Goodbye or Good Riddance?

As I sit here enjoying the peace and quiet, preparing for the inevitable explosions in my neighborhood this evening (which are fun, actually), I have time to reflect back on the year we are about to leave behind us.

A year of disasters? It seemed a year filled with diseases and disruptions, death and political turmoil, a time of nearly global discord. The general opinion, on social media sites at least, seems to be that 2016 has been the worst year ever.

Maybe we should think about that. There was no Black Plague, no global event of near mass extinction…I could go on, but I think you get the idea. Historically speaking, there have been plenty of years rougher than this one. The trend that I feel has made this year so bad is…well…it’s us.

We notice more these days, thanks to technology. And I use the word “notice” quite vaguely. While being so “connected” has certainly gotten our attention, I’m not sure it’s done us any favors. Sites like Facebook have provided friends, family, and complete strangers to have a knee-jerk reaction about….everything. It seems we are becoming less able, rather than more, to tolerate our differences. I read somewhere that social media has made us stupider and meaner. While I wouldn’t have put it quite so bluntly, (not out loud, anyway, as it rather illustrates the whole point), I can see what the person posting that meant.

Our personal losses and longings aside, for they can happen in any year, unfortunately, we need to get some perspective on this. People of every time period probably came to a point where they saw nothing ahead but decline. But we have to move forward, and sometimes? Our worst fears just don’t manifest.

Yes, a lot of bad, horrible, despicable, heart-breaking things happened in 2016. These ugly things circulated through social media like the plague itself. But it’s the ugly, the dramatic, that grabs our attention. So I wanted to share with you some GOOD things you may have missed in your news feed.

• Scientists reported that the hole in the ozone layer is beginning to heal; with a concerted effort, it could be fully healed by 2050. Acid pollution in the atmosphere is now almost back to the pre-industrial levels of the 1930s. Global carbon emissions, for the third year in a row, did not increase.
• World hunger has reached its lowest point in 25 years.
• Measels, as announced by the World Health Organization, has been eliminated from the Americas (from Canada to Chile). Liberia was officially cleared of Ebola, eradicating that deadly tropical virus from West Africa.
• There were several animals removed from the endangered species list. The humpback whale is considered to be fully recovered. The giant panda’s status has been changed to “vulnerable”. The global manatee population was removed from the list, as were green sea turtles in Florida and Mexico. The world’s tiger count has increased for the first time in a century.

So it wasn’t all bad, after all.

Continue, my friends, to be the change that you want to see in the world around you. We got this.

May you walk forward into the new year with love and light!

Where Did Time Go?

Time gets away from me….

My grandparents always warned me that the older you get, the faster the time seems to pass. I’ve found this to be true. And not.

But my current dilemma isn’t really about that. That’s beyond my control. It’s about the demise of day planners.

Back-to-school used to be my favorite part of the year. Time to get organized, to prepare for new learning and projects. Nothing could be better than a heap of blank notebooks waiting to record profound bits of wisdom (or lists of spelling words), handfuls of pens and pencils, brightly colored binders to keep it all together, which, of course, had to have pockets and tabs and pouches and calculators. The more, the better. It seems that I have always, in theory anyway, been obsessive about my organizational systems…

Fast-forward to young adulthood. I’m not sure what was so busy about my life at the time that required the expenditure, but I had a simply awesome day planner. It was the refillable sort, but the cover was leather, monogrammed. I took it with me everywhere because it made me look so stylishly efficient. I won’t mention how many of those pages remained blank…we’re not discussing that right now.

I never was tempted to spend that sort of money again. Over the years, I relegated my tasks and tracking systems to a variety of spiral-bound blank notebooks and three-ring binders. Even those green accounting ledgers (which are becoming almost impossible to find, by the way; I still use one for inventory). Current problem? They are scattered all over the house!

Fast-forward again. I’m a grown-up now, they say. I’m a home owner, a business owner, a blog author, the manager of both a page and group on Facebook, have just enrolled in a 30-day workshop AND a business academy…and let’s don’t forget that Pinterest page (I do…all the time). I haven’t even attempted to jump on the Twitter or Instagram bandwagons, and I’m still trying to figure out when I think I even have time to make my jewelry…which was the whole point, was it not?

