Just a few of the many buckets we sorted today.
I'm pretty excited about this job.
“How do you know what’s in this barn?” is asked regularly by Bonnie. The answer is usually vague. I know mostly what is in the barn, but there are rocks in there from many old collections I’ve bought over the years. I have no idea what exactly is in some of those buckets. Sometimes you just have to have a look.
These are some nice Lakers.
It's always nice when you re-find a whole bucket of Lakers.
Fossils
We hauled out random buckets and began sorting. I found stuff I had forgotten was there, and a few rocks I had no idea I had!
Binghamite before and after. It's a shame you cannot see the tigers eye like colors in this beauty from Minnesota's Iron Range.
I found a bucket of unsorted Lake Superior Agates I recall buying from a friend that owns a gravel pit in Minnesota, as well as another small selection of what appeared to be grade “A” Lakers I must have sorted years ago. I took a picture of the sorted stones in water. Are they nice…great jewelry potential!
A bonus bucket of nice Jaspers.
Another bucket was assorted Jasper and Jasperlite and other interesting quartz material from Minnesota gravel pits.
I found a bucket of Petrified Wood and one of fossils. On top of that bucket was a floating rock.
There were lots of jewelry grade stones, specimens, and a few garden rocks. One larger rock piqued my interest, so I cut that one. Although the inside was colorful, I donated it to Bonnie’s rock garden. I found an old piece of Binghamite that is always an exciting stone to work with. This particular rock was very discreet, and it was fortunate I was sorting in the sun, or I would have missed the telltale golden flashes from the stone.
Petrified Wood.
Dinosaur Bone, Ruby in Zoisite, Ruby in Fuchsite, and Kammererite.
I think my favorite find were a few rocks I knew I had, but have not seen them in a year. The closed bucket. A large piece of Dinosaur Bone, a piece or Ruby in Zoisite, one of Ruby in Fuchsite, and one specimen of Kammererite (and Bonnie remembered how to spell it) that I got on a recent trip to Russia; no, wait that was the trip to Tucson where I bought it from a guy from Russia! Just seeing if you’re paying attention. I’m sure pleased I found these. I have other stuff to look through, but I think I have to wait for Bonnie to ask me “How do you know what’s in this barn?” again.
A large rock I found in a bucket. Let's cut it!
It looks nice, but not jewelry. Next stop; Bonnies Rock Garden.