Finding Treasure and off on Vacation

We survived the dust storms last week with nothing worse than a very thick layer of dust on everything, even inside. It cleared here about 4pm in the afternoon and you could finally see further than a few feet in front of you. The dust apparently continued east visiting Lord Howe Is and some also went visiting up to northern parts of Queensland. Just as we felt like we could breathe again, we got a second one - but this happened overnight so by the morning it was a creamy yellow and cleared mid- morning. I was still hesitant to hang out washing though in case it came back! It has been very windy but no more dust to date. Thank goodness!

Don’t you love the idea of finding a treasure trove? A few weeks ago I heard of a rare gem carving being found in an archaelogical dig in Israel. It is a highly skilled minature gemstone carving of Alexander the Great found in Tel Dor on Israel’s Mediterranean coast, which was an important international port in ancient times. A tiny 1 centimetre long and half a centimetre wide, it is believed to be carnelian, Greek in origin and was found in a building dating from 323 to 146BC.

Now for the great part – it was found by an archaeology student from Philadelphia who was working on her very first dig! She was working on the techniques she had been taught of leveling the floor with her trowel and found the gem, realizing at once that it was different in size and shape than the rocks in the ground, and when it was cleaned up - bingo, a once in a lifetime find! Apparently there are only 20-30 such carvings (probably once set into a ring) in museums around the world and is the most significant find to have come from the area in years!

So do you think you could find some treasure? I saw a great post on Cherry Mag about gem fossicking in the outback and the writer found a nice little handful of garnets!

We’re off on holidays at the end of the week – our annual getaway north to warm weather, the beach and .... eeek! ... no internet connection. I love this pic

that was posted on the blog Casual Cottage – apparently this little squirrel just popped up in time to have his picture snapped by the camera (set on the timer and sitting on a rock) instead of the happy couple behind. Wonder if anything like that will happen on my holiday!?

Pic for today is suitable for some holiday glamour against lightly bronzed skin – fluorite gems cut into a marquise shape in a glorious array of colour.