Glass in Glass

As I headed outside to my usual spot for displaying my weekly collection, I realized how uninspired I had become with the routine.  With extra time today, I wanted to do something different, so here it is: glass in glass.  My original thought was to fill the container with water and shoot from the outside like I had done in one of my favorite photos called, "Crinoid Under Water", but the sunlight streaming through the window and into the vase caught my eye.  It caused this interesting mirror effect, as well as a sense of depth.  I hope you enjoy this composition as much as I do.  In the left center, there's a wonderful horn coral fossil.  Do you see it?

This Week's Inspirational Verse   from Philippians 4:19

God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.

 

Big Collection of Beach Blessings

Where to begin, hmmm.  As you can see the beach was a lot of fun this week!  Let's start with the fossil on the far left; I think it's a cladopora.  There are three nice pieces of horn coral above that with a small honeycomb coral to their right.  The next three fossils are Petoskey stones followed by a cute little rock with some crinoids in it.  Continuing clockwise, are the single crinoids that I've been including in my bracelets lately.  

Next, there are two tiny lightning stones, and to the right of them is one of the best chain coral fossils I've ever found!  

The white one that's full of crystals looks like a geode.  The next four are pudding stones, and I found them all in the same small area of just a few feet.

I'll probably make some necklaces with the next two rocks that have a hole in them already, and the heart-shaped rocks will go in my collection of over a hundred other hearts.

With the center so full of sea glass, it's hard to see all of the beautiful colors, but there is quite a variety, and I'm excited to see what I can do with them!

Today's Inspirational Verse   (for restful sleep)  
found in Psalm 4:8

I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety.

     

Mystery Stones

After much time spent looking for pictures of some of the rocks in this week's collection, I've still ended up with some mystery pieces.  They are the four in the lower left corner (although, I'm sure that because of the stripes and hardness, that two of them are some kind of metamorphic rocks, I just don't know the minerals in them).  The top one in that group could be some melted glass over stone, and the other?  I don't know.  

Then, there are the greenish and blue ones on top.  I'd appreciate help with those, as well.  The pink one next to them looks like it contains feldspar, but I wouldn't stake my life on it. The rest of the pieces going clockwise from there are: Petoskey stones, lightning stones, a chain coral fossil, two honeycomb coral fossils, a small pipe organ coral fossil, and two heart-shaped rocks of some kind.  Above the mystery pieces you'll see a good collection of crinoids, a decorated ceramic shard, and a nicely shaped chunk of pure quartz (I didn't see any other minerals in it).

Concerning the sea glass, my husband found the unusually dark aqua piece that I really like, and there is an old brown bottle shard that has some interesting lettering on it.  Also, many of the pieces are quite large, so it was a good week for beach blessings!

P.S.  Yesterday, I noticed that an ad to the right of my post was not something I would ever recommend.  That doesn't happen very often, but when it does, please know that it is out of my control.  Thank you for your understanding.

Today's Inspiration for Healing   from Psalm 103:1-5  (NLT)

Praise the Lord, I tell myself;
with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name.
Praise the Lord, I tell myself,
and never forget the good things he does for me.
He forgives all my sins
and heals all my diseases.
He ransoms me from death
and surrounds me with love and tender mercies.
He fills my life with good things.  
My youth is renewed like the eagle's!
  

In Spite of the Waves

Here is another week's worth of South Haven beach blessings, minus three days for high waves.  Nevertheless, I did find a fair amount of beautifully smoothed sea glass!  As usual, you'll see other treasures along the perimeter of the glass beginning with a pure white quartz in the nine o'clock position.  Going clockwise, there are three Petoskey stones, crinoids and rocks containing them, three great samples of unakite, a mystery piece that may be dried foam from cement, two pipe organ corals, a ceramic shard, and a small honeycomb coral piece.  If you tilt your head to the right, the big brown fossil on top looks like the crinoids are spelling, "Jo".  Fun stuff!

This Week's Hope    found in Psalm 118:13  (NRSV)

I was pushed hard, so that I was falling, but the Lord helped me.
  

Priceless Beach Time

There's something special about beach combing with a child, especially a grandchild.  My little guy loves sports, so he likes to be on the run.  Walking the shoreline, though, with our heads down looking for treasures, everything slows down, and we can truly enjoy each others' company.  To make it even more fun, we assigned point values to different fossils.  The lightning stones were five points each, along with the pipe organ coral, but we decided that crinoids and anything containing them would be ten points.  The horn coral and Petoskey eye were also ten, but the glass, quartz, basalt, and anything that we couldn't identify were all worth one point.  After about an hour, our combined total with this collection ended up at 174, but the time spent together was priceless!

This Week's Inspiration for Protection
found in Romans 8:31

For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.