Sunny 73

The Tucson Gem & Mineral Show (The Main Event) opened today. The show is sponsored by the Tucson Gem & Mineral Club.

Bonnie and I were in there like rabbits. I have one dealer I go to at this show that on the average has the best cabs at any of the shows. Right away I found a big slab of Luna Agate and a fantastic slab of bright red Dinosaur bone. I added some assorted jasper and some amazing uncut Laguna Agates. It did pay to get over there and get the first dibs.

We checked out the entire show and found that, as usual, there were a lot of jewelers, and many were really good.

We also saw some way over the top jewelry that no one in Michigan would be caught dead in. There is no way to describe this stuff, other then to say it would cause the ordinary person’s neck to spasm, later resulting in a trip to the chiropractor. I doubt if there is any drug I could be on that would cause my brain to spew out any jewelry like this. Apparently people (like rock stars) actually buy the stuff. OK; enough of that rant. No, wait; I forgot the artist had a about a one pound piece of Turquoise hanging on a sort of rope device (like a noose) hanging down and somehow attaching to her waist area. She seemed insulted when I asked her what she did with the anchor? I know that’s wrong, but I calls em like I sees em! Hey, I heard you laugh!

ps. Bonnie is not here right now, otherwise, being a nice person like she is, she probably would tell me not to say these things. There is no one here to keep me from posting this, so here it is. You better read this fast before she gets back.

Today I am going to post up some of the neat and cool things we saw. Unlike many other shows in Tucson, you can take photos. Tomorrow I will feature the main focus of the displays, the rocks, minerals, and gem treasures of California.

Digging through slabs. Hey guys, I already scarfed up the best ones.

There were not a great many people there today, but don’t expect no crowds on the weekends.

Great agate cabs!

Rainbow Obsidian Cabs and Opal inlayed turtles.

Rain Forest Jasper Toad (or frog)

Tables of petrified wood.

The most amazing carving we saw at the show had a highly detailed western motif. Stunning in Turquoise. At Tides by the Sea

Sunny low 70s

If you want to see the new Diamond Pacific Xpert, I put a picture from their flyer in yesterday’s blog.

When this show is all over with, and we get back home, I will take some great photos of things we purchased here. I have a small photo studio I use to take my web photos. The issue here, in Tucson, is getting everything to look good. I cannot get the good close-up shots you deserve to see. I am also putting together a program for the Grand Traverse Area Rock & Mineral Club back home with many photos you have not seen on my blog (can you imagine there are more photos?).

I went up on Sentinel Peak yesterday and took a few shots. The big mountains in the back are the Catalina Mountains, and the Santa Rita Mountains are connected also.

Tucson

To the left is downtown Tucson. Just to the right of downtown is the Convention Center. AGTA was there and they are setting up for the main show this weekend. Toward you, across from the Convention Center is the giant GJX tent that I’ve referred to before. Go left a few blocks and you see the tent for the GJM Show. Toward you this side of I-1o is one of the many shows on the strip, the Pueblo Show and some of the Rapa River Show.

Let’s have a little undersea adventure from the Fossil Show.

Xiphactinus (common spelling:)) Niobrara Formation-Cretaceous Period-Western Kansas

I have two more really nice pictures of a display in the lobby of the Tucson City Center.

Tourmaline

Mostly Rutile.

Tomorrow the main show opens with wonderful displays. Expect great photos.

mid-70’s sunny as usual

We are making those little side trips to the minor shows looking in the nooks and crannies for unfound treasure.

This table was covered with geode spheres at JGM.

Detail from sphere table.

We found a little event today at the Tucson Showplace, which sounds big and exciting, but is in fact a small group of dealers in a little mall-like area. I usually go there for Ocean Jasper as the original miner is there from Madigascar. Here we found Gene Mueller (The Gem Shop) from Wisconsin, a legendary miner of Mexican material. He also has some of the best rough rock at the best prices of any of the shows. It is always worth while to check out his rockpiles. Bonnie had fun searching through the Condor Agate rough, while I looked for a couple pieces of Laguna Agate from Mexico. We both found some pieces we thought would cut nice: but you never know what might be inside. That’s the thrill of lapidary work.

Small intarsia tables.

Detail from Ocean Jasper tables.

Jessica leaning the Sea Monster.

