Good hobbies that don't cost the earth.

@icedsky People are fortunate to live in a region that has a lot of collectible rocks, geodes etc. That’d definitely be my hobby if it was like that here. We have rose rocks here. They used to be plentiful and after a good rain you could find them in rural areas places like bar ditches, around the lakes and even in fields. But now the area is so built up that’s it is not easy to look for them.

@cherokeepatti Barite Roses? Or Selenite? Both are pretty cool. If those are around there is others. But not a lot of exposed rock areas to poke around in.

@icedsky Barite roses. In some areas in this county and the next county they find large clusters of them. Farmers plowing their field would find them. Had to be vein running through the property though. . One old farmer in the 60’s and 70’s set up a stand and was selling them for side money. He had some huge ones that had perfect petals on them that my aunt bought. There was another farmer in the next county that we got pecans from on the halves…he sold these barite rocks that were clusters of big bubbles. My aunt bought some of them from him as well.

@cherokeepatti Some of those do sell for big bucks. As they are getting rarer. Not any barite roses here in this neck of the woods. Barite crystals are common though. Blade shapes and some cubes.

@icedsky yes. I heard a local story and don’t know if it was true or not. In the late 1960’s a man drove from Oklahoma to California. He didn’t pay for gas. He would take a larger rose rock…sit it on the car dash and ask for a fill up. The attendant or owner would see that rose rock and ask about it and eventually it would be traded for a tank of gas. There was a small gift store in Noble, Oklahoma that sold rose rocks and rose rock decorative sculptures, t-shirts, and all kinds of rose-rock gifts etc. It stayed in business for 30 years until the owners retired.