stones, rocks, boulders & erratics

We just couldn't wait! Last evening we planted some of the plants on the lowest tier. i think that the garden will have three tiers when it is completed.

It's gunna be great when you get it whipped into shape.

Thanks Jo Ann. We are enjoying the work, but most of all we are enjoying the family time together while working on it.

jax - i have not joined a mineral club - i do bring back interesting specimens - i have a nice quartz paper wight from the top of mt. washington, pick granite like found at arcadia from baxter state park in maine, and several interesting stones i lugged back from Nepal from the treks i've done there. and anytime i see a white quartz rock it finds its way into my kayak or car. i built a 4 ft. pyramid of white quartz that i took down for a new bed and still looking for a good place to re-build it.

The Boston Mineral Club is only $20 per year to join. The expense has been the gas to get to the digging sites! There is a quarry in Ashland, MA, which is very close to you-that was fun. Lots of hornblende. The big plus to joining the club is you get access to areas (like operating mines) that are closed off to the public otherwise. Nice people, too!

From Ashland: A 10+ lb piece of hornblende crystals on epidote/granite:

From an artists viewpoint that ia a beautiful rock.

You get to take anything??

jax thx fo rthe info on the mineral club - i think my wife would have me committed if i joined:)

DonnieBrooke..
Next time on your way to Florida, bring me some of those huge erratics!!!
Few rocks here, maybe pebbles!

Yes, Victor, you can take any rock you can lift!!! Some people bring hand trucks!
My arms have grown about 8" longer since I've joined ;0) I look like a gorilla.

We went to Ravena, NY, in May. I got some fossils and lots of quartz. Come with us next year! Bring your sledge hammer and hard hat.

wha- I thought I would be hauled off, too, but it turns out that these people are as totally insane as I am! These are people who rush TOWARD rockslides to look for interesting stuff! We are told to stay 50' away from the quarry sides, but the mine supervisor can't watch all of us at once. We are like kindergardeners.

so they are blowing up rock formations for your group to scavenge through?

I have rocks - what am I supposed to be looking for? Unless you bought them I thought they were just ROCKS!

Was your group responsable for the big loss of the "old man" rock face in NH years ago.
It was the state symbol ya know. lol

They don't blow up formations for us; these are working aggregate mines- basically big basins that gravel companies blast to make crushed aggregate for concrete, road beds, etc. When they hit a vein of something they can't use (quartz) they call the regional mineral club (or the state geologist) and the groups pay to come in on the weekends and collect. We have to sign injury waivers and have a rep from the mine nearby. If the co. knows we're coming, they may blast out an area for us.

A lot more of the collecting goes on at abandoned mines, though. Our last trip was the Beryl Hill Mine in Royalston, MA, which is basically a rocky hole in the middle of the woods. We got permission from the property owner. Some people found some gemmy aquamarine there this year. I found a tiny piece, so the trip was sort of a bust for me. Other popular spots is the Palermo mine in Maine, the Chickering mine and the Turner mine in NH, and the Loudville mine in MA. In August, we're going to the Simpson Quarry in Portland, CT for Beryl.

Yes, there is a terrorist splinter group of mineral collectors that run around blowing up natural rock formations ;0) Actually, the sound of the sledgehammers loosens other rocks, putting collectors in harm's way. By and large, our group is working in areas that are far lower into the earth than the granite crust we're tripping on up here. We DO have to wear hard hats!

aquamarine = gem stone?

Pretty cool, Melissa!

Aquamarine is the blue/green form of beryl- yes, a gemstone!!! Good gem-grade aquamarines are very hard to come by and $$$!
The mineral beryl can be blue, yellow, green, red, pink and clear/white. Green beryls are emeralds, pink is morganite.

I think so, Victor! Of course, when I joined, I pictured myself bellyflopping into a pool filled with priceless gems, but, um, it's not quite that easy. And it's just as painful.

Were you always into it gems, geology, etc.? I always liked geology.

My 1st career aspiration was to be Fairy Princess. When I turned 5, I wanted to be a geologist instead! I grew up in Gloucester, in a house which was situated on an old granite quarry, so I knew that stone was dug and cut. My brothers were avid rock/fossil collectors, too. I didn't become a geologist because I am from a family of artists, and I can't do math to save my soul! My love of gardening was a logical offshoot of me digging for interesting rocks. I joined the club after I realized my son is an ADULT (or should be @ 21) and is living on his own, so I better start getting a life, too.
I am toying w/ the idea of going back to college to teach the natural sciences. For an artist, that's scandalous, and my Dad is sure that my life's destiny is painting. (Rocks? Who studies rocks?)

Cool. I took many classes/walks/field trips with a great geologist from the American Museum of natural History in NYC.

Martha, Candyce, Kathleen and Jo Anne - what interesting ways you've each worked some lovely stones into your landscaping. I find it so interesting to see what creativity can do when people use the resources they have on hand. Just beautiful! And Kathleen - what a neat idea to do for your church!!

Pat - those are such colorful rocks you showed. I, too, love to collect rocks with different colors or veins in them. I also love picking up the smooth oval-shaped rocks that look like they've been honed by water over the years.

Bill - what a cool shot of you and your DW at the large erratic! You're sure getting your fair share of experience with stones in building your wall.

