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Post by rickb on May 7, 2022 17:13:23 GMT -5
rickb - do you want to try to cook a chunk of this stuff. I got a solid 3.5" diameter stick about a foot long that rings like a bell. Glad to send it to you. It is the long one at middle right:  Thanks James, hang on to that rock. Let me take a raincheck for now until I get my rock saw back in running order. Need to replace a feed motor. |
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on May 7, 2022 21:08:27 GMT -5
So when traipsing along the forest floor the few larger chunks are what I see sticking up thru the leaves. Most chunks are bigger, many weighing 100 to 300 pounds(may be just the tip of the iceberg). They are all heavily bleached. Full round log sections up to 8 inches are very rare except in places in the creek and those are hell to hike out; they are also dead solid with no fractures like the bleached upland material.  And these are the same chunks with hammered windows. This is a poor selection as I have not collected many chunks. Most make great landscape specimens. I'd love to harvest this stuff and sell it at a landscape supply yard(in an earlier life !).  This is a high and dry eroded spot:  Less white bleached wood where a large tree blew over and the root ball exposed the densely packed creek bank. This material is much easier to judge potential internal color but hell to get to. Inner material much different than patina:  And the big stuff in the creek bottom. The boulders are of pretty banded chert. Note whole 8 inch log at center left. Most of this material is darker in color and dead solid with zero fractures. HEAVY and heavily stained of surface. No quartz. No limestone ?#$%^  More nice stuff, James. But I am getting redundant now. I am flabbergasted that you have lived down in that area for most, if not all of your life. The last 30+ years any way. And yet, you are only now discovering these treasures?  I guess since you have "retired" from the work-a-day world, you have more time to venture out on the hunt. (kidding - I know that when you stop working, it does not mean you have more time, far from it.) Their presence there is certainly astounding. Keep showing us your finds! I beg for a bit of sympathy. I did some math. Alabama contains about 40 million acres and this wood appears to be a 20 acre occurrence or one 2 millionth of Alabama. I only get about 18,000 days to drive a car. I have to explore 2222 acres per day every day from age 16 to 65 to cover the whole of Alabama. Lewis and Clark may have a hard time covering that much ground. Appreciate your vote of confidence though ! I searched the internet for similar-to-this Alabama pet wood and couldn't find it there. Maybe you can find it. I found the drusy wood but none with color like this stuff go figure. Most rocks and minerals can be found on the internet. It may be that no one found the stuff or they just don't care about it. There really aren't many rock hounds out this way. |
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on May 7, 2022 21:27:35 GMT -5
Not our container- that was a junk yard that was destroyed by Hurricane Michael. The lathe was in a collapsed building and we had to knock down part of a wall to get it out. Did I mention that we had to pay for this privilege too ? Sounds like Denise, probably like myself, has learned when to be needed & when to just stand by.  Patty
That hurricane was as relentless as they get. The damage from Michael at Mexico Beach was unbelievable. Bet that was a fun acquisition. Nothing like salvage hunts. The junk bug is addictive. Does Tom work metal or wood ? You ladies can make or break us guys. We need your help and assistance more than we let on. Denise has been threatening to replace me recently even after we made it past her metaphase and my midlife phase. I think she is just playing. |
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on May 7, 2022 21:29:57 GMT -5
rickb - do you want to try to cook a chunk of this stuff. I got a solid 3.5" diameter stick about a foot long that rings like a bell. Glad to send it to you. It is the long one at middle right: Thanks James, hang on to that rock. Let me take a raincheck for now until I get my rock saw back in running order. Need to replace a feed motor. No problem. If interested let me know. May get my saw and kiln going. If so I'll give a report if this stuff reacts to heat. |
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Post by liveoak on May 8, 2022 6:30:51 GMT -5
We got as lucky as one could, Michael turned east about 10 miles south from our stilt house, that lies on the top of a hill !
Roof held, and only lost many limbs.
Hope not to see another one so close .
Tom works in both- but I think Metalworking is more interesting to him nowadays. And I have to agree.
