truck - Broken!

2007-05-11T16:43:00.000+08:00

The convoy slowed down.

All looking in rear view mirrors.

The truck had stopped.

They all stopped.

Very short inspection.

Instant diagnosis - broken gear box.

Yep! That's a broken gear box, for sure!

A Buzz in the Bush

2007-05-05T13:29:00.000+08:00

Off to the bush again for the odd bit of "fossicking".

We turn off the highway and go another couple of hours until we reach our destination. The area was dry and dusty but still we are surrounded by bright green shrubs and new seedlings. You'd almost think someone had been going around 'handwatering the plants' every morning.

Seeing the black tree trunks and crispy remains of bush it was obvious that a fire had been through at least a couple of years previously. This explains the vigorous new growth. There's nothing like the smoke of a fire to promote seed germination.

This time we brought our 'secret weapons'. Well, quad bikes. What fun these were!

A much better way of getting around the bush rather than walking or bush-bashing with the Land Cruiser. Also, these light, manoeuverable, four-wheeled bikes were much less likely to get punctures.

Our friends, the bush flies, were all there to greet us. And they weren't there in ones and twos, they were there in their gadzillions. As we walked along, each one of us had our own personal cloud of flies to accompany us. Oh, what friendly little things they are. They just couldn't leave us alone; not for one minute. They seem to enjoy riding on our backs, in their millions, all just sitting there, the backs of our jackets black from shoulders to waist, and there wasn't room to swing a mozzy!

Yes, eating was a problem!

Batman and Robin.

I don't think these bushes were originally this shape.

It's almost as if, as the fire went through, they tried to wrap their arms around themselves and crouch down in an effort to avoid the inevitable.

The majority of the trees here looked like this; bent right over with new branches sprouting upwards from the bent trunk. A result of prevailing winds or maybe fire.

This looks like a pile of deadwood but it is in actual fact, a tree! It must be very old because I could see where it has grown, fallen over, grown some more and fallen over and even now it still has roots in the ground so there are new branches growing up from the horizontal trunk.
David has a friend who goes to the bush and collects pieces of tree trunk which have hollows in them for the purpose of making them into works of art. On one trip to the bush as he was driving home with his vehicle full of potential artworks, a snake slithered into the front cab with him. Obviously he hadn't received his eviction notice! The guy stopped, opened the door to let the snake out and carried on home!

Devil's Dice

2007-04-26T17:53:00.000+08:00

In my previous post I had some photos of Devil's Dice that we found. Glenn wasn't around so I looked on the internet to find out what they actually were but as they obviously had nothing to do with pop groups, had no luck. So today I asked him and he gave me an answer....

"The existence of a mineral with a crystal form of another species. Pseudomorphism may occur by substitution, encrustation, or alteration. For example, limonite pseudomorphs after pyrite can be formed by leaching away the sulfur. It this case, the limonite preserves the cubic structure of pyrite.

Pyrite, also known as fool’s gold because it has tricked many into believing it was the real thing, is iron sulfide, an iron ore. Under the proper conditions, though, pyrite can become iron hydroxide, or limonite. Its external appearance remains essentially the same, but the composition has been altered. Pyrite cubes have become limonite cubes"

When he gives me an answer like this I just nod, intelligently, and thank him. He also gave me a link, here.

Trip to the Pilbara

2007-04-23T19:33:00.000+08:00

Thursday afternoon we set off for one of Glenn's mining leases in the Pilbara region of Western Australia . He needed to collect some samples for analysis. It is about 12 hours drive north of where we live.
Once again, it is going to be a quick trip so we throw the few important things into the Land Cruiser; food, water, dog and get going. Glenn's important things are maps, compass, GPS, satellite phone, book to record findings, geopick, etc. My important thing was my fly net!!

I usually sleep so soundly in my swag and the first night I certainly did just that. The second night, however, I was sharing my swag with some dear little ants who wanted to get cosy with me. By about 2am I'd woken a third or fourth time (lost count) and must have disturbed Glenn as he asked me what was wrong. He passed me the personal insect spray and I said, "What? Spray my whole body??" He replied with the obvious answer which escaped me that time of the morning, "No, just the edge of your swag." tut.
By Friday mid-morning we are almost at our destination and we turn off the highway. Then begins the slow and arduous drive across rough terrain, clonking and bumping over loose rocks at 3kph. Even though the tyres are built for this type of environment we still have to avoid spikes of dead trees. When a bushfire goes through areas like this and trees and shrubs are burnt, after a while all that is left are stakes sticking out of the ground. Drive over one of these at the right angle and ptshhhhhhh!

We had two and a half punctures in all. Glenn said that many a time after crossing some rough country he's woken up in the morning to find a couple of tyres have gone down overnight with slow punctures. Needless to say, he always carries spares and tools.

Here is Glenn in his element.

Lots and lots of nothingness, for miles and miles and miles.

When I was young and used to walk my dog across the fields and through the local woods for hours on end I used to try to find places where I thought no one had ever set foot before. In Surrey? In England? I don't think so. But it was fun to imagine that I had found that very untouched place. Here, however, there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that I have placed my feet where no man or woman has ever stepped before, ever. You can do that alot in Australia. It's so vast.

These were interesting. Not placed there by man but by nature.

No flies on Helen !!

I have never seen so many flies in all my life.

And just for the record - neither had Glenn and he's been coming to the outback for years!

This is Glenn making a phone call with the satellite phone.

We see some magnificent skies out here.
Wildlife trails
Even though we'd driven a long way towards the lease, we had to do a fair bit of hiking to get to the locations where Glenn wanted to take samples. It was impossible by vehicle. One of the easiest ways to walk in these areas is to follow the wildlife tracks. They are so defined you would think they were manmade for tourists but they're not. The animals, mainly kangaroos here, all stick to the same route and over time the loose rocks get knocked out of the way leaving just a dusty track which is easier for all to use, including us.

A passing kangaroo took this photo for us.

It will always amaze me how anything survives out here - animal or vegetable. It is all so arid and hostile. I came across these lovely lavender-coloured bells.

Bird's nest
We don't see any parrots out here, probably because there isn't anything for them to eat, I suppose. But there are quite a few little insect-eating birds here and I can guarantee there's plenty of that sort of food to keep them going!

At another location we came across an area of Devil's Dice. Above you can see how they can be lodged within rock. Below are some we collected that had broken away.

Miles and miles of nothing. And the sky goes on for ever and ever.

On returning to Perth a weather trough produced a spectacular sky, a storm we could watch in the distance complete with fork lightning and this rainbow.

Beautiful rock

2007-04-18T20:16:00.000+08:00

Have you ever seen anything as beautiful as this?

This is a slab of Mookaite.

Can you believe this is natural rock, out of the very ground we walk on? Well, from a creek bed near Gascoyne Junction in Western Australia.

This afternoon I was washing the polishing powder off all the polished faces and slabs that Glenn has been working on and came across this one. Just look at the colours! The patterns! I decided we couldn't part with this one. It stays with us!

Off to the Bush

2007-04-10T09:22:00.000+08:00

As you can see there was rain in the air on our first morning.

I'm just glad I forced myself out of my very cosy swag to

grab my camera and capture this sunrise.