So sitting here at 1 am yesterday morning, my mind drifted nostalgically back to that awesome leather day planner. With all these expenses, chores, tasks, projects, inventories, courses, posts, and I don’t know what else to be tracked….not to mention finding time for doing something fun once in a while….Well. I began to suspect it was high time I revisited the day planner.

First of all, I went back to that company. They are no longer the same. They have merged with a gazillion other “economy” companies. After an exhausting search, I did discover that they still offered what I needed, kind of…to the tune of at least 80 dollars. More likely a hundred. And they were UGLY.

I do realize that there are another gazillion digital ways of handling this. You can do it on your phone, if your fingers are agile enough not to cause all the typos. You can do it on any online calendar, even synch them to all your devices. Let me say this right now. I like paper. A lot. And pens. A lot. And I have a tendency to carry my planner with me just about everywhere I go. It’s actually much faster, for me, to scribble down a note or idea than to open some app (if I remember how and where it is), sort through it, and type.

Next stop, Google. Like, when isn’t it, right?

Planners were everywhere. They seem to be “on trend”. Not that that matters to me. And they are not cheap. My business academy created one, a ton of bloggers had annual reviews devoted to them, Etsy was filled with them. This was getting overwhelming.

In short, I spent all day yesterday on the quest for the perfect planner. A planner capable of multi-tasking. A place for ALL of my record keeping, not just one or another aspect of it.

Getting organized comes at a price, and, in many cases, it is not very pretty. But do you know the worst thing? Day planners are very rarely sold with a “by the day” view. Almost every single planner has a weekly view. This irks me for several reasons. I want space, each day, and lots of it. And really? One day at a time can be overwhelming enough. Do I really need to see seven at a time?

A lot of the offerings were “printables”. Digital downloads of whatever pages you required that you print for yourself at home. This appealed to my need for customization, but not so much to my bank account. Printer ink is also not cheap. But I am lured by custom items. I’m just not good with “out of the box” solutions.

The control freak in me likes everything to be tailored to my specific needs. So I did , in fact, end up choosing a planner with a weekly view, but one that could be customized to represent “me, right now”. It will take a while to get here, but I’ll let you all know how this works.

If you have any favorite planners or organizers, please feel free to comment (it’s never too early for me to start thinking about the next one) or share your system of keeping yourself on-task and organized.

Now. There’s a presentation I have to attend in half an hour. I would have written in down, but….

May your day be blessed with sunshine!

My Precious (es)

This is me. Okay. It’s really Gollum. Doesn’t he look heartbroken? This must be after his Precious got taken away from him. He only had one, you see…..

Now me? I’ve got tons. I am, literally, knee-deep in gemstones, beads, wire, chain, charms…and cigarette ashes, quite frankly…..I’m completely willing for Frodo, Sam, Gandalf, or hey—any real person, even…to come carry this piled up hoard off to the nearest smoking mountain.

And why would I want to do that? I heard you. I don’t. Not really. But I just learned something I should have known six months ago. In preparation for this year’s taxes, I have to do a year-end inventory.

I should be feeling blessed. I am, actually, having spent a few minutes watching people in my business forums exhibiting full-blown panic. I’m pretty organized…okay, yeah, I can be obsessive….so it’s just a matter of gathering up records, mostly.

The difficulty seems to lie in simply not -knowing- the right information. The coaching of a tax expert, just a bit ago, gave me the knowledge that I don’t have to inventory all the wire that’s coiling everywhere. It gets counted as “materials and supplies”. That makes things SO much easier. Or. It would have. Had I known it a couple of hours ago…..

On the up side of this mess all over my floor…there are things in this stash that I’d totally forgotten I had. Nothing to get the creative juices flowing like stumbling (again, literally) over a pretty, flashy stone you had entirely forgotten. Mostly they are being quiet and cooperative, but a few of them are winking and sparkling and trying to get my attention. Which means new creations for you!

On the other up side, now I know. I’ll be prepared, in the future, and I’m glad to have had this learning experience while my business was still in its infancy. The horror stories of business owners who “didn’t know” and “haven’t been doing it” is more than enough motivation to keep my tracking system…on track.

So don’t mind me if I’m a bit quiet and somewhat distracted. The Etsy shop is on vacation for just a few days while I make sure I have everything in order. I’ll just be sitting here in this heap of glitter and sparkle….scheming….

