A Changing of the Seasons on The Neck

 Fall has arrived on Digby Neck.

It has been months since we faced that dreaded point when the days started getting shorter but at least we had the warmth. Alas, that too has started to wane. We now close the downstairs windows at night and wake up to darkness- a ritual that will be repeated for the next several months. Soon the dehumidifier will be shut off in the old stone walled basement, its hum replaced by that of the infrared heater to the joy of the two cats. 

Outside, the changing of the guard is occurring. The Cormorants are gone, soon to be joined by the Great Blue Herons and their spots on the pier and in the marsh have been filled by ducks and loons. Only the hardy gulls and crows will tough it out through the winter. The starlings are amassing on the telephone wires and we are seeing the odd jay along with the ominous presence of the harrier hawk.

The grass is growing much slower now and some plants are already dying while others, such as the Virginia Creeper, are going out in a splash of brilliant red glory.

Our routine has adapted. Afternoon tea or wine is now taken on the back deck where the sun's now shallow rays linger. It is amazing how important the warmth of the sun becomes as I get older. I feel the cold much more now. One good change is that the stars appear much earlier so on clear nights we are able to bundle up in our tilting deck chairs and search the now dark heavens for shooting stars and passing satellites.

Things are slowing down in The Lap of Lapidary as well. I'll do a few more loads in the tumbler and cut a bit more but the Cab King is now ready to be cleaned for its hibernation. I've recently completed a few pieces that I really like, however.

And I have enough "granite ice" to finally fill my display.

The pace has slowed dramatically, with fewer and fewer cars passing by and only the odd visitor to the shop.

So now the scene will shift indoors where I will take my place, Vickie willing, at my bench in her studio and work on completing some of the beautiful stones I fashioned this year and listing them on our website, The Seawall Emporium. I do cherish this time- feeding off the inspiration from "the real artist", listening to our favourite music and enjoying memories from time now long past. The cats seem to feel the same way as they seem content to spend hours curled up in balls on their beds on Vickie's table.

Soon the gale winds will be howling and the sea ice will be invading our bay, hypnotizing us with its wave driven movement. The cats will be seeking the warmth of the propane fireplace and walks on the beach will be a distant memory. Meanwhile, the oppressive, spirit crushing blanket of covid remains in place with no end in sight. 

However, hope springs eternal and for now, we will enjoy this brief window, this welcome calm before the storm that is fall on Digby Neck. 

Gail's Rocks

 Almost weekly, someone brings me a pile of rocks they have found and wants to know if they have found "treasure" and until recently, I have had to give them bad news.

But a few weeks ago, it finally happened. After seeing my shop, The Lap of Lapidary, my neighbour Gail, from whose farm we get our eggs, brought in a small peach basket with her "collection". Apparently, she has a spot somewhere on the Neck where she finds the most amazing small agates and jasper. I literally could not believe my eyes! Here's a small sample of what she brought.

I was so impressed, and she and her husband Frank are such good neighbours, I did something I NEVER do- I offered to tumble a load for her at no charge. Since they are on the small side, they are perfect for my tumbler and the results were spectacular.

A lot of these stones are so fresh and dense they look almost chert like and take a great polish.

Like Vickie, Gail is an artist and it's obvious she has the Artists/Agate Eye!

More proof that we have some of the most beautiful silicates in the world here on Digby Neck!

Latest From The Lap of Lapidary

 While we have had more visitors recently, I've still had time to get out to the shop and do some cutting. Here are some recent efforts.

The first is a beautiful piece of our local moss (some call it plume) agate.

This one had some nice colour and patterning and the inside sure didn't disappoint!

It shows the typical gorgeous golden plumes and some beautiful blue/grey pockets of fortification agate.

The next one was a real surprise. Quite frankly, this one had me stumped on the surface.

It had some nice yellow colour that always suggests sagenite but not much in the way of patterning. But inside...

This one has everything including the kitchen sink. There is definitely sagenite but also fortification agate and deep chocolate areas of what I suspect to be haematite. If I can get this to polish, I'll get some amazing cabochons! And to that end, I've already cut some additional slices.

By the way, these rocks are both local from Digby Neck. Stay tuned!

The Real Artist Emerges From Vickieville

 Every so often, the "Lady With The Agate Eye" has to remind me who the real artist is around here (hint: It ain't me!).

Along with the rest of the world, we are coping with the isolation and myriad other effects of the covid situation. And while we haven't had any cases in our area, we dearly miss seeing family, friends and...tourist customers! Empathetic, logical people feel it worse than others and Vickie is such a person. So a while back I suggested she "retreat" to a place of her making and we decided to call it "Vickieville". She, of course, is the mayor but I got to be Director of Sanitation! The theory is to create an environment where you, not the government bureaucrats, call the shots. And it seems to be working because after months of artistic ennui, she is back at her passion. Here is the first result.

It is different in many ways from her previous work and that is understandable since an abstract artist like Vickie paints her feelings and mood at the moment.

This piece, entitled "The View From Vickieville" is large (30"X40") and shows a new, simpler colour palate but a sense of confidence not shown recently. It is a reflection of a lot of practical changes such as giving away massive amounts of art materials, clothes and household items and making a practical assessment of our situation and how to maximize it for our physical and emotional well being. We are both eating better and exercising a bit and losing weight. We have more energy.

If you are not coping well, I suggest you give this idea a try. True, everyone has a different set of circumstances but remember, if you don't feel good about yourself, you can't have a very positive effect on those around you. We don't look upon this as ignoring reality. It's still there. But this creates a bit of a mental and emotional "buffer zone" that is helping us to have a more positive outlook.

We fear that this covid cloud is going to be with us for a long time- possibly the rest of our lives- and I can tell you that life is pretty good in Vickieville these days!

