A few rocks I've found around the place that don't belong here Granite from road works, this could have come from Cornwall, or maybe Scotland. This comprises of Quartz, Mica and Feldspar. The larger quartz crystal in the middle is called a pegmatite. It's just cooled down over a longer period so it had time to form a bigger crystal. The pinker lump has got more feldspar than the others. Slate from the garden centre This is a metamorphosed mudstone formed during mountain building movements. It splits at 90 degrees to the old bedding planes and is used for roofing a lot. It comes in a few different shades and this one (blue/gray) probably comes from the quarry in Blaenau Ffestiniog in Wales where I used to work as a monumental mason in the 1990's. Larvikite. Used as a costal defence at one of our local beaches.
This is from round here, part of a girt fossil shell that was washed out of the chalk at the beach (It's on a 6 inch floorboard) Although it's Calcium Carbonate like the chalk it's harder and more resistant to erosion. When I used to keep Giant African Land Snails I gave them a girt lump of chalk. They used to eat it to form their shells. They'd eat the chalk away but leave fossils like this one.
Very interesting Ziggy. Reminds me what stories rocks have to tell about our generations of history long ago. Some of my fav stories are the centuries old cave with spectacular caverns carved by water tunnels with spectacular Stalagmites are deposited on the cave floor and grow upward by dripping water. The shape of the stalagmite is based mostly on the rate the water is dripping and from how many points on the ceiling the water drips. Then another treat to marvel at the beauty of formations hundreds of thousands of years old of sandstone hundreds of feet high and wide created over hundreds of years from wind and water in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming. I have also explored many mines thruout this country which has gifted me with many souvenirs and memories. Knowing the ancient history of each mine from the gold rush of California to the silver and turquoise mines in Nevada & thru the caves of glaciers and volcanos in Oregon & WASHINGTON. There are several huge rocks in the garden are on display . Some rocks I’ve dragged across the country just knowing that a particular 500 pound rock was unearthed by my father from a silver mine in Nevada which was under sea before the earth came to life looking much like a coral of some sort preserved in the earth until it was found deep in the earth in a silver mine of all places. Which is now covered in a thick layer of moss, by summer the moss will disappear.
Excellent Pac I recognised that straight away, what you've got there is called a "Vug" I'll explain later, cactus shop opens in half an hour https://www.ziggyscactus.com/
What wonderful videos of your cacti shop showing an amazing variety to choose. Love your web site . I’ll take one of each. Free shipping? Hope you sell a lot today… If cacti would last longer in this climate I would love some. I’ve tried many many cacti and succlents over the years inside , outside & in my lil heated greenhouse they don’t seem to make it more than a few years. Have had a few huge rainforest type cacti that grow so fast from a cutting to the ceiling in just a couple of years. Due to the sharp long thorns it was a nightmare to move outside in summers. Other inside types in the house over the years the dogs would get their tails caught up in the thorns and pull the cacti right outta the pots trying to free themselves from the tail monsters. Outside the mule deer / raccoons / etc….have had a picnic on the opuntia’s. Much like most of my garden which has endured substantial animal and insect assaults over the years. Been down sizing the last few years, Hoping to maintain what’s left a little easier . And as for my fossil rock joined together by ancient corals from deep down inside a silver mine …I’m hanging on to the “White - ‘Cliffs’ of Dover” , for your , “ Vug “ clarification/explanation. …no one has ever recognized it’s source material to ID this 500 pound monster.
Ta Pac I'll save a bucket of them for you Sounds like you had an Austrocylindropuntia subulata, they grow a foot a year and are like girt spiked sausages Tee hee I'll start at the beginning and try not to bore everyone. When you get a big lump of molten rock at the bottom of a mountain chain (formed partly by the crust sagging into the hot bit and melting and partly by the hot bit intruding upwards) the molten metals in it combine with superheated water and force their way thru cracks in the rocks above (like steam escaping a pot of cooking) The superheated metal minerals and water form what are called Hydrothermal veins. These cool and crystalise out in a certain order. Gold and Silver first, followed by tin, copper, zinc, lead and stuff (probably not in that order). As the vein cools it shrinks and forms a cavity along the middle of it. This is called a Vug. Over the next few million years or so the vug fills up with crystals like quartz, calcite, fluorite and a few others. When folk mine the silver/gold/copper etc. they also dig the vug up as waste material. There are usually dumps of them near old mines, I've found them in Cornwall around Saint Agnes and Perranporth (Poldark country if you've ever seen that on the telly) If you have a look at the outside edge of your vug, you might find traces of the metal ore that was being mined. It won't look as shiney as it does in jewellers though
Ta Annie I meant to say, when the rain has washed your new drive, have a look at what rocks are in there. Might be some interesting ones
