Since I’m the most impatient person in the world, I checked on my rocks today…took them out, rinsed them in a strainer, and took a little inventory on what I still have.

The softer stones: The bornite, which had beautiful reflecting colors on the rough stone now looks like of like it has a gold finish. The chrysocolla is still pretty rough and not very interesting looking, but who know what it will end up looking like after this is over. The angelite came out the best, and it pretty smooth and pit-free. My kyanite got eaten up, and is not a lot smaller, but still pretty, although rough. The green calcite chipped and broke up quite a bit, but I still have one decent size piece. The rhodochrosite is really starting to show some pretty color and lines in it, yet it’s still a huge rough chunk. So, I’m taking the angelite, most of the green calcite, and kyanite out, and setting it aside till I’m ready for the next stage (finer grit.)

Softer Stones, Day 2

The harder stones:  The chrysophrase is getting greener, losing it’s outer coat of whatever was on it.  The smoky quartz is starting to shape up, the pink opal is still very huge and rough (and incredibly uninteresting looking for an opal.)  The ametrine is a bit smaller, lot a few chunks, and hasn’t seemed to change much, other than it looks a lot smaller than when I put it in there.  And my friend Bree’s stone, which I thought was blue quartz, is actually apatite, and has rounded out nicely.  A minor pit or two, but I don’t want it to get eaten up any more now that I know it’s a bit of a soft stone to be mixing with the hard stuff.   So Bree’s apatite it getting pulled and set aside for the next stage when ready.  Sorry this pic stinks, but I only took one after pulling them out of their muck, and I’m not diving in the mess again just for a clearer picture.

Harder Gemstones, Day 2

The “Yard Quartz”:  Some of the white quartz has tumbled down to small pieces that are pretty useless, but I’m getting some interesting colors staying with the ones that had black and white in them.  Most of the larger ones are still pretty rough, but I pulled a few of the smaller useable ones that cleaned up.  And whatever I put in there that’s coming up as a darker stone, I have no idea what it is.  I had a lot of what I thought was basic quartz in my backyard that had pink running through it, and it just seems to be getting darker.  I’m calling it the mystery stone till we figure out what it is.

"Yard Quartz" Day 2

I’m definitely checking my goodies again tomorrow…things are happening faster than I expected, and I don’t want to lose my ametrine or green calcite because I let them tumble a day too long.