Here are a couple of pics of the work I am doing and my bench at school. These pics are taken with my phone so quality is lacking. You will get the gist though.

Streams and rivers with pure water running over beds of limestone rock in places are ideal for large numbers of mussels to be found. Areas with limestone bluffs nearby are also good sources as erosion causes the minerals found in limestone to leach into the water as well.

Mussel beds are most often found in portions of the river or stream that is somewhat protected from the full force of strong currents in swift rivers whereas in quiet rivers the opposite is true. Mussels like the happy medium.
The size and color of the mussel is indicative to the size and color of the pearl it holds.

Pearls are found in the posterior thin end of the shell. Parasites such as cotylaspis insigni, leidy can be seen by the naked eye in these areas. These resemble leeches and are white, common leeches are also found but in lesser numbers.

Other favorable places are just below sandbars and gravel bars especially at the mouth of rivers and streams. Finding ideal areas for mussel beds takes a lot of research and familiarity with geology. Other pearl prospectors are not likely to give away information on where they find their pearls. They are a very secretive bunch. From what I have read, prosptectors in Texas take pearl hunting very seriously and go to extremes to protect their claims. That doesn’t mean that you will never find someone willing to share their knowledge. It just means it’s as rare as the pearls themselves.

To collect mussels you can create a dredge by using cedar branches. This is done by dragging the branch over the bed of mussels. In disturbing the mussels they automatically close and inadvertently attach themselves to the boughs.

As I’ve said before. Pearl hunting takes great deal of time and patience. You will open more empty shells than shells with pearls. The reward is that you just might come across a shell with a lovely pearl inside that is rare and beautiful.

There are two classes of pearl: Oriental and Freshwater. A pearl is made up of carbonate of lime, organic matter, and water. I am going to give you information on the freshwater pearl since it is the most prominent kind I use in my jewelry.

The freshwater pearl is formed by the mussel Unio Margaritifera or more commonly known as Naiades mussels. They are found in lakes and streams all over the world.

Freshwater pearls have held an important place throughout human history. They were used in trade and barter in the ancient Roman times and have been an integral part of royalty as well through the ages. Some of the most beautiful pearls have been found in Europe. France, Germany, Austria, And Bavaria are among these places. Pearls have been found in the U.S. by archeologists researching the Mound Builders of prehistoric times. They unearthed a large collection in the mounds of Ohio.

The pearl is even found in the Bible in several places. “the Savior enthroned the pearl in a celestial sheen when He likened the kingdom of Heaven unto it. In His similitude, the pearl was crowned with the highest compliment of all ages. (Matt. 13:45-46)

St John the Divine described the gates of Heaven “And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, each one of the several gates was one pearl, and the streets were paved in gold, as if it were transparent glass”.

Many theories have been established among Scientists as to the origin of the pearl. The most popular is that the pearl is formed by a grain of sand but the most accepted among scholars and scientists is that it is parasitic in origin.

The great “find” in the US was near Paterson, New Jersey. Here a pearl that weighed 93 grains (which is the equivalent of approx. 30 carats) was found by a carpenter named Jacob Quakenbush and later sold to Tiffany’s of New York. The pearl is called and was sold to Empress Eugenie of France in 1857.

Most species of the mussel that produces freshwater pearls in the US are found along the Mississippi drainage areas. The varieties and colors of these freshwater pearls are not found in other areas of the world. These colors include, ski blue, blue, peacock green, lavendar, salmon, ruby, wine, maroon, cherry, rose, red, bronze, lead, silver, gold, gray, purple, pink, green, bright yellow, black and brown.

The chief natural enemy among animals to the formation of freshwater pearls is the muskrat. Raccoons, snakes, some fish, turtles, crawfish, birds, cattle, and horses all are threats as well. Humans are the most destructive as with everything. Pollution and logging are the primary threats to the mussels of the human world. Weather is also a factor.

