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Friday 6 January 2012

ROLLING ROCKS


I have another new toy. It is a rock polisher. It turns jagged rocks and lumpy pebbles into smooth shiny treasures.
The company who sell the polisher, send out a bag of jagged rocks for you to start on, so I did.




You put the rocks in a barrel, cover them with water and add a spoonful of grit. Then you put the lid on tightly.









The barrel is loaded onto the turner and left turning for a week. It's in the shed cos it rattles all the time as the rocks tumble around inside.



After ten days (oops) they came out looking like this. They were gorgeous while they were wet but are still lovely dry. They are now back in the tumbler with a finer grade of grit for another week and then they get a week with the polish. They should end up looking as if they are wet all the time.





I'm thrilled. Being a bit of a rock nut, this is a grand way to make some of them even more attractive. But the big concern is...WHAT AM I GOING TO DO WITH ALL THE POLISHED ROCKS? There are plenty of unpolished rocks in every nook and cranny of the house already and fossils fills spare spots on shelves and large boulders adorn the garden.



Please send suggestion soonest. Fortunately it takes a month to polish a small barrel from start to finish so you have time to think up some really ingenious suggestions. If it makes money I'll share the profits!



Last week I opened a "forward" from a friend in Oz and clicked on it in order to see an amazing picture. Nothing obvious happened, but the bug in the email then forwarded it to everyone in my address book. I didn't know that and apologise to all of you out there. The next bit is worse though. Windows/hotmail then blocked my email provision and will only consider unblocking it if I provide them with some very sensitive info, like all your names and addresses and contents of recent emails and even financial stuff.....so "up them". I'll start again with a provider which is more careful what it lets through and doesn't punish me for being a victim. So I'm now gmc48@btinternet.com and would love to hear from you all so that I can start building up an address book again, from scratch!


Cheers Gillian

4 comments:

Sue said...

The rock polisher looks like a fantastic invention. My nephew would love that. Maybe you can have a glass cabinet to put them all in and label them!

carol said...

Go to silver-smithing classes and make frames (can't think what to call those holders) out of silver wire for them so they can turn into clunky fobs, necklaces, bracelets etc. Should then be worth a bob or two.

stitching and opinions said...

That's a b*gger about the virus, hope your address book soon burgens. Do you have a virus checker thingy, we have AVG I think.]
I am v envious of rock machine, have wanted one for years.........in the kind of way that I do nothing about. Hmmmmm in the shed eh? RP has electricity in his shed [I don't]
I see the problem of what to do then. I would think that if you covered a vessel with plaster [of paris?] and then decoarted like a mosaic it might be interesting, flower pots.

Beverley said...

HI Gillan

I second that, you need to learn to make jewellery, take some silver classes. Even learning to mount with cold joining techs would be good. Some good books out there so try your library. Would love a polisher myself. If you start with flatter stones could drill them and hang from knotted cords and sell.

Cheers

Beverley, by the way not blogging much at mo. I have left my old job and currently working in the film industry, but will finish in a few months. Still trying to vegie garden tho. New email yarnz4knitters@xtra.co.nz