A Castle that was also a Kingdom, Surrounded by a Moat

 Morning by Maxfield Parrish - 1922

"A dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world." Oscar Wilde

Faced with the impending beginning of another school year, and the rapid ending of another glorious summer, I decided to share with you my dreams. Dreams that I hope will soon become my reality. 

 Great Cranberry Island, Maine - Summer 2011

In many ways, I doubt my dreams, or somehow, feel guilty for them: as if I don't deserve them or they are too romantic to be borne. The romanticism of my dreams may be something that others don't understand or share, but I have come to the realization lately that no one else matters when one considers the dream-place or the dream-house or the dream-vocation (or avocation, for that matter).

 Great Cranberry Island, Maine - Summer 2011

I have been reading an amazing book that has added to, subtracted from, questioned and reinforced my dreams. This book is "We Were An Island: The Maine Life of Art & Nan Kellam" by Peter P. Blanchard III. I bought this book at Sherman's in Bar Harbor last month as a present to myself and as a way to explore one of my romantic dreams: the one about living and teaching on a small Maine island.

 The Kellams at Homewood on Placentia Island, Maine

Now, Art & Nan Kellam were more adventurous, daring and self-sufficient than I. They bought an island called Placentia off the back side of Mount Desert Island in the 1940s with the goal of isolation and independence from the larger world. Upon arriving on Placentia, the couple built a house named Homewood, and lived on the island for about 40 years, only leaving for supplies but never leaving due to weather or simply, loneliness.

 Giant Fern Fronds on Great Cranberry Island, Maine - Summer 2011

I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the idea of abandoning the path most traveled, who loves the coast of Maine, or who, like me, would love to live on an island one day. The Kellam's life was extreme in the truest respect: they all but refused to engage the outer world and only tolerated visitors rarely. This I don't think is for me, because I love people and sharing time with others and cooking and eating dinners. 

  Daddy house, Momma house, Baby house - Great Cranberry Island, Maine

That being said....the dream is alive in my mind like it never has been before. The dream is to teach in a small island school: probably to teach multiple grade levels in the same room, together, like in the olden days. The dream is to take a boat from home to work, and from work to home, and to watch the changing of the water at different times of day. The dream is to live in an old house that is warm in winter and cool in summer, a house that has a garden with areas of sunshine for vegetables and flowers and shade for lounging, space for chickens and 2 - 4 alpacas. The alpacas I really, really want. They love the Maine winters and have incredible fur that can be spun into amazing yarn. The dream is to live in this house with another person who also wants this life, who is willing to have the quiet times over the busy times, who wants a family and who likes to keep busy with projects and books and is not motivated by aspects like money, status, and the distractions of the city life. Someone who loves to have fun but can make fun wherever they are. 

 Hamilton Pond - Mount Desert Island, Maine  - Summer 2011

Many years ago, immediately after her death, I became very interested in Tasha Tudor and her eccentric approach to her life. Believing that she was the reincarnated spirit of an 1800's sea captain's wife, she chose to live out her dream life as if she remained in that time. I would like to live in similar ways to this, with the focus of life being on creating beautiful things, making food with friends, and spending time with family, but I do love my creature comforts of electricity, water, heat and the internet. 

 Tasha Tudor at her home in Vermont

The dream begins this year with my new teaching job in Philadelphia, with eyes and heart set out to the future and a desire to make my dream happen. I will soon receive my out of state teaching certification packet from Maine and will transfer my license and then wait for the job to appear. I will stay here and teach and explore this strange, decaying city until the door or window opens and I can leap out and see where the dream takes me. How amazing would it be to go from teaching in inner city Philadelphia to teaching and living on an island in Maine?

In a word.....dream-like. Of course, I would then have to write all the stories down, and discover how it all happened the way it did.  

How to Mulch a Steep Hillside

Greetings after a long, long absence. I have been in Maine with my family for the past few weeks, spending most of my time with friends and relatives, celebrating birthdays and everydays. Soon I go back to the city, and for the first time I almost stricken with a sinking feeling: as if it is not the right place for me and I should stay here. I know I want to be here, but I also know this is not the perfect time....perfection will come when I get a teaching job here and am able to live confidently and in a way that makes me happy....