It was time to get back to the bush. We packed the necessities; food, water, swags, dog, into the Land Cruiser and drove about five or six hours east along the Great Eastern Highway from Perth to Coolgardie. Look here to read the history of this wonderful old mining town.

Coolgardie owes its existence to the discovery of gold at nearby Fly Flat, 120 miles to the east of Southern Cross, back in 1892. The development of the town was typical goldfields hysteria. Within four years the railway had arrived and within six it was the third largest town in Western Australia (after Perth and Fremantle) with a population of 15,000 (with another 10,000 in the area) serviced by three breweries, seven newspapers, and 26 hotels.

The town was laid out and named in 1893 and it became a municipality the following year. The Post Office opened in 1895 and the following year electricity and a swimming pool enhanced the hard life of the miners. By 1897 the level of enthusiasm about the potential of the region was such that over 700 mining companies had been floated in London. The water pipeline arrived in 1903 and that was an engineering feat in itself.

Looking on a map the area would appear to have multiple lakes but these are salt lakes. In 1895 the first plans were prepared for an engineering feat to stagger the world — an attempt to pump water uphill some 500 km, from the hills near Perth (Mundaring Weir) to the goldfields of Coolgardie.

On 24 January 1903, the dream became a reality. Today, water is supplied to over 100,000 people and six million sheep in an area covering 44,000 square kilometres (two thirds the size of Tasmania).

However, we were NOT there looking for gold. No, just looking at rocks. In fact, every inch of these goldfields is 'pegged' so it's hands off!! Unless you own the lease or have permission.

In addition to gold there is a huge amount of nickel in the goldfields and these photos above show an area where they have been testing for deposits.

Great Rock Dog!!

Driving along one of the dirt roads we came across a camel!! As you can see, he scarpered pretty quick. (If you look closely or click on the photo to enlarge you will see in the dead centre of the photo is one camel bum.) It isn't all that surprising to see a camel, however. I don't know the exact statistics, but there are hundreds of wild camels roaming Western Australia. They are leftovers from the days when they fared better than horses across the desert.

Below is a photo of Lake Lefroy and when I first looked across and saw it thought it was a sea, it's so vast! It's over 50 miles long. You can read about the harvesting of salt from this lake here.

Land sailing is very popular, apparently, and this is the perfect place for it. See this.

So where are we off to next, asks the great explorer, Woody?

Back home

2007-03-31T13:29:00.000+08:00

We got back from America mid February and after working at the shows "full on" for nearly eight weeks, we take a break. It's only a short break though as Glenn comes back to orders for rock that he must fill. It is only a matter of weeks before we must get away to dig more rock and there's lots to do. Glenn also has rock here to cut, polish and pack in preparation for next year's show.
Moving to this property meant he had a large workshop where he could set up his rock saws and vibrolaps.

These diamond edge saw blades cut rock like the bread knife cuts a loaf.

The vibrolap is a circular vibrating metal plate on which are placed rock slabs and faces in a watery concoction. The circular metal discs you can see are weights glued to the back of rock slabs so as to force the flat side down on to the surface.
After a few hours the sides of the slabs and the faces of the rock have been ground to a perfect flatness. These can now be polished. This is the polishing vibrolap. The rock slabs and faces are again placed down on the vibrating table but this time in a polishing powder.

Once polished the rocks need to have the powder pressure-cleaned off and that's where I come along. This I can do!

If it was really warm and I was standing in the sun I'd be in my bathers. But I'm in the shade and it's ever so slightly cool so I adorn the raincoat and wellies as this is a very wet job. My radio is safely tucked away under the waterproof material and the earphones are in my ears so I can listen to the afternoon show while I work.

Woody, the waterlover, thinks the jet of water is specifically for him, of course, and jumps up at the spray trying to bite it.

By the time he's finished he's sopping wet and dirty. Another photo opportunity.

Where would we be without our little helper??

The Main Show

2007-02-12T15:06:00.000+09:00

The highlight, or maybe we should call it the climax of The Rock and Gem Show is The Main Show which is held at the Convention Centre in the city and here you can see the best of the best, the most exquisite specimens of rock, crystals and minerals in the world.

This year the theme was Australian Minerals so the majority of exhibits were Australian. Glenn and I made a hurried visit to the Convention Centre in between packing up our booth ready to leave early the next morning. I took photos of what we thought were the best.

First of all, this marble carving is not Australian, but American, hence the Stars and Stripes behind. It is quite amazing so I thought I should include it. It is a complete piece of marble except for the piano legs.
There were rumours that Sir Elton John was going to fly in to see this, but alas, it did not happen.

I hope that when you click on the photo to enlarge it you will be able to read labels because I can't tell you what half these are! I'm a layman. Or is it 'laywoman'?

This is our Variscite below.

And finally, the miners of the giant Tiger Eye slabs

stand proudly next to their prize piece.

And now it's time to go home!
Phew!!
Woody, here we come. Not long now.

Eating out

2007-02-11T23:02:00.000+09:00

We eat out a lot when we are here in America. After a long day of the show every day of the week, we don't really feel like going home and cooking - neither in this house we've leased nor when we were living in our caravan in Quartzsite. So we learn to eat out in America.

The restaurants in the little town of Quartzsite differ greatly to those in the city of Tucson. Quartzsite, afterall, only has to cope with hundreds of thousands of people for a couple of months of the year. The rest of the time it is a sleepy desert town. Consequently, there are seasonal restaurants employing casual staff who are often the snowbirds passing through town. We were often served by elderly ladies in their seventies glad to be able to earn a little extra cash on their travels; one lady served us who didn't know what a Cabernet Savignon was. Glenn said it very slowly and carefully for her to repeat to the barman and she repeated it back to Glenn perfectly, including his Aussie accent! Very funny. She laughed too.

As we were in Quarzsite for three weeks we did a circuit of the restaurants in town where we found food that was palatable. There are many Mexican restaurants in this part of the US so we had to include one or two. They use corn and beans a lot and often it's a plate of slop, but palatable slop as long as we didn't eat it every night.

We never did find a restaurant in Quartzsite that served fresh vegetables with a meal - not one! It was always canned corn, canned green beans (yuk) or canned lima beans. Except of course, the Chinese restaurant who always include fresh vegetables but we only tolerated that place twice.

It was China's answer to Fawlty Towers. On walking in there is a sign that says, "Please be seated" so we looked around the large dining room and made for a two-seater table. Just as we began to sit a little old Chinese waiter shouted at us from the other side of the room, "Not there!" We looked at eachother. He repeated, "Not there! Over there!" He pointed to a four-seater on the other side. The people around us half smiled and I'm sure some rolled their eyes. During the evening he marched around the restaurant as if he loathed every minute of being there, slamming bill folders on tables as if he couldn't wait for us to leave. Hilarious.

One of the make-shift restaurants in Quartzsite consisted of a shed with tables the length of the building where they served meals in styrene boxes complete with plastic cutlery. It was fish and chip night the time Glenn insisted I 'experience' that particular place. I felt out of place as I wasn't wearing a cowboy hat. Everyone else was!

The photo above is a restaurant run by an English guy and it's a sort of pub/fish and chip place. When we sat down, and it was heaving with people, he was telling the foursome next to us a joke. They laughed but I am sure that with his strong northern English accent they hadn't understood a word he'd said.

