Find a Feeder

Friday, April 27, 2012

When Pigs Fly!

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When Pigs Fly! Sometimes I come across a piece of jewelry (hmm are pigs ever jewelry? Well this cutie is!) that I just have to have. He/She's the cutest flying pig! Thank goodness my birthday is coming...so I have a good excuse!


I have to admit to having my share of oddball jewelry! Some of the charms on my old fashioned charm bracelet are not your typical charms that commemorate things like birthdays or a favorite sport or a hobby. No, I have things like dragons! After all, who could resist? And then there's the copy of an old Mayan or it might be Polynesian statue that I picked up at a museum shop in my travels.  It always draws comments.

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Another example of my oddball jewelry collection is this necklace made from silver from the Atocha. (The photo above is of a gold one, but mine is exactly the same.)  The Atocha is a treasure galleon that sank off the coast of Key West that was located and salvaged by Mel Fisher (the king of undersea salvage of ancient galleons and the like.)

It resembles a dragon (sort of). I love to wear it because it is a real conversation starter... I mean who else wears an ear spoon/toothpick combination around their neck? Ha! Who else in this day and age HAS an earspoon? Well I have to admit, I've never used it... as either a toothpick or earspoon, but I do like the watching peoples' faces as they try to figure out just what it is without coming right out and asking!

Wealthy passengers on ships carried these in the pre-toothpick and pre-toothbrush era or used the other end to clean out their ears (and the doctor says Q-tips are bad for your ears?) See? Now when you see me wearing it you won't have to wonder or ask. In fact you'll wow me with your knowledge of jewelry artifacts from the Atocha! They were also the 1622 equivalent of a tax dodge! Jewelry was not taxable so it was an easy way to sneak some gold into a country without paying tax on it. I do love a creative tax dodge! (Wish I was wealthy enough to need one!)


So, you could say my anthem is:

"I've never seen a flying pig,
I never hope to see one.
But if I see one anyhow,
I'd rather see than be one!"

A bit of an off-shoot of purple cows... but...
Do you have an interesting piece of jewelry you've seen or own? Share it here!

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