I believe that the beauty and value inherent to pearls will last long beyond my lifetime. They are among the most common purchases by jewelry lovers. I know that they are the one of the three most coveted gems in my life. The other two being quartz crystals, and Lapis Lazuli. I don’t much care for diamonds because regardless of their price they are the most common gem on earth. I like to be uncommon.

If you are interested in more information about pearls I will be writing another post about prospecting for pearls and grading pearls in the future.

Today…I am getting ready to take my son to physical therapy and I get a call from my older son telling me he dislocated his knee. Of course I hop in the truck (my husband’s vehicle) and take my older son some pain meds,tell his buddy to drop him off at urgent care and I will pick him up when I am done at the physical therapy place. I go get my younger son from school and take him to the physical therapist to find out that our insurance won’t cover services outside our network. I was thinking “Great! what else can go wrong?” This is just one more thing to add to the list of things going wrong in a 24 hour period.

To my surprise the office said they were going to write off the visit(meaning I won’t get charged) because they are passionate about their work and want to help my son get better quick. Wow! how often does that happen? Like…Never! So now I’m thinking we are really blessed! What a great day.

I got my youngest back to school, picked up my older son from the urgent care and brought him to our house so he wouldn’t have to be alone in his apartment (he has to stay off his knee for a few days). I settled in to clean the kitchen and fix dinner. The only thing left to do was to go get a work slip from the urgent care for his employer(we forgot to ask about it while we were there). Easy enough, right?

So I’m driving home from picking up the note and (in the same exact spot my car broke down) I hear a loud “clink” as I push in the clutch to shift into first. The clutch broke. How freaky is that?! I really don’t know what to think now. Karma? Murphy’s Law? Full moon? What? Strange things are happening.

It’s funny….six months ago I would have freaked out that these things happened and worried incessantly about how we were going to get it all fixed. Now I just take it in stride and figure it’ll work out the way it’s supposed to. Such is life… Maybe I’ll play the lottery tomorrow…

I have been designing jewelry for a long time. Designing jewelry for me is kind of like any art. Inspiration comes in waves. Sometimes the tide comes in and sometimes it goes out only it’s not predictable. I sometimes go months without any ideas on new things to make.

Over the past few days I’ve been thinking more about having a line of jewelry to offer. I love doing wire work and it’s about time I offer a line of wire wrapped and woven jewelry. I have spent some time designing earrings and pendants and I think you’ll like them. Some are kind of tribal, others are architecture (cathedral window like)based, and some are just simple and chic.

Stay tuned.

The weekend was filled with my oldest grandchild visiting and I just can’t ignore my 5 year old little angel. Family is important and we don’t get to see her that often so I sacrificed my time spent on this project to spend time with her. Life goes on. Part of the reason I wanted to go full bore in being self employed was to be able to spend more time with family and I made a promise to myself that I was not going to put work before family anymore. I’ve lost out on a lot of time with my kids when they were young because of that and I refuse to do that with my Grandchildren.

So here I am with catch up to do.

I’m going to be lighting up my torch this weekend. I want to get at least 20 sets of beads made to put up on the site. I used all the sets I had made in jewelry over the summer and haven’t had much time at the torch since then. I have honed my skills to make little vase type vessels though. I will be adding those to the site too. I thought it would be neat to add a sprig of lavender or chocolate mint to each one ordered. A little something aromatic for the little amphorae(vase type vessels). Then put them on a leather cord to wear as a necklace.

So it’s off to dream land now. 10:30pm my time. Going to be up at the crack of dawn tomorrow. Hope you all have sweet dreams!

I love the Brits and there use of the word bits. I also have a fascination when I listen to Cockney English. I almost wish I were from London. Of course if I were to try to emulate the Brits I would be considered a wazzock and would be takin the Mickey a lot! Translation: if I were to talk like the Brits I would be considered crazy and be the butt end of the joke a lot !

So here I am just a daft American getting giddy because I have been glued to the computer for days. Ah…the end is in sight though and then I will just be maintain mode and able to focus more on creating more.