mermaids

We wanted to do something in the mountains, but, collectively, we have way too many orthopedic issues to even think about hiking.  Gem mining sounded like a good excuse to drive up into the mountains and enjoy the view from our car.  We typed the location into Tom the GPS and off we went.  After a thousand twists and hairpin turns, Tom took us to a very rocky dirt road.  At this point we were going on total faith in Tom because we had absolutely no idea where we were or where we were going.  Good ol’ Tom took us right to the front gate where we were greeted by these guys: 

   and this adorable little guy: 

The dogs were quite friendly.  The owner said, “You must have a GPS because there is no way you would have found us without one.”  Apparently all the road markers had been blown down with the recent strong winds. 

I had visions of a very cheesy, high commercial operation with the Gift Shop being the big focus.  Nope.  This was a gorgeous, tranquil farm.  She gives you a bucket and a shovel, then shows where to dig.  Once you have the bucket of dirt, she shows how to sift the dirt through screens in a trough.  The water is diverted from a beautiful little babbling brook.  The water was cold and it was breezy, but the sun felt warm on our faces.  Who knew sifting through dirt could be so relaxing.  We were not expecting to find much in the way of gems.  One or two each would have been exciting.  Well, we each found a little plastic baggie full of sparkly things.  It was mostly rose quartz, fluorite, smoky topaz, and amethyst.  We even found several rubies and sapphires. Of course, they are all unpolished, uncut, and not really gem quality.  Nonetheless, it was fun to find them. 

Checking out the farm animals was an added bonus.  I cannot remember the name of the geese, but she said it is the only breed that does not chase after people.  A very fine quality in a goose, indeed.  I loved the ruffled feathers…so festive….    

Cows have always been a favorite of mine.  They have those big, sweet eyes.  They are good to eat.  They make great coats, bags, and shoes.  This pretty girl let me pet her and even mooed for me.  I did not tell her that the sight of her made me hungry for a burger. 

This horse came walking down the path as if he were jealous of the attention the cow was getting. 

Heading home after a long day at the mine….

If you click on any of the photos, it will take you my Flickr account where I have even more photos.  I am in love with our new camera.  Most of these photos are straight from the camera.  The only editing I did was a little bit of cropping.  I have zero photo skills so this is very exciting for me.  The animals and beautiful scenery just begged to photographed.