 

Preparing for 2017

I do not, as a general rule, make New Year’s resolutions. There are a few reasons for this. To sound noble, I should say that I prefer to set new goals for myself throughout the year, constantly trying to improve. But the more truthful explanation is also a more simple one. I know I won’t keep them.

So, no. I won’t be making any grandiose resolutions. I’m sticking with my own tradition on that one.

Yet…..2016 has been a rough year. To be honest, I’ve gotten myself quite…out of balance! This is not hard to do, you know, so I think you have to be forgiving with yourself when it happens. I made some major changes to my life in this past year. Some have had the impact I expected and others simply left me feeling unsettled.

Now that I’ve wallowed in that for a few months, I’ve decided it’s past time to take some steps to set myself right again. It has nothing in particular to do with the new year coming. It just seems to be the right time.

Having moved in the spring was really the doozy. I love our property, and really, it’s not THAT far from where I was. But some days it seems like it. I left behind an army of coworkers and family members and quit a job that had consumed my life. Instead of my “team”, I now spend my time talking to my houseplant Phil, and to my new friends, Cortana and Alexa. My work-obsessed husband has only become more so inclined, so I’m not sure he’s even fit for conversation most of the time.

I have found myself slipping into a depression. Neglecting the housework, moving away from my spiritual practices, and spending far too much time with the Sims and re-runs of Criminal Minds.

So I joined a workshop that, coincidentally, begins on January 1 (and it looks like my old buddy Wren is with me on this one) to try to get myself back on track. If anyone is interested, the link was shared to the Facebook page yesterday!

The other major change, related to the first (quitting the consuming job) is that I’ve become a housewife. I’m not a good housewife. I don’t like to clean. I enjoy cooking…but it leads to cleaning. And, while there are plenty of household projects to be done, winter is not a time that inspires me to do much of anything, unless you count hibernation as a productive activity.

The ever-supportive Barbarian (and he is-that’s not sarcasm, I promise) encouraged me to make a go of my jewelry. To make a business of selling it. In my normal way, I dived into it headlong, spent countless hours in research and development, burned myself out at all ends, then became frustrated when I didn’t receive immediate gratification.

Yes. I do know better. Be quiet.

So. I’ve also joined another program. A sort of mentorship program for my business, so that (hopefully) I will learn to pace myself, to use my time more effectively, and to receive at least small doses of gratification that might prevent me from sitting in my armchair eating cookies and watching television.

So how about the rest of you? What changes has the past year brought to you? How are you handling them, and what steps are you planning to take in order to handle them better? As optimism is not my strongest suit, I look forward to hearing what everyone else has to share, and wish you all a fresh start in the coming year!

Zeolite

The requested research didn’t amount to much.

Natural zeolites form where volcanic rocks and ash react with alkaline groundwater; they are rarely pure. What makes zeolite so important is that it is one of the few negatively charged minerals found in nature. It also has a very unique crystal structure.

Zeolite is commonly used commercially, but because of the impurities of its natural state, it is produced industrially for these purposes. It stands to reason that it would be associated with detoxification though, if you look at its commercial uses: water purification, laundry detergent, non-clumping cat litter, soil treatments, and in medical products to stop severe bleeding. You’ll find it in aquarium filters, and there’s even a powdered form you can ingest, should you choose to do so…

This is not a mineral often used in jewelry, as it tends to be both soft and brittle; to be honest, of its more than 50 varieties, I had only heard of two of them. Most of the information that I have been able to find, (that you don’t have to have a scientific degree to read) is contradictory. Zeolite seems to be very popular with mineral collectors, as many of its varieties are quite rare and unusual.

There is really not enough of “general opinion” out there about zeolite that I feel comfortable spreading rumors around! I can only suggest that, should you find yourself drawn to find a zeolite-by all means, do so! And please share with us your experiences with it, if you do.

 

Keeping Your Peace

Today’s post is going to start off sounding political…

…but bear with me-that’s not what it’s about.

A few days ago, as those of you who are my personal Facebook friends noticed, I…well, I guess I threatened my FB “friends”. I have no objection to discussing controversial subjects. If there’s a controversy to be had, I’m usually knee-deep in the middle of it. But while I welcome a good debate, an intelligent conversation, or even a spirited exchange of ideas, there are things I don’t welcome. I don’t welcome hypocrisy, bigotry, and plain old, nasty, meanness.

