[clay]

I go to Western NC..to a gem mine there...I have to look at name of it...they have 5 gal buckets and it is awesome what all you will find there! I have emeralds, rubies (native to that area), quartz, sapphires, rose quartz, moonstone, smoky quartz, clear quartz, garnets, tiger eye, black onyx, tourmaline, amethyst (lots of it in varying shades) to name a few. You can buy the buckets and take with you..along with a screen box ($$). They will cut the stones. My wife & I went 5 months before she passed..and she found eleven stones we had cut. The biggest is a 6.72 ct. sapphire. She has 3 and 4 ct. emeralds...sadly she didn;t get to see them..they arrievd the day she passed away. I have a ruby she found and had cut for me a ring and an emerald I found and had cut for her b day stone.. I have mined in that area for about 30+ years. Cowee Valley....LOVE it. Arwen if you have never gone, do go..I have also mined up in Dahlonega (NW Ga) a few years. I prefer Cowee Valley best...

Originally Posted by Arwen

I turn 50 in March. This is SO going on my birthday list! What a fabulous idea.

Memory retention would be citrine. Also good for writer's blocks. It's often called the student's stone because it helps you focus.