Posted on 06/11/2021 11:51:04 AM PDT by Red Badger
At 563 carats, the Star of India is the world’s largest gem-quality blue star sapphire, and is approximately 2 billion years old. (Image credit: D. Finnin/Copyright AMNH)
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What does the legendary Star of India — a 563-carat star sapphire the size of a golf ball — have in common with a 35-million-year-old petrified redwood slab; a massive cluster of sword-like crystals that looks like it came from "Game of Thrones;" and a 5-ton (4.5-metric ton) stone pillar that can "sing?"
You can see all of them, along with 5,000 other amazing stones, in the newly renovated Mignone Hall of Gems and Minerals at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) in New York City, which is reopening after a four-year closure on Saturday (June 12). There, one-of-a-kind precious gems appear alongside odd-looking rocks — some of which date to billions of years ago — that have been uniquely warped and twisted by extreme temperatures and pressures.
Individually and together, these objects tell a story of the diverse geologic processes that shape minerals on Earth's surface and deep inside our planet, beginning when the world was young and continuing to this day, museum representatives told Live Science.
Related: 13 mysterious and cursed gemstones
The Star of India, which formed about a billion years ago, was discovered in Sri Lanka in the 18th century. It is one of the best-known gems in the world, in part because it was famously and brazenly stolen from AMNH in 1964, along with several more of the museum's prized stones, by a pair of thieves named Jack "Murf the Surf" Murphy and Allan Kuhn, Smithsonian reported in 2014, on the heist's 50th anniversary. (The one-of-a-kind sapphire was recovered and went back on display in 1965).
(Excerpt) Read more at livescience.com ...
The youth are reporting a problem with the toilet in the upstairs hall bathroom. Unnngh.
I have one on there, but it’s as old as the chair and not very effective. So far, I haven’t unpacked anything that I could use as a substitute. Maybe later today. If I’m lucky.
Already, I’ve moved the chest to the other side of the bedroom, and have made advances on the kitchen counter so I can move the microwave. I just stuck it on the stove, then shifted it sideways, but I find it’s inconvenient there, so I’ll move it to the other side of the sink. It may be inconvenient there, as well, but at least it will leave room for my canisters.
(Another “kitchen” designed by a man who doesn’t cook. No really usable counter space. But it’s public housing, so...)
The mini-crates will be here today, as well as my Walmart order, so as soon as the latter comes, I can dress warmly and head for Hallmark to get birthday cards and some wrapping paper for James’ birthday present.
It came right after I moved in, having been pre-ordered since Hurricane. I hope he likes it, the silly boy. It’s the new LOTR, list price of $75, but Amazon had them for $40-something, so I snapped it up when he told me he wanted it. I warned him not to tell anyone else it’s what he wanted because I wasn’t going to spend that kind of money just so he could have two volumes of the same book.
Unnngh.
I’m up to my eyebrows with toilet problems. The mulberry tree in Hurricane almost guaranteed backup problems with every flush, and FS’s house wasn’t much better (just old inadequate pipes, no doubt) so imagine my surprise to find a “robust” flush on this toilet!
I hope the problem can be easily taken care of without the aid of a plumber.
Their father resolved it.
Excellent!
In the meantime, I’ve schlepped and lifted and sliced and diced and I think I won’t be going to Hallmark today but I’ll try to wish Charlie a birthday greeting by phone.
I THINK his birthday is the 16th, but I don’t have the birthday book at my fingertips so I can’t promise to call on the right day. If it’s later, it will still buy me some time to try and get him a gift card from Wally’s.
I hope it isn’t too long before the mini-crates show up because I’m still in the mood to organize the kitchen area. I found a bunch of stuff and took four or more boxes to the dumpster. Erk! Amazon says the crates will be here “by 10:00 PM.” Looks like organizing will have to wait for Monday.
I got a magazine yesterday that has a recipe in it that Kevin’s G-Ma gave to me when I was a brand-new bride of 17. I thought I had it years ago, but I made it and it didn’t turn out the way I remembered, so I was really happy to see this. I can put it back in my recipe box for the two wimmins to fight over.
I even cleaned off a space on one of the closet shelves so I can put boxes I don’t have room to unpack, yet. Maybe a little later, I’ll move the white bookcase so I can begin to unwrap some “fragile” items. Sentimental value to no one but me and the giver. ;o]
You find amazing things when you move!