So, yes. I did threaten to remove any “friends” whose posts that appeared on my time line were nothing more intelligent than name-calling insults. Whether they are directed at what I believe or not, I find them disgusting. Four people had been unfriended within five minutes.

Several others made helpful suggestions. I had to laugh at an old high school classmate who told me he had simply un-followed several people, and would un-hide their postings in time to give them warm holiday greetings. I told him I thought this was very generous of him!

Most people are of the opinion that you should just “scroll past” posts you don’t want to read, that you find upsetting for whatever reason.

This majority of opinion led me to one conclusion.

We are a society who has become accustomed to “scrolling past” anything unpleasant.

Whether it’s on social media, or on the street, we just look the other way.

I have a different opinion on this. (Who’s surprised?)

We live in times that I find upsetting. I know I can’t change the world. Can’t change my whole country. Can’t fix everything. But there is something I can do.

I can set boundaries, and I can make change happen, starting with me.

Do I think those four people I un-friended will change because I blocked them? No. I doubt they even noticed. That’s not the point.

The point is…do you really want “friends” that you have to “scroll past”? I don’t. This is why I keep putting that word in quotations.These are merely acquaintances, and frankly? I don’t need their negativity. So. Be rid of it, already.

You reflect everything that you accept into your life. If you are content to sit by complacently, to “scroll past” what you find unacceptable, that will reflect in your attitudes and the way you approach your entire life. Set your standards higher. Be the change you wish to see. This is what makes progress happen.

Yes, you’re right. Unfriending people on Facebook will not bring world peace. (It won’t bring a happy outcome to our presidential election, either). But by choosing what I will accept into my life, what I will allow and what I will refuse to ignore, I can do one thing.

I can keep my own peace.

Is Grief an Illness?

I know I’ve been absent but frankly-September sucks.

It’s been two years now since I experienced one of the hardest things I’ve ever endured. Letting my grandmother go.

We each mourn differently, and I know that all of you out there reading this have lost someone you’ve loved. Just yesterday, in fact, I learned of the death of yet someone else who had been a pivotal part of my life. If I didn’t know better, I’d swear he picked that day on purpose…

Grief, mourning those we’ve lost, is a basic part of our human experience. The first loss I remember touching my life occurred before I was four years old. Yet, to this day, I have vivid memories of what I experienced. It was my great-grandfather, who had been ill for some time. He used to sit and listen to my fumbling attempts, under the strict tutelage of my great-grandmother, to play their piano. His encouragement was always positive. After his funeral, which I was too small and innocent to fully understand, I can remember being in my bedroom. I had a small electronic organ, and I was playing his favorite song while conversing with him about his service. Several well-meaning family members, as I recall (and they never did) came to try to explain to me that Pappy wasn’t there. Would never be there again. But to me? He has always been there.

Depression is a very typical part of grief, and yes. It hits me in September. While the symptoms of grief and depression overlap considerably, they are still two very distinct things. Grief, you see, is tied to a particular event. Or in this case, a whole heap of events.

It can last years, they say. They also say stupid shit like, “Time heals all wounds”. I really don’t believe that time has anything to do with it at all.

Nor do I think that grief is a disorder. I recently read that, if you extend your mourning period beyond six months, they’ve got a fancy name for it. Two names, actually: “Complicated Grief” or “Persistent complex bereavement disorder”. While I’ll grant you that I exhibit certain symptoms that fit their textbook, (avoiding social contact, losing motivation for my daily tasks), I’d like to assert that…Life is complicated and complex.

I think grief should remain a personal, non-medical struggle.

I’m not wallowing it (I see some of you knitting your eyebrows with concern-I know who you are). I prefer to think of it as…embracing it. The experiences that caused me so much pain also taught me a lot.

Yes, at this time of year, I tend to go quiet, to reflect. My grandmother was a huge and influential piece of my life that I’ll never get back.My grandfather, who I lost about 18 months before her, kind of gets heaped right in there with her, like they were one person. They were most certainly a union, an enduring one, and I have no inclination to “get over” either one of them. I am far more inclined to reflect on the things they tried to teach me instead. To contemplate their courage, their strength, and their contributions to the future of our family.