We're presently building him a separate metalworking shop, so he has a place to restore machines and use them.
I like to think I'm not only a strong willed women, but also a good helper.
But I'm different then most women, as I like to help.
Maybe Denise & you need to go on a fun adventure together (even a day trip)-
that's my answer for things. But maybe it needs to be something she finds fun.
Does she rockhound with you ??
Patty
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on May 8, 2022 18:06:04 GMT -5
We got as lucky as one could, Michael turned east about 10 miles south from our stilt house, that lies on the top of a hill !
Roof held, and only lost many limbs.
Hope not to see another one so close .
Tom works in both- but I think Metalworking is more interesting to him nowadays. And I have to agree.
We're presently building him a separate metalworking shop, so he has a place to restore machines and use them.
I like to think I'm not only a strong willed women, but also a good helper.
But I'm different then most women, as I like to help.
Maybe Denise & you need to go on a fun adventure together (even a day trip)-
that's my answer for things. But maybe it needs to be something she finds fun.
Does she rockhound with you ?? Patty
You were close to that beast of a hurricane. The only hurricane I knew that sped up just before landfall. You guys were very fortunate. It still had like class 1/2 winds all the way to Albany ! Recent weather is insane. Curious what wind speed your home experienced especially being on a hill. I used to rent a cheap house after scallop season when rents dropped 75% on 26th Street at Mexico Beach for years. I could not believe what Michael did to that town. I love working with metal as a welder. I bet Tom can find used metal working tools easily. Factories were shutting down all over Atlanta 2005 to 2015 and the scrap metal places were piled up with metal working tools. Denise is good with metal lighting fixtures. We work well together. Her and I have run 2 businesses 25 years and then 5 years. We do split responsibilities into his and her duties which helps distance and dodge conflicts lol. We used to do rock and artifact trips but we get enough time together as it is and she has embraced other interests over the past 15 years. We enjoy our time away from each other too. We've been together 36 years and I scored me a great lady. Best life move ever ! |
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lparsons
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Post by lparsons on May 8, 2022 22:46:21 GMT -5
There is miles and miles of trails and 4wd trails at this location. 100's of miles of creeks and cool wetlands. Upland timberland too. No shortage of off road activity. The access to the rock filled creeks is the real treasure for me. I need to get my kayak buddies down there to put in the creeks with a pick up vehicle downstream. Tumbling will help get an idea of the quality of the material at various locations so the immediacy. I have searched the internet far and wide and only found on ETSY rock dealer that had Alabama petrified wood that resembles mine in any way. He had two pieces about a half pound for sale for $70. North along the ancient Alabama ocean shore line they find druzy quartz coated pet wood and there was tons of it on the internet, it is well known. The Alabama State Fishery posted a piece of wood near by my site in the Tallapoosa River and posted it asking if it was pet wood. This wood seems unknown ! Freaky... You would think this wood would be somewhere on the internet jamesp, As remote as the location sounds there’s a possibility that your unique goldmine has been waiting on you to show up in order to be discovered.🤣🤗🤣Words can’t describe your treasure and I can’t wait to see how they look once tumbles! I’ll be lurking in the sidelines here to see your pics!!! |
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Post by liveoak on May 9, 2022 6:48:40 GMT -5
You were close to that beast of a hurricane. The only hurricane I knew that sped up just before landfall. You guys were very fortunate. It still had like class 1/2 winds all the way to Albany ! Recent weather is insane. Curious what wind speed your home experienced especially being on a hill. I used to rent a cheap house after scallop season when rents dropped 75% on 26th Street at Mexico Beach for years. I could not believe what Michael did to that town. I love working with metal as a welder. I bet Tom can find used metal working tools easily. Factories were shutting down all over Atlanta 2005 to 2015 and the scrap metal places were piled up with metal working tools. Denise is good with metal lighting fixtures. We work well together. Her and I have run 2 businesses 25 years and then 5 years. We do split responsibilities into his and her duties which helps distance and dodge conflicts lol. We used to do rock and artifact trips but we get enough time together as it is and she has embraced other interests over the past 15 years. We enjoy our time away from each other too. We've been together 36 years and I scored me a great lady. Best life move ever ! Michael was blowing 180+when it hit Tyndell AFB, and then the wind meter blew away !
