As long as I have a roof over my head, food on the table and bills paid I’m happy.
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I gotta few things to tend in the barn. I’ll catch yas later
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Later Johnny 
Take it easy Mr.Johnny! I’m going to burn one and try to lay down to ease some pain.
Gemstones ehy you ever hear of herkimer diamonds ?
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Hi @Rabeats2093, we did a family trip to the Hermkimer Diamond mines when my kids were little. I’ll never forget the absolute joy on my son’s face when we turned him loose with a three pound sledge hammer and a cave full of crystals! He hammered away at those cave walls till he could hardly stand up.
Thanks for popping that memory into my head this mornin! 
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lol yes I have cuz, but… they’re not real diamonds, just double terminated quartz crystal
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No problem lot of good memories digging with the ol timers when I was in my teens still have some keepers we find them in the back yard lol
But have you heard of piggy backs hydros smokes tabby’s all variety’s of a herkimer diamond
I happen to have a few in my collection of stones
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yes, I even have a piggyback in the collection also
Did you know there were some jeweler/diamond cutters in NYC that actually faceted and sold them as real diamonds?
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I did not know that !! Wouldn’t put it past anyone though always people out to ruin a good thing
It wasn’t anything that made world class news lol Only one or two and not for long before they got ‘busted’ It was before my time but my grampa told me about it. He’s the first jeweler in our family and who i learned from.
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That’s awesome man I use to hang with a bunch of dead heads they use to wrap jewelry and go to the rock and gems shows in Arizona some made a living digging not rich but got by doing what they loved …
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I still have a lot of the tools he used, and my pops too. Like an old mechanical faceting machine
these are some of the gemstones I had in my traveling shop lol This is 3 generations of ‘on hand stock’ used to make jewelry.
I specialize in turquoise though
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Most of the faceted ones were made by my grampa and pop, most of the cabochons, calibrated or not were made by myself. This piece is one of my top sellers, with a lot of orders over the years
lol and yes, it’s a calibrated piece. not freeform
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Although I haven’t been able to make anything since the vertigo has set in, the wife still does some design and stringing when she can.
All of my turquoise I get from US mines only.
If I sold the family collection I’d be in good shape I guess. But it’s now in my son’s bailiwick. They are 4th gen growers as well as the construction and jewelers. It’s passed down to me and now to them. Although still actually ‘mine’ it’s not truly mine, you know?
But by selling those, the family would pretty much be outta the jewelry biz!
We have a lot of family heirlooms & antiques passed down, and I even considered selling some to help with the bills. But I’m not really the ‘owner’, just the family caretaker. Then I thought about the seeds I have lol that helped!
This pillow is the oldest we have. It’s hand made by my great, great, grandmother (grampa’s grandmother) in the late1790s-early 1800s era. Brain tanned doe hide, hand stitched deign, stuffed with straw. On display to my right on the wall
It’s tattered and worn a bit, but a survivor! lol
lol kinda like me, I guess
A lot of people don’t know this tidbit. But any animal’s brain is exactly enough to tan that animal’s hide, once stretched and fletched. Not enough, or too much, for another animal of the same species!
That’s a ‘general rule of thumb’ I’m sure there are the occasional times a person might find another animal of the same species that a brain from another might do the job…
if the hide is close enough in dimensions
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Dam where we’re these pictures a few weeks back ? I’d of ordered something for my wife for Christmas .
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lol the subject never came up cuz
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But lol you know there’s always Birthday, anniversary, Mother’s day etc
Just keep me in mind when those days come along lol
These are professional, not DIY hobbyist
Also everything comes with a ‘Certificate of Authenticity’ made by certified Native American artisan
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