It Was a Busy Sunday and We're Starting Monday Out With Errands Also

We had wonderful weather on Sunday for the MN Gem & Mineral Show. We got there later than usual because DH was busy watching football (we lost), but finally headed over to the Fairgrounds. They're still cleaning up after this year's State Fair. Along the sidewalks, metal honorary benches were stacked three high, waiting for the forklift to pick them up and add them to the hundreds of benches that will be put into winter storage. The Fair isn't allowing for any additional bench purchases - they're completely out of storage room. I'm not sure what they'll come up with for a fundraising effort reward, but I'm sure it will be something I'll seriously consider. I do love the MN State Fair. 

Except for the color, this could easily be DH's truck. 
His is a dark grey color - very attractive. Oh yeah, and 
his passenger side door doesn't work right now. We really 
need to get that checked out too. 

Today we're up early to take "Beast", DH's pickup truck, over to the dealership for a six-month checkup. We're a little behind schedule on this, but not by much. We try to schedule it for days when we're working together, it makes drop off and pick up a little easier on both of us. 

Attendance at the three-day Gem & Mineral Show is quite 
good. They take over the Dairy Building at the State 
Fairgrounds. I keep expecting to see butter sculptures of 
Princess Kay of the Milky Way every time I'm in that part 
of the building - LOL. 

DH and I enjoyed the annual MN Gem & Mineral Show - the outdoor area has expanded with even more dealers, and the indoor area was also filled. Lots to look at. We ended up with a small number of small slabs, but no raw rock and no finished pieces. I don't think we spent more than $20 total. But it was fun, as always, and afterward we returned home and I put the pork shoulder roast into the oven for that night's dinner. One of my favorite recipes - so VERY tasty. 

I do love a good roasted pork shoulder. It's not an expensive 
cut of meat, and we'll easily get 2-3 meals from it. It's very 
tasty as well, with minimal muss and fuss. 

So all in all, it was a lovely Sunday in general. The Wild played a pre-season game - they've got some serious work to do before the season opener. We finished the night with the season finale of "Professor T" and the "Marlow Murder Club" on PBS before collapsing. A busy and fun Sunday. Now back to reality - LOL. Slava Ukraini. 

A Few Thoughts About Ren Fest, the MN Gem & Mineral Show, and Spinning Wheels

DH and I had a lovely final day of Renaissance Festival. The Fest itself does go for another week, but we'll be at the MN Gem and Mineral Show this coming Sunday instead of driving out to the far Western suburbs of the Metro area. 

Having the Gem & Mineral Show at the State 
Fairgrounds makes it SUPER convenient for 
us to get to, and quite a quick drive. They use 
the "Dairy Building" which allows plenty of space, 
and also has a generous exterior "field" where 
their outside vendors can set up their stalls. 

I had hoped to pick up my scarf yesterday, but Kate didn't have it completed yet. She'll contact me when it's ready and we'll arrange for a delivery or a mail shipment. We did get a chance to chat for a bit, though. Apparently she recently purchased a spinning wheel - I don't know whether it's one of the newer electric models or the old-fashioned foot operated ones that I prefer, but I suspect I'll find out. Kate and I are clicking well as friends - sharing many aspects of her love for fiber and fabric. In any case, she's finding spinning to be a challenge - which it usually is for the first sweater or two (or six - LOL). It's not quite as easy as sitting down with a handful of fleece and ending up with a beautifully even yarn. 

My first spinning wheel was similar to this one, 
you would be seated and use the large center 
pedal to move the wheel and that movement would 
direct twist into the wool (or other material such as 
silk or cotton). I still have all of my wheels - I have 
four of them - and each one is quite different. 

Anyway, it's back to the standard work week today. We did purchase our season tickets for Ren Fest at the box office yesterday. They don't sell the season tickets at their deepest discounts until the final two weeks of the current Fest. So we got our tickets purchased for next year, and I'm already missing people whom I only see on Sundays in August and September - LOL. 

My largest wheel is this style - a Rachel Brown Rio Grande 
Spinning Wheel. I adore this wheel. It's smooth as silk to 
operate and you can really move some serious fiber. They use 
this style of wheel at Tierra Wools near Ghost Ranch, New 
Mexico. They make glorious wraps, ruanas and ponchos there 
using this wheel. 

I had been wanting some onion rings, but it came down to a choice between a bowl of Pho or onion rings and I chose the Pho. I didn't have enough tummy room for both treats, so I skipped the rings. The Pho was delicious, as always, so I think it was a good choice. And the scale agreed with me this morning when it said I was down from yesterday's weight, although not by much. Since I'm at my ideal weight range these days, that pleased me. 

