It has been awhile since I have blogged.  Let me catch you up.......

The saws have been busy.I now have a stack of cubes waiting for the corners to come off.  They include Marra Mamba, Indonesian Petrified Palm, another Tire Tack, & Mexican Chrysocolla.  The Marra Mamba looks like it will be impressive with the tiger eye band having gold, green and red.  We shall see if the fibers are stable and don't pull out during the sphering process.  The Pet Palm looks to be from the part of the plan that transitions from the truck to the root ball.  Mainly grey and black, it has red on some of the face cuts.  Won't know how far it goes into the rock until I start grinding. The Chrysocolla is from a new source in Mexico.  It looks stable at this point, but with this material, you just never know.

On the sphere machines I am rough grinding Tire Tack x2, Yukon Jade, & Brecciated Mookaite.  I am waiting to see if I like the tire track.  It might have pits.  The pattern will more than make up for the flaws in the material.  The Yukon Jade again has the beautiful swirl patterns in it.  This is a slow grind material but well worth the effort.  The brecciate Mookaite is a broken pattern with lavender, pale yellow as the primary colors.  It too will have imperfections in the material.

Waiting in the wings to rough grind are another Hematite with Chrysocolla and Malachite and an Apache Gold. This will be fast grinds and just might have to get moved up in the order of things.  

In between all this, we have been sorting through bins of slabs that we have acquired over the years.   Not all have been labeled as to what they are.  Very poor planning on my part from 25 years ago.  I never expected to be a retailer of rock.

The next question as always is what to cut next.  I still have multiple pieces of jade from different locations that I could start on.  I haven't had Indigo Gabbro spheres for awhile.  Then there is the materials from February sitting in the front shed that I am not even sure what is out there.  I still have 3 pieces of Sonora Sunrise.  Oh the options.

Shadow is coming along nicely.  He really cracks me up sometimes.  If I leave him, I get several hours of the cold shoulder.  He will sit with his back to me and look disdainfully over his shoulder.  His separation anxiety is improving.  Only give him "puppy downers" (melatonin) when we will be gone for more than 2 hours.  He hasn't dismantled anything in the house for awhile now although any thing on the counter tops is not safe.  

The house is still a work in progress.  Still painting and other things to do.  My priority has shifted to getting ready for the next round of shows.  

Next month on 11/22 starts the West Coast Gem and Mineral show in Costa Mesa Ca.  !/2/2020 is the start of the Flagg Show in Mesa, Az.  Tucson buying starts the end of January quickly followed be the Tucson Gem and Mineral show at the Tucson convention center mid February.  All 3 tend to be higher end sales for me.  Got to get busy!

I know this has been a long one, but thanks for reading......