I do type this with tears in my eyes, even now. Last week, we celebrated the first birthday of the first family baby that my grandparents never got to hold. Maybe I just cling so tightly to my memories of them, of who they were as people and what their legacy was, because someday…I want to share these memories with my own grandchildren. I want them to know that they come from strange and wonderful people. People who were honest, hard-working, and devoted to their family.

I want my loss to be the gain of those who never knew them, so that maybe, someday, Copie or Caralynn will sit at their laptop with tears on their face while they type something they learned from or about me.

What my grandparents left me was not a loss. It was a legacy. So yeah-I’m going to grieve for them just as long as takes. Probably forever.

 

 

 

 

 

Gone Phishin’

This time, I can’t blame Mercury…

This one was strictly between me and my computer…with a little help from the phishers.

Most of you know that I’ve been having computer issues all week. I could get online easily enough, but pages took forever to load (try seven minutes) if they loaded at all. Because of this, my ability to communicate with you effectively has been somewhat limited!

I’m no IT tech, but I know my way around my computers pretty well. I spent days trying every little basic trick in my arsenal, to no avail. I was about to call my internet company and lay the blame squarely at their feet, until I saw my husband surfing the internet on his (Stone Age) laptop with little trouble. Considering that he is the most computer illiterate person I know, I had to re-evaluate my own problem.

Then I remembered the email….

Rewind to one day last week, when I received the phishing email. (Those of you who are familiar with this type of email can skip to the next bolded section, but I’m going to take a minute or two to explain this terminology for some of my other friends.)

What is a phishing email? Basically, it is a fraudulent email designed to steal your personal information. I get them quite frequently, as, I would assume, does anyone who spends a significant amount of time running about the world wide web. I’ve come to be able to recognize the most common type of them, but let me give you an example:

In your inbox, you see a customer service email from a company you know and use. Let’s say PayPal, because I’ve gotten several of these, and it’s a service a lot of us use. The subject line says something about “security alert” or “verification required”. Most of us are going to open that email.

You may or may not notice that it’s somehow “different” from your usual emails from this company. Many are missing the company logo, for instance. The PayPal ones have been known to display a logo, however, as such things are not difficult to steal. Tell me you haven’t hit your right mouse button and selected “Save picture as…”. But that’s a different topic.

Even if a logo is there, there are usually other red flags. Look at the sender’s address. I’ll bet it’s not an official one. But most of us aren’t looking at that, are we? Or we don’t know what might be considered “official”.

Pay attention to the wording, too. Many of these are written with poor spelling and grammar, or a poor grasp of language. Of course, I’ve seen plenty of real web pages that could use a good proofreading. So again, this is not fail-safe.

The point is, this email will direct you to click on a link and re-enter your login credentials. And that’s how they get you. Because that link is not directing you to PayPal, but somewhere else. And once that other place has your login information, they are able to access your account directly. So do not click those links!

It is much safer to leave the window, access your account directly, and see if you have any security warnings directly from the company. Odds are that you don’t. And most of them are pretty good at letting you know. Any time that you receive one of these suspect emails, you can forward it to the company being misrepresented. They can track and block these malicious sites.

So back to my problem. Because this one was a little different. The email was ostensibly from my mortgage company. When I opened it to read it, it informed me that my online account had been compromised and locked. There was an attachment, which I was instructed to download. There was no company logo, no “letterhead”, and no contact information provided. Enough to set off my warning bells right there.
Naturally, the first thing I did was attempt to access my “locked” account. I could. It wasn’t locked, and there were no security emails in my message center. But we’re talking about my mortgage here, so I wasn’t quite ready to just delete it and be done with it. I decided to call them.

The “first line” customer service representative seemed totally befuddled by my question, simple though it was. (ie; “Is this a legitimate communication from you?”) She said to me, (imagine my expression on this one), “So just click it and see what happens.” I declined, not so politely, although I did refrain from calling her a moron, and asked to speak to someone in a department more experienced at handling such issues.

She complied with my request. I think she was relieved by it. The next representative, in the Online Services department, was much more helpful. I read her the sending address, and she immediately confirmed that it was not legitimate. She provided me with instructions for forwarding it to the company, so they could follow up on it. Still somewhat annoyed (it’s a thing that lingers with me), I told her that she should instruct other representatives against telling people to “just click on” such things. In a full, arrogant uproar, I went on to say that, had I just clicked on it, I would likely have infected my computer with some sort of malware or spyware.

