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Outpost:  Fossil or Rockhounds?  |
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PlumCreekMama
True Blue Farmgirl
730 Posts
Heather
Iowa
USA
730 Posts |
 Posted - Sep 16 2008 : 10:28:41 PM
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Just wondering if there are any other farmgirls that like rock and fossil collecting. I have always liked it, but lately I have been almost obsessed! Hubby asked me where I'm going to put my rock collection. I haven't figured that one out yet!
http://plumcreekmama.blogspot.com/
http://plumcreekcreations.etsy.com |
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eskimobirdlady
True Blue Farmgirl
700 Posts
connie
fairbanks
ak
USA
700 Posts |
Posted - Sep 16 2008 : 10:44:39 PM
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| i am always picking up rocks that strike my fancy. hubby just shakes his head when i weigh the boat or the 4 wheeler trailer down with rocks lol. i have no clue what they are just that they are pretty. we have one rock that my daughter picked up when we were packing to leave michigan 24 years ago. she had packed it very carefully, wrapped in newspaper in my box of crystal stemware! yes. i found it before i taped the box up and moved it to a more appropriate box! peace connie in alaska |
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lovelady
True Blue Farmgirl
533 Posts
Toni
Indiana
USA
533 Posts |
Posted - Sep 17 2008 : 03:19:56 AM
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| My husband laughs at me because whenever we take a walk somewhere, I always end up with rocks in my pockets. I think I got it from my grandpa, who was a rock collector, too. He had jars and jars full of agates and geodes that he had picked up out of fields and creekbeds (in Iowa, too Heather!) then polished. Right now I have a pretty rock sitting on my kitchen windowsill that I picked up in my BIL's driveway. My husband has an aunt that is crazy about finding geodes, too, so if we get together we try to go walk the creeks and rockhunt. This does make me feel a bit better about myself, that I am not just some loony with rocks in her pockets!! |
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Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22941 Posts
Alee
Worland
Wy
USA
22941 Posts |
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ranchmama
True Blue Farmgirl
360 Posts
Elise
Rosebud
MT
USA
360 Posts |
Posted - Sep 17 2008 : 05:40:22 AM
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I love picking up rocks, got it from my mom I think.
But it really started when we moved here. Agates are common in this area and my drive way is all rock. I just have to walk to the barn or shop and I can find a few agates. Or purple ones, or blue ones, green and red ones. Pick up a lot of petrified wood too.
First I put them in my old canning jars. But I've gotten more agates then they can hold and found some gallon glas jars at a local thrift and have 2 of them with agates and one with petrified wood on the floor. I was afraid my hutch would collapse on me!
Alee that's so cool about the fossil! What is it?
Every Child Deserves Our Love &
A Bear of Their Own
http://ATeddyForKeeps.org
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ranchmama/ |
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City Chick
True Blue Farmgirl
1402 Posts
Deb
Chattanooga
TN
USA
1402 Posts |
Posted - Sep 17 2008 : 05:57:17 AM
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Me!!! I pick up rocks every where. We live on a, hmmm, now I've forgotten..... some sort of important rock bed that they're digging for rock. Quarry is 1 block away. Anyway, we find fossils in our yard all the time. When the quarry opens up their yard for tours I always tote out big hunks of fossils. Mostly shells & little ocean animals. I have quite a few hunks in my garden. Hubby's friend brought me back a fossilized piece of wood from Israel last year.
I could talk rocks & fossils all day but I have to run the girls to school. Rocks ROCK! 
http://www.xanga.com/My_Pondering_Place |
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Amie C.
True Blue Farmgirl
2099 Posts
Finger Lakes Region
NY
2099 Posts |
Posted - Sep 17 2008 : 06:11:35 AM
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| I love rocks too. I don't know much about them, but I love to pick them up and stash them in jars and bowls around the house. My dad was always cracking rocks open to look for brachiopods and cephalopods (I think I'm remembering the words correctly?) when he would take us out for hikes. My husband is the same way. His dream is to find a whole trilobyte one day. He says "I've found trilo-butts and trilo-bits, but never a trilobyte." |
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Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22941 Posts
Alee
Worland
Wy
USA
22941 Posts |
Posted - Sep 17 2008 : 06:46:03 AM
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Elise- It is a prehistoric predecessor to the Juniper tree! The one I found was only the second specimen ever found. It was also the better specimen according to Dr. Wing from the Smithsonian (who was leading the dig), because it had it's berries on it when it got fossilized. It also broke right down the middle so there is the unblemished actual fossil on one side and the mirror imprint on the other!
I can't take too much credit for that part as a college student actually helped me break it open and trimmed it down for me.
Alee
Farmgirl Sister #8
www.awarmheart.com
Please come visit Nora and me on our blog: www.farmgirlalee.blogspot.com
Put your pin on the farmgirl map! www.farmgirlmap.blogspot.com |
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PlumCreekMama
True Blue Farmgirl
730 Posts
Heather
Iowa
USA
730 Posts |
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electricdunce
True Blue Farmgirl
2544 Posts
Karin
Belmont
ME
USA
2544 Posts |
Posted - Sep 17 2008 : 08:09:15 AM
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I love to get rocks from the beaches around here. Can't carry very many at once, but I always end up with a pocketful, or take off my clogs and fill them up. We have lots of pretty granite here, and I am trying to make a path to my backyard with rocks from a local beach. It is going to take a while, but it is so soothing to look at the amazing things Mother Nature can do. My daughter is a real rockhound, she knows what everything is and we always have a good time perusing our beach finds....