He's tried to give the place 'character' by adorning the walls, ceiling and bar with interesting memorabilia. There are car number plates, T-shirts, beer signs, eg. Budweiser, Killians Irish Beer, Boddingtons, Bass, etc; then there are signs such as John Deere, etc etc etc. There was also a 'Have a Go' wheel around which were stop points labelled, "nipples", "sex", "bowl of beans", "mat", "slick"; all foreign to me!! I wouldn't want to play that particular game.

Tucson, of course, is a city of half a million and has hundreds of eating places. We found Mexican, Italian, French, American family restaurants, Sushi, etc etc, you name it, it's all there. Took this photo in the carpark of a restaurant we ate at the other night. Don't think I'd take any chances there!!

'Servers' work hard, checking on their customers often and giving good service because they earn such a small wage and therefore depend on tips. We still didn't find many fresh vegetables served except at one of those 'serve yourself' type where multitudes of people are breathing and coughing over the serve-yourself bars and where I try to take food from underneath or the very back, in hopes it has less germs!

We went to a Bar and Grill place one evening and I went to the "Restrooms" as they call them in the US and as I was zipping up my jeans I looked up. Suspended from the ceiling just outside the cubicles so visible to all that may have been seated was a full size TV. Hey, if I'd only known!! I could have sat there and watched a whole basket ball game!! Forget the dinner!

At an Italian place, named after a famous sculptor, I went to the restrooms and the decor was artistic, tasteful, and generally a lovely room to relax in. Especially as Pavarotti was playing over the speakers! I would have stayed longer but they had those automatic flushers! No hanging about in there!

We are very fortunate at our show location that we have Grace and John right next to us working their kiosk (shown in the photo below). Our show is the only location they do where they supply lunches, hot and cold, and they actually do it for the vendors rather than the public as there is no food outlet in the local area. They are lovely people and really look after us, checking what we like and don't like and trying to keep everyone happy. I give her a box of my favourite tea bags so she can supply me with cups of tea all day.

They travel most of the year, going from town to town; rodeos, fairs, shows, running this kiosk and living in their RV (recreation vehicle).

Just around the corner was their "competition".

Needless to say, their "rivals" made absolutely no dent in their takings whatsoever. I had to take this photo covertly just in case they were armed, as so many people are here. I think the plastic roses are a nice touch, don't you?

Precious things

2007-02-07T13:04:00.000+09:00

Yep, another gift!! Aren't I the lucky one.

These pendants coming along like this have been a bit like the 418 bus from Epsom. None for years then three at once!!

I have a Mookaite/jade pendant, a Montana Agate pendant and now this one - it is peanut wood set in silver and I LOVE IT! A gift from my man himself. (As a result of him personally delivering some rocks to a buyer that she left behind and seeing the jewellery she makes from his material.)

The master rock carver, Dalan Hargrave, visited us this morning and showed us these items he had carved from our new Variscite. They are absolutely exquisite. They are to be displayed in the Main Show at the Convention Centre in Tucson - the climax of the show. This is where the finest and most excellent of specimens will be sold and shown. (For three days only at the end of this week.)

The theme this year is Australian Minerals and Glenn's business partner has organised exhibits from our museums and CSIRO etc to be on show for everyone to see. One cabinet will be dedicated to our Variscite. I hope I can get there to see it all and take photos.

Sunday

2007-02-05T13:18:00.000+09:00

An Indian gentleman purchased these four contoured rocks yesterday. He took his time choosing exactly what he wanted then indicated which rocks he would like. He said that each was to be carved into some sort of figure for religious purposes. Each would be unique and never to be repeated. (Magnesite, 2 x Noreen Jasper, Blue Lepidolite)

Sometimes I really wish I could see the end product.

When contoured pieces get sold we have space on the table so we delve into the drums for more.
This one came out next (above) . It looked so boring and unattractive at first. Just a relatively thin, flat contoured piece of striped jasper with little colour. Then I thought that maybe it would help if I found a stand to rest it on, like we do some of the picturesque slabs.
As it faced me, lo and behold, a Japanese watercolour!!! As clear as day I could see a landscape; mountains, a tree, pale evening sky with one cloud and maybe beach in the foreground!!

I mentioned this to Glenn and he increased the price immediately!!!

These items are in a booth along by us. What would you call this?? It can't possibly be mosaic. I can't print the word I'd like to use. What does my mosaic-ing friend think of these?
And what about this??? What exactly would you call this? A friend of ours thought that the person who carved this 'item' from rock must have had a feed of those funny mushrooms the night before and this is the result of the nightmare.

Strange thing is, it could be sitting in the corner of a restaurant as part of the 'interior design' and would anybody say anything? Just look at the lips on it!!

Actually, Glenn's suggestion was a large pin in each end and it would look like it had just come off the spit.

Saturday

2007-02-04T12:41:00.000+09:00

This morning Glenn decided that today was the day to unveil the Tiger Eye spheres. The sun was shining and did full justice to these magnificent lumps of rock!
When making a sphere of this Brockman Tiger Eye the main aim is to have the band of Tiger Eye in the most prominent position, and as you can see, it flashes beautifully around the widest point of both these spheres.

The full name of this rock is BrockmanTiger Eye and the Brockman Jasper in which the band of Tiger Eye sits is a multitude of greens, browns and reds, incorporating the metallic-looking bands of hematite.

I am sure I have never seen anyone walk past this huge slab of Brockman Tiger Eye (below) without stopping and admiring it. Many people see pictures in it. One man looked at it and said, "Hey, this is a painting - I can see mountains, valleys, rivers, waterfalls and... wait... there's a golf course!!!

Being a weekend we have a lot of tourists and locals visit our booth who come to enjoy the sights of the Rock and Gem Show. I met some really lovely people today who had no idea what they were looking at but enjoying every minute of it. We constantly hear comments like, "You have such beautiful rocks in Australia!" and "I have never seen such an amazing assortment of rocks." Quite often they only buy a one dollar rock but it means so much to them and they are always so pleased when they see we attach a label giving the name and location of the rock they chose.

I saw a man looking very carefully through all the chrysoprase polished slabs and rocks on the tables today and went over to him to say hello. He said he was looking for a particular rock. It had to be really rough, ordinary and ugly on one side and stunningly beautiful on the other.

Chrysoprase is a beautiful green gemstone and can be cloudy through to translucent and it occurs in a brown matrix that is dusty and dirty. The photo above shows the cut and polished side revealing the gemstone inside. The other side is the original rock, as it came out of the ground, dusty and craggy.

It was the perfect type of rock for the lesson he was preparing that he may have entitled "You can't judge a book by its cover".

First he would show the children the back of this rock and ask them what they saw. They would see the dirt, the roughness, the ugliness and nothing that made it interesting or worth a second look. Then he would turn it over and they would see that there was more to this rock than met the eye. He wanted them to consider looking at people this way. They may see an unattractive, ordinary, uninteresting person who appears not to be worth a second look, not worth talking to or getting to know. He wanted them to not judge people from what they saw on the outside.

A good lesson - and a good teacher!

Snapshots

Someone we are always pleased to see is Bob from Bob's Rockshop. He tours the Rock and Gem Show taking photos and doing write-ups for his incredibly good website. He has dedicated one page for us here. Be sure to scroll down to the carvings of a frog and a seahorse. These were carved in Idar-Oberstein from last year's Variscite dig.

