Saturday, February 18, 2012

A Walk In The Woods: Mozarkite...

Some people drag home stray animals. I don't have to do that, because they always seem to find us. Instead, I'm always dragging home stray rocks - even the ones Big Daddy calls leverites, which in case you missed it here before are rocks about which he says, "leave 'er right there." After washing off the dirt and grime, I usually toss them into the front garden or into one of several baskets of rocks worked into the "decor" (term used very loosely)...
One of the smaller baskets of rocks lying around the house - already much fuller than when this was taken.
Or they get crammed carefully and thoughtfully added  ;-) to the built-in shelves at Le Rustique where the previous owners displayed precious fragile antique heirlooms...
Built-in shelves at Le Rustique (glass doors permanently removed) - also already much fuller than when
this was taken. I know, I really need to paint the old wood panel in the back, but there's always
something else higher on the priority list.
On our last walk in the woods, Big Daddy found the rock on the right and gave it to me to bring back. He wasn't sure what it was, but he knew it wasn't a leverite. After a little poking around the web, I think it (and the other two in the picture found on previous walks) are mozarkite.
I'm no geologist, but I think all three of these are mozarkite. I wish the big one weren't cracked, as I'm
afraid it won't hold together forever. And I have no idea why the one is so polished already.
Aside: I've just finished staining the new wood window and sill (which you can see in the photo above) in the kitchen, and I'm ready to seal it. One smaller window down, ten bigger ones to go. Who knew wood windows come with unfinished interiors - presumably so you can choose whether to paint or stain? Just one more thing on my to-do list. I'll report back in about a year.

If you're a rock hound, you probably know more than I do about these rocks. I'm open to hearing whatever you have to add. Following are the primary sites I used to make my guess.



13 comments:

  1. i don't know my rocks, but i'm a rock lover, too. just love that term, leverite. :)

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  2. Very pretty!

    I agree...I love the term leverite!

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  3. I don't know anything, but I think they are very neat. If I found anything like that, I'd want to keep it, too.

    That big one is amazing! :)

    My brother does something similar. When they go camping along Lake Michigan, he looks for Petoskey Stones. Here's a link to one of his posts, so you can see what they look like. http://wynedge.blogspot.com/2007/08/back-home-again.html

    Enjoy the rest of your weekend. :)

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    1. That IS an interesting stone. I've spent many vacations in that neck of the woods, and I never heard of it. I need to try his polishing method on my cracked big stone. Thanks for the link, Linda

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  4. Good morning Charade,
    To polish the Petoskey stone, I bought a sanding 'kit'. I'm not sure that would work on your stones. The Petoskey stone is a 'soft' stone.
    But those are some pretty stones you got. :-)

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  5. My wife's brother has his doctorate in Geology! He would love this!

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  6. I'm impressed with your beautiful found-rock collection! My boys bring home all sorts of rocks as well...and I have to be careful to empty out their pockets before I do the laundry!

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  7. You sound like Lucille Ball in her movie 'The Long, Long Trailer'!

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    1. I love Lucille Ball, but I'm not sure whether you mean that as a compliment or to imply I'm a little ditzy. Mention of that movie reminds me of another story (true? not?) about a guy who rented a fully-loaded mobile home for his family to explore the Rocky Mountains. On one particularly long stretch, he sets the cruise control and gets up from the driver's seat to use the on-board facilities. Miraculously, his family survives. When being questioned by the authorities he claims, "I'm going to have to sue the rental company. Obviously the cruise control wasn't working." ;-)

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    2. Thanks for clarifying off site. Now I get it! Lucy kept collecting more and more rocks on their vacation - and finally the trailer was so heavy it couldn't make it up the hill. Doh - I'm not as ditzy as I am dense (and totally forgetful of the details of particular movies).

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  8. Thanks for the visit. My turn.

    Can't have enough rocks. Unless, you're trying to clear land. ;)

    I see we have a few blogs in common. Hidden Haven lives 6 miles from me. I bought a few rabbits from them 2 years ago. We've been blogging since.

    (ME) we're state neighbors. She lives a short distance north of me. I have no idea how we hooked up. And Lana (Farm Life Lessons) another chance meeting.

    I stalk some of your followers, too.

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  9. Are your new rocks related to the quartz family? They have the same kind of shine and flowing lines.

    I have a small Rock Garden that is doing its part to replace the wildly spreading mint alongside my house. Some of the rocks are "leverites" to other people, I'm sure.

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  10. Not many interesting rocks around here -- these are very cool. Love the striations. :)

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