Don't know exact wind speed at our house, but the way the storm clocked,
it fortunately came through the woods that surround us, so nowhere near that speed.
We live half way between Chipley & Panama City, so closer to the coast than my Chipley address seems.
We certainly felt lucky, except that we lost power for 10 days, and had to drive a long way into AL for generator gas & water.
You have me curious about Denise's "metal lighting fixtures" ?
Tom has a couple of metalworking lathes, mills, etc & is also a welder.
Even restored a small metal lathe for me & has been teaching me to use it.
Funny, not a lot of used machines down this way, we've traveled far for most of them.
35 years for us - 32 years in the same business that we work together . So I certainly get it - separate interests can work well.
Heck, I thought that was what the garden & greenhouse were for :-)
Patty
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on May 9, 2022 7:47:41 GMT -5
There is miles and miles of trails and 4wd trails at this location. 100's of miles of creeks and cool wetlands. Upland timberland too. No shortage of off road activity. The access to the rock filled creeks is the real treasure for me. I need to get my kayak buddies down there to put in the creeks with a pick up vehicle downstream. Tumbling will help get an idea of the quality of the material at various locations so the immediacy. I have searched the internet far and wide and only found on ETSY rock dealer that had Alabama petrified wood that resembles mine in any way. He had two pieces about a half pound for sale for $70. North along the ancient Alabama ocean shore line they find druzy quartz coated pet wood and there was tons of it on the internet, it is well known. The Alabama State Fishery posted a piece of wood near by my site in the Tallapoosa River and posted it asking if it was pet wood. This wood seems unknown ! Freaky... You would think this wood would be somewhere on the internet jamesp, As remote as the location sounds there’s a possibility that your unique goldmine has been waiting on you to show up in order to be discovered.🤣🤗🤣Words can’t describe your treasure and I can’t wait to see how they look once tumbles! I’ll be lurking in the sidelines here to see your pics!!! You would think that the school system would take elementary to college age students out there on field trips. The wood is thick on a public gravel road and most of the gravel is a wide variety of small pieces of wood. An infinite source and easy pickin... Kids or adults would love collectng pet wood ! I feel a responcibility to report it to say a government agency that might preserve the site or use it for studies. But not before I get my share ! The more colorful road gravel batch is probably ready to be stepped down to a smaller barrel today. Maybe I can get some photos at clean out. A quicky tumble run said much of this material will take a high polish, but much of it will show funky fractures. Time will tell... The earth science behind this deposit is just as interesting as the fun in collecting there. I may spend years exploring that area locating other deposits and trying to guess how the wood got there. It seems to have petrified at a different location and then deposited where it is now. Better if there is a county or state geologist I could consult with but that might be a bad idea too. |
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on May 9, 2022 8:23:57 GMT -5
You were close to that beast of a hurricane. The only hurricane I knew that sped up just before landfall. You guys were very fortunate. It still had like class 1/2 winds all the way to Albany ! Recent weather is insane. Curious what wind speed your home experienced especially being on a hill. I used to rent a cheap house after scallop season when rents dropped 75% on 26th Street at Mexico Beach for years. I could not believe what Michael did to that town. I love working with metal as a welder. I bet Tom can find used metal working tools easily. Factories were shutting down all over Atlanta 2005 to 2015 and the scrap metal places were piled up with metal working tools. Denise is good with metal lighting fixtures. We work well together. Her and I have run 2 businesses 25 years and then 5 years. We do split responsibilities into his and her duties which helps distance and dodge conflicts lol. We used to do rock and artifact trips but we get enough time together as it is and she has embraced other interests over the past 15 years. We enjoy our time away from each other too. We've been together 36 years and I scored me a great lady. Best life move ever ! Michael was blowing 180+when it hit Tyndell AFB, and then the wind meter blew away !