The last photo of our Tiger Eye slab and Bob's reflection is a gem in itself! I love it!

Viva La Difference

2007-02-03T00:10:00.000+09:00

Tucson is a completely different scene to Quartzsite. We've moved from a desert town to a city and the difference in the location and patronage of our show are extreme.

At Quartzsite we can see for miles around us with the mountains way in the distance. Our booth stands on gravelly grey dust that, when it is windy, is picked up and sprinkled indiscriminately, leaving a layer on our beautiful polished rocks, clogging our eyes, and sticking to our hair. That's the desert for you!
Quartzsite is the type of place where the rockhounds can gather, talk 'rock' and buy those small pieces of rough rock that will make that perfect cabochon or arrowhead.
Smart buyers make the effort to come to Quartzsite before Tucson so they are first in line for large amounts of rough rock.
Above us in the Quartzsite sky we often see micro-lites floating gracefully across the sky above us and occasionally, hot air balloons.
It wasn't a quiet town, however; we could hear the roar of 'Interstate 10' constantly; twenty-four hours a day. It's one of the main US east-west highways.

Here in our Tucson booth we stand on tarmac surrounded by buildings.

There aren't many high rise buildings in Tucson but one of the few is adjacent to our show at 'Market Place'. It mainly houses people on state benefits and many of them come to browse around our show. Many of them, when chatting to us, point to the building and say that's where they live and that they come for a look each year. One man who lived up there made walking sticks for a hobby, from interesting pieces of wood that he found. He was holding one that looked remarkably like a snake - a cobra, in fact, with the wide head. It even had a tongue. If he hadn't spoiled it by sticking fake diamonds down the back of its neck it would have been quite attractive.

Rather than graceful thermal-seekers in the sky, in Tucson we see loud, fast military air craft passing overhead due to there being an air force base nearby. Every day, constantly, they fly over in pairs, maybe fours; jets, Hercules, all on various missions, no doubt.

Quartzsite was full of dogs, patiently walking with their owners, or being wheeled in some sort of cart. Here in Tucson it would seem things are more 'tropical'.

The weather, however, is not tropical! We have just had a real cold snap. The last three days or so have been bitterly cold. (Much colder than normal winters.) Not only was it uncomfortable to work in as we have no shelter but it keeps customers in the undercover and indoor shows. We did, however, make some sales. (At home in Perth it is swelteringly hot!)

Today, the clouds cleared, the sun shone and I even shed my jacket and woolly hat!! With the nicer temperatures and conditions the people were back on the circuit of outdoor shows and it was a busy day. And that's what we're here for!!

Gold!

2007-01-31T10:57:00.000+09:00

The Tucson Gem and Mineral Show is one of the biggest of its kind in the world and consequently brings millions of dollars to Tucson. There are shows like ours in set up in car parks and market places around the city and then there are shows set up within hotels and motels. They use the rooms and surrounding gardens etc for vendors to sell their wares. The furniture is removed from the rooms so that they can set up their cabinets and display cases in which they arrange the rocks, crystals, minerals, jewellery, gold, specimens, etc. Many take their own bedding and stay in the room overnight for convenience and for security!
We have friends who deal in gold only and we went to visit them at their hotel room today. It may be difficult to understand but these people are not in this business for the money. They just love what they do, like so many in this business.

Each year he has this picture displayed and people love it.

Hopefully you can click on this photo and read the label, bottom right. It is the fuel tank from a Russian satellite found in the Australian outback. You just never know what you might come across when prospecting!!

Selling at Tucson

2007-01-29T13:39:00.000+09:00

Thursday was very cold with gusty, icey winds but still we must set up the booth (me with my suede jacket, scarf and woolly gloves on) so that we can start selling as soon as possible. Sure enough, despite the cold, along came the buyers looking for first pickings. Also, along came other vendors doing their buying before they set up their own booths.
Fortunately, the weather changed and Friday was a beautiful day and even though the show didn't officially open until Saturday we made a lot of sales.
I love to see the tables loaded with the polished rocks - greens, blues, reds, yellows - all glorious in the sunshine. The large items are on show too like the Orbicular Granite and the huge slabs of Tiger Eye which always attract lots of attention.
So many people that walk around our booth say, "You have such beautiful rocks in Australia!"
Right next to our booth is a food kiosk (in the background of the last photo above). They sell hot and cold drinks, freshly roasted nuts, sandwiches, snacks and they make a hot meal for lunch each day. We have got to know Grace and John really well and they enjoy looking after the vendors at our show. But I'm sure they like us best! (Well, they said so.)

This is a sphere made from a block of Tiger Eye. It is absolutely stunning and will be displayed at the main show which is the last three days and held at the Convention Centre in Tucson.

The theme of the main show this year is Australian Minerals!

Gifts!

Many of the vendors, rockhounds, gem cutters etc wear something they deal in or made, eg. cabochons, beads, etc. I had often wished that I had something made of Glenn's rock to wear. When we were at Quartzsite a man came to buy Mookaite and Black Jade and had a tray of cabochons he had made from those materials. We were admiring them when he picked one out and gave it to me. Next day I took it to a goldsmith in Quartzsite and had it made into the pendant shown below in the right of the picture. Luckily, I had brought with me a gold chain that my sister gave me a couple of years ago so I am wearing it every day. Then, today, the owner of a business in Montana who buys material from Glenn each year came to see us today and do her usual buying. She holidays in Australia almost every year and as she was coming to Western Australia at the end of last year, Glenn gave her our number and said she must spend a few days with us. So she took us up on our offer.

The last time we saw her she drove off in a hire car to tour the south west so we were interested to hear how the rest of her hoiday in Western Australia had gone. Everything went well and she couldn't stop saying how much she enjoyed staying with us. In fact, one of her first questions was, how is Woody!! (Everyone loves our dog.) Anyway, to show her gratitude first of all she gave me a box of chocolates, then she gave Glenn a Montana Agate, one of his favourite rocks. Then she produced a little box - for me. (The other pendant in the photo.) This pendant is made from a Montana Agate, by her father. It is absolutely exquisite - a real treaure. I feel really honoured.

Tucson

2007-01-27T11:41:00.000+09:00

(click on images to enlarge)

It took us a couple of days to pack up all the rock at our booth in Quartzsite ready to make the move to Tucson. There are all the polished faces and slabs that cover the tables, the sculptures and contoured pieces plus all the rough rock and it all has to be packed back into the drums ready to be transported by truck to Tucson.

Glenn shipped a lot of rock to the US for this show so together with what was already here, even though we sold a huge amount, there were two truck loads to be taken to Tucson. It's quite a project but Glenn's been doing this for some years and although two years are never the same he is very proficient at it. Quartzsite is about 250 miles from Tucson.

FAQs at the show are: "Do you bring all this from Australia??"
"How do you bring all this to America?"
"Is it worth it?"
"You don't take what's left back to Australia, do you?"
"Are you going to take all this to Tucson?"

The same truckie handles Glenn's loads every year and even though he has a huge amount of work to do while the show is on, nothing is too much trouble for him.
We arrived in Tucson Wednesday and both loads arrived the next day, one in the morning and one in the evening.

Tucson has a population of about half a million. It sits on flat land surrounded by mountains and has few high rise.

Couldn't resist snapping this as we drove past on the freeway.