The third spinning wheel I own is a Rick Reeves 
Castle-style wheel quite similar to this one. Rick 
eventually sold his company to Schact, and 
they produce wonderful wheels, but not this 
specific style. I love the portability of this wheel. 
It's also extremely versatile, handling anything 
from heavy fleece to linen flax. 

So, I'm out of here. Time for breakfast and then I head to the shop. I hope you had a great weekend too, and that this week that we're all starting out today will be filled with joy and accomplishments (they don't have to be HUGE accomplishments - just doing something simple like keeping the kitchen clean or brushing the dog/cat every day counts as an accomplishment). Don't over-complicate your life - LOL. Slava Ukraini. 

Rocks, Hockey and A Bit of ARGH - ALSO Please Vote or I'm Out of the Writing Competition

DH and I started our Sunday out at the MN Gem & Mineral Show. They opened the building at 10:00 am, but we arrived a bit earlier to roam through the outside vendors. This year they all had fabulous weather, which was awesome. Other years we've been there in rain, and a few times in an early snow. Yesterday was warm and sunny and perfect for wandering. 

I fell in love with this matched set of Cherry Creek 
Jasper. DH preferred the second set the vendor had, 
but I liked the color spectrum in this set. The 
inner twin works with the bottom of the centerpiece, 
the outer two work with the top of the centerpiece. 
It's well balanced, and in my favorite color spectrum. 

DH and I both adore rocks - we have WAY too many of them, but we love them. I fell in love with the five-stone set of Cherry Creek Jasper (above photo). It was only $20, and they were really nicely matched and complimented each other beautifully. DH thought the other five-stone set was nicer, but I disagreed, so he handed me the money and I now have the set sitting at my desk. I can hardly wait to design a beaded setting for them. It'll be stunning and a lot of fun to make. 

Since I didn't have a "day off" this past week, my laundry was 
mounting up. I did one large load on Sunday - way more 
than I would usually put in my washer. But it had to be done. 
I don't like doing loads that large, and the sheets had to wait 
for a week, but we'll survive that. 

DH has a habit of purchasing raw rock. We keep them in drawer sets in the basement, which has a concrete floor. That's rather essential when dealing with pounds and pounds of rock. He managed to talk me into letting him buy a small baggie of one style, and one smallish larger stone from our favorite vendor for raw materials. So we both ended up with something from the Gem & Mineral Show. We headed back home to watch the football game while I did laundry. 

It's almost time for the professional ice 
hockey season to start, and we aren't able 
to watch the games at home yet, even though 
I supposedly set everything up more than a 
week ago. DH is VERY unhappy, and he'll 
actually take the paperwork along with him 
to the Comcast store and discuss it with them 
in person. Hopefully he'll get somewhere, 
their website is a hot mess. 

The professional ice hockey season is about to kick off, and the TV station on which it is broadcast is now part of a higher tier. I contacted the cable company, purchased that higher tier and had everything shifted over ... but we're still not getting that station. After going through all of my paperwork (including a transcript of EXACTLY what the service rep had told me in a conversation more than two weeks ago), DH will head over to the Comcast office on Tuesday with all of the paperwork to find out why we're still not getting that channel. Our hockey is VERY important to us. DH is NOT happy that we haven't been able to watch the pre-season games, and he has no intention of missing the season completely. 

Given the season and how many Halloween decorations I'm 
already seeing in people's yards, this seemed an appropriate 
illustration for "The Cupboards are Bare". Mine aren't quite 
THAT bare, there's still food to eat, but everything I made 
in advance of Chickie's trip has been eaten. 

So, that's the excitement in my life - LOL. I'm back to a normal week again. Chickie returns to work tomorrow and I'll get my normal Wednesday and Friday off. That's good, because my pre-made food is completely eaten and I need to get more made. Have an excellent Monday and I'll be back tomorrow. OH!!! I'm in a WRITE-OFF to stay alive in LJ Journal. Here's the link ( https://therealljidol.dreamwidth.org/1166159.html ) and I'd REALLY appreciate your votes if you like what I've written for the write-off. Deadline is tomorrow night (Tuesday) and my life on LJ Idol depends on YOUR votes. Thanks in advance. Slava Ukraini. 

