More rocks
Jun. 12th, 2011 11:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
stephbgIt is a complete co-incidence that I managed a once-in-a-handful-of-years rock shopping trip last week immediately prior to the WA Lapidary and Rockhunting Club Inc. Annual Exhibition (and SALE!) of Gemstones, Jewellery, Fossils and Minerals. I'm never naming that event again. It's on next weekend as well if you feel the urge for a cheap outing at $2/$1 entry, including one free rock.
I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the show was in Rivervale, so it became a viable short trip for a Sunday morning rather than an uncomfortable haul. We rocked up (sorry) just as they opened, and at the rate the crowds were piling in I'm glad we got there early. I even dressed for the event, wearing my Alcatraz t-shirt emblazoned "THE ROCK" but sadly it was too cold and only I got to enjoy the amusement value. Husband knew about it, but I don't think he was terribly amused. Winter is a challenge for the t-shirt aficionado, even with underlayers. Still, he took me there cheerfully, and let me hobble about at my own pace with my walking stick while he nursed some light refreshments and reading in a corner. The stick made it ever so much easier to lean over cabinets.
I bought some rocks. Only a few, but one was a specimen piece (as in raw crystal rather than tumbled or polished) and I've not done that for a while. It's a piece of celestite, and it's never been dropped or chipped or hurt in any way. I also kept an eye out for elusive replacement fluorite crystals but they are just not to be had. I have a slab of blue aventurine (amusingly mislabelled as adventurine (happens all the time)), which I've only before seen in green so this is an honest collectable for me, and a couple more small tumbled pretty-ites. I started with small pretty tumbled stones, then I suppose I got snobbish about specimen quality and rarity and looked down my nose at anything polished for a while. Now I'm back to small pretties again.
As a club event it was staffed with very(!) friendly and enthusiastic hobbyists, and over the course of many small chats with different stallholders I was amused to quickly uncover the deep political divides within the organisation.
After we left we meandered about a little seeking a spot to stop and sit in the sun by the river. We ended up at Burswood, but the serenity was a little too much enhanced by powerboats, so I suggested we go to Herrison Island to look at the kangaroos. Husband also wanted to see the statue of Yagan. Would you believe that neither of us had ever been on Herrison Island? He's only been here for 20 years, but I'm a citizen of 40 years standing (some of which I've spent lying down, but still).
We had to cross and recross the river to access the car park, and even then I wasn't even sure we were actually on the island. I've come to expect excessive signage I suppose, but there was none to be seen. We walked under and then half way over the bridge before deciding which chunk of land was which. I was wilting a bit by this point so Husband stashed me under a tree while he went for a reconnoitre. He was gone for quite some time, during which interval I huddled under my hoodie, and then started to practice^ sword strokes with my cane. In hindsight it was all bit Jedi-ish. Mostly ish. Mostly.
He eventually returned and reported his findings: that both the statue and kangaroos were some distance off right on the tip of the island. He correctly guessed that I would not be up to the hike so scritched the kangaroos for me. I made it back to the car (stick good) and then we had to cross the river twice more to get going in the right direction for home. A high quality snooze, and some comfy hanging about completed the day.
I overdid it; I keep finding myself at a distance from where I need to be. I think I need a helicopter to pluck me from wherever I happen to be when I run out of spoons and return me to base without further effort. Either that or halve my spoon calculations, which have been entirely out of whack since the latest batch of shingles.
I love my Husband.
(^) For a very loose definition of "practice" as I have no skill in this area whatsoever, except an awareness that it's a lot harder than it looks to look non-appallingly bad.
I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the show was in Rivervale, so it became a viable short trip for a Sunday morning rather than an uncomfortable haul. We rocked up (sorry) just as they opened, and at the rate the crowds were piling in I'm glad we got there early. I even dressed for the event, wearing my Alcatraz t-shirt emblazoned "THE ROCK" but sadly it was too cold and only I got to enjoy the amusement value. Husband knew about it, but I don't think he was terribly amused. Winter is a challenge for the t-shirt aficionado, even with underlayers. Still, he took me there cheerfully, and let me hobble about at my own pace with my walking stick while he nursed some light refreshments and reading in a corner. The stick made it ever so much easier to lean over cabinets.
I bought some rocks. Only a few, but one was a specimen piece (as in raw crystal rather than tumbled or polished) and I've not done that for a while. It's a piece of celestite, and it's never been dropped or chipped or hurt in any way. I also kept an eye out for elusive replacement fluorite crystals but they are just not to be had. I have a slab of blue aventurine (amusingly mislabelled as adventurine (happens all the time)), which I've only before seen in green so this is an honest collectable for me, and a couple more small tumbled pretty-ites. I started with small pretty tumbled stones, then I suppose I got snobbish about specimen quality and rarity and looked down my nose at anything polished for a while. Now I'm back to small pretties again.
As a club event it was staffed with very(!) friendly and enthusiastic hobbyists, and over the course of many small chats with different stallholders I was amused to quickly uncover the deep political divides within the organisation.
After we left we meandered about a little seeking a spot to stop and sit in the sun by the river. We ended up at Burswood, but the serenity was a little too much enhanced by powerboats, so I suggested we go to Herrison Island to look at the kangaroos. Husband also wanted to see the statue of Yagan. Would you believe that neither of us had ever been on Herrison Island? He's only been here for 20 years, but I'm a citizen of 40 years standing (some of which I've spent lying down, but still).
We had to cross and recross the river to access the car park, and even then I wasn't even sure we were actually on the island. I've come to expect excessive signage I suppose, but there was none to be seen. We walked under and then half way over the bridge before deciding which chunk of land was which. I was wilting a bit by this point so Husband stashed me under a tree while he went for a reconnoitre. He was gone for quite some time, during which interval I huddled under my hoodie, and then started to practice^ sword strokes with my cane. In hindsight it was all bit Jedi-ish. Mostly ish. Mostly.
He eventually returned and reported his findings: that both the statue and kangaroos were some distance off right on the tip of the island. He correctly guessed that I would not be up to the hike so scritched the kangaroos for me. I made it back to the car (stick good) and then we had to cross the river twice more to get going in the right direction for home. A high quality snooze, and some comfy hanging about completed the day.
I overdid it; I keep finding myself at a distance from where I need to be. I think I need a helicopter to pluck me from wherever I happen to be when I run out of spoons and return me to base without further effort. Either that or halve my spoon calculations, which have been entirely out of whack since the latest batch of shingles.
I love my Husband.
(^) For a very loose definition of "practice" as I have no skill in this area whatsoever, except an awareness that it's a lot harder than it looks to look non-appallingly bad.
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Date: 2011-06-12 09:57 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-06-13 03:01 am (UTC)