Don't know exact wind speed at our house, but the way the storm clocked,
it fortunately came through the woods that surround us, so nowhere near that speed.
We live half way between Chipley & Panama City, so closer to the coast than my Chipley address seems.
We certainly felt lucky, except that we lost power for 10 days, and had to drive a long way into AL for generator gas & water.
You have me curious about Denise's "metal lighting fixtures" ?
Tom has a couple of metalworking lathes, mills, etc & is also a welder.
Even restored a small metal lathe for me & has been teaching me to use it.
Funny, not a lot of used machines down this way, we've traveled far for most of them. 35 years for us - 32 years in the same business that we work together . So I certainly get it - separate interests can work well.
Heck, I thought that was what the garden & greenhouse were for :-)
Patty
Let's just hope that Michael is a one-off event. Had he hit an urban area it would have been the catastrophe of the decade(s). Many high rise buildings aren't designed for such wind speeds. Miami has miraculously dodged numerous super storms as has urban areas on the whole east coast of Florida. I stayed sept and oct at Mexico Beach for from 2005 to 2010 when the Ivan's and Katrina's were passing thru there. Ivan was so powerful it covered up many man-made deep sea fishing reefs in 100 feet of water with 5 to 10 feet of sand. Reefs that had been there for decades. Ha ! - it also blew sailfish/wahoo/grouper and other fish that stay 40+ miles out to sea to within 2 miles of shore for some easy fishin'. A couple of those years the ocean stayed so rough it was safe to go out only 3 weeks of the 8 week visit. By the way in case y'all are interested, scallop season ends sept 6 and rentals drop in cost, my rental was an old block house dropped from $2200/month to $600/month starting sept 6. No problem hubby doing girly work and wife doing manly work in this household.(Ladies doing that kind of work a smokin hot lol) The main goal - anything to avoid the 9 to 5. Florida is devoid of industrial scrap operations. Not sure why. Until the past decade Atlanta was a goldmine for scrap metal and manufacturing equipment. We live 7 miles south of the South Fulton Industrial district. I used to check the backyard of factories up there and offer to haul off their scrap iron. I still have tons of stock purchased for 5 to 10 cents a pound. Like last year I bought 80 - 24' sticks of 11 gauge 1" x 2" square tubing for $10/stick. Friend of friend wanted to buy 10 sticks last week, I gave it to him but did check price - $140/stick. Paid $800 for $11,000 worth. Tom and you probably know that is a desirable size of steel to work with. There is still 2 more bundles there if you guys want it. They may have upped the price with rising steel prices. Congrats on the long happy prosperous marriage. Denise knows she is greatly appreciated. She makes me feel equally. We are competitive though. Her ETSY shop is tinkerlighting.etsy.com. She used to smoke me in sales(and rub it in) until I hired a web person to make a website for firepitsatlanta.etsy.com. An instant success ! Now she is under my thumb as Mick jagger puts it and I now do the rubbing(all in jest) lol. |
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Post by liveoak on May 9, 2022 10:46:40 GMT -5
Call me cynical Jim, but telling government agencies is usually counter productive.
If you were local there, and knew some local school teachers, maybe.
But then I know schools don't tend to do field trips anymore, I know this as my sister is a 1st grade teacher in MA.
If you reported it, they would probably set it up so you had to pay for a permit to collect it.
So you better get what you want while it's hot !
I realize with the hurricanes & urban areas, you're thinking BIG cities.
But don't tell anyone is Panama City that they didn't get hit bad, as there are still 3+ years later many many blue tarp roofs down there.
Hell they still haven't rebuilt the library that was destroyed, but don't get me started on that, because the town where the library was ( Lynn Haven) has the entire city government under Federal indictment for "misappropriation of federal hurricane relief funds". Didn't I say something about government agencies !
We're hoping to try our hand at scalloping this year - never went.
Looks like you both have found a good niche.
I wondered what all those tank ends were going to be used one ( trailer photo).
