I attended the Ottawa Gem Show this past Saturday, and had an amazing time.  I go every year (except last year, when I was busy getting married!), and I always have a blast.  I will freely admit to being a bit of a rock geek.  I love seeing all the mineral specimens and gorgeous crystal samples on display and for sale.  There are activities for the kids, as well as demonstrations such as cabbing faceting.

As always, it was a packed house.  I met up with my friend Carolyn from Maiden Star, and we navigated the show together.  We oohed and ahhed over displays and hunted through bins for perfect mineral samples and strands of gems.

There was a lot to see, and of course lots of shopping to do!  I came away with a good haul, and it took an enormous amount of willpower to not take home more.

I also had fun trying my hand at picking out a geode.  The Grenville Minerals booth had bins of rocks that were unopened geodes.  I selected one, and he cracked it open.  Here’s what I got:

-Robyn