Choir is finished, and the next thing is Kathleen and me going to serve barbecue. After lunch.
Good luck at the barbecue!
And then... I cleaned the bathroom! I might be done for the day, but I think I’ll sort clothes for Monday and get my clothes for church ready before I really quit.
It’s clear and cold out, but Admiral Fitzroy says a change is coming. I need to put the barometer up, but I’ve decided not to put anything on the walls until I’ve gotten the bookcases where I want them and have the rug in place.
It will be nice in here when I’m done!
Excellent accomplishment!
We weren’t too busy at our end of the barbecue sale (eat-in), but the kids got to play, which is always nice. Nap is my next thing.
I’m glad things went well at the barbecue sale!
Naps are always good if one can take them. Maybe, once I get settled in and my life has slowed down, I’ll start to take naps again. I think they’d have to be in the morning, though.
Anyway, my church clothes are ready and the “bed” is made, so I’ll be ready for bed “sometime” later.
I looked for mattresses and box springs both in Dogpatch and Little Rock, but Little Rock was the only one with prices. It can’t beat the one I found on Walmart.com, delivery included, so that will be the next purchase, I think. I’d like to be off the floor by Christmas, if I can. It’s harder and harder to get up off the floor.
Anyway, I’ll see what else there is to watch on Acorn. The Doc Martin from the first movie isn’t as curmudgeonly as the one in the series, even though it’s the same actor in both roles.
I found a French series about a medical examiner, but it’s all subtitles or nothing, so I’m watching it to kill the afternoon. It reminds me of a cross between Dr Blake Mysteries and Quincy.
I’ll finish this first episode and see how I like it. I may be looking for something else...
Fairly nice nap. The next thing is a bonfire at the church.
Bonfires were common when I was a kid, but I haven’t seen one in a lot of years. Take a photo for me, would you, please?
It’s about time to call a halt, and I’m feeling a little on the tired side, for some reason. I’m going to take my pills and head for the nether regions.
I hope you have a good night! See you tomorrow!
They actually had these stove things instead of a pile-of-wood bonfire:
https://www.solostove.com/solo-stove-bonfire/
Hmpf. That’s no fun.
Fire laws and all that, I’m guessing.
I think it was because the old fire pit area suffered during the county’s sewer pipe project, and also, we don’t have a Boy Scout troop to be in charge of the fires anymore.
The stainless-steel ovens were great for heating hot dogs and produced less smoke than a typical campfire or bonfire. Very clever techology!
I’ll have a real fire with the girls next weekend. The rental cabin has a fire pit.
Kitteh sez he’s not ready for the day.
It’s 36° out, and I’m not liking it. I’ve got the heater going in the bathroom, and of course, one going out here. The one in the bathroom is on only as long as it takes to warm the place up so I don’t step out of the shower with goosebumps. I hate that. My bones never get warm when that happens.
It will be just the son and I going to church, as the DiL is still recovering. We’ll be taking another woman and her little boy, but her husband will probably come and get her after the first meeting. She doesn’t like to stay for the second one.
I took the pre-filter out to clean it and now I can’t find it. I hope I didn’t overlook it and toss it out with something else.
My neck and back are killing me this morning. *whine-whine-whine* I need to get under the hot water and see if it helps. I don’t want to take the morphine too soon. It will be a long day if I do. It’s going to be longer than normal, anyway, and that’s not going to be fun.
Most urban areas won’t allow bonfires because of the danger of them getting out of hand. Especially if the area is prone to winds. But that fire-oven looked like it was just the ticket.
Still, there’s nothing like a good old-fashioned bonfire to make one remember the season. Football! I don’t even have a sports channel, but then, between the TV and the internet, I’m paying about $50 less than I was in Happy Valley.
However, the increase in rent has more than made up for that. It irritates me no end that they began to add the COLA increase three months before it takes effect. But don’t get me started.
I think that’s totally wrong, too.
It’s in the 30s here, too. The cats went out, complained, and went back to bed.
Actually, I should have had 10 months before it took effect. I’m supposed to pay the rent at the dollar amount when I move into a place until my one year anniversary. THEN I pay the inflation price. Not here.
At least my health insurance finally came in, so I have no outstandingly high co-pays for anything. Open enrollment is a blessing! Let’s hope I get reimbursed, once I get the medical card.
I’d like to go back to bed but it’s too painful.
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