Karin
Farmgirl Sister #153
"Give me shelter from the storm" - Bob Dylan
http://moodranch.blogspot.com
http://domesticnonsense.etsy.com |
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gramadinah
True Blue Farmgirl
3557 Posts
Diana
Orofino
ID
USA
3557 Posts |
Posted - Sep 17 2008 : 08:24:42 AM
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I made my grandaughter an apron with pockets for all the rocks she picks up. I take the ones that I pick up and put them into a large rock garden. I also have a box of fossils that we got in texas one time long ago.
We also built our fireplace out of found rock we never went any where that we didn't collect rock. The fire place is three stories tall. with rock all the way around.
Diana
Farmgirl Sister #273 |
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eskimobirdlady
True Blue Farmgirl
700 Posts
connie
fairbanks
ak
USA
700 Posts |
Posted - Sep 17 2008 : 2:19:12 PM
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| how cool is it that there are so amny of us with rocks in our pockets?! alle that is so cool that your fossil was such a valuable find! i have a rock wall around my flower beds and a couple of the rocks are actually fossilized bones! most likely mammoth or mastadon. both of those are a dime a dozen here! my hubby works at a huge gold mine and they are always finding tusks and such. sadly he cant even bring home a pebble *sigh* i am hoping that the next time we dig a new outhouse pit we find something cool like that! i hear there are plenty of geodes here too but i havent been lucky enough to find one. peace connie in alaska |
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ranchmama
True Blue Farmgirl
360 Posts
Elise
Rosebud
MT
USA
360 Posts |
Posted - Sep 18 2008 : 07:27:21 AM
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Mammoth bones a dime a dozen?! That is so strange to hear you say that! lol Kinda like me and my agates. It would be so cool to find a fossilized bone..
Yesterday Ben was up in out far north pasture and found a hillside of clear quartz. He brought home a few hadfulls of pieces. Some still have the outside surface of the rock on them, don't know what that would be.. He said the whole hill just sparkles with it. The only reason he picked any up is because he thought they were agates. lol
The quartz is so clear, you can almost see right through the smaller pieces.
Now what am I suppose to do with it?!
I really need a polisher and to take a course on rocks. I would love to know more about what I'm picking up and finding.
Elise
Every Child Deserves Our Love &
A Bear of Their Own
http://ATeddyForKeeps.org
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ranchmama/ |
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PlumCreekMama
True Blue Farmgirl
730 Posts
Heather
Iowa
USA
730 Posts |
Posted - Sep 18 2008 : 09:07:13 AM
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Elise, I'm the same way! I want to take a geology class and get a rock polisher as well. You are lucky to be living in Montana, you have a lot of rocks we just don't have here. The other day I was checking out a website that you can buy bucket of gravel from Montana and find Montana sapphires in it. Hubby and I are planning to vacation in Montana in a couple years once we get caught up on some bills. He's always wanted to live there, so I want to see what it's like.
I took the boys hiking yesterday and found some very cool fossils. I am going to clean them up today and take some pictures for my blog. I'll let you all know when I do.
http://plumcreekmama.blogspot.com/
http://plumcreekcreations.etsy.com |
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ranchmama
True Blue Farmgirl
360 Posts
Elise
Rosebud
MT
USA
360 Posts |
Posted - Sep 18 2008 : 10:04:12 AM
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Well, heck. How much? I'll sell a bucket of gravel! Course mine won't have sapphires :(
I would love a Yogo sapphire someday, they are so pretty!
When you come to MT you'll have to come here of course. And bring a bit of Iowa with you, I was born and raised there. Just come during sweet corn time, ok?! I'll let you stay if you bring lots of sweet corn! lol
Every Child Deserves Our Love &
A Bear of Their Own
http://ATeddyForKeeps.org
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ranchmama/ |
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Huckelberrywine
True Blue Farmgirl
1607 Posts
Michelle
Rosalia
1607 Posts |
Posted - Sep 24 2008 : 4:33:38 PM
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I do struggle with "where do I put it" when I find ones I like. The garden, especially around the pond is my favorite catch-all for rocks. Did go out this summer to uncover fossil leaves and panned for star garnets over in Idaho. It was fun, and I have a few of the garnets I'm hoping to have set. Solves the "where to put" issue nicely! I think I'll display the fossil leaves in a shadow-box behind an aquarium in the classroom. Happy rockhounding!
We make a difference. http://huckleberrywine.blogspot.com |
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kissmekate
True Blue Farmgirl
890 Posts
Kate
Delano
Minnesota
890 Posts |
Posted - Sep 24 2008 : 6:32:47 PM
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I used to sell rocks at the Renaissance Festival for my Grandpa. He was a HUGE rock hound. He'd make jewelry, book ends, wind chimes etc.
I have a few GORGEOUS agate spheres he made. He used to take Lake Superior agates and make little pet rocks out of them. He'd put the googly eyes and use a necklace holder for the legs. The guy who bought his shop still makes and sells them.
My cousin got the beautiful necklace he made out of the green malachite.
*sigh*
I am not such a huge rock hound myself, but crashing your thread sure brought back some fun memories. Thanks.
Don't miss out on a blessing, just because it isn't packaged the way you expected. ~MaryJo Copeland |
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Outpost: Fossil or Rockhounds? |
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Fossil or Rockhounds?