Obviously, this trip has been about soul-searching, and I do my best soul-searching when I am metalsmithing or when I am gardening. During this vacation, I spent my time gardening. 


When I started this project, I could find mixed bags of information on how to mulch and solarize a steep hill, so I combined advice from fellow gardeners, information from internet forums, and my own ideas and I think made something that will work amazingly well. Just in case you ever need to do this: here are the instructions. 


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The situation: a large hill about 50 feet by 20 feet that lay at a 45 degree grade on my parents' property. The grade is so steep that it is near impossible to mow, and has to be weed-eated. It is a giant pain in the butt, and is on the edge of the leech field so it can only be planted with non-edibles.

The goal: kill all the grass and plant the area with creeping juniper and other recumbent and creeping plants so that the area never needs to be mowed again!


Here is the only before shot that I could find, since I forgot to take one!

Note the steep-ness....the area is to the right in this photo

Procedure (I am a science teacher after all)

1. Purchase high-quality DuPont landscaping fabric in 100' rolls. Figure out how much you will need by measuring the distance from top to bottom. The fabric is 3' wide, but you need to overlap about 6-8", and fold the fabric at the top (and bottom if you are particular like me). Get more than you need. I bought 6 and ended up using 5. 

2. Purchase long sod stakes.....the really long ones are good. Purchase a box of 500 and then be prepared to use more. In the end, I used about 675!!!

3. Find a metal mallet or other strong metal tool to knock the staples in, and get a pair of scissors.

4. Starting at one side (move left to right or right to left depending on preference), fold the landscaping fabric along the top in a nice, straight fold. Use three sod staples, one at either edge and one in the middle, and anchor the fabric at the top of the hill. 

5. Start rolling the fabric down the hill, and staple every 6-12 inches on both sides. The fabric will begin to look quilted.

6. At the bottom, cut the landscaping fabric to length and fold again. The folding is going to help with water run-off and it looks nice! Once you have folded, use three sod staples and pound them in (side, middle, side) just like you did at the top.

7. Climb back up the hill. (your legs become much stronger after this project!)

8. For the second piece of fabric: overlap about 6-8 inches over the piece you just stapled down. 

9. Shower, rinse, repeat....in other words, did what you did for the first piece making sure the second continues to overlap all the way down. I found it challenging at the beginning to keep it relatively straight, so sometimes I had to fold it and bend it a little bit. 

10. Keep going until your hillside is covered! 

Quilted!!! 

11. Take care to wrap around tree trunks so that no grass can escape!

Make a tight collar to eliminate weeds growing around the tree trunk and wrecking your efforts!

When you collar the trees, you may have to "patch" the area to make the fabric fit.

Here you can see some of the folding that happens....pull the fabric as tight as you can and you will minimize this...

12. Landscaping fabric is guaranteed for 15 years if it is covered with mulch. For this project, the most cost effective mulch was mulch hay. So go to your local feedstore and buy STRAW, not hay (hay has weed seeds and you will be sad later). I bought 5 bales but probably should have bought 6. You want it to be thick on top of the fabric.

13. Using your skills of balance, honed after many years of walking, you need to take large armfuls of straw and walk down your fabric-covered hillside and start dumping it all over the fabric, taking care to cover it fully and thickly. Having a friend to help you with this step makes it more fun!

In process....this is the stage where you will fall and slide alot.

Almost finished!

14. Once all the straw is put down and you are satisfied with its thickness, you need to install something to hold the straw in place. Otherwise, you are going to wake up on some cold, rainy morning with a giant pile of soppy, rotting straw at the bottom of your hill. 

15. The solution (I think) is bird or deer netting. I suggest deer netting because it is the same thing as bird netting, comes in larger packages, and is cheaper. Buy enough to cover the whole surface but remember you don't have to overlap. I bought 2 packages of 7' by 100' and had a little bit extra.

