Steph

How is this possible?! Real dandelion ... and other natural items ... the insect died of natural causes https://www.etsy.com/listing/274135168/dandelion-bees-flowers-paperweight

Baron Carrickfergus .... do you know who that is? and Lady Carrickfergus?

There has been a Ric sighting! Okay, not here. But he lives! He'll be bahk.

That's a good answer though! Needed to be mentioned. I had some 1"-ers which might have been the American-made version ... but I can't swear they weren't European ... and sold 'em without ever knowing so I don't have them around to ask about.

Ohmigosh, how was I not subscribed? How was that possible? I'm subscribed now.

still loving The clear based competitors are hard to see on the track, huh? I was rooting for Fishy Fish!

Wonderful to have you, Richard. As far as I know, you're right about there being no UK marble factories. Not for toy marbles. But from what I've seen you guys have some nice antique German handmades hiding out there.

Here's one of the non-Alox packages I remember with similar:

On the way to post these in another topic ... will deposit them here while I'm in the neighborhood so maybe they'll be easier to find next time.

Looking through the cat's eye thread ... was reminded of these banana-y foreign ones. They were new to me then and I'd already forgotten them. Hopefully I won't forget them again.

1984

Neato! Small is also what I was envisioning for my project .... for when I ever got started. Because of space and cats! Maybe small enough to fit on a desk. Putting it in a box is not something I'd thought of. I have some slightly larger but easily portable salesman type cases.

These are boulders from an Alox bag which I got in 2008 from Nancy Frier. I thought I remembered knowing about this style of marble before that time. But maybe not knowing where they came from. And I thought I remembered seeing Master and Penny King bags containing them, which may have come to my attention around that time but were in circulation before that. Now the dates on these 1"-ers is being questioned. Also when they became available to the public is under discussion. What are your memories of them? Correction: Okay ... the question has been updated. It is agreed that the marbles were seen before then. The question is now what packaging they were seen in before 2008, or what packaging they came in which didn't come from a stash from the Alox factory after it closed. Thanks!

much squee The 25 Most Awkward Cat Sleeping Positions

Coolness! Welcome! You know we want to see it. But mostly, I hope you had fun! I'm still only dreaming of starting one.

The last generation of the von Trapp family singers is retiring. Great-grandchildren of the Captain and Maria. https://www.facebook.com/events/1683971338523873/

I'll have to go back and check out what daft thing I said. Also will have to listen to more of Andrea's music. Can you believe I'm the only one ever to hit like on the marble one on YouTube? It's been up for more than a year. We need to send her some more love.

Mt. Migration? Surely not? Did someone make a joke? I don't remember.

Thanks for bumping that! That link didn't work for me this time but here's a Youtube version. Happy place song.

oooooooooooh

My dear departed cat is Facebook friends with Victoria Jackson of Saturday Night Live fame. Watching the Season 6 episode of X-Files in which she stars and that made me go check Brother's Facebook account to see if they're still friends. Sure enough, they are.

Yes to uranium for the bright yellow and yellow/green. (I think something else may cause some shades of green, but yes to uranium being the typical cause of that.) I think it is manganese which usually gives us the orange and red glow. (It's an m-word but I often forget which one. I think I have it correct this time.) If you pull the brightest glowing marbles out and let your eyes get adjusted to the dark again, other marbles will then seem to come through relatively brightly. If you do that a few times, you can get down to levels of glow with different colors coming through. But they're more subtle. I don't know what causes all the different shades. It's just fun to notice sometimes.