Just two or three days before we arrived in Tucson they had had snow! This is very unusual for Tucson - they hadn't seen snow in sixteen years! You can still see the snow on the shaded side of the mountains.
There is quite alot of new development on the outskirts of Tucson and that is where the house we are leasing is located. We have a lovely 'vista' of the mountains.

The view from the back of the house; to our right we have beautiful mountains in the distance, jacuzzi in the foreground and a new house being built nearby.

To our left; 'vista' of builders' rubbish bin and dunny!

Dedicated to the One We Love

2007-01-24T04:11:00.000+09:00

This blog is dedicated to our dog, Woody. He is the most wonderful dog in all the world.

He's smart,

he's cool,

he's casual,

relaxed,

he's got a great sense of humour (sometimes he doesn't have any choice!)

he does his bit for Christmas,

And he's probably swearing and cursing that we dumped him in Stalag 13 (local kennels, very nice lady owner who gives him cuddles) for eight weeks!!

This is for him.

We love you Woody.

We'll be back soon!

Love, mummy and daddy

xxx

Sweet tooth

2007-01-23T11:04:00.000+09:00

It seems to me that there is a huge amount of sweet things on the shelves at the supermarkets here in the USA. There was an absolute mountain of packet waffle mixes and every accompanying syrup you could imagine.

The cereal aisle is three miles long and ten feet high. They have ten types of shredded wheat from frosted to low fat to....

I have never seen so many different flavours of Coca Cola in my life! Glenn thought he'd bought ordinary old Coca Cola but it was Black Cherry Vanilla. They call the ordinary stuff "Classic" !! He sometimes as a small port in the evening and as he'd been working and was thirsty he mixed it with what he thought was Coca Cola. It was the Black Cherry Vanilla variety. He gave me a taste and it reminded me of a drink I used to treat myself to in my younger days - a Rum and Black - blackcurrant. Very very sweet and sickly.
One luxury Glenn really gets into when we are here are the "creamers". He is a coffee drinker and he loves the 'creamers' you get here. It isn't powder, it's flavoured cream. Get a load of this list:

Amaretto – tastes like marzipan
Irish Crème
Toasted Almond
Soy Original
Sugar free French Vanilla
Soy French Vanilla
Hazelnut
Eggnog ?????
Vanilla Hazlenut
Pumpkin Spice (!)
Vanilla Caramel
Vanilla Chai Spice
Coconut Crème
Sugar Free Hazlenut
Original Vanilla
Peppermint Mocha
Gingerbread ....What??

Fat Busters

2007-01-23T00:46:00.000+09:00

If only it were that easy!!

Spooky rocks

2007-01-23T00:32:00.000+09:00

The way people are attracted to rocks will always fascinate me. I watch people come into our booth, walk round and round looking at all the rocks on the tables but they keep going back to the same table, to the same rock. It may be the colour, the texture, who knows, but different people are attracted to different rocks and I am sure, most times, they have no idea that they are.
One lady had done just this. She had said a couple of times while walking around how lovely our rocks were, how colourful, so different to anything else in the show, as so many people say. But I could see her keep returning to the box of unpolished Mookaite slabs. Eventually she stopped at it and started going through them.
Mookaite is very colourful and it doesn't take much imagination to see pictures in the rocks.
Suddenly she held one slab up and exclaimed, "That's the Arizona desert!"
That was the one she had to have!
Then, when purchasing their rock, people are so pleased when they see we supply a label naming it and giving its location, it becomes their treasure.

Quartzsite sunset.

Mountains in the morning.

Show and Tell

2007-01-21T06:59:00.000+09:00

Looks like the mortuary!!

It poured with rain yesterday. We had heard it raining during the night but it had eased off by the time we were due to uncover the tables around 8.30am. There were a few people about and we made a few sales. But the clouds continued to circle ominously and from the weather images on the internet we could see more rain was coming. At times you could hardly see the mountains for streaming rain and then, sure enough, down it came and the people disappeared. So by late morning we had closed again and covered everything up. So had most other vendors.

We had banking to do and as there isn't a branch of our bank (there is only the community bank) in this town we took the opportunity to drive to Parker, 40miles away. The road reminded me of driving up north in Western Australia. You just put you foot on the accelerator and drive. Long straight roads across flat desert. On the way back we saw a 4WD upside down on the side of the road which wasn't there on the way! Emergency vehicles had been and gone. We wondered if they survived.

This morning the rain had gone away, the sun was shining and we had a big clean-up job to do. Even though we cover the tables with tarps and all but three of the tables are under the canopy, still the rain gets in. A mixture of desert dust and moisture makes for very mucky unattractive rocks.
By the time we'd finished our makeover, the tables and rocks were clean and the Tiger Iron and Tiger Eye was flashing again in the sunshine and looking spectacular.

The wetness on the ground will hopefully keep the dust down for a day or two. I must be dusting these rocks two or three times a day. We have a real feather duster, I think they are feathers straight out of the roosters tail (ouch) and it's very affective. One day I was dusting and a man asked me where my French Maid's outfit was. Very funny.

These are tumbled Mookaite pieces (below) and have sold well. Glenn sent some good solid pieces of rock to China to be made into spheres and contoured sculptures. They didn't make as many spheres as we would have liked but these pieces are beautiful and a few are coming back to Australia! For us! We can't resist them. As we pulled them out of their packaging, we priced one and hid one, priced one, hid one. This (below) is Ruby in Zoisite. Our friends across the way are selling a small amount of this. This small piece of rock was really, really heavy and expensive! It isn't top quality ruby so not good enough to be faceted as it would be cloudy but it is ruby and will be beautiful when polished. I couldn't find a link with as much clear information as I'd like so I'll leave it to you to look up. I have learned, however, that ruby is a Corundum and Corundum can be colourless, red, pink, red, black, brown, orange, yellow, green, indigo, violet, or mauve. Red corundum and most pink corundum is called ruby, all other colours are called sapphire, usually with the colour specified as a prefix to the word ruby, for example, yellow sapphire.

More booths

Just look at all this glass. I could not believe my eyes - acres of glass; from lamps to bowls to vases .. amazing!

And onyx. I love onyx.

Onyx comes from various places around the world. These items came from Pakistan.

Getta Loada This!

2007-01-18T00:07:00.000+09:00

How would you like this in a corner of your lounge room?

The floor would have to be strong. It weighs 500kg.

It is a sculptured piece of Orbicular Granite.

Few have been able to walk past it without going up to it and reading the label.

I haven't seen people stroke this one like they did the magnesite.

Perhaps it doesn't look as 'friendly'.

We sell the 'orbicules' as single polished faces or small clusters.

People are fascinated by this rock and many assume, at first, that they are fossils.

Made into a sphere it is also quite spectacular.

Loss or Gain?

2007-01-17T10:17:00.000+09:00

This is Magnesite, also known as Lemon Chrysoprase.

It was a lump of rock that Glenn sent to China to be contour polished and they did a great job.

For the past few days it has been sitting on a drum at the end of a table where there was polished magnesite slabs and faces.

A magnificent piece.

Almost everyone that walked past it, stroked it. Just as if it were a sleek cat basking in the sun.

Our friends across the way said that from over there it looked as if it was translucent, as if the sun was shining through it.

Someone bought it today.

The cad!

I didn't realise how much I'd got used to its company.