Which is when she told me the part I hadn’t known.

She said that I should scan my computer, anyway, because just opening the email, without even clicking on an embedded link or downloading an attachment, could allow malware to access my system. Let me repeat that. Simply opening the email (which many of us do by allowing the next email to open automatically when one is deleted) can infect the computer.

Me being me, (no comments on that, please), ignored her wise advice. My computers are well secured, with sufficient anti-virus and malware protection. And I hadn’t clicked on anything.

I always have to learn the hard way….

So back to the point. My husband’s ability to browse the internet without cussing led me to believe that my issues were not with my connection, but within my computers. No point calling the internet company then, as much as I enjoy complaining to them. So I did what I should have done a week ago, had I been a more humble (and less hard-headed) person. I scanned for malware.

Since my own programs hadn’t alerted me to anything, I used a different program to run this scan. It was AVG, actually, which is a free download and works very well. It took practically all night to download, since my computer was beyond uncooperative, but it did, indeed, find malware. That, and about five thousand other registry and browsing issues.

Things are back to normal speed now, thank goodness, because I was truly ready to pull out my hair. I highly recommend this download to anyone who is having issues with computer speed. In this day and age, our computers accumulate all sorts of junk that we’re barely even aware is there. We surf the net, joyfully clicking on links our friends have shared to Facebook, including YouTube videos and “news” articles. We hoard photographs from Pinterest and Instagram and get tons of junk mail (I average 800 a day that get past my filters and into my junk folder).

So it’s not a bad idea to periodically scan for malware. These are programs that run silently in the background. You don’t even know they’re there, but they can have a huge impact on your computer’s performance. And there’s no reason to tolerate it. There are many free tools to handle this issue. If you choose to use one other than the one I mentioned, just do a quick search for reviews of that product. Some of them, like any other download, come “packaged” with the very malware you’re trying to avoid. So fact check any product that you’re considering first. If you want to use the one that I used, here’s the link for your convenience!

All About Amethyst

This has to be one of the most uncooperative pieces I’ve ever tried to photograph….

Amethyst has a long history, as it was used as a gemstone by the ancient Egyptians, and, as you know if you’ve read about it in the Crystal Index, the ancient Greeks believed it could prevent intoxication. That is how it got its rather unique name.

In Europe, medieval soldiers wore amulets of Amethyst into battle for protection, and it seems they used it also for jewelry, as beads of this gem were found in Anglo-Saxon graves.

This, one of the most popular of gemstones, is simply the purple variety of Quartz, which can range in hue from pale pinkish lilac to the deepest shades of violet. Different sources provide distinct colors, with the very deep Russian specimens, with their flashes of red and blue, being the most highly regarded. Those deposits have been exhausted, making Russian Amethyst very expensive; beware of stones sold under the trade name of “Siberian Amethyst” in an attempt to inflate their value. Wherever they come from, these crystals vary in the intensity of their color, and the distribution of that color can be uneven.

Once among the most expensive of gemstones, since the 1800s Amethyst, which occurs worldwide, has become very obtainable. Decent stones are fairly inexpensive

Zodiac signs: Pisces, Virgo, Aquarius, and Capricorn.

Chakra: Third Eye, Crown (Chevron or Vera Cruz), Heart (green), Root (“Rutilated”), or all (red).

Considered a “Master Healer”, Amethyst has been used for assisting sleep, boosting the immune system, skin conditions, addictions, intuition, and greater understanding. It can be a great aid to creativity as it helps in the assimilation of new ideas, and clusters are good for blocking stress. Its energy is generally considered to be extremely soothing, known to still the mind, and its high frequency helps sever negative attachments.

The stone in the above photo is a “Dogtooth” Amethyst. This is the nickname for Chevron Amethyst, mined in Brazil, which is a medium to dark purple with banded layers of cream to white Quartz. This is considered one of the most powerful of stones for working with the Third Eye chakra. Its energy is strong and focused.