There was a young lady outside one of a fossil dealer there cleaning a Mosasaur fossil from Morocco outside of Infinity Traders. This was a late cretaceous period creature. Although this was a small one, really big ones were the kings of the sea; nasty creatures. I think I saw one of these in the movie “Sea Monsters”. The National Geographic Society made a short 3D movie by the aforementioned name a few years back. If you did not see this movie, you really missed out. It is out on DVD, but it is not the same as seeing it on the big screen in 3D.

Bonnie and I also made a quick go through of the JGM (Jewelry, Gem, and Mineral Exposition) show tent near 22nd Street along the freeway. I took a couple photos, but we bought only a few cabs and some beads.

Ocean Jasper galore.

The weather was just remarkable and we noticed most of the parking lots at the shows we went by were full.

(ONLY 26 HOURS TO GET TO TUCSON)

Traverse City-Detroit-Atlanta-(Red Triangle Airline)

The first sign that things weren’t good was when they changed the departure list, from on time to delayed. The board said we would be leaving fifty minutes late, which gave us ten minutes to traverse the entire Detroit airport to find our next plane. Yikes! But luckily, we left Traverse City only 20 minutes late and got to Detroit with 45 minutes to spare between flights. When we got to the gate (that said Sao Paulo, for some reason—Bonnie thought we’d been sent to the wrong place).

It was obvious the plane to Atlanta was stuffed full. This was a Boeing 757 with 174 people on it. By the time we got on they told us they would have to check our carry-on because all the overhead bins were full. Our carefully packed bag was confiscated from us and tagged for Tucson. I told Bonnie to kiss that bag goodbye. We pulled important items out of that bag and added them to our other full bags—so much for our careful packing job.

I fortunately sent all our clothes ahead to our daughters in Tucson on UPS. As I write this I am still in Atlanta and I’ll explain why momentarily. We loaded on the sardine can and sat at the gate for perhaps ½ hour. The captain informed us that there was a problem “with some unknown part”, and he would keep us informed. After sitting in the plane for about and hour, getting warmer all the time, we were advised that they were taking the plane we were on out of service and everyone would have to de-plane. The issue is not really getting everyone off the plane, but transferring all their luggage into another plane that arrived from somewhere and unloaded passengers at the adjacent gate. The plane had to be cleaned before we could board, which we eventually did, and again we sat at the gate. This deplaning, re-boarding, re-loading took another hour. Long story short half the people missed connecting flights including us to Tucson. This whole situation is one you might hear about, but never think it will happen to you. I guess falling from the sky in a blazing inferno would not be on my bucket list. So maybe this was all for the best.

Typing my blog at the Atlanta Airport

So we stood in line and got re-ticketed for the next day (Jan 26^th) at 11am. The airline gave us each two generous meal vouchers for $6 each, and a voucher for a hotel room.

The dilemma was where do you spend such a generous stipend? The answer later appeared at the hotel. I could get a $4.50 Sam Adams and give the rest to the waitress (problem solved).

I forgot to tell you the airlines gave us each a small ditty bag with various toiletries and a nice, chemically scented, XL T-shirt. We figured we could wear this shirt to sleep in and it would ward off any bedbugs we might encounter. To be honest the Country Inn Suites, although showing some age, seemed clean and we did not observe any bedbugs. I found the toiletries we were given wonderful. The shaving cream was the consistency of milk, and that combined with the keenly-honed razor, made for a wonderful, fairly cut-free shave with only a little shaver burned stubble left. The included deodorant was sort of like a stick of lip balm; again no expense spared. I did not use the elegant folding plastic comb, but I’m sure it would also have been delightful. They had a nice complementary breakfast at the hotel and we did not have to spend any more generous $6 coupons, saving them for carry-on snacks.

As I type this I am again waiting; this time for our final leg to Tucson.

I’ll continue this tome later. Stay tuned. Will the pilfered bag arrive? Will we get off the ground? Will thinks go all right getting a rental car?

Cont;

YES,YES,YES! The answer to all the questions is yes! We had a great four-hour flight and caught up on some reading. We were assigned a really nice jeep that for a midsized vehicle has loads of room for rocks.