Rocks, the Ryder Cup and Glimmers of Autumn - A Perfect Sunday

Yesterday started out crisp - sweatshirt and light jacket crisp for me with my felted gloves for extra warmth, a light leather coat for DH who has a cooler internal temperature comfort level than I do. We headed over to the State Fairgrounds to the new location of the Minnesota Mineral Club's annual rock sale and show. This has been a favorite show of ours for decades, and we sorely missed it last year when everything was shelved for a year of recovery. But, although it's in a new location and some of the outdoor vendors didn't opt to exhibit this year, the general consensus was that the change in location has been positive, the sales and attendance is good, and people are also enjoying the Mini-Donuts and the Taco food trucks that parked in the lot behind the exhibition hall. If we had left a bit later, DH would probably have purchased a taco - they were declared a tasty success by vendors I spoke to. 

I'm starting out with photos from some of the outdoor 
vendors. Here you can see pieces of slabbed rock in 
identified bins, under water. Water is essential to really 
see what the grain of the rocks look like, so most vendors 
will either have them underwater like here, or provide 
lots of spray bottles hanging around their rocks. 

There are some vendors who exhibit cut stones, although 
I'm more likely to buy my faceted gemstones at a different
show. But I don't really need any more stone - slab, 
slice or faceted. I have a BUNCH of it. But I love stone, 
and just can't resist a good rock show. 

We started with the outside dealers - we always hit them first because they usually have the larger selections of raw stone, and because they're a lot of fun to chat with. This year most of them had more polished and finished stone, so DH was disappointed, but I found a lovely slice of Scenic Jasper for $5, and a really nice slice of Plume Agate for $8. I sometimes prefer slices instead of cutting my own - it allows me to dive into something without having to wait a few hours for the slab saw to do its' work. 

There were quite a few vendors exhibiting finished work using 
stone. Here we've got rock skulls, wands, bracelets, and 
various statuary. Nobody had what I really wanted, so I'll 
have to make it myself. Not too hard, but I don't have all of 
the materials. I'm not in a rush, though. 

After the outside (which DH deemed disappointing because most items were finished or polished), we headed indoors. In years past there had been a small entrance fee of $2, but this year they requested donations of $1 each, although admission was actually no charge. We donated, of course. There was a LOT more space for the vendors than their old location had available, and lots of room for the informational exhibits and demonstrations too. We wandered up and down the aisles, losing each other sometimes, then finding each other again. We finally ended up in the northwestern corner where one of the raw rock guys had set up. DH was in heaven, and I indulged as well. 

This kind of display is DH's idea of heaven, and I succumbed 
as well. Bins and bins of raw stone, the prices calculated by 
the weight of the stone. Some can be quite pricey - Larimar, 
Turquoise, Blue Lace Agate - those were quite a lot more 
expensive than the more standard Jaspers and Agates. Still, 
these were all fairly priced, and there was a lot of variety.
We spent serious time and bought a nice selection. 

I'm not sure if DH broke down and bought some Tiger Eye 
or not. I know he was looking at some and had some 
weighed out for himself. I like Tiger Eye, but I have plenty 
of it, so I didn't indulge in this one. 

By the end of a lot of picking and choosing, I had two pieces - a nice piece of Fluorite with great color in enough of a band that I think I can play with the saw and get some interesting slices to polish, and a chunk of Fossil Coral which, (I was assured by their stone guy), would have the hexagonal coral shapes throughout the piece. It might be really fun when cut, shaped and polished, so I took a chance. My two pieces were less than $25, and the rest of the money was all spent on a pile of stone that DH had chosen. He'll bring bags home from the shop today and we'll label them and get them put into our storage bins until we can work on them when we've got new oil for the slab saw. 

I did indulge in a nice piece of Fluorite. It had 
wonderful color change, and I'm hoping it'll survive 
cutting and polishing and become something beautiful. 

I also indulged in some Fossil Coral from Morocco. I have 
hopes for this stone, although I don't really know what it's 
going to look like after it's cleaned up and polished. It could 
be quite interesting. 

I've peppered this post with photos, but they're not that much to look at (admittedly). I did treat myself to an "Inspiration" piece - a finished piece of stone set into an intarsia stone framework. I learned how to do intarsia several years ago - I'm thinking 2014, 2015, or 2016. I took a three day class in intarsia for jewelry at Bead & Button, and ended up buying my 6-wheel stone grinding lapidary set from the teacher who was selling all three of the machines we were using in the class, at a really good price. I had driven to the show that year, so put the wheels into the back of my car (I think it might have been my PT Cruiser at that time) and took it home with me. I love my polishing/grinding wheels, they work really well, and I loved learning the technique. Now I want to use that technique to make some pieces that have been perched in my mind. Time to play with my notebook and get designing. It might be awesome, or awful, and there are many directions I can go with it, but that's the fun of it all. 

