Sunrise Surprise

I had forgotten how the difference in colors between the tourmaline C-axis with the other directions and the frequent bicolor or tricolor often created surprises in the appearance of the finished stones.

In this case, the rough showed a nice purple pink — except for the C-axis which was a lighter pink with a hint of gray brown.  I intended to cut the gem as a square brilliant, not as a step cut with “tourmaline” angles for the C-axis direction.  Thus I was prepared to see the face-up finished stone potentially a less desirable color the the purple pink of the rough.

However,  this tourmaline gave me a nice surprise.  It has orange highlights making a very pleasant combination. It reminds me of the colors of the sky that a sunrise can display on the clouds.   The finished stone is 4.95 cts.,  and 9.8mm. across with concave facets on pavilion.

Fall Back Time

This weekend we go through the ritual of turning back the clocks.  But only an hour.  If only we could turn back whole calendar pages, it would be much more useful.  My list of things to do for 2023 would have a better chance of having more items crossed off.

It seems that much of my gem related activity this year has been struggling with things I thought I had previously resolved.  Stones seemed to resist polishing.  And when it came to getting photographs, they were about a cooperative as a toddler posing for the holiday picture.

So now at the end of the year, I am finally getting around to faceting some of the tourmalines I purchased in Tucson back in February — February 2020 as well as February 2023.  So here are a few of the latest “off the dop”.

This is a little 1.06 carat chrome tourmaline (6.4 mm.) Just a lovely shade of green. (One that the digital camera liked as well.)

Next is a 2.58 carat light peachy tourmaline, 8.1 mm. across which has concave facets on both pavilion and crown.  The rough was bicolor, pink towards one end and light green at the other.  However, the green end was  not deep and was heavily included and cracked. I had thought that all of the green was being cut away in the process of getting the piece clean.  Apparently enough green was left so that there is a hint of green around the edge of the stone.

Here is another slightly darker peachy tourmaline with concave facets on both pavilion and crown. It is 3.26 carats and 8.9 mm. in diameter.  No green in this one.

 

And finally, a fairly traditional square green tourmaline.  It is 2.56 carats and 8.9 mm, across.  Of course I didn’t notice the lint captured on the upper facets until I was processing the photo.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jam Session

This spring the “May Gray” and the “June Gloom” dominated the weather.  There was not much time when the morning fog burned off and it started to roll back in again.  The veggies in the garden for the most part did not like that situation.  Germination was poor and what did sprout as well as most of the transplanted seedlings which had been started on the windowsill just sat there and sulked.  So it will be a late, and perhaps sparse harvest this year.


One of the exceptions is the berries.  The plants were moved from their original location a couple years ago and finally seem to have settled into the new spot.  While the berries are a bit on the small size, they are making up for it in quantity.  Ollalie berry, boysen berry, logan berry and a few other trailing varieties all became productive together.  And since blackberries have a short shelf life, it was time to turn the bounty into jam, jelly and pie.  The result was about three dozen jars of sweet stuff in the pantry and several pies in the freezer.

It remains to be seen if the upright varieties will be as productive.  In the past they seemed to be just about ripe at the same time we would get the one week of actual hot weather and the berries got cooked.  So far, the forecast is looking better for the berries than for the heat loving veggies.

 

 

Welcome Spring

Normally by the time of the vernal equinox, I have the garden beds prepped and ready to start planting.  Our climate is mild enough that frost is unlikely even in December or January, so late March is generally a good time to start the new growing season.  However, this year, the ongoing rains have made the soil too wet to work.  The first day of spring came bringing yet another wet storm.   Instead of being ready for seeds and seedlings, the raised beds are full of weeds that have enjoyed the protection of the soggy weather.

We have had several years of severe drought and this season’s rains have brought that to an end.  Our local reservoirs are just about full.  A couple of them will soon be spilling over for the first time in a quarter century.

The ten day forecast shows more rain this time next week so gardening will have to wait at  least another couple weeks.

 

Between the Storms

The latest series of storms finally cleared and so I was able to go out and pick some of the citrus that was on the trees lining our driveway.  The harvest included the remaining Moro Blood oranges, a basket of Valencia oranges and another of Dancy Tangerines, plus some Bearss limes and a lot of Meyer lemons. There is still a lot of fruit left on the trees.  In fact, it is hard to tell that I picked much at all.

The trees were put in the ground ten years ago and this is probably the most fruit they have produces in a season.  A couple of the tangerines which are smaller than the others fell victim to heavy “pruning” by our local deer a couple summers ago.  As it is, they still are able to munch on some of the lower branches of the larger trees, but there the impact is not as significant. Since we have had so much rain, they probably won’t be after the trees again until late summer.

The oranges, tangerines and lemons have been juiced.  A pitcher of the Moro Blood orange juice is in the fridge for my morning OJ over the coming days.  The other juice is in the freezer for the future days when the fresh citrus is out of season.