My first shopping was at my buddies from Minnesota’s winter home for premo Lake Superior Agates. This was also successful and relieved my wallet of excess cash. I can’t wait to get home and cut these beauties. Oh, did I make you sick with envy yet? The weather was 68 and sunny.

In the morning; Quartzite.

One of the more recent discoveries in the Keweenaw Peninsula are very rare copper included agates from the Kearsarge Lode. These little beauties are banded agates where some of the banding is replaced by native copper. This makes them very desirable for distinctive jewelry.

These agates require hard labor to recover. I have seen holes on the mine dumps excavated over 8 foot deep where little or nothing is found, but sometimes these agates are found in abundance in one small area. It takes a lot of luck and work to find a good one. You can find these agates with a metal detector but you may also be overwhelmed with false “hits” as you are searching in a copper tailings pile. I just leave the detector and dig, then check the pile I’ve sorted with the detector to see if I missed anything.

These copper/agates are not considered as Lake Superior Agates, but are agates from copper mines, according to my friend Jeff Anderson.

Jeff and I agree that the copper entered the agates while they were being formed. It is interesting that at a specific depth
the copper coming up as super heated steam met the silica materials coming down and filled the same vesicles.

Seldom are these little agates over a couple inches which seems to indicate they formed in smaller vesicles in the amygdaloidal basalt. In general the smaller the vesicle, the closer to the surface so these agates were not formed at great depths. The agates are commonly light pink and often include blue/green, but I have not seen any of red as is common in the Lake Superior Agates.

This geology is very interesting, and I know there is some research being done on these unusual agates. Rumors are that there also may be an article in regards to them in a major magazine in the near future.

The agates have a dark skin and you just do not know what you have until you cut these agates in half. What a great surprise when you find something like the pendant stones I’ve posted in this blog.

I personally know of no other web site that has any copper replacement agate jewelry except this one. The prices of these agates is based on the rarity and difficulties in finding them. They are much more difficult to find than the elusive Isle Royale Greenstone.

Houghton

Houghton-How cool is this?

Bonnie says I should write about our latest adventures hunting rocks in “da U.P.”, and who am I to argue. I love Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. When most people think of Michigan, Detroit comes to mind, or the Great Lakes. If you have never been to the Keweenaw area, you have missed the best part of Michigan. Michigan is really a huge state. Someone told me if you drove from Detroit to Copper Harbor it would take at least twelve hours. We live 100 miles from the Mackinac (pronounced “mackinaw” for you non-Michiganders) Bridge and it takes us about seven hours with stops to get to the Keweenaw.

Most of the old mine dumps can be hunted using any vehicle, but to get out in the “bush” you need a 4WD vehicle. Bonnie and I like to two-track, so my trusty truck is the ticket for getting around. Just off the road near Eagle Harbor are some two tracks that lead to what the locals call Thomsonite Hill. It is not on the map so you have to find a local rockhound and ask. For U.P. Thomsonite , which is really Prehnite, look for ugly white nodules. You will have to take these nuggets home to see what you have. You can chip off the edges and see if you have some pastel colors. Some of this stuff is gorgeous! Bonnie and I had good luck finding some in our normal “hole”. Some of this material has flecks of copper in it, making it really cool!

Beautiful "U.P. Thomsonite"

A great greenstone/prehnite!

We have been up hunting twice. The first time was for two weeks. The second time, over the Labor Day weekend. We had great success both times. We hunted with our new rockhound buddy Chris from Holland, Michigan, the first time we went up. The most humorous thing is when Chris showed me a nodule he had found. This was just a piece of basalt, but I had the feeling there was more to that rock than met the eye. I tapped the rock with my hammer and it split to reveal a nice big Greenstone. I handed it back to Chris and told him he might want to put this one in his pocket! We had a laugh that he almost threw the best stone of the day away. I think he will admit he was more alert after that find. Chris is fairly new to rockhounding, but to say he is “avid” is an understatement. He found two datolites, so I’m almost afraid to show him any more of my spots lest they get mined out. He doesn’t miss much. Bonnie and I made three trips to this greenstone hole and found some nice Greenstones each time. Datolite Scoreboard: Chris-2, Bonnie-1, Don-zip!(Ouch)

Chris with one of his Datolites

The best Greenstone from this trip (so far)

I did better buying material than hunting it. When you find a local miner that is ready to liquidate some good stuff, it is a nice opportunity. I acquired some nice greenstones from one, and some nice Datolite from others. Mesnard Datolite is considered the finest in the area because of its vivid red/orange/yellow colors. The Mesnard mine pile is private and has been closed to hunting for a couple years, so finding someone that has some of that material is always a treat. I expected to pay good money for this Datolite, and I did. I will be making some jewelry soon and will post some for sale on this site. This stuff is “killer”, so you Datolite lovers will want to keep watch for new pendants.