We're getting the beginning of Autumn coming in now. The 
willow is past it's bright green Spring and it's more mellow 
mid-green Summer, and now has hints of olive coming through.
Against the amazing blue sky with those light, 
sculpted clouds - it was one more reminder of why I love 
living up here so much. I might hate the winters, but 
the other three seasons more than make up for it. 

We returned home and watched the rest of the Ryder Cup (yippee for the USA - a pretty awesome three days of amazing golf). As I was driving to Chipotle to get dinner, I saw the big willow across the main street from me hitting sunlight just perfectly to show the beginning of fall against an amazing blue sky. So I end my photos (and long narrative) with a quick shot of this wonderful tree - one of my favorites in the neighborhood. Have an excellent Monday, be kind and please stay safe. I'll be back tomorrow. 

It Was A Cold But Fun Day With Rocks

DH and I had a lovely time at the rock show. It was cold, and we spent the majority of our time looking at rough stone in the parking lot from the vendors outside, so I was very happy that I'm already dressing in full winter gear. The parka was taken out of the closet two weeks ago or so, and I was relatively warm. Several of the vendors commented that I had dressed appropriately. Yeah me! DH, of course, was playing "macho man" and wearing a lightweight leather jacket that's on its' last legs. He was cold, but he was looking at stone, so he pushed cold to the back of his mind. He's a native of the Frozen Northlands - I guess they can do that. I'm an import from the High Peaks. I don't have that talent with cold, but I'm great with heights. 

DH may come from the Frozen Northlands, but my origin is
from the High Peaks. You know the ones - where the snow
never fully melts because the winds blow and they are
high above timberline. 

I ended up with three small slices that I have plans to cut up into interesting shapes with my stone saw, and one fossilized fish that I'll work into a larger enamel piece I've been working on for a few years featuring a variety of fossils which will be fitted into an enameled frame. My total expenditure? ... Five dollars. DH ended up with a bag of stones, a total bill of approx $60, and a desire to purchase a third trim saw. Not Going To Happen! He accuses me of being a pack rat - which isn't totally out of the realm of reason - but he's a tool rat and it's a bad addiction to have when tools require a lot of space. He'd better use the two stone saws he already owns quite a bit more before I'll let him bring one more into our home. 

Chrome Chalcedony can polish up into a mid-range green
gemstone, it can be faceted, or it can just be polished
as this example here. It's a pretty stone. 

He did pick some pretty stones, though. The last few he purchased were Chrome Chalcedony, Amazonite with inclusions of Smoky Quartz, and Chrysocolla & Malachite in Quartz. Me, I fell in love with a book - didn't buy it but I may down the road. The book: "Amateur Gemstone Faceting: Volume I, The Essentials" by Tom Herbst. It's so amazingly comprehensive and would be so much fun to play with. But, I'm not running out and buying that. I don't own a faceting machine, I don't own the rough for gemstones, and I have enough projects and areas of interest to keep me quite busy for the last 25 years of my life, thank you so much. Still, it was a fun book to look at. 

Chrysocolla and Malachite in quartz can be quite
interesting. I don't think the piece he chose was this
nice, but it'll be fun to see what can be done with it. 

After a quick but disappointing drop by HyVee (a new grocer in our area that looked rather like a more food-directed WalMart - rather blah and industrial) we rushed home. The manufacturer of a particular salsa we like had said HyVee carried their brand, but they were mistaken. So it was a wasted 15 minutes. Still, we got home in good time, watched football, and relaxed for the rest of the day. A successful Sunday. 

Apparently Amazonite is often found with
inclusions of Smoky Quartz. The stone DH
purchased isn't of this caliber, but it should
be interesting to see what it's hiding under
the cleaved surface. 

Here's hoping all of you have a wonderful Monday. We're starting the day out with dental checkups. I'm doing the usual crossing of my fingers that all will go well and I'll escape dental work for another six months. Living the dream! LOL. I'll be back tomorrow. 

Goals and Pretty Rocks - A Crazy Juxtaposition In My Thoughts

This weekend is the annual Minnesota Mineral Club show and sale. It's a long drive, but always at a beautiful time of the year. We've been there in snow, rain, cold and heat over the years. It's always fun and we always end up with something, even if it's only a single stone or slab. There's just something addictive about looking at pretty rocks. I'm not sure exactly what it is, but I can't seem to break its' hold on me. 

