Last year we went to the annual Rocks and Gems show in Parrsboro, NS. We had such a great time that we decided to go again this year and it proved just as fun and…we got a rock tumbler!! We will leave those details for the next post because there are a lot of pics and explanations as I show the steps so far.
If I’d have been paying more attention to the outdoors and not my Book of Stones (amazing by the way), I would have noticed the eagle perched on the phone poll so close to the road. Stephen noticed it and we turned to get a picture but it flew up to the tree. Bummer as far as photos go but awesome as far as getting so close to a wild eagle goes (meaning not in captivity).
As soon as we got to the show L exclaimed, “They have rock tumblers!” This was very exciting for us because we were hoping to check out tumblers last year but sadly, there were none to be found. We were shown the tumblers by the owners of Scotian Lapidary Supply and given a wonderful run-down of the process, with rock samples on-hand. This couple was so friendly and helpful and the boys were thrilled to get some cut rocks – oh, and a tumbler to take home. đ
There was so much to see and experience at the show and each of the boys came home with a diamond to add to their collection (very cool!), pop-corn rocks that grow crystals, a bunch of native rocks to tumble, Xman with a super clear quartz cube, L with a cool dragon kite which hangs in his room, and myself with the coolest clear quartz crystal ball – I can see other worlds in it. đ
After the show we visited some cool creatures at the Fundy Geological Museum.
There happened to be a geocache nearby and off we went in search. L spotted a cool web as we looked for the cache. Unfortunately, the spider scampered off before we got a good look at him. Once we found the cache (not saying where!) we got a quick bite and made our way home.
Our usual pit-stop for any trip going to north-west Nova Scotia is Mastadon Ridge. We stopped to check out the multi-cache. The boys and Stephen have been caching for a couple of years now and I finally signed up as well so it’s all new to me. If it is to you too, here’s the link to the geocache site. It’s pretty cool stuff and great motivation to get outside.
Mastadon Ridge is half-way between the Equator and the North Pole.
The next morning the boys were excited to get working on their pop-rocks so I took a couple of pics. The rocks are limestone. You put them in a container and cover them with vinegar. The acid in the vinegar reacts with the calcium and as the vinegar evaporates (about a one to two week process) crystal deposits form. Pretty cool, huh?
After the pop-corn rock prep we went to our first DCAF event where we saw some familiar faces from Strange Adventures and some wicked cool local artists!
Next post will be about our rock tumbler which we started up today. There are lots of steps and pics so I figured this is enough pics for one post. I’ll do the next one tomorrow.
Happy sleeps all!
Xman has been super excited to do some ‘tinkering’ since I got some tinkering books from the library. You may want to check this and this out (literally) if tinkering is a fun project in your home.
The next step is to add some grit. This first tumbling step will round out the sharp edges.
From time to time we all got a bit distracted by the newfound red backed salamanders, centipedes and pill bugs. I think the boys found five salamanders. It was hard to get a picture of one as they are pretty wiggly runners!
