Hawaiian Shells

So many island treasures show up in Reno! At the guess where? Yep, the Sutro St. Salvation Army. In the first photo I found most of the shells in Reno, all but the small red ones that have a long Hawaiian name which I've forgotten (my Hawaiian shell book is so beloved that it was put somewhere really special that I now can't remember). But anyway I found the red shells on the beaches of Oahu and strung them up myself.

I also strung up the puka shells, which I got at the yard sale of old Mrs. Wilma Abernethy, the wife of Quincy's famous old Sheriff who closed down Quincy's last whore house where I lived when I first moved here. Anyway she had these shells in a paper bag since the 70's when she had bought them from a swap meet in Honolulu. I made another necklace from that bag that is worth its own blog, but as you can see these are beautiful puka shells that had been stored away since they "went out of style." I've actually made one necklace for my son and two for his girlfriend out of that stash in addition to the big one I made for myself, well actually Cary made it with fishing wire since nothing else would hold the weight.

Mrs. Abernethy and I became great friends, all because I liked her Hawaiian shells. She greeted me very warmly everytime we met, and she wasn't really known for that. She also had one of the most beautiful diamond rings I've seen in my life.