16. (You need more sod stakes for this step). One friend holds the roll at the top of the hill (working from side to side again) and stakes the netting in place, stretching as wide and tight as possible. Once it is staked at the top, throw it down to the friend at the bottom of the hill. Pull, stretch tight and stake in at the bottom. 

17. Repeat all the way across, making sure that you also stake along the sides when you are finished. It is helpful also to throw some rocks around to hold it down in the middle where you can't reach. 

18. Last step!!! Find some heavy logs somewhere and set them up next to each other along the top of the hill. Use 12" landscaping spikes on the downward-facing edge to stop them from rolling down and ruining your neighbor's yard and/or car. According to my research, this helps with run-off because the snow/water will run over the logs versus under your straw....who knows if this will work. This remains to be seen come winter when there is a ton of snow and ice and bad weather and mud. We shall see.....

See the deer netting?

Finished!!!

Et finis!!!

The next stage is to let the fabric and straw mixture to sit till the spring. Hopefully, the grass will be killed and we will be able to cut into the fabric and plant new plants. This is the hope....and we all know that hope springs eternal when it comes to gardening.

I hope this is useful to someone!!! This project was very difficult and labor-intensive, but in the end, I am proud of myself and I think it is going to work. Also, gardening helped me to calm down and realize that everything is well, that all will be fine, and that I am excited for a new year of school.

Coming back from Radio Silence

Over the last 2 months.....tragically I have been missing for THAT long....I have been in the process of moving across the country and have more or less safely landed in Philadelphia...


I am still settling in and about to begin setting up my jewelry studio here....when I first moved in, there was a serious issue of smell in the basement, that I have now almost fixed. I am also almost finished unpacking and getting used to city life.


So....a little bit more radio silence until I get back into the groove of creating, but meanwhile....I am dreaming of my Halloween costume for this year....torn between the following three ideas:

Rachel from Blade Runner

Brian Eno from the mid-70s....still playing with Roxy Music

Victorian Cyclist - from Laughing Moon Mercantile

Ultimately, Halloween will be chilly if not cold....and I would like to make a good costume this year as last year's was a little bit thrown together at the last minute....

What do you think? I'm off to finish unpacking......wish me luck!

By Hook or By Crook

 On my way back from Philly, I was lucky enough to be routed through Detroit Airport! The best airport in North America...just for the crazy colorful tunnel

Inspired by my friend Megan, I have decided to make a list of my *must-reads* of Summer, 2011. Summer 2011 promises to be one of great changes and heartache, as I leave my beloved Austin, Texas for points north. As I deal with the fact that I am about to say goodbye to my friends who are family, in only a few short weeks, I am struck with nostalgia and also with the pangs of knowing what is about to happen...


But I digress....


Summer 2011 Reading List of Patience Meliora Blythe (just in case, if you want to read them with me, all Amazon.com links are included for your ease)(or get them used!!!):


* A Feast of Snakes by Harry Crews: a present from my friend Craig
* Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood: because I did not know of this book till 5 minutes ago
* My Life in France by Julia Child: because I really loved "Julie & Julia" and also cooking
* Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry: for the second time
* The Red Tent by Anita Diamant: I cheated and already started this
* A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin: a recommendation from my friend Ned  
* Mother Nature: Maternal Instincts and How They Shape the Human Species by Sarah Blaffer Hrdy
* Modern Top Down Knitting by Kristina McGowan: this is less of a reading book rather than a project book, but I will take what I can get!
* Loud Bones: The Jewelry of Nancy Worden by Susan Platt and Michelle LeBaron: I am so inspired by her jewelry right now I can't stop thinking about it...
* The (In)Complete Metalsmith by Tim McCreight: because I need to reference it, despite its flaws, while building up my own studio....

