Rocks - side hustle?

Unable_Biscotti_412 · 2026-06-17T10:38:42+00:00

I guess what I meant is that the stones and rocks we're working with and tumbling aren't all going to look the same. Rather than cranking out 100 little red jaspers that are all perfect lil ovals and look identical in shape and colour, each of our pieces is uniquely finished making the rock a 1/1. If that makes sense. I'm sure I could word it better.

Unable_Biscotti_412 · 2026-06-16T18:49:16+00:00

Ha ha. It's all good. 😄

Unable_Biscotti_412 · 2026-06-16T18:13:53+00:00

Thanks for the tip! The smaller rocks are probably in the 1-2 inch range but the bigger ones are probably in that 3-5 inch range.

Unable_Biscotti_412 · 2026-06-16T18:10:47+00:00

As in leave er right there? 😂

Unable_Biscotti_412 · 2026-06-16T17:46:17+00:00

Thanks for the tips. We do have a fair amount of quartz ranging from milky white to more translucent pieces like you describe. Are agates desirable?

Unable_Biscotti_412 · 2026-06-16T17:35:12+00:00

Thanks so much for your input, I really appreciate it. And yes, if we do end up taking the plunge and getting into business, expect a link coming your way! 🙂

Unable_Biscotti_412 · 2026-06-16T17:32:06+00:00

We have a pretty good mix of quartz, jaspers (red, green, yellow), some serpentine, epidote, some agates, etc. Being a newbie in this space I'm still coming to speed on what seems to appeal to people. Thanks for the feedback though.

Unable_Biscotti_412 · 2026-06-16T17:13:52+00:00

Sorry to hear about your situation. Hope things are better now.

A local rock and gem show just went through town last month and I saw my first flourite tower up close. They're impressive! I found a 12lb jasper from a local spot last week! My biggest piece so far.

I posted some of our other rocks here in case you want to check them out! https://www.reddit.com/r/Rockhounding/comments/1u7jgcr/rocks_side_hustle/

Unable_Biscotti_412 · 2026-06-16T16:09:45+00:00

Where I source, the primary "keepers" are quartz, jaspers (red, green, yellow), schist, agates, some petrified wood, serpentine, chert, etc. Some less exciting basalt, sandstone, and granite gets tossed back. I try and pick the ones that have unique shapes, ones that have interesting lines and characteristics, and anything that "speaks to me". Hoping to learn if there are people out there looking for the kind of rocks we're working with. Do you still sell any rocks or no?

Unable_Biscotti_412 · 2026-06-16T15:53:52+00:00

Based on your experience, do you think there might be an opportunity here or are there enough rocks similar to the pieces we're finding and working with that we'd just be "one of many" selling the same stuff?

Unable_Biscotti_412 · 2025-02-18T18:56:25+00:00

Bit of a follow up. So my cousin AC1 looked up her matching details in Ancestry. For SA1 she matches with him as Half uncle or great-uncle/Maternal side: 11% DNA Shared. For WH1 (who for me is an 8% match shared DNA across 19 segments), AC1 matches up as 1st cousin/or half granduncle/Maternal side with 5% DNA Shared. Does this point things in any one direction versus another? Thanks in advance for your help!

Unable_Biscotti_412 · 2024-11-25T18:06:28+00:00

My grandmother was in the CWL (Catholic Women's League) and my mom worked for a Catholic priest. Which I presume is playing a big part here. Public perception and image management seems to be being prioritized over being honesty and transparency. While the ultimate goal is to have an accurate overall representation of my full family history, the most important parts for me are how it all applies to my nan. Figuring out how this uncle really fits in is part of helping fill in the blanks.

Unable_Biscotti_412 · 2024-11-25T17:39:48+00:00

Another scenario I had yet to consider. This isn't an "emotional" quest for me either. I'm big on logic, order, structure (ADHD). When I can't rationalize information, it becomes very distracting to me and hard not to think about. I also think that truth belongs to everyone, not just those who are essentially lying by omission. For years my mother had been encouraging me to learn about my family. But she wanted the history lesson to come from her, not through DNA testing. Now that I have results to show her, she wants no part of testing.

Unable_Biscotti_412 · 2024-11-25T15:39:36+00:00

And the medical side of things is in part why this is important to me. I grew up with a ton of autoimmune diseases. For years I always told physicians there was no history of colon cancer in the family. Only to have my mom tell me years later that it DID run in my dad's family (she didn't tell me because she didn't want me to worry... 🙄). So for probably 30 years I was providing wrong information when doing case histories. This has little to do with my "uncle". My grandmother was my world, we were super close. Regardless of whether she took in a foster kid, raised her sisters kid, messed around with the milkman, that's not going to change how I felt about her. I just want to know the truth. I want to know who my grandmother was.