I, too, had been going over to it and stroking it.

Such a short time and I'd taken it for granted!!

It's gone!

Forever.

Well, yes, he did pay well for this beautiful sculpture.

He isn't going to sell it on, either. He is a collector.

Thank heavens I didn't give it a name!

Best in Show

2007-01-16T02:48:00.000+09:00

Many people visiting the shows are travelling in mobile homes and far from home, touring or have just come down south for the warmer weather (warmer weather??) . So the pet dog comes too.
Wandering around browsing the booths, little Fido has to wander too. I was enjoying watching the dogs pass by. They came in all shapes and sizes and I found I just had to take some photos.
Some wear coats, some are grossly overweight, many have had their tails chopped off. I'd never heard a good reason for docking until an owner of an Australian Cattle Dog we were talking to here said that the line his puppy came from had bushy tails that stuck straight up in the air and it frightened the cattle, hence the docking. I'm not quite sure about that.

"Scooter"
He looks all forlorn because his master is taking his time looking at the rocks on our tables. He was a lovely little chap.

This is a "Desert Wolf". She is a Service Dog. Her owner suffered a serious head injury some years ago and she can warn him of a seizure. That's her job. A beautiful animal.

One of the lucky ones who don't have to walk.

"Teddy"

"Zac" on the left belongs to Harry (flintknapper extraordinaire). He (Zac) is interested in "Ginger" and wanted badly to play. She wouldn't have a bar of him.

This is a Shiba Inu a breed very popular in Japan, apparently.

Another lucky little fella who doesn't have to walk.
This is a "Min Pin". Miniature Pinscher. He was the size of a Chahauha.

These are Shar-peis.

Look at this lovely old Springer Spaniel.

Now here's something different. The chap in the booth nextdoor to us makes these 'dogs' from all sorts of things like shovels, garden forks, nuts, bolts, etc. They've got character, don't you think?

This is "Zac" again. It was early in the morning. Harry had gone walkabouts and left Zac at the booth on his chain. The ground was obviously very cold so he hopped up on Harry's chair and he's sitting there looking out for him. Gorgeous.

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

2007-01-16T02:09:00.000+09:00

We didn't escape the freezing temperatures this morning. Our pipes were frozen.
I put on layer upon layer of clothing including woolly hat and went for a jog/walk. As I came past the RV Park a vehicle was parked at the side of the road and the driver had got out to take a photo of a beautiful cactus with the mountains in the background. The sun was just coming up and casting lovely shadows across them. I said good morning and then realised it was the teacher from the other day.
She was wearing thin trousers and a light cotton shirt, open at the neck with the sleeves pulled up. I asked her where all her layers were pointing to my thick jumpers. She replied, "Have a look at my car number plate. I'm from Alaska!" That answered my question.
Her vehicle was a small pick up (utility) and she's been sleeping in it each night she's been here. She admitted to having to turn the engine on a couple of times last night!!!
Brrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

Getting cold and getting busy!

2007-01-15T02:36:00.000+09:00

Ice!
This week the temperature gradually dropped and the last two or three nights have been 4-5 degrees below zero (celius). The ground here is more dust than gravel so to keep the dust down Glenn has been hosing around the tables each morning to dampen it down. Then maybe I'll only have to dust the rocks four times a day rather than sixteen?? But, hey, that's life in the desert for you.

It wasn't long after he had hosed this morning before the water laying on the ground had frozen into ice!!

I was surprised we still had running water to the caravan but we heard that other people weren't so lucky. Their pipes were frozen.

People
It's the weekend and despite the cold hundreds of people are visiting the show. We meet some really wonderful people here.

Some months ago Glenn sent tons of rock to Hong Kong to be made into spheres, contoured pieces, etc and we have been unpacking it the last few days. It was like finding treasure all over again.

We hadn't long put a Mookaite sphere out on display when a lady stopped and looked at it and could not stop talking about. Then she picked it up and hugged it telling me how much like sycamore wood it looked. When I see someone drawn to something like that I know I won't have to do a selling job. She could not live without it. She bought it.

Porphyry slabs.

A man stopped and looked at the Mookaite contoured pieces and could not put one of them down. He must have told me that his wife would be along soon about five times. He was so excited about what he was looking at. While he waited for her to come he discovered another one that he loved. His wife and three little girls had gone back to their vehicle to get their coats as it was so cold and when they eventually arrived (they'd been browsing earrings) he enthused over the rocks he was now caressing. He pointed out the colours and the texture and how he'd never seen the like before.

She also found them attractive but not as much as he but she could see they were something he could not live without. He could not decide between the two rocks so I offered a deal on both and they took both.

Tiger Eye slabs.
Peanut Wood slab.

A lovely lady was browsing the tables for at least half an hour. We have made information labels (see photo above) so that visitors to our booth can read about the rocks they are looking at. She must have read them all. She eventually asked Glenn about peanut wood and was fascinated at the story. She was a teacher and she wanted to show children that when they looked at the ground it wasn't just rocks and dirt. She was going to show them a rock and then tell them the story about where it came from, why it was, what it was, how old it was etc so they would realise there was more to the ground they walk on than gravel and dust.

She chose a piece of peanut wood so that she could point out the grain of the wood and the holes the borer had made millions of years ago when it was under the ocean.

After she'd picked up a few other interesting pieces of rock to buy she was happy. I love to see people who are passionate about what they do, especially if it is for the benefit of other people, and moreso, children.

Chrysoprase slabs.
Sphere of conglomerate rock.

Magnasite Nodule contour polished.

Then along came the "rainbow people". A couple in their early twenties. He in his black oversized pants, black oversized jumper and hands that shook uncontrollably and not from cold.

She in long ragged skirt that dragged on the ground, tatty patchwork jacket, long dirty hair that looked as if it hadn't been washed in weeks under a big old floppy hat and bag over her shoulder that hung to her knees. Her body odour was so bad that I had to stand back when I served them. At least her hair wasn't in awful dreadlocks like so many of them have.

She sorted through rough rock for some time until she found just the right piece. Then she wiped her hands on her skirt.

I realise we all go through that "finding yourself" stage when we're young and I remember adoring my very tatty jeans but I never neglected my personal hygiene. I wonder about these people.

Her partner obviously adored her and wanted the best for her because he waited so patiently while she sorted through rough rock until she found just the right pieces. They obviously weren't very flush with cash but this was important to her. We gave them a good price and they couldn't have been more polite and more appreciative.

There is a man who comes every year and is a real rockhound. He loves cutting rock into cabochons and last year gave me one of blue lepidolite. This year he came, pushing his wife in a wheel chair. She looked very weak and withered and had an oxygen supply to her nose. She has terminal cancer. We know he isn't too well off but she fell in love with a blue lepidolite polished face so he bought it for her.

Many Americans love to tell us that they have visited Australia. If they haven't they tell us that they would love to and I know they mean it. One man said what a wonderful country it was and named the places he visited: Bondie Beach (aka Bondi Beach), Blue Ridge Mountains (aka Blue Mountains) and Walla Walla (aka WaggaWagga). Well, close enough I suppose. I'd love to go to Lost Vaygust, Utart, Kallyfornya etc.

From rock

2007-01-12T00:28:00.000+09:00

These lovely cabochons were made by the man who built this website.