 Werkbench....please notice the necessity that is Iced Coffee

In metalsmithing news...lots and lots of bits and pieces lay about the bench these days, in preparation for summer consignment. I have a large consignment order due to be shipped out May 15th so am scrambling to get that done. I also have a custom order ring and a necklace to do....so much to do, so little time! :)

 First step of the custom necklace....The Cat That Walked By Himself

Due to the sky high price of silver at the moment (come on, y'all....in the event of apocalypse, this metal is NOT going to save you from the killer hoardes, or substitute for money, or whatever you think it is going to do. So STOP ALREADY! You are just hurting craftspeople), I dug through every crack and crevice of my various jewelry boxes the other day and poured two ingots, all by myself!!! I felt quite skilled and clever for doing it, and promptly added an ingot mold and crucible to my studio list.

More in progress pieces....can you tell what I am doing? 'Tis a surprise

Inspiration for a custom order to be started ASAP....the bird, not the screen door!

Links pour vous:
++++Nancy Worden Jewelry is incredible
++++Tom Castor Jewelry is amazing to look at, and better to try on, so go to his gallery in Lambertville, New Jersey
++++You Grow Girl talks about repurposing for the garden....definitely something I shall do in Philadelphia's small spaces!


Off I go to fold laundry and get ready for Psych Fest tonight!

Soy un Pescado Fuera del Agua

Photo by Richard Burbridge

Ho hum.....it is very hot right now in Austin, Texas. It seems as if the summer snuck in, right under our noses!, and took spring's place....


With the move to Philadelphia pending (so soon - 5 weeks away!), I am spending lots of time thinking about what I want my life to be up there, and how to manage all this pesky change.


One of the things I plan to do is to set up a jewelry studio in the basement....as I posted earlier, I am ready to have a studio of my own, especially as it seems my jewelry business keeps getting steadily busier. Right now I am working on two custom orders and two consignment orders, and  I just don't have enough time with a full-time job unless I dedicate 3 evenings a week to the process. Now, with a home-based studio, this wouldn't be a problem: but having studio access in a shared classroom space makes it a bit harder.

 Scary basement.....pre-studio

So....the home studio in the basement. Currently, the basement looks really scary (at least from what I can see in the IPhone photo)....but I think with some paint, elbow grease, lots of can lights, possibly some Christmas lights, tables and a couch, it will be fine! More than fine! That and I have to install some duct work and an extractor fan to get rid of all the toxic solder additives...

Anyway --- two things.....First and foremost is money. Money, money, money. I am trying to keep it all as cheap as possible, but there is that darned rolling mill! Second is time....time, time, time. I think, though, that if I indeed put the horse before the cart, that building the studio should be the first goal and all the other things will fall into place.


This brings me to the subject of this post: monetizing. How does one do this? I would love to monetize the blog, and I think it would mean I would attract more followers, too. I also want to monetize my website but the PayPal process seems too cumbersome.....Advice?


This post is rambling and it is late. I have to deal with the fact that the reality of moving is now making me feel very scared: very fish out of water....I have no idea what I am getting into, but I've passed the point of no return....onward and northward I go, with all my earthly belongings and a slew of good ideas.....

 Illustration by Iker Ayestaran

p.s. I really, really want a new tattoo....and end to life in Texas tattoo. A tattoo that looks like this:

11:11 Make a Wish!

Quick post for now.....I haven't been updating as I should. Here are some photos from my last custom order. I am super busy making 2 custom projects and getting a large consignment order ready for the summer! Woot! So exciting to be busy.....and I am moving across the country in 7 weeks....wha?

Sterling Silver Cuff - "11:11 Make a Wish" - Oxidized Sterling Silver

Custom Order

Bottom View....

Hanging from a Tree Branch View

Interested in a custom piece? Email me at patience DOT meliora AT gmail DOT com, or contact me via my website....Meliora Designs

****Editorial Note**** My other jewelry designer friends and I implore you: do not rip off people's designs for your own profit. Use inspiration, freely design, and come and visit us at shows, at our studios and at our homes....thanks

More to come later.....P

Referential Soup

Hawthorne Cultural Center

After a whirlwind week or two, I am back in Austin. My trip to Philly was fraught with disasters --- my cab came to my house an hour late so I missed my flight!