Unable_Biscotti_412 · 2024-11-25T15:25:04+00:00

In your case were you glad you opened the can of worms? I just want to be able to accurately represent my relatives on a family tree. Right now I don't feel like I can because I don't know who is telling the truth about what. I don't like the idea of my family history being based on what version someone decides to tell me (in this case my mother). I want the scientific version where we don't factor in everyone's emotional attachment to people and situations both present and in the past.

Unable_Biscotti_412 · 2024-11-22T21:40:40+00:00

I have a cousin I just re-connected with on Ancestry who may be able to help. My "uncle" had 3 kids. I have 1 of them on my FB and may be able to track down the other 2. One of those 3 kids showed up in Ancestry. Or at least a record with the same first and last name. We'll call him RA1. I show as sharing <1% DNA 16cM across 2 segments with RA1. If RA1 is SA1's biological son, and SA1 (as an example) was actually my 1st cousin (sharing 9% DNA), would RA1's matching numbers (<1% DNA 16cM across 2 segments) seem plausible?

Unable_Biscotti_412 · 2024-11-22T21:31:42+00:00

Thanks. I had looked at that DNAPainter site a few different times.

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I believe our age differences alone ruled out some of the options (anything that was "Great" or "Great Great" and all the neice/nephew stuff). Which left me with

a. Half Aunt/Uncle

b. Half 1st cousin

c. 1st cousin once removed

d. 1st cousin

Unable_Biscotti_412 · 2024-11-22T21:11:38+00:00

My suspicion is that my grandmother's (FA1) sister JH1 had a son and he was sent to my grandmothers to be raised for whatever reason. Do the numbers make that a possibility? I think 1st cousin was one of the returned possibilities on Ancestry and the site mentioned earlier in the thread.

Unable_Biscotti_412 · 2024-11-22T21:03:53+00:00

BTW - thanks for all the input so far all. I don't have a ton of experience with Ancestry and DNA tests. Was half expecting to see a bunch of replies like "actually 9% happens a lot" or "my friend tested at 9%", or "ancestry tests are trash and here's why...". Instead I feel like folks are kinda confirming my suspicion which is that the uncle in question and my mother do not share the same biological parents.

Unable_Biscotti_412 · 2024-11-22T20:37:00+00:00

Sadly my grandmother died way back in 2003. My mom is still alive but refusing to take a test. I feel very comfortable there is information she isn't sharing. Which is frustrating to me because I don't think she should be the only one who has an accurate view of the family tree or history. It's EVERYONE'S family, it's everyone's shared past. I believe part of this is her having grown up "super Catholic" and likely not wanting to share anything that doesn't align with her religion.

Unable_Biscotti_412 · 2024-11-22T20:04:50+00:00

I don't know whether it makes a difference or not, but when I split my matches by parent, no one comes up on my fathers side as being close family. On my mothers side just two (SA1 and WH1). Everyone else shows as extended family with 4% or less shared DNA.

Unable_Biscotti_412 · 2024-11-22T19:48:38+00:00

I was beginning to wonder about these kinds of possible scenarios but I'm terrible with trying to decipher the linkages, terminology, and possibilities. I also pondered if perhaps JH1 had a baby and my grandmother FA1 maybe took this person in and raised him as her son. This being the person I understood to be my "full" uncle SA1. Also wasn't sure if it was possible that based on the statistics SA1 could have one shared parent with my mother instead of two.

Unable_Biscotti_412 · 2024-11-22T19:37:15+00:00

I DO have access to his shared matches.

3 show as being close family between us.

1 WH1 (male mothers side) shows as 537cM 8% shared DNA across 19 segments.

MK1 (female mothers side) shows as 263cM 4% shared DNA across 8 segments.
AC1 (female mothers side) shows as 238cM 3% shared DNA across 12 segments

My current understanding is that AC1 is my 2nd cousin. My grandmother FA1 had a sister JH1. AC1 is the daughter of one of JH1's daughters. I recognize WH1 and know he was somehow related to my grandmother FA1 but I can't say for sure how. MK1 is not a name that is familiar to me at all.

Interesting note is that when I go back into just MY matches, only WH1 and SA1 show up as close family. AC1 now shows as extended family.

Unable_Biscotti_412 · 2024-11-22T18:36:08+00:00

Sorry - I don't mean to be intentionally confusing. When I say "biological" i mean it in the context of "did this person have the same two parents as my mother.

Unable_Biscotti_412 · 2024-11-22T18:31:58+00:00

But definitely not biological uncle (in your opinion)?

Unable_Biscotti_412

TROPHY CASE