Creativity is the key to self employment !
Patty
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on May 9, 2022 11:23:30 GMT -5
Call me cynical Jim, but telling government agencies is usually counter productive.
If you were local there, and knew some local school teachers, maybe.
But then I know schools don't tend to do field trips anymore, I know this as my sister is a 1st grade teacher in MA. If you reported it, they would probably set it up so you had to pay for a permit to collect it.
So you better get what you want while it's hot !
I realize with the hurricanes & urban areas, you're thinking BIG cities.
But don't tell anyone is Panama City that they didn't get hit bad, as there are still 3+ years later many many blue tarp roofs down there.
Hell they still haven't rebuilt the library that was destroyed, but don't get me started on that, because the town where the library was ( Lynn Haven) has the entire city government under Federal indictment for "misappropriation of federal hurricane relief funds". Didn't I say something about government agencies !
We're hoping to try our hand at scalloping this year - never went. Looks like you both have found a good niche.
I wondered what all those tank ends were going to be used one ( trailer photo). Creativity is the key to self employment !
Patty
You know the government will bring nothing but restrictions of some form. Ha, they are so crooked these days. Sorry to hear about PC. Those folks are best dodged at all cost ! St. Joe bay is a beautiful spot. Clear water and tons of marine life on those white sand bottoms. What a paradise. I think most go there to scallop. Just inside the tip of Cape San Blas there are some deep holes caused by the tidal currents full of 40 pound redfish. I used to take my guests fishing there. They were freaked when they hooked one of those monsters. They were too big to keep, the bracket is like 18 to 26 inches, these were 48 to 52 inchers. That is what they are called, tank heads. Not many know the term, well done. We follow the creativity motto, more so Denise with her pendant lights. The fire pits are sort of basic and don't test the creative juices. Trending items are a no brainer on ETSY. You can sell bricks on that site with good photos. A great place to sell homemade's. |
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lparsons
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Post by lparsons on May 9, 2022 12:11:03 GMT -5
jamesp You would think that the school system would take elementary to college age students out there on field trips. The wood is thick on a public gravel road and most of the gravel is a wide variety of small pieces of wood. An infinite source and easy pickin... Kids or adults would love collectng pet wood ! I feel a responcibility to report it to say a government agency that might preserve the site or use it for studies. But not before I get my share ! The more colorful road gravel batch is probably ready to be stepped down to a smaller barrel today. Maybe I can get some photos at clean out. A quicky tumble run said much of this material will take a high polish, but much of it will show funky fractures. Time will tell... The earth science behind this deposit is just as interesting as the fun in collecting there. I may spend years exploring that area locating other deposits and trying to guess how the wood got there. It seems to have petrified at a different location and then deposited where it is now. Better if there is a county or state geologist I could consult with but that might be a bad idea too. jamesp I think having school/college kids out there is a great idea. I’ve homeschooled all 4 of my children, the youngest will graduate next year. I assure you, there would have been a great many rock hounding/collecting field trips taken years ago had I known anything about rock tumbling at that time. 🤣The closest I ever recall knowing about then was fossil hunting. 🙄 I have 3 grandbabies and I intend to incorporate it into their education as they’ll probably be homeschooled. Hopefully they’ll be as addicted as I am!🤣 I find the science of petrifaction of organic material very interesting as well. I’m going to bookmark this thread so I don’t miss any more details ….. especially the pics! 🤣
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on May 9, 2022 12:12:23 GMT -5
Pieces selectively broke out of 5 to 15 pound chunks laying on the forest floor rounded and wet from tumbler. It has become obvious that this wood will likely have milder organic colors instead of the exotic Arizona colors.    This was in the tumbler for a few days now, it came from the dryer gravel road. Picked some that were similar in color, plenty of other varieties.   |
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on May 9, 2022 12:28:04 GMT -5
