We got the second cabinet assembled (without so much help this time) and both of them have been filled. There are a few more things about that probably need some protection, but the major items are covered. The rocks and minerals are items that my maternal grandparents collected years ago and I have become the keeper of them since my grandmother passed away.
The spheres of rocks are also things they collected, but they were in rough form. My grandfather made the machine to shape and polish them before such things were popular. At one point in my life (several decades ago) the only places I had ever seen rock spheres were a Natural History Museum and their house. My big decision that we needed these cabinets came when I walked into the front room and found the large sphere in the back right corner sitting in the middle of the floor instead of on the top of the bookshelf where it belonged. That was when they all got put inside a cabinet until there was a safer life for them.(Oh, those pottery items that also needed a safe haven weren't my grandparents. I made those several years ago.)We also wound up rearranging some furniture in this process. I have never known a cat to hop into a moving bookcase for a ride before.
For Sunday's potluck I made potato gnocchi. I forgot to take a picture after they were all done (it was time to leave for said event), but they didn't look that much different. All I did after that picture was boil them and then saute them in browned butter and herbs.I also finished hat #4 this weekend and have started #8.
The hubby is a huge rock collector, too. :-) Yet another thing we have in common.
ReplyDeleteHis mom is also a rock-hound. She does wire-wrapping and makes some gorgeous jewelry using polished stones. Her husband actually does the cutting and polishing. It's pretty cool to see what they come up with as a team.
If we're ever in a tornado, we'll be pummeled to death with the hubster's "collection". LOL
I remember the sphere-making enterprise very well indeed. It was accompanied by quite a lot of noise and lots and lots of dust.
ReplyDeleteIn case you don't know, before the special machine came a sawing process. He would saw off each of the eight corners of the beginning cube, resulting in a shape with 32 corners. He then sawed each of those, resulting in 128 corners. Only then did it go into the special machine.
People used to comment about how "good a job" he had done to get them so perfectly spherical. He would just smile and thank them. He told me once that, due to the design of the machine, it was impossible to make them any way other than perfectly spherical.
I'm glad they are being taken care of and kept safe from marauding felines.
That green one, by the way, is a stone called Malachite and it is very, very special. (Probably quite valuable as well.) When it was displayed at shows it drew crowds.
ReplyDeleteMalachite is a soft and rather crumbly stone, and very difficult to work in this kind of manner. Dad searched for years for the piece of stone that he used to make that sphere, and babied it through the process, constantly fearing that it would fracture. I'm pretty sure, actually, that it was the last sphere he made, as it was sort of his piece de resistance.
Very nice to see your collection has been safely stored in a kitten-resistant location. Love the spheres. It's interesting to see what Jayhawk had to say about the process. I used to have a bunch of lapidary equipment (what a surprise, no?), which now resides at my brother's cabin. The malachite, in addition to being difficult to work with (it has hard and soft layers, fractures easily, etc.) is also very toxic due to the high copper content in the stone. Don't lick it. :D
ReplyDeleteI think I have one of those spheres that Grandpa made, it's a black one with gray speckles. I'll have to dig it out. Anyway, most cats (in my experience) dislike being on moving objects. Except Abby, she liked to be on shoulders, whether moving or not.
ReplyDeleteI, to, have a sphere - of snowflake obsidian, mounted on a rough shaped but polished piece of the same. It is a lovely black with white inclusions which look remarkably like snowflakes! I received it from "Dad" for Christmas 1977. Typically, the base has a label with that information, surrounded by felt. It is a proud possession.
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