This may seem a bit odd, and I'm not sure Fodor's will be okay with my request but I'm a bit desperate.

Two years ago I purchased a pair of earrings for my mother, at a National Trust shop, which she absolutely loved. This spring she suffered a heart attack and while the paramedics were getting her into the ambulance one of the earrings disappeared. She has since recovered and still bemoans the loss of the earring. I would love to get her a new pair of the same earrings for Christmas but have tried the National Trust online and they don't do that kind of thing and have also checked e-bay. Unfortunately, I'm not planning on going to England again for another two years.

I was wondering if anyone going to England before Christmas, who was planning to stop at a National Trust shop, would pick up a pair and I would send cheque, money order, Paypal, etc. I'll provide details of the earrings if anyone is interested. Thanks.

See if you can find them at:
www.nationaltrust-shop.co.uk

topping for rick -for maybe someone who lives there.

I am off to London this month, back far before Christmas, if you could just list the details of earrings, I would try what I could do.

Sorry rick, I see you already tried that.

Rickmav:

I'll be passing a National Trust shop tomorrow. Email me details of the earrings before 0900 GMT Wed and I'll see if they've got them.

[email protected]

you could also try calling a national trust shop- perhaps te one where the earings were purchased. And buy them over the phone. worth a shot, yes?

I can easily detour past a Scottish National Trust shop. They stock a lot of Past Times stuff. Worth trying them online?

Thanks so much to everyone. I've sent an e-mail to flanneruk, hopefully he can find them. If not, I'll follow up with you, JudyC. Thanks for all the suggestions, my mom is going to not only love the earrings but this story.

What a great story! Good Luck and I hope your Mom is doing well.

Are we not a helpful group?

I could root through Dor's collection If I knew what you were looking for. She buys a couple dozen pairs a year and would not notice.

An update for all you lovely people that tried to help out. Our dear Flanneruk tromped off to a National Trust shop to discover that the NT stopped producing the earrings about a year ago. I will keep trying e-bay and will tell my mom at Christmas how people she didn't even know tried to help us out. Thanks again.

Apparently these earrings were discontinued -- but maybe if you give us a little bit more info about what they look like we might be able to help you find similar styles.

For instance the Past Times Sheila mentioned -- they carry a lot of different "National Trust-y looking" jewelry.

Hi Janis. The earrings are round, drop, and pierced, about 1 1/2-2 in. in length, with what looks like pressed flowers against a rich, blue background. I did check out Past Times and although they didn't have anything similar, they did have some lovely examples and it might be what I'll order in the end.

Just wanted to update all you wonderful people, particularly flanneruk, who help me out this Xmas and provided a great story for my Mom. You must have brought her good luck. Three days ago one of the paramedics called and asked her if she'd lost an earring. Turned out he'd found it stuck to his pant leg after they'd taken her to emergency, tucked it in his pocket and just discovered it. She's now wearing her favourite earrings again. Thank you all so much!

I am grinning from ear to ear after reading through this thread. What a terrific ending to your search rickmav! I'm delighted your mom has her earrings again, and hope she is making good progress following her heart attack. This is just great!

What a great ending to a neat story with a bunch of wonderfully helpful Fodorites. Thanks for the update, rickmav.

What a great ending to this story! I'd like to extend my best wishes for your mom's continued recovery.

BC

How nice to hear this beautiful story on such a grey dreary day here.
Best of health to your mom and you.
Cheers for Flanneruk!