Gem Mining

June 16, 2013 by anyonecantakeapicture

For Father’s Day 2013, I drove my dad about an hour and a half south to McKenney, VA, to Lucky Lake Gem Mine to mine for gems! It wasn’t quite as adventure-laden as I thought it would be…no pick-axes or spelunking in tunnels…but it was quality Father-Daughter time hunting for treasures from nature. Just like we used to when I was a kid.

We actually ended up “finding” (and I use that very loosely, we “found” it in the bucket of dirt we were given), a Garnet that I’m having cut (which happens to be my birthstone). I’ll post a picture of the after faceted stone once I get it back. The before picture is in Dad’s find, with an arrow ;-)

We also “found” a ton of Rubies, a Citrine, a couple of Amethysts, lots of quartz (including Rose and Smokey), Turquoise, Sodalite, and Silver Topaz, among others.

The Garnet should be ready in a couple of weeks and I can’t wait to pick it up and see how it turned out!

Sluice Box

Sluice Box with our finds

My finds

Dad’s finds

Gemologist explaining the stones and gems

Amethyst

February birthstone – my grandma’s ;-) Said to be the stone of royalty, it can also keep away nightmares if you put it on your bedside table.

Aventurine

Said to be a good luck charm, if you hold it in two hands and wish for wealth and prosperity it will all come to your door.

Carnelian

Said to stimulate creativity, give courage and promote positive life choices.

Citrine

November birthstone – Dad’s ;-) Said to be the stone of creativity and is said to bring success in business and commerce.

Howlite

Said to aid in teaching patience as well as helps eliminate rage and control anger.

Ocean Jasper

Said to be the stone of protection, it also absorbs negative energy and gives one courage.

Quartz

Said to be the healing stone and is the most commonly used amongst healers and psychics. In order to cleanse a quartz, one must leave it underneath a full moon overnight, then never let another person touch it every again. Dad didn’t want to keep any of the stones, but he was drawn to this one, so it was one of his Father’s Day presents ;-)

Rose Quartz

Said to be the stone of love. Nuff said.

Rutilated Quartz

This is my favorite stone that we found. The golden straw-like lines are said to be hairs from Venus! The goddess of love, not the planet ;-)

Azurite

Thought to have healing properties, it also helps open the mind and make it more receptive to retaining information.

Sodalite

Said to help you be true to yourself and help you stand up for your beliefs.

Silver Topaz and I think some Aquamarine

Said to be the promoter of truth and forgiveness, removes stagnant energy and purifies emotion.

Rubies! Lots and lots of Rubies!

July Birthstone – Mom’s ;-) Said to be the most powerful gem in the universe, Burmese warriors used to insert Rubies into their skin before battle thinking it would make them invincible.

Randomness 2

May 31, 2013 by anyonecantakeapicture

Just some more random pictures I either recently came across while going through my multitude of folders, or recently took but don’t really have any other posts to stick them in. Random is rampant!

I love clouds, especially when the sun creates those cool streaks. I caught this while waiting at a traffic light near my house.

This is a view of downtown from the balcony at my office building. I think it was one of the very first panoramas I took with my new camera.

This is the Main Street station clock tower. Looks quite spectacular at night. Need to work on my picture-taking-at-night technique.

This is by far THE most colorful sunset I’ve seen in Richmond to date. I just happened to see it while taking the trash out one night. If I hadn’t had dinner going on the stove, I would have hopped in the car and driven to a better vantage point. But it would have been gone by the time I got myself together. So I had to settle for this shot.

Ducks and geese in the lake behind The Boathouse in Brandermill. Decided to drive over there on a whim one weekend afternoon.

There haven’t been a ton of squirrels around lately, but this one managed to find the bird feeder full of seeds.

These fish were in a pond in front of a nursery.

The fam took a jaunt to Middleburg, VA a few weeks ago. The white benches and flower boxes perfectly capture the essence of this quite, sleepy little town 45 minutes outside of DC.

Middleburg irises

In plain sight

May 17, 2013 by anyonecantakeapicture

Carytown is an urban shopping mecca with chic boutiques and eclectic shops. These tough economic times have forced store openings and closings seemingly by the sunrise and sunset. The window displays and signs may be ever-changing, but the paintings and murals on sides of buildings have been there for as long as I can remember. I have seen them every time I walk down or drive through Carytown.

Having hit somewhat of a dry spell on subject material, I thought “why not see the beauty in the every day, the beauty in plain sight?”

Carytown

DSCN3568

No post of mine would be complete without a shot of a flower

And as I drove on to work, I remembered a restaurant some friends and I ate at recently and took a detour. The facade of 525 is nothing but windows that look out on to the theater across the street. At night when the marquee is lit up, the lights shin through the windows and offer a sparkling and dazzling view. I didn’t have my camera with me that night (gasp!), plus it was raining, but I vow to go back one evening and get some night shots (and eat, they had amazing food!).

Downtown

The reflection is that of the top of the Carpenter Theater

The full name of the restaurant is 525 at the Berry Burke

This is on the side of the theater

As I made my way further downtown, I felt like taking another side journey to the top of Church Hill to check out the early morning view.

Main Street

James River

I decided to take a spin down Monument Ave after work. Those statues have been shot from every which way and angle. But here’s a couple more…one with the street sign.

Monument Ave

Until next time ;-)

Sunday Afternoons

April 21, 2013 by anyonecantakeapicture

What an afternoon for photo ops! It started casually taking pictures in my parent’s backyard, to parking on the side of the road for wild wisteria, to running across the street for donkeys & cows, to hot air balloons floating right above my head!

But that’s the best kind of afternoon, unexpected, unplanned and full of surprises.

A wild redbud tree decided to sprout up and bloom in my parent’s backyard. I will be keeping my eye on this one over the years ;-)

Found this wisteria growing like crazy on Mountain road

I didn’t notice this until I was editing these photos, but check out all the loops the vines are making. Almost looks like the wisteria started growing over warped metal or something, but those are the vines.

There are a few farms on Mountain and the donkeys and cows just happened to be grazing close enough to the street for me to run over and take a few shots.

I happened to catch the hot air balloon while driving home. Thought catching the bird too was a nice touch ;-) And yes, it is as close as it looks, I hope it managed to pull up before reaching the freeway!