Obviously a very clever man.

The border of each cabochon is black jade and the coloured centres are a variety of rocks but one is Mookaite. It is a multicoloured rock and perfect for this type of thing.

One of the vendors here, called Harry, bought a piece of Mookaite from us and came back with this knife he'd flintknapped. He said this is exactly what the native Indians used to make. He also made these knives and arrowheads.
Harry is one of those wonderful characters that keeps everyone here laughing.

Here he is, in the middle.

Morning Walk

2007-01-10T05:45:00.000+09:00

We call this 'Q' Hill. It's just nearby and it has a giant 'Q' painted on it. Q for Quartzsite, of course. It can be seen from Interstate 10 highway which runs through the middle of the town.

There are two disused rock crushing plants near the hill. These were used a few decades ago when they were looking for gold 'in thar hills'.

There are lots of tracks up the hill, all rocky and a bit scrambly, but it isn't very high so good exercise on a crisp morning.
Our golfing nut friend decided to swing a few from the top.

We've seen quite a few micro-lights flying around since we've been here.
You wouldn't get me up there in a pink fit!

There aren't as many saguaro cactii here as we saw in Tucson. In fact, not much seems to grow around here at all. This magnificent pair are about twelve feet tall and as they only grow an inch a year that makes them about 150 years old!

Just as we have a native garden in Australia, they have desert gardens here. Who would try to grow roses and creepers where there's no rain and harsh temperatures. I love this type of garden.

However, using cactii as Christmas trees leaves me a bit cold.

Looking around the Show

2007-01-08T09:55:00.000+09:00

I had time to look around the show today.

I was walking along when a man who saw me holding my camera said, "There's a great photo opportunity in here!" So I paid the one dollar entry fee and entered the strange little shrouded booth. Sure enough, some very strange sights.

(Click on photos to enlarge)

After I'd recovered from that I continued around the show.

When I looked over at this pile of rock (below) I got a feeling of 'deja vu'.

This is because it is English Flint and I remember seeing pieces of this on the ground as a child. And here it is being sold in America for about a dollar a pound for flintknapping.

The ship in the background is a jade carving. Each of the carved balls in the foreground are actually three carved balls, one inside the other. The spheres are of rock. The pink 'twigs' are coral.

This is lapis from Pakistan. An incredible rich blue and quite expensive (to me, anyway!)

Here are some rock carvings of Mookaite, Printstone etc.

There are always mountains of beads at these shows. At the Tucson shows there will be giant marquees full of beads. The pink/salmon coloured beads are coral.
This is quartz crystal.

These are slabs and polished blocks of petrified wood.

This booth is all amethyst.

This booth is all turquoise - one of my favourites.

Will find some more photo opportunities soon.

People

2007-01-07T01:36:00.000+09:00

One of the most enjoyable parts of working here is meeting the people who come by. Sometimes it is families, mum, dad and kids, enjoying browsing the booths, with probably not much idea of what they are looking at but enjoying the spectacular variety of rock, crystal, fossils, carvings, etc. And they occasionally buy, if something catches their eye.

Then there are the buyers who have retail businesses and looking at wares through their customers' eyes. What will sell? What sold well last year?

But my favourite is the wizened old guy. And there are lots of these. They are retired, often have untrimmed beards, jeans held up with braces, many of them limp due to past injuries or ailments, they always wear a hat, their faces and hands are weathered by the sun and wind and they've seen life. Now they have time for their passion - rocks. Some look for rough rock to cut, polish and maybe make into cabochons which can become a piece of jewellery.

Others look for rock they can 'knap'. Flintknapping is very popular here and we sell rock that 'knaps' well. Flintknapping is the art of making flaked stone tools; arrowheads, knives, spear points, Danish daggers, etc. Not only was it demonstrated by Native Americans in ancient times but by all civilizations as a way of life at one point or another until metal was invented. There are some lovely photos here.

It's wonderful when we have a customer return with an article they have made from one of our rocks, as this gentlemen did.

We are yet to meet the man who created these. Very much looking forward to that!

Rough Rock

2007-01-05T05:01:00.000+09:00

Look at these mountains of beautiful rock for sale.

This is Blue Lepidolite.

This is Dragonstone.

This is Mookaite.

This is Noreena Jasper.

Yep, and that's me taking the photo!

Setting Up

2007-01-04T00:13:00.000+09:00

The shipment that Glenn sends to America consists of rough rock (as it comes, straight out of the ground) and polished slabs and faces that he has cut and polished himself from what he digs. All this rock is packed into drums and shipped to America in time for the shows.

Unpacking the drums is like discovering treasure. It has been some weeks, maybe months since we saw all this rock and arranging the variety of shapes and colours on the tables is delightful. Glenn's been doing this for years so it's probably not quite so exciting for him as it is for me. However, rocks are his passion and he will never cease to enjoy presenting what he digs out of the ground to browsers and customers.

Interesting Town

2007-01-02T12:39:00.000+09:00

Quartzsite is a bit of a sleepy desert town but sure comes alive in the winter. The Rock Gem and Mineral Shows that are held here attract thousands of people and the population of Quartzsite increases from two thousand to many thousands. In fact, it has been said that a million people pass through Quartzsite during January each year.
Thousands of snowbirds come to spend time here; to enjoy the shows and the climate.

As you will read from the above link about Quartzsite it all started with rock, gems and minerals being bought and sold at one show. These days there are a number of shows and a variety of vendors selling anything from rocks and gems etc to antiques, T-shirts, Native Indian memorabilia, beads, crystals, petrified wood, rock carvings, tools, wrought iron products, and many items that have nothing to do with rocks and gems at all. But it all makes for wonderful browsing. And the people-watching is interesting too.

The Post Office
Residents of Quartzsite do not have street mail boxes. They all collect their mail from the post office and there is only one. When there are thousands of people in town this becomes a problem!
For some reason the powers that be do not feel it necessary to increase the number of staff at the post office for this busy time. If I'd known this I would have come prepared. It was about 11am and I decided to take a walk in the fresh air across the freeway bridge to the post office to buy some stamps. When I got there the queue was so long it came out the door and into the mail box lobby - about twenty people. I turned straight around and thinking maybe early next morning would be a better time.
Next morning I got there at five minutes to eight.. along with thirty other people who thought being early would be a good idea too. There was much laughter and joking from the patient queue members who had no choice but to see the funny side of it all.
This time the queue came out the door, snaked around the mail box lobby, right down to the back then up to the main front door then out the door into the cold morning air! I saw a friend of ours in the queue, about half way along. He'd been there for a while and was holding a cup of coffee (with lid) that he'd brought with him. He lives in Quartzsite and has to tolerate this each year. He needed to collect a parcel and the general mail window was closed (for some reason) so had no choice but to wait with everyone else. He said to me that he was considering learning a language while he waited.
As these delightful people waited and waited and the queue grew longer and longer so the comical quips came thick and fast; "shall we send out for lunch?" "This package is going to Brazil, maybe I'll start walking, it may be quicker." and so on.
Meanwhile, the post office staff remained deadly serious and appeared to work at what seemed to be a 'work-to-rule' speed but it was probably my imagination.
One customer did 'lose his rag' as it were and let rip at the staff. Surprisingly most of the people waiting defended them, as I did. It wasn't their fault their superiors left them to cope. The silly man must have thought he was speaking for the majority, but no.
This year we are prepared and hopefully will not have to use the post office.

