Back in 2016, we threw together a last minute outback road trip in the lead up to the the July school holidays. It was a total winging-it, see where the road takes us kind of trip, with not much more than a vague idea of where we were heading. Towards the tail end of our two weeks, we ended up in Lightning Ridge for a couple of nights. Of course, what else does one do in Lightning Ridge if not go fossicking for opals! We didn’t have a huge amount of luck, but did come home with a couple of smallish, low grade chips. Pretty to look at, but not worth cutting and polishing. Fun, at least
These have since sat on top of the cupboard in my craft room, always with the intention of using them to create a wire wrapped uncut pendant with one of them. Then, like many things over the last couple of years, they got packed away into storage and the idea shelved.
Then, in March, just before the world turned upside down, we did a little day trip with our homeschool group, to a gem and jewellery exhibition, complete with extensive market place. You all know where this is going, right? I found myself in the marketplace, and a beautifully coloured tray of peacock stone caught my eye. It was quite reasonably priced, and I recalled my plan to make a simple wrapped pendant, and down the rabbit hole I went, ferreting though the tray to pick one that the colours appealed to me most.
That was a Friday. We went home, spent the weekend packing and keeping an eye on the news, and on the Sunday afternoon, headed off on another excursion to the coast. By the time we got home on the Wednesday, everything had exploded pretty spectacularly, and the children and I suddenly found ourselves housebound, at first by choice but soon by regulation. As we found our footing in the craziness that 2020 turned into, my little peacock stone waited patiently, and within a month or so, I dug out my jewellery making supplies and got to work on the pendant I envisioned, and then got set aside, because, well, where does one wear a pretty necklace in a pandemic? To the front gate to put the bins out?
It seemed pretty apt, then, as I was writing this post, and doing some googling, that I came across a site talking about the properties of peacock stone. It said it is “a stone of happiness and joy, it is said to turn you in positive directions, and help channel happiness to others; generally a stone of upliftment”…Sounds like the perfect stone for 2020!
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