Last year the MN Mineral Club hosted an event called a
"Celebration of Agates". Even though I'm fonder of
jaspers than agates, I thought I'd share some agate
photos with all of you today. 

I'm hoping the drive out to the location won't be too fraught with construction. Yes, it's October and yes, we're in the midst of Autumn weather guessing games, but the road construction continues onward until sometime in mid to late November. Every day the workers can get out there is a win for next year's schedule. I keep hoping that construction will be over, but know that's an impossibility. There's always another project on the horizon. 

Agates can be stunning, especially those with colorful banding. Here
in the Frozen Northlands, we have agates flung onto the beaches
of Lake Superior in the far north of the state. Maybe that's one
reason why people here love agates so much. 

That's rather like life and personal goals for most of us. We set them - some goals small, other goals large, and a few set for life. Then we start focusing on accomplishing them. My small goals can be as little as getting that one pound from the weekend's indulgence back off - relatively easy if I can keep to my exercise schedule and eat sensibly. Larger goals can be things like getting my holiday cards banged into shape and into the mail on time. That;s a two-month goal since my absolute deadline is having things in the mail no later than Solstice. The life goals - those are the harder ones. 

This agate is one that I do love, though. This is a fire agate - similar in
fire to opal, but different stone. I've always loved fire agate - the
shift of warm colors that catch the light. 

Life goals are the big ones - buying houses, saving for education, helping children grow up and become wonderful adults, taking care of things like wills so that heirs and others won't be bothered in future. These are goals that can take a lifetime to achieve, and that are always shifting their scope but that never truly end. These are goals that merge and meld, one into the other, a long and sinuous pathway. 

Here's a lovely banded agate in bright and happy coloring. I especially
like the top and bottom of the stone where all of the colors jumble
together into a mish-mash of happy. 

But, right now I'm looking at my life goals and saying "Meh". I think I need to focus on those mid-range goals instead for a while because those large goals can be a bit frightening at times. On that note, I'll sign off for the day and wish all of you a wonderful Friday. The plan is to return tomorrow, so there you have it - a small goal for the next 24-hour period. Have a great day! 

Catching Up - Weekend Planning

Thanks for all of your great comments yesterday. I'll get caught up today and respond to each and every one today, I promise. Yesterday, as I mentioned, I was running all over town before opening up for business, and it was a busy day from the time I awakened to the time I finally went to sleep. But everything got accomplished, so I'm grateful for small favors - LOL.

Yesterday's errands took my time from early morning until
late in the night. It was a crazy day, but it was nice to
finally get to bed at the end of it all. 

I hate to do two picture blogs in a row. I really prefer my blog to be more substantive and even, on occasion, thought-provoking. But I'm a bit brain-dead right now and I'm focused on attending the American Crafts Council Show tomorrow and the silent auction at the Minnesota Mineral Club meeting tonight. It's about time DH and I have some fun for the weekend since we managed to accomplish so much over the past few weeks.

The ACC Show always had wonderful quality goods. This picture features
a glass sculpture by Dan Barnes, a fabulous ring by one of my favorite
jewelers, George Sawyer, and a cup by Julia Timm.

The American Craft Council Show is one that we attend every year. We are members of the ACC and always enjoy looking at the variety of high-quality hand-crafted art and crafts that are presented at the show every year. The St Paul show is not as large as their Baltimore or San Francisco shows, but it has good attendance. Since the ACC moved from New York to Minneapolis several years ago, I'm fairly certain that the St Paul show will always be on their calendar of events. We'll go to the show and then head on for a late breakfast afterward.

Carol Long produces exquisite pottery. I'm really looking forward to
seeing what she's come up with. Chickie and Chickie Mama will also be
attending, so I'm sure we'll run into them, although they usually move through
faster than we do. I love taking my time looking at each exhibitor's talent. 

The Minnesota Mineral Club has its monthly meeting tonight. We've been thinking about joining the group for several years and now that DH is getting more involved in working with stone, we thought it might be fun to meet up with these folks more often than the one time a year we attend their annual show. The meeting is held close to where we live, so it is easy for us to get to. Tonight they are holding a silent auction. I won't be buying, but I hope we'll have an enjoyable time.

I love working with find stones in my jewelry and art projects. Now DH wants
to start slicing and polishing these for me. Call me happy! 

So on that note, I hope all of you have a fabulous weekend. I'll be diving back into my writing tomorrow, but today is still a day with minimal words. Enjoy friends, family, pets and fun times this weekend and I'll be back on Monday.