I Treasure Turtles

Turtles are totem animals in Native American culture. They are said to be the oldest symbol for planet Earth and represent the North American Continent which the ancients called "Turtle Island .

As totems, turtles teach the art of grounding, they shield one from hurt and envy and suggest we go inward as they do for contemplation. They have the power of earth and water.

I can say with some degree of of assurance, that I am probably one of the few people on earth with a bouquet of turtles in my living room! I purchased the majority of the turtles seen in the photo in the fall of 2006 with plans to put them in my garden. Since it was late in the season, I decided not to put them out until the following spring.

Instead, I stuck them in an umbrella stand, meaning to move them later.

After awhile, I had grown to like them there and simply left them so that they could "ground" me on a daily basis. They generated much conversation during the following months. Then a strange thing began to happen. Gold spiral twigs were added. Then came some greenery. And soon, I was gifted with a turtle walking stick. And most recently, my friend, Veronica Wetzel, purchased a turtle metal sculpure for me at Lauritzen Gardens in Omaha. She was on a tour of these beautiful gardens and thought of me when she saw this wonderful piece in their gift shop. It is the latest addition to my bale of turtles. Yes, a group of turtles is called a bale, not a herd!

In addition to the bouquet of turtles in the living room, I have numerous turtles made in a variety of materials tucked here and there throughout the house and in my jewelry box. I gave my granddaughter, Sydney, a sterling silver turtle ring for her birthday this year.

My most recent "turtle treasure acquisition" is a pair of earrings. I purchased these earrings from an Etsy store named The Filigree Gardens. It is owned by a fellow member of the Boomer Street Team on Etsy. Her name is Olivia and she lives in Menden, MA. Liv, as we call her in our team chats, is a talented artist.

I copied Liv's store announcement as it describes her store better than I could. It says, "The Filigree Garden is always in bloom with unique handcrafted accessories inspired by nature. In The Garden you will find one-of-a-kind and limited edition jewelry and sewn items that blend repurposed and vintage pieces with new elements and findings. You can visit her store by clicking on this link:
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5373919

You can see the earrings that I purchased by clicking this link:

http://www.etsy.com/view_transaction.php?transaction_id=9376551

You will be glad that you visited her shop. Her work is wonderful!

Yes, I do treasure turtles and hope this explains some of the reasons why.