Quartzsite

2006-12-31T07:58:00.000+09:00

We meet our friends and we all pile in the minivan with luggage and set off for Quartzsite.

This isn't the rush hour. The traffic is like this constantly. Even through the night it is heavy.

Makes me laugh when I think of traffic reports for Perth. If it takes us an extra ten minutes to get home we complain! Oh, well maybe not everyone.

I've heard some people say how ugly wind farms can be but I think they are quite beautiful.

We stopped to get some groceries at Blythe and saw this car in the car park.

Pretty neat, huh?

(Click on this picture and check out the reggo plate.)

Los Angeles

2006-12-29T04:23:00.000+09:00

We arrived yesterday; or was it tomorrow? All I know is we left Wednesday, were in the air for days - oh, alright, a day - and landed the same day as we left. I phoned one of my sons to say we'd arrived safely and he said, "Oh, that was quick!" Sydney is 19 hours ahead of US! Almost tomorrow! All very confusing.

Also very confusing for the circadian clock. Sleeping at 8pm, awake again at 11pm, hungry at 2am, sleeping again at 3am, awake again at 9am. But at least the nausea as passed.

December

2006-12-22T16:09:00.000+09:00

Winter (June to Sept) - go up northern Western Australia and dig the rock; get it trucked back home.

Oct-Nov:

Sort out the rock and fill orders.

Cut and polish rocks. Pack finished product plus rough rock into drums. Ship to America in time for the show.
Break it to Woody that he can't come to America.

End of December we're off to Arizona where Glenn sells the rock at the biggest rock, gem and mineral show in the world: Quartzsite and Tucson.

Mid February we return - relax. The seven weeks in America is absolutely non-stop so we deserve a rest when we get back. Especially Glenn as he has all the worry and stress of logistics; before, during and after the shows.
Soon it's winter and we start all over again.

So, the shipment that left in November has arrived in America and being trucked to Quartzsite for the first show (hopefully). When we arrive we hope all the gear from last year has also been trucked to Quartzsite to coincide with our arrival.
Organising trucking and customs clearance etc is not easy from the other side of the world. They are nineteen hours behind us. Email is a wonderful thing!

Washing rocks

2006-12-11T13:20:00.000+09:00

When rock hunters are prospecting for interesting and/or colourful rock and they want to know how the rock will cut and polish, they lick it. It's the most convenient way to wet the surface and so get an idea of its qualities. I love to watch my partner do this. It's as if he has an affinity with the earth itself. But then, rocks are his passion and always have been. He was picking up rocks from the age of three.

He cuts the rocks in rock saws then polishes them on vibrolaps (large circular flat plates that vibrate). This process reveals the beauty contained inside the rocks.

The polishing powder needs to be washed off each polished face and slab and this is a job I can do for him. I stand in the sunshine holding each piece under the powerful jet of a pressure cleaner and watch the specimens come to life.

Then all the rocks are packed into drums and sent to America in time for the biggest rock, gem and mineral show in the world.

Sorry, Woody, you can't come!

Dig Dig Dig

2006-12-07T10:20:00.000+09:00

During the winter we dig the rocks and in the summer take them to America to sell at the shows. It takes us a day or two to drive to the mines. Up here the temperatures during the day are around 20 to 30 degrees celcius. Warm days and cool nights. Perfect!

Partner is up ahead in truck loaded with backhoe while I follow in the Land Cruiser pulling the trailer.

As you can see, scenery on the way can be a bit 'samey' but it has its moments. I listen to the radio, cassette tapes and do the odd crossword (for hours and hours and hours!).

Beautiful skies here. Clear air. And only the sound of the birds and insects.

The only water is from windmills which pump water up into tanks and there is a pool for the cattle and sheep.

To think, I used to go to an airconditioned office every day and do 'office things'. Now this is my work place. Which would you choose? I'd choose the fresh air every time.

This is crazy lace agate.

You can see more rocks here.

Some would say the dust and flies could be slightly off-putting. I take them on as a challenge.

After a few days I was on first-name terms with some of the flies. They joined me inside my fly net. Others were just plain ignorant little buggers.

Western Australia has a huge amount of wildflowers during winter/spring. There was colour everywhere.

The dust didn't seem to bother our dog who enjoyed forraging for mice! I know it looks like chocolate but, really, it isn't.

Rock dug, sorted, packed into bags.

Truck ordered, loaded, and away it goes.

Job done!

Beautiful Rocks!

2006-03-22T20:12:00.000+08:00

It will never cease to amaze me how different people get attracted to different rocks. And the attraction is sometimes insatiable.

There we are in Quartzsite or Tucson, with trestle tables absolutely choc-a-block full of rocks for sale. They are polished faces and slabs and range from stunning reds, mauves, pinks and purples to greens, blues and yellows. Beautiful, exquisite rocks.

I have seen people try to walk past but look twice and find they have to take a closer look. Then they have to touch. One lady picked up a piece of Mookaite and marvelled at the colours and the 'picture' she could see. She continued to walk around the whole booth looking at all the rocks but found herself drawn back to the same piece. As she looked closer at the boxful of unpolished slabs she found the 'sister' piece to the one that caught her eye. She held them up and exclaimed to her friend, "Look! That's Arizona!" It took her just a few minutes to realise that she could not possibly leave our booth without these pieces of rock.

And often people have no idea why they 'must have' that piece of rock. And to be honest, at times neither do we because sometimes they choose a rock that we think is rubbish.

There is a huge amount written on the metaphysical properties of rock and when I see people drawn to various types and colours I feel there really must be something in it.

If you would like to see more Australian rock look here.

Monday

2006-03-13T10:35:00.000+08:00

I picked some roses this morning.

They look, feel and smell beautiful.

I also washed some rocks ready for sale.

The rocks look and feel beautiful too.

Almost good enough to eat!

It's enough to make a person turn religious!!

Quartzsite

2006-01-13T08:56:00.000+08:00

At the moment we are at The Rock and Gem Show at Quartzsite. The best rocks, of course, are Australian!!! Above is Mookaite and Orbicular Granite. Below is Tiger Eye. End of January we will move on to Tucson until mid February when we will return home to Australia.

America!!

2006-01-13T08:52:00.000+08:00

I'm in America and received an email from a friend telling me she had just started blogging!! So here I am. Probably talking to myself. But isn't it amazing???

I am here in America with the love of my life, selling rock from Western Australia at the Rock and Gem Show in Quartzsite.

When I have more time I will write more!! How exciting this is!!

Later.... much much later... Like, two months later. Never did get around to finishing that blog. We finished at the show though, successfully. We have rocks in Western Australia that are absolutely unique. People would wander by our booth which had trestle tables heavily laden with polished rocks of all colours from purples, reds and blues to greens, yellows and golds. I would see them stop in their tracks and need to touch the rocks because they could hardly believe their eyes. Has this beauty come from beneath our feet? It surely did. And they ask questions about the rock and keep touching. What I found the most interesting was how a person would browse the whole booth, dozens of different rocks but keep going back to the same one as if it were a magnet to them. Why did that particular colour or texture mean something special to that person? We might make light of people who believe in receiving therapy from something as 'dead' as a rock but maybe there is more to it than meets the eye.