Patti - that is fascinating information about the glacial history of Nantucket and the Cape and LI. Both my DH and I found that so interesting to know! I'd love to take a college course just for fun on the glaciers' impact in the formation of this whole area. I'll bet the courses you took - and especially the field trips - were very interesting, Victor. I've just always loved rocks and shells - from childhood on!

Jax - all of your knowledge on rocks and minerals is impressive, and also very interesting. Nice photos too! (And yes, this is a NH erratic.....I don't think there are any like it in Fla! LOL)

Sharon - Let me see what I can do! LOL I've always wanted to see your beautiful state!

Anyone get to Dubllin yet?????

We can send some rocks to FL. I think it is a natural disaster- no rocks???!!!

I think the highest point in FL has to be one of the (unsold) condos in Miami!

Maybe we could have a ROCKin' RU in Florida this winter. Everyone can bring Big Rocks instead of plants! LOL

Funny, Victor!

I was thinking more in terms of dropping them off in KY on the way down.

Don't worry, Sharon, there will be plenty of erratics to spread around! HA HA! Can you imagine the gas mileage we'd get with a few of those behind the seat???? LOL

Put wheels on it, I am south of you so it should be a downhill roll, don't you think??

Ahhh..the Dublin rock! It brings back warm memories for me. My grandparents lived in Dublin when I was a child. Over the river and through the woods...to grandmother's house we'd go! The hour it took to get there felt so long for a young, impatient girl like me so I made a game out of it - picking certain landmarks which I would then eagerly watch for to help pass the time and judge how far we still had to go. Of course, the Dublin rock was by far my favorite because it meant we were practically there. I can still remember the excitement I'd feel when I saw it. I haven't been to Dublin in years. I think it's time for a visit!

Wow, fantastic thread, Louise, thank you for starting it. I really like Kathleen's rock garden, but that might be because of whatever blue was blooming at the time. Unfortunately, we have no rocks on our plot, just concrete pavers. We do have a wooden retaining wall that's due to fall down; I wonder if we could build a rock wall in time. . . Very beautiful, what all of you have done with your rocks and garden walls!

You all have played wonderfully with the hands that you have been dealt -full of rocks - Down in south jersey we have sand and swamps and mosquitoes. I so enjoy looking at all the different effects you can have with some variety in your gardens.

Keep posting :)
Jan

LOL just what I need! A Club to bring home MORE rocks!! You are all welcome to come on down to my Street and prospect all the loose stone you can haul off! A few years ago, my next door neighbors got some great cobblestones from Lynn {next town over} when they tore up one of the main streets to take out the old railroad and trolley tracks. These stones were underneath the blacktop! They did the work past the house of one of their numerous relatives who managed to liberate some of them. I covet these. beautifully shaped and regular! oh, wait! I am crazy. I bought a box of rocks at a yard sale once. had some rose quartz chunks and some mica and other minerals.
Martha

This message was edited Jul 16, 2008 10:44 PM

Martha, Saugus must be the rockiest place on Earth. From that old aggregate quarry they've turned into condos (true!) up to the moraine on the rte. 1 Saugus/Lynnfield line. I notice, on the NB side of rte. 1, there is this gigantic area that looks like heavy blasting is going on. WHAT are they doing? I want to raid it for boulders. I've "adopted" rocks from behind the Square One mall- they fall off the cliff and land in the parking lot- I figure they do that b/c they want to come home w/ me.
Are you seriously offering us your rocks?! I'll take them!

I was wondering why rocks fall, now I know they just want to go home with someone..I'll have to be more observant. That would be one way to get some rocks in south Jersey.
I can picture coming home and saying " It just followed me home ." or "it looked at me with its big brown eyes. I couldn't LEAVE it there." :)

Jan! A kindred spirit! I'm not the only one who rocks look at and talk!! Plus, those glaciers went to all the trouble of carrying the rocks down here, the least we could do is give them good homes ;0)

What great information here. I've always loved seeing the stone walls when I was growing up and spent many hours climbing those huge deposits left by the Laurentide.

Beautiful transformation, Candyce and what a tranquil spot Noreaster!

I think my rock wall is erratic!

Noreaster - that is such a pretty shot of your ledge area. Very inviting!

Songs - neat story about your childhood trip to Grandma's & the Dublin Rock. Maybe we should schedule a mini-RU at the Dublin Rock!!! LOL

Martha - maybe you can start a a cottage industry with all your rocks!

Nance - I like how you've used so many nice stones there!

Every morning, my DH and I walk the length of the Pond just down the hill from us. This morning I took this shot of an erratic that was worn on the right side at the base by water flow over many years. Just above this spot is a watershed that flows downhill to the pond. I love this one!

One of the other things I love to see is the little trees or shrubs that grow right on top of the erratics. There are several along the Pond road. Here is one example.

I also smile when I hear others talk about being so drawn to rocks. As we walk I am constantly picking up neat rocks that have some kind of appeal as to their shape or color, etc. I have them sitting around the house and my potting shed everywhere you look. My grandsons just love to find them and play with them - especially if there is some sort of bug under them!

and finally for tonight, this is one of my favorite erratics on our walk. It is covered with beautiful green moss and other things that are happily growing all over it.

Nice shots, Louise. What's really cool about NYC - you can see outcroppings of bedrock and erratics in the same area. Manhattan is a geological all-star. The difference in depth of the bedrock from downtown to uptown is staggering.