Luck of the Irish comes in fours

Eketahuna schoolgirl Annabelle Capes, 13, has spent years collecting four-leaf clovers - 160 of them to be precise - and today has more than enough good luck to give away.

The St Matthew's Collegiate pupil and her prize-winning calf, Misty, often wander the paddocks and lawns of their dairy farm home in search of clover - although each, of course, have their own reasons to scour the ground.

"I walk in front of her so I usually get there first," Annabelle said.

"I've found one with six leaves and my favourite four-leaf clover is one a caterpillar nibbled that's shaped like a star.

"I even gave some to a couple of sick calves once to make them feel better. I don't think it worked."

Annabelle has sought her verdant prizes ever since her mother, Diana, showed her a four-leaf clover a dairy farmer had given her as a young girl.

"I have a bit of Irish in me and, after mum showed me her one, I looked and found my own," Annabelle said.

"I remember reaching 50 and thought about getting to 500, so it's just been growing and growing from there."

Only the best clovers make it into laminated cards and her search has persisted despite the odd bit of ribbing from fellow pupils.

"Some others, when they're told, have called me the strange child who collects four-leaf clovers.

I've just kept on collecting them anyway. It doesn't bother me."

Annabelle has discovered an unusually rich run of lucky grass outside her mother's bedroom window but has yet to find any in the grass of her Masterton school.

"Dad reckons I've got enough now and I kind of agree.

"But, sometimes, when I'm out walking with Misty, I just can't help myself, and I almost always strike it lucky too.

"I must be good at finding good luck, I guess."

The four-leaf clover is an infrequent variation of the common, three-leaved clover. Such leaves traditionally bring good luck to their finders, particularly when chanced upon. According to legend, each leaf represents something: the first is for hope, the second is for faith, the third is for love and the fourth is for luck.

via google.com