Music in My Ears

Well, well. So here is another abject lesson in following you heart when you fall in love … most especially important when you are shopping in a market on the other side of the world!

I fell for a pair of giant silver hoops suspended with little bells from a shop deep in the heart of the souq in the Djemaa el Fna in Marrakesh. They were very expensive, and informed that I would most likely find similar earrings in Essaouira for less, I held off purchasing them. What a mistake that was. There were none to be found there, and I passionately wished I had bought the earrings in Marrakesh.

Back home, yielding to the pangs of long-lost love, I became crafty. I tracked down some giant sterling silver hoops from a seller in Queensland, and then I found lots and lots of little sterling silver bells from other eBay sellers. By the time I added up the total, you betcha – they cost just a little less than the original pair in Marrakesh. Ka-ching-a-ring!

I don’t know what it is about bells that I like so much – I have another necklace that jingles with every step, and a vintage skirt that tinkles rather elusively (I caused much mystery in the office today when I wore it – it took time for people to track down the source of faint music). I’m reminded of that old nursery rhyme Ride a Cock-Horse to Banbury Cross, only I’ve written a new version for the occasion:

With hoops hanging with bells on her ears
She shall have music whatever she hears …