Spotted this gorgeous Yellow Garden Spider while I was taking care of the yard a few hours ago. It raised its legs to tell me to back off but not before letting me snap a pic of it and its lovely web

Today I collected very smooth rocks.

sedumzz said:Today I collected very smooth rocks.

Any agates? Chalcedony?

Kaktus said:I see, tx.
Have been thinking of polishing this stone without cutting it, any idea ?

Depending upon how much texture you want and how much effort you want to expend, you can do it with sand paper and rubbing compound. You will have strong hands when you are done.

And no fingerprints.

Some fun ones from today's backyard jaunt.




And update on my lizard buddy. I actually haven't seen them for a while and was starting to get a little bummed assuming the worst had befell them but when I was about to go outside I glanced out the window and saw this little one! It would seem my lizard friend added to their family recently.. hard to see because of how itty bitty it is

Is that a fence lizard?

Indeed it is! we have a few that hang out in our backyard

DaisyI said:

Depending upon how much texture you want and how much effort you want to expend, you can do it with sand paper and rubbing compound. You will have strong hands when you are done.

with the blessing from Daisy & Tiffany on using sand paper, the result is stunning

TJOE, that's beautiful! Most rocks look that beautiful to me, but polishing does make it more obvious to everyone else.

Thanks Tiffany for the acron, but that was a different stone, the last one is a crystal

Doh! Homer Simpson moment. I was wondering how it got so round...!

purpleinopp said:Doh! Homer Simpson moment. I was wondering how it got so round...!

Ive seen the process on youtube.
It involves a lot of cuts, on a piece than usually has been "cored" from an existing rock(drilled out with a special crown bit) into a somehat spherical object, ground, and then polished onto a special machine with 3 cups for sphere.
Here is a link showing the process, done on banded calcite(travertine), the same material I fancy working with.
https://youtu.be/kfap06kIPAs

skopjecollection said:

Any agates? Chalcedony?

Hmm, I dont know. I'll take photos of them! There are a lot of differenct colors. There is one tri-colored one, that has dark brown, medium brown, and white.

sedumzz said:

Hmm, I dont know. I'll take photos of them! There are a lot of differenct colors. There is one tri-colored one, that has dark brown, medium brown, and white.

Look for gloss, nor colors.And patterns.

Just some of my potted plants out on the patio.


One of my Hibiscus moscheutos, three Mangaves, and my Plumeria.

The Mangaves are 'Tooth Fairy', 'Lavender Lady', and 'Spotty Dotty'.

A lot of Jasmine today .

Here is mine - blooming desert roses and vincas huddled together for higher chance of cross pollination.



Non-blooming desert roses. I love these shallow succulent pots. Desert roses have buds so I will wait to repot.



...and Mr & Mrs Potters :

What about this...