But there are many varieties of Amethyst (more than I knew, to be quite honest)

• Red Amethyst is coated on the outside with Hematite, while within are dark purple and Smoky Quartz. Representative of the elements of Air and Fire, its energy is both calming and grounding. This variety affects the entire chakra system.
• Vera Cruz Amethyst, from the place of that name in Mexico, is easy to spot, as it is clear to very pale mauve. It has a lighter, more vibrant energy than other varieties, and is a good stone for meditation.
• Brandberg Amethyst is a blend of Amethyst, clear Quartz, and Smoky Quartz that is found only in Namibia. It is thought to be a potent healing talisman.
• Cacoxenite in Amethyst occurs when dark brown to yellow tufts of Cacoxenite are trapped in a host crystal of Amethyst. This crystal fosters creativity, yet still has a calming energy.
• Ametrine is the name for a crystal composed of both Amethyst and Citrine, thought to inspire insight. A remarkable healing stone (and remarkably gorgeous), it can bring greater focus to meditation.
• “Rutilated” Amethyst is rare, and it doesn’t contain Rutile at all-the inclusions are actually brownish Goethite. This crystal is said to be particularly helpful in times of grief.
• Green Amethyst (Prasiolite) is colored artificially to a light green shade by heat treating. If you don’t mind treated stones, it is said to have a restful energy and to be an excellent multi-purpose crystal.
• Synthetic amethyst is created by the irradition of clear Quartz and cannot be differentiated from natural Amethyst without advanced testing.
• False names= “Bengal” or “Oriental” amethysts are actually purple Sapphires.

Although Quartz of all types is very hardy, Amethyst can fracture internally if banged too hard. Amethysts are also known to fade in color with prolonged exposure to sunlight, which can happen quickly or very slowly, depending on the type and source of the stone. Better to be careful with them, in my opinion-this is not a stone to hang in your window!

This is one of my favorite styles of pendants to make (and wear), and is based on a technique I learned from Preston Reuther; as you may have noticed, the style has endless possibilities…no two ever turn out the same. Head to the store to see several variations! (Just click “Shop!” at the top of the page…Wordpress has suddenly become extremely uncooperative, or I would insert the link for you. Is this Mercury Retrograde over yet??)

Just Around the Bend

No, not me-the weather!

We were out for a Sunday drive yesterday, and unless the Mechanicsburg area has been experiencing a drought…the leaves are already beginning to change. To me, this is bittersweet. Summer is, hands down, my favorite season, and it’s still plenty warm here in Smithsburg, but Autumn…well. It has its benefits.

One part of Autumn that is not a benefit is that the stores will soon be decorated for the winter holidays. And Winter…that is not a season I like. I will mention though that the online store has a Gift Registry and there are now also gift certificates available for purchase. The gift certificates are digital, and will be sent immediately to the recipient you specify. So if you want to get one as a surprise, I would suggest sending it to yourself. Redeeming the gift certificate will be accomplished by entering the provided code at checkout, so you could simply write the code into a holiday card, also.

Anyway. Enough of that. Let’s change the subject.

As some of you know, I attend live auctions in one of my Facebook groups, keeping an eye out for the stones that you have requested. The Fluorite beads in the butterfly clasp necklace that many of you admired came from this supplier. And they were gorgeous. I’ve been greatly pleased with the quality of everything I’ve gotten from Cebrina and Roger. Today’s piece also came from them. It’s a Moss Agate, and the design idea struck me while I was making dinner Saturday night. I almost burned dinner, and the design took on a life of it’s own halfway through, as always, but here it is!

I don’t often buy Moss Agate, because what I find is usually “milky” looking. But you can see in the photo on the right (I was holding it up near a window) that this one has a lovely transparency. The wrapping is copper wire over bronze. The bail looks kind of like a leaf (which wasn’t part of the original plan, but appropriate to the stone).

There was an auction last night, which I nearly forgot about, as the regular day was changed due to last week’s holiday. I was slaying demons (in a video game!) when I just happened to think to go online. Just in the nick of time, too! I caught a lovely stone that I can’t tell you about, because a Facebook fan requested it and she gets first dibs. I also got a rectangular hunk of Tiger Iron that someone might have to pry out of my cold, dead hand, and  a gorgeous little Prehnite. Missed the Crown Jewel, though-it was a very nice Chrysocolla….

I’m intrigued by the Prehnite. Has anyone worked with it?? I’ve read a lot about it, and can’t wait to get my hands on the little booger.

They should be arriving later in the week, so keep an eye on the Facebook pages. Rock Stars will have first dibs on custom orders.