jamesp You would think that the school system would take elementary to college age students out there on field trips. The wood is thick on a public gravel road and most of the gravel is a wide variety of small pieces of wood. An infinite source and easy pickin... Kids or adults would love collectng pet wood ! I feel a responcibility to report it to say a government agency that might preserve the site or use it for studies. But not before I get my share ! The more colorful road gravel batch is probably ready to be stepped down to a smaller barrel today. Maybe I can get some photos at clean out. A quicky tumble run said much of this material will take a high polish, but much of it will show funky fractures. Time will tell... The earth science behind this deposit is just as interesting as the fun in collecting there. I may spend years exploring that area locating other deposits and trying to guess how the wood got there. It seems to have petrified at a different location and then deposited where it is now. Better if there is a county or state geologist I could consult with but that might be a bad idea too. jamesp I think having school/college kids out there is a great idea. I’ve homeschooled all 4 of my children, the youngest will graduate next year. I assure you, there would have been a great many rock hounding/collecting field trips taken years ago had I known anything about rock tumbling at that time. 🤣The closest I ever recall knowing about then was fossil hunting. 🙄 I have 3 grandbabies and I intend to incorporate it into their education as they’ll probably be homeschooled. Hopefully they’ll be as addicted as I am!🤣 I find the science of petrifaction of organic material very interesting as well. I’m going to bookmark this thread so I don’t miss any more details ….. especially the pics! 🤣 Considering the value to any level of students this deposit would offer a goldmine of knowledge and theory to consider. When large deposits of fossils are involved it takes people into the reality of what the past was. Places like this are sort of 'sacred' to me for that reason and some may not have as rampant an imagination lol. There was a lot of dynamics in this material, in it's petrification and deposition. I will continue to post photos of my findings and would be flattered if they were useful to your family's home schooling. Geology is a great direction for youth since it gets them out in the real world and away from their DEVICES ! |
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brybry
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Post by brybry on May 9, 2022 12:52:31 GMT -5
Pieces selectively broke out of 5 to 15 pound chunks laying on the forest floor rounded and wet from tumbler. It has become obvious that this wood will likely have milder organic colors instead of the exotic Arizona colors. This was in the tumbler for a few days now, it came from the dryer gravel road. Picked some that were similar in color, plenty of other varieties. I showed my wife some of your pet wood pics. She Oooo'd & Ahhhh'd enough that I got the " when are you going to get some" speach,lol. |
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on May 9, 2022 13:31:47 GMT -5
Pieces selectively broke out of 5 to 15 pound chunks laying on the forest floor rounded and wet from tumbler. It has become obvious that this wood will likely have milder organic colors instead of the exotic Arizona colors. This was in the tumbler for a few days now, it came from the dryer gravel road. Picked some that were similar in color, plenty of other varieties. I showed my wife some of your pet wood pics. She Oooo'd & Ahhhh'd enough that I got the " when are you going to get some" speach,lol. Are you not in Georgia brybry ? Swing by and get a load. PM a time so I'll be here. Most anytime ! |
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brybry
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Post by brybry on May 9, 2022 14:13:30 GMT -5
I'm a bit south of Atlanta. I rarely know when i have a day off anymore due to low staffing and gearing up for summer tourists/banquet season. When i can I'll definitely take you up on your offer.
I have a rough idea of where your collecting from. If I'm right, its not far away.
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Post by hummingbirdstones on May 9, 2022 20:48:26 GMT -5
I don't care what you say, jamesp, that pet wood is beautiful. The lighter colored dreamsicle ones are yummy!  |
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on May 10, 2022 6:06:53 GMT -5
I'm a bit south of Atlanta. I rarely know when i have a day off anymore due to low staffing and gearing up for summer tourists/banquet season. When i can I'll definitely take you up on your offer. I have a rough idea of where your collecting from. If I'm right, its not far away. I'm in Fairburn, SW of Atlanta. If you find the spot you won't have any problem filling your buckets. |
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I guess since you have "retired" from the work-a-day world, you have more time to venture out on the hunt. (kidding - I know that when you stop working, it does not mean you have more time, far from it.) Their presence there is certainly astounding.
Now replaced with fake plastic. 
stly
