ZELDA, MERMAID OF ZEALANDIA

Isn't this ring AWESOME?! It, and the mermaid box it came in, is custom-made, one-of-a-kind just for me and no you cannot have one! Not even if you cry and say pretty please with sugar on top.

My ring was designed and made by the artistic team of Steve and Mark of Deadringer, "designers and fabricators of Dragonware, Celtica and fine quality Skull rings". This site is a must-see for everyone, not only skull ring aficionados. Art lovers will be impressed with the skill and beauty of each work of art in the gallery. I happen to love dragons and dragon-lore and was thrilled with the finished product. (Look for a dragon lore post soon on Casa de Charlotte.)

My ring box is hand-crafted of wood with a custom MERMAID burn-out that wraps completely around. The pix above are great but they don't really do justice.

Deadringer is located in New Zealand - a country I knew virtually nothing about other than "New Zealand", the name itself, sounds exotic and mysterious. Oh, also that lamb comes from there too-----lambchops being my favorite food second only to oysters.

So I've done a bit of reading and I am very impressed with what I've learned. I'm sharing a few facts from Wikipedia with ya'all. (What did we ever do before Wikipedia???)

New Zealand is the only country in the world in which all the highest
offices in the land have been occupied simultaneously by women, between March
2005 and August2006. (That Rocks!)

New Zealand maintains a strong profile on environmental
protection, human rights and free
trade, particularly in agriculture.



The New
Zealand Nuclear Free Zone, Disarmament, and Arms Control Act 1987 prohibits
the stationing of nuclear weapons on the territory of New Zealand and the entry
into New Zealand waters of nuclear armed or propelled ships. This legislation
remains a source of contention and the basis for the United States' continued
suspension of treaty obligations to New Zealand.


New Zealand is part of Zealandia, a
continent that is 93% submerged. Zealandia is almost half the size of Australia and
is unusually long and narrow. About 25 million years ago, a shift in plate
tectonic movements began to pull Zealandia apart forcefully.


Because of its long isolation from the rest of the world and its island biogeography, New Zealand
has extraordinary flora and fauna. About 80% of the New
Zealand flora occurs only in New Zealand, including more than 40 endemic genera.


The country has a high standard of living
with GDP per capita estimated at $26,400 (comparative figures are Australia
$31,900 and United States $41,800).
The standard of living has also been measured in other forms, including being
ranked 20th on the 2006 Human Development
Index and 15th in The Economist's 2005
world-wide quality-of-life index.


New Zealand's national sport is rugby union. The national
rugby team, the All Blacks, has the best
winning record of any national team. They hosted and won the inaugural Rugby World Cup in
1987, and will host the 2011 Rugby World
Cup.

It's official. If the Mermaid ever moves from Nola, it'll be to New Zealand. Besides, I love "Z" words. I'll just change my blog name to Zelda, Mermaid of Zealandia! I like it.

Thanks again Steve and Mark! And thanks to Karl Elvis for turning me on to them!