Friday, August 31, 2012

Be Careful Where You Collect Your Unpainted Rocks

A man was sentenced to 6 months in prison and $2,200 in restitution for collecting rocks on government lands.

I'm always careful where I collect my rocks and if necessary, I'll purchase them from a landscaping company or home improvement store. The person mentioned here was taking truckloads of moss rocks.  I feel stealing is stealing whether it's one rock or tons of rocks.

Land located in BLM Royal Gorge Field Office area

Release Date: 08/31/12    

COLORADO SPRINGS MAN SENTENCED TO SIX MONTHS IMPRISONMENT FOR ILLEGALLY COLLECTING AND SELLING GOVERNMENT PROPERTY (08-30-12)

DENVER – Robert “Larry” Caskey, age 28, of Colorado Springs, was sentenced this week by U.S. Magistrate Judge Craig B. Shaffer to serve six months in federal prison and pay $2,200 in restitution to the federal government for illegally collecting and selling moss rock taken from public lands within the Royal Gorge Field Office area, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Bureau of Land Management announced.  Caskey was ordered to report to prison on or before September 5, 2012.

Caskey was charged on December 19, 2011 in U.S. District Court in Colorado Springs.  He pled guilty to illegal theft of government property and damaging and removing government property without authorization on June 6, 2012.  He was sentenced on August 22, 2012.

In 2010, a member of the public spotted an individual illegally removing moss rock from public lands.  The individual took photos and reported the incident to the BLM.  The BLM initiated an investigation, which later discovered that Caskey was responsible for the theft of the moss rock.  It was also determined that the defendant was selling the rock commercially.  Moss rock is worth as much as $200-$300 a ton commercially....
      
...For more information about permitting, please contact your local BLM office. Additionally, the BLM would like to remind the public that firewood cut using a personal use firewood permit cannot be sold commercially.

The full Bureau of Land Management release can be found here.

As enticing as it looks, always be aware of the consequences of taking rocks from private and government land. When in doubt, check it out or ask permission.

Land located in BLM Royal Gorge Recreation area


The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land, the most of any Federal agency. This land, known as the National System of Public Lands, is primarily located in 12 Western states, including Alaska. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. In Fiscal Year (FY) 2011, recreational and other activities on BLM-managed land contributed more than $130 billion to the U.S. economy and supported more than 600,000 American jobs. The Bureau is also one of a handful of agencies that collects more revenue than it spends. In FY 2012, nearly $5.7 billion will be generated on lands managed by the BLM, which operates on a $1.1 billion budget. The BLM's multiple-use mission is to sustain the health and productivity of the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations. The Bureau accomplishes this by managing such activities as outdoor recreation, livestock grazing, mineral development, and energy production, and by conserving natural, historical, cultural, and other resources on public lands.

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Making a Meal of Painted Rocks

Would you be tempted to eat these painted rocks?

A fun idea for painting rocks is the food category. If you stage your rocks as they'd normally appear, you add a little more realism. As you can see in the photos, certain shapes and sizes of rocks lend themselves well to a particular type of food. WARNING. Small painted food rocks could look real enough to eat so use common sense and care around young children or at-risk adults.

Sample Menu from Cindy's Painted Rocks Cafe


Breakfast


painted rocks, food, egg, rock painting
Sunny Side Up Painted Rock Egg

Lunch


rock painting, food, painted rocks, sushi
Sushi Painted Rocks

Afternoon Snack


strawberries, painted rocks, food, rock painting
Strawberries Painted Rocks

Dinner


food, painted rocks, rock painting, hamburger, pickle
Hamburger & Pickle Painted Rocks

Dessert


candies, painted rocks, rock painting, food, stones
Chocolate Candies Painted Rocks

May I take your order?

© Cindy Thomas Painted Rocks

Sunday, August 5, 2012

There's a Reason to Smile Every Day This Week

Smile, smile, smile. It's National Smile Week August 5th - August 11th. 

painted rocks, faces, mouths, smile, Stony Face


Some Benefits of Smiling

  • lowers blood pressure
  • boosts immunity
  • relieves stress
  • puts others at ease
  • creates a positive atmosphere
  • lights up your face
  • it's an international language that everyone understands

Words of Wisdom to Help you Smile


A smile is a facelift that's in everyone's price range!
Tom Wilson


A smile is the light in your window that tells others 
that there is a caring, sharing person inside.
Denis Waitley


A smile is the universal welcome.
Max Eastman


A warm smile is the universal language of kindness.
William Arthur Ward


Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened.
Dr. Seuss


rock painting, smile, quote, painted rocks, Stony Face, mouth


I have witnessed the softening of the hardest of hearts 
by a simple smile.
Goldie Hawn


A smile is happiness you'll find right under your nose.
Tom Wilson


If in our daily life we can smile, if we can be peaceful and happy, 
not only we, but everyone will profit from it. 
This is the most basic kind of peace work.
Nhat Hanh


If the world's a veil of tears, Smile till rainbows span it.
Lucy Larcom


Wear a smile and have friends; wear a scowl and have wrinkles.
George Eliot


Stony Face, painted rocks, smile, mouth, quote


If you have only one smile in you give it to the people you love.
Maya Angelou


If you smile when no one else is around, you really mean it.
Andy Rooney


If you walk down the street and smile at someone, that will get passed on to the next person. That has the power to change someone's day.
Julianna Margulies


Laughter is day, and sobriety is night; a smile is the twilight that hovers gently between both, more bewitching than either.
Henry Ward Beecher


Laughter is regional: a smile extends over the whole face.
Malcolm De Chazal


painted rocks, quote, smile, Stony Face, Cindy Thomas


Let my soul smile through my heart and my heart smile through my eyes, that I may scatter rich smiles in sad hearts.
Paramahansa Yogananda


Let us always meet each other with smile,
 for the smile is the beginning of love.
Mother Teresa


Nobody needs a smile so much as the one who has none to give. So get used to smiling heart-warming smiles, and you will spread sunshine in a sometimes dreary world.
Lawrence G. Lovasik


Nothing you wear is more important than your smile.
Connie Stevens

Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, 
but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.
Nhat Hanh


quote, smile, painted rocks, Stony Face, lips, mouth


The happiness of life is made up of minute fractions - the little, 
soon forgotten charities of a kiss or a smile, a kind look or heartfelt compliment.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge


'Tis easy enough to be pleasant, When life flows along like a song; But the man worth while is the one who will smile 
when everything goes dead wrong.
Ella Wheeler Wilcox


Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.
Leo Buscaglia


We shall never know all the good that a simple smile can do.
Mother Teresa


The catch phrase for the day is 'Do an act of kindness. 
Help one person smile.'
Harvey Ball


painted rocks, love bugs, quote, smile, rock painting


© Cindy Thomas Painted Rocks