>What's the sparkly stuff? Quite possibly mica, which would appear silver to
>grey under low power magnification. It could also be calcareous stone, as
>we have found little bits of marble in calcareous sand can be very shiny
>after the cement cover weathers away slightly, as we have noticed in our
>marble patches after five years or so of natural northeastern weather
>exposure. Under the microscope it is clear that these particles are white,
>not silver, and it's just the smooth surface that is reflecting sunlight. I
>suppose oyster shells could do the same thing-- let's face it, the
>composition isn't that different!

My Craftsman-style bungalow appears to be about the same vintage as Lara's
project house.  The aeroplane-style roof monitor has a pebbledash stucco
finish.  The dash is composed of two elements: black glass and crushed
quartz...about a 1 to 10 ratio of glass to quartz.  Size of the chips is
about a half a pinky fingernail for the glass, pinky fingernail size for
the quartz.  Very cool and shimmery.  I had a dreadful time trying to find
a source for the black glass, if you can believe that [after my many
misadventures related here, I'm quite sure you can believe that].  I ended
up buying black votive glasses, putting them in a bag, smashing them with a
hammer, and sieving the chips down to the sizes I needed.  Somehow a very
satisfying task for a fallen away catholic.

_______________________________________________
Dan Becker,  Executive Director       "Conformists die, but
Raleigh Historic                                 heretics live on forever"
Districts Commission                                   -- Elbert Hubbard

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