So....Philadelphia. Such an American city: so many people crammed together, a little bit ornery. So many shapes and colors and styles and textures, so much trash on the streets. So much hardwork, so many bums drinking hooch out of paper bags on the stoops of churches. Produce trucks, taquerias, outdoor markets, Italian cheese and sausage stores, cute students in Catholic school uniforms, kids running around cussing in the neighborhoods. The Cambodian neighborhood of South Philly looks like a mini-Cambodian city now, with the buildings and businesses changed and recycled, reinvented, dotted with satellite dishes, decorated in beautiful script. Delapidated but vibrant, the city of Philadelphia.

 Italian Market

Old, delapidated house near the Broad Street Subway Terminal in South Philly - I really want to know who lives here

More mosaics by Isaiah Zagar

Isaiah Zagar's mosaics are all over South Philly, which is something I really love about the neighborhood. Most of the time, they are on the walls of businesses or community organizations, but some lucky people appear to have them on their houses: a dream of mine. I LOVE mosaic artwork in cities: I love how it breaks apart the monotony of concrete and brick, asphalt and iron. I love that it shows us that no matter what, cities are built, maintained, and grown by the people who live in them, and by what is important to those citizens.

A closed and abandoned city pool off the Italian Market - No running, diving, horseplay

Beautifully carved frontispiece for the closed pool. Makes you wonder why they just don't reopen it?

Despite all the concrete, there is lots of color

Luckily for me, my friends took me to the Philadelphia Museum of Art to see the Roberto Capucci exhibit, which was amazing!!! I was so inspired by the dresses there that I immediately wanted to see if I could recreate all those pleats and folds and fans in metal. Of course, I have no studio (yet) in Philly, so I had to wait.....His dresses are so wild and crazy - sometimes even too wild and crazy for me! But, I found them architecturally incredible: as if the layers of fabric were just balancing on each other, held together in the air, floating. This is why I have to try and create something similar for myself. 

Don't you want to know what it does?

So on Sunday, my friend took me to Lambertville, New Jersey, a very lovely little town just a hop, skip and a jump from Philadelphia. We went through the most amazing flea market that I have ever been to; we kept walking and I kept gawking until I had to stop and turn away. There were so many beautiful things, and so cheap!!! The excitement of being able to furnish our new house by fleaing got to me and visions of an amazing antiquey-junque house swirled in my head. Just think: enamel-topped tables! Display cabinets! Russian china! Strange, hazey old photographs! Cabbage-shaped teacups! Old steel cabinets! The possibilities really are endless....

I have been kicking myself for not buying this every day since I got back

Box of dolly heads with eyes that open and shut? Check!

These last 5 images were all from the same vendor, who, when I told him I was a jeweler, pulled out tons of photos of jewelry made with the strange objects he sells. He seemed thrilled to be part of the jewelry process, and this made me like him even more than his insanely reasonable prices! 

Our last stop was in Lambertville, proper, for a tour of the town. My favorite spot was the amazing jewelry gallery of Tom Castor, whose incredible mixtures of iron, gold, diamonds and silver were, well, fantastic. I had a really great time talking about jewelry with him, and he was very sweet and let us try on anything we wanted, including a $78,000 green and black diamond and platinum ring. Pretty fantastic! Nothing beats his mixed-metals combinations....I would love to work for him. 'Tis a dream to learn how to do all of that.....and his pave is incredible.

All in all, I came back refreshed from my vacation, a little unnerved by the prospect of actually moving across the country and uprooting my entire life, but excited, too. I like the idea of making jewelry in a new city, and I like the idea of living in a huge city and getting used to that. I like the idea of having picnics in Fairmount Park, and cycling through city streets that are laid out as bike lanes.

I am really inspired to make jewelry right now, and it is a good thing as I have three custom orders sitting on the workbench right now: a bracelet, a ring and a pair of earrings. Let's see how Philly inspires this new season of creativity!