Search and Rescue....almost

What a day!  And it's only 1pm.

I have just spent most of my morning worrying and preparing for the worst.  5 Redcloud staff were missing overnight.  They were supposed to return to camp around 8 last night, but never showed up.  The scary part was that they were returning to camp over the 4WD mountain passes....lots of long drop-offs, random side roads, snow, and raging rivers .  The cold weather and rain/snow storms we had last night weren't an encouraging factor either.

Hinsdale Search and Rescue has been out since late last night....or should I say early this morning?  Andy and I had our high angle bags packed and ready to go.  We were just waiting for the call.  Just what I need; to recover the bodies of friends for my first SAR call.

Thankfully that won't be the case.  They were located within the past hour with their vehicle.  They had gotten their vehicle stuck near Animas Forks (about 1/2 way between Silverton and Lake City).  So it was simply a matter of hunkering down and waiting for someone to find them...17 hours later.  I'm just glad they were smart enough to stay put!

So, that's my Sunday morning.  How was yours?

Crazy Jade

The latest jewelry.  Andy had a day between jobs yesterday, and so spent it finishing all of these!  Some of these pieces are absolutely amazing.  He did a great job.

Earrings!

Earrings and some pendants

Everything he did yesterday

Close-up view of some pieces

The matching earrings/pendant (farthest left) were given to a family friend, Sandy Pry, last night

Unfinished pendants

Look at all the different colors of jade

See the broken rock Andy "stitched" together?

I'm wearing these earrings right now  :)

Some of these, or should I say ALL of these, turned out beautifully!  Andy is having a ridiculously good time making them too.  It's amazing to see the finished product especially when compared to the stone it's been cut from.

Pictures don't quite do these justice, but I hope you enjoy them anyway!

Moms, sisters, aunts, moms-in-law, sisters-in-law, etc.:  If any of these strike your fancy, please let me know!  Much of this will be given as gifts over the next year or so.  Keep in mind I can't guarantee we'll still have it, but if we do....well, we'll see if we can't get it to you!

Steel vs Jade vs Diamonds

Little known fact about Jade:  It is harder than steel.

No, really!  On the scale by which gems, metals, rocks are rated in hardness (1-10, 10 being the hardest) steel is a 6 while jade is a 7; diamonds are obviously a 10.  Wow!  Now you should be even more impressed with Andys work than you were before.

Each of these pieces caused a bit of trouble through the polishing phase....they broke.  Oops!

The necklace was a bit longer; Andy tried to shape the bottom so it resembled the original, natural shape.  It still looks great!

One of the earrings snapped completely in half.  Andy ended up just cutting a new one....  These are probably my favorite earrings; when held up to the light they are thin enough that you really get to see the grain and color of the stone.  Beautiful!

Jade

Last winter Andy & I went to New Zealand.  We enjoyed a month of vacation, sunshine, and friends.  It was wonderful!  While we were there Andy developed (or perhaps rekindled is a better word) a love for Jade; aka greenstone; aka nephrite.

So while we were there we purchased a beautiful jade rock from a roadside vendor.  She had personally picked it out of a river (and told us which one) and polished it up.  We also visited a beach in Greymouth called Gemstone Beach, where we found many rocks we suspected might be jade.  And we were right!  We picked up semi-precious gems right off the beach.  Cool!

Andys intent was to bring home the rocks and cut, carve and polish them....and then maybe make them into something.  Well, the rocks have been sitting for about a year and a half now; I was wondering if anything was going to happen.  A couple weeks ago the process started!  Andy started cutting and trying out some different things to polish.  The process is ongoing, but I now have a new necklace and a pair of earrings!  Thought you might enjoy the photos of the process and finished product.

Jade we bought...after being cut

Andy shaping some stone

More shaping

Jewelry findings

Almost ready to put together

Jade with an assortment of pearls

Modeling my new necklace

(this is the end cut from the stone above)

Necklace & earrings

More to come!

In process

So there you have it.  Andy is enjoying making these.  He's more creative than I am and this is a great outlet for his creativity.  We've enjoyed sitting out on the deck together in the evenings, now that the weather is warm, while he works on shaping and polishing.  Hope you enjoyed viewing these.  I'm sure there will be more to come!

Summer

It's been awhile and we've been busy!  It's looking like a jam packed summer....and it's finally feeling like summer too!  After about a month of howling wind and cooler temperatures we're finally getting into the 70s and the wind isn't quite so harsh.  I was able to spend much of the day today outside relaxing.

Andy has been getting some time and training in with the Sheriffs Office.  It's been really great!  He's made some traffic stops, done some accident investigating, helped in an arrest and tomorrow he's helping with traffic for the Lake San Cristobal 5k/10k Race.  He'll also be working for an entire week next month right around our busiest time of year: 4th of July.  All have been great opportunities for some on-the-job training.

Good news:  It's looking like Andy will be keeping busy with construction again for about the next 6 months or so building a new house!  With many construction companies closing up and contractors moving out of town, this is a HUGE blessing for us.

More good news:  Andy and I both drew elk tags for hunting this fall!  No deer tags though.  Now we just pray we shoot something and have meat for next year.

On a slightly different note, I have just one more week of p90x.  It's been so great that I'm just going to start all over again.....only this time with p90x classic.  Now I just have to figure out how to fit it into a busy summer schedule.

That's life from our end these days.  :)