I'd love to get your thoughts.

Cheers and stay healthy and sane.

Lapidary Is Like A Box Of Chocolates!

 Since we have had steady rain here for the last few days, I decided to tackle the mound of interesting rock that She With The Agate Eye had found and wanted cut. (Hey, what can I say- she buys me new blades!). Several of the pieces were sagenite and plume agate, not my favourite but she loves 'em. Most were stuff I'd seen before but then I got to these two very pleasant surprises. Normally, the plume agate doesn't polish very well because the plume areas are a little soft but this one...well, see for yourself!

Not only is the patterning outstanding, it polished to an absolute glass finish. And the best part is that just below the glass surface in the clear areas, are crystal druzy pockets that cause the stone to sparkle as it moves. It is about 4 cm. in height. This is absolutely one of the most beautiful cabs I've ever made and I have three more pieces to work with. It demands a very special setting.

This next piece was from a rounded end cut and all I had to do was smooth it out a bit and define a shape.

Again, the patterning and colour are fantastic and it has polished to a glass finish when I went to 50K diamond paste. Vickie, who among about a thousand other talents is a very accomplished abstract artist, has "borrowed" this piece for inspiration.

This is why I love cutting rock because as Forrest Gump says, " You never know WHAT you're gonna get!"

The Great Cabochon Project is Complete!

 Well, it's been a hectic couple of months but the cab project is almost over- just a few days after I turned 75! And yes, I'll admit I got a little (well maybe a LOT) carried away.

My original goal was to produce 100 quality cabochons from my existing rocks and slabs. The first step was to choose the shape and I let the rock determine that as much as possible. In a few cases I kept a raw edge if it enhanced the look. Then I had to cut out the shapes using my trim saw attachment for the Cab King and it worked amazingly well.

Here I want to say a word about Cab King. I'll tell you flat out that I would not have tried this venture with my old equipment but it was possible because the Cab King is faster, much quieter and far more comfortable to use. Some say the wheels don't last but mine are great and after two years including this batch, they have plenty of life left. Also, the watering system is wonderful. One last bonus- I don't know if they recommend this but I mounted the saw in place of the fine grit wheels and was able to switch back and forth between cutting and shaping. Just have to have some protection from the turning saw blade.

So yes, I got carried away and ended up with closer to 200 stones, which is way too much for my jewelry needs for the upcoming winter but the lady with the agate eye just keeps bringing me so much beautiful rock- agate, jasper, amethyst, sparkling druzys, petrified wood- and virtually all of this batch is local from the Bay of Fundy.

There is some amazing patterning.

But some of these are just awesome when you see them with a light behind them! Here's the same batch backlit.

So my plan now is to take out any that have flaws (sometimes cracks appear towards the end) and polish some of the best pieces to 50,000 grit if I think they will look better (they are at about 14,000 now). Sometimes a surface that is too glassy can detract from the visual effect of the patterning.

Then I will post pics of smaller groups on IG and Facebook and possibly here as well and offer them for sale individually, either as loose stones or made into jewelry on site.

It has been an awesome learning experience and now I can cut some more slabs!

Covid restrictions have eased in Nova Scotia and we are getting some visitors from the rest of Canada so if your plans are taking you to this area come on by and say hi and see what we are working on.

Cheers!

On The Rocks!

Have you ever wondered where that expression originated?

As with all the truly great things in life great things (curling, single malt scotch, golf) this phrase was born in Scotland. By the way, did I mention that I also originated from there so we should probably add that to the list. In fact, I have actually acquired three square inches of the peat bog used by the Laphroaig Distillery- an investment that nets me a dram of whisky a year in "rent"!

Scots love a wee dram and many prefer it chilled. Winter drinking presented no problem as half the time the drinker was lying in a snow bank to begin with so chilling ingredients were "at hand" (and at foot as well I guess). But even in Scotland, there is a very brief period called, laughingly, "summer" and here is where innovation was needed in the days before refrigeration and readily available ice.

Those canny Scots came up with a brilliant idea- go down to the nearest ice cold stream and grab a few cold rocks from the stream bed. Plunk them in your glass and you were in single malt heaven. Inns would gather some each evening and so the idea of ordering a drink "on the rocks" was born.

Later, ice replaced the rocks but the expression remains.

However, although progress brings convenience, it does NOT always bring improvement! As ice melts, it turns into something called "water" and the effect is to dilute the potency of the beverage. This would not be a problem for most Scots as the drink is gone long before the ice has a chance to even START melting. But other cultures often linger over their tot so many people have gone back to using actual "rocks"

As a lapidary, this caught my interest and I have some cooling in the fridge at all times (just in case...). Recently, I shared a single malt with a relative and they apologized for not having ice so I set out on a mission to make him some of the good stuff.

Now, this is not as simple as it might seem. Some rocks are porous and so might suck up some of the ambrosia and that would be a tragedy. Other rocks could flake off, giving the drink a "gritty" taste and still others actually add a taste and if you're drinking single malt from Islay that would constitute what the Bible refers to as "a sin against the spirit (Matthew 12:31)

So you must carefully choose your rocks. For this attempt, I had the perfect starting material- a section of diamond drill core (a 1 inch "tube" of rock) that consisted entirely of  brecciated green jasper. I had enough for 6 "rocks so the first step was to cut it on my Hi-Tech saw. Here are the results.

However, even after the edges had been ground slightly on my Cab King, there was still a chance that the edge could break the glass resulting in a loss of scotch and, well heartbreak!

So I threw them into my Lot-O-Tumbler with a load of regular rock and created the final product.

So while ice will be gone in short order, these babies will be around to cool drinks for millions of years!