Another new find material we mined are Copper Included agates. These are a fairly recent discovery. They are small pinkish agates with copper replacing some of the banding. They are only found in a certain colored rock, and grow in the amygdaloidal basalt just like other Lake Superior Agates do. You find them as small round dark nuggets. You generally cannot tell if you have an included agate or a calcite ball. So you have to take them home and cut them in half to see. The really nice ones are valued well in excess of $100. I think if you see any of these, you should snatch them up. They are very rare and beautiful. The supply is limited and only a couple miners are finding them.

A copper included agate (but not a great one)

One of the miners actually hired a bunch of diggers to excavate an old tailings pile just to find a few of these agates.

They are only found in the Kersarge Lode, so far, and they require digging, digging , and more digging to find.

While we were near Lake Superior winds were severe a couple days. The waves on the lake are actually surfable if you don’t mind drowning. After these blows is a great time to go agate hunting. We found a few nice little “Lakers”, but did not look real hard. I expect if we had wanted to, we could have driven further off the beaten path and obtained many more.

Another piece of news is that the largest piece of float copper ever found has been moved from the Keweenaw to Marquette, where it is on display in the park. I understand it is approximately 40 tons. WOW! See the story at:

www.miningjournal.net/page/content.detail/id/548147.html – Cached

We left the copper in the U.P. this time, except for some small copper crystals that I need to clean up. I also acquired some nice silver-copper half-breeds to make some pendants out of.

WOW! what a great Halfbreed.

I should mention we do sell native copper by the piece or pound if you would like some for your collection. I am open to barter on these copper pieces. Call or E-mail me. I have cleaned and untouched material.

I appreciate your feedback, but lately I’ve been getting spammed frequently. Fortunately I edit all your comments and/or OK them for posting, so don’t expect to see any comments posted immediately. If you spam me, don’t expect me to post your meaningless gibberish.

by Bonnie

Don has been to the William Holland School several times for different classes, and this spring it was my turn. I went there several years ago for a beading class, and this week I returned for a Wire I class.

Wire can be used many ways in jewelry, sometimes in a flimsy, careless way, or a fancy artsy style. Neither of these represents our style at Snob Appeal Jewelry. A neat, careful, classic style, always featuring the stone is our goal.

Bonnie's projects looked great!

I studied this week with Jessie Donnan. I felt fortunate to get into her beginning class, so I could learn the same techniques as Don uses. My five classmates were mostly from the local Georgia area, and three are part of a group that meets every Friday to wire wrap. The other gals had taken wire before, and I was the only one who really had never done this type of work. I’ve watched Don lots of times, but I usually get bored and wander off to do something else before he finishes.

My first few practice binds were really uneven, loose, and generally just terrible! I kept them to remind me just how far I would progress. After a few attempts, it was time to start on a bracelet. There seemed to be so many things to keep track of: slippery pieces of small wire, strands of wire that I had “straightened”, but still had a curve and wanted to cross over their neighbors, pliers that tighten, but have to be put in the right place, and not be squeezed too hard or allowed to scratch the wires., and bundles of wire that don’t lay flat and neat together, but slide around in a curvy, criss-crossed mess!

Jesse and my fellow students were very encouraging, and persistence did yield results. It was a humbling experience to try this thing that looks so easy when Don does it. If you get a chance to watch him, don’t be fooled. He has created over a thousand gemstone pendants, and strives to make each one different. His bails, decorations, and multi-stone pendants were really admired by the various students at Lapidary School this week.

Not everyone has this many tools, just Jessie (and maybe Don)

All together, I made 3 bracelets this week, a couple simple rings, a couple earrings, and even a coin pendant and a stone pendant. I’ll just let Don continue to be the Wire Art Stone Pendant King, but look for some other products from me after I get some more practice!