Birthday surprise...

I received a package all the way from sunny New Zealand today: a pressie from Jack, Heather and Rebecca. It contained a leaf brooch with the cutest little insect on it - really delicate modelling work. ...and, I think, the most unusual birthday pressie I've ever received: a possum fur. Possums are officially a noxious pest in New Zealand; they're not native, and they destroy rain forest and threaten a lot of native animals' habitats. Just to add insult to injury, they cannot be re-exported to their native Australia (where they are endangered!) from New Zealand, because the NZ population carries TB, and the Aussie one doesn't (I think I've got that right). I don't own any other real fur (other than that which lives in my house!) and I'm currently wearing it round my neck; it's cold here today, but this is lovely and warm. It's got me wondering what to do with it. I could of course 'gussy' the ends up and wear it as a 'fur' in its own right, but that's not really my daily style of dress, and might result in me getting pelted with eggs and rocks in some areas of Cambridge. It is, instead, inspiring thoughts of historic costuming again; I'm thinking an Elizabethan 'loose gown' trimmed with it? Or possibly a doublet trimmed with it... Mmmmmm......