Tales of a Magpie

Happy New Year!

Melanie Doerman — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 16:30:10 -0800

Happy New Year to all!

So far, it has been a very fine start to the year but I have to say, it has also been incredibly quiet. It was quiet last night here in our neighborhood in San Dimas but today, on our New Year's outing, it was quiet, too. So, just what did we do with our day?

I started out with some beading, always a fine thing, but I will post what I am up to on that in a few days.

We decided to go out to lunch at a place by the little airport in LaVerne.

The weather has been perfect this week and today was nice and warm so we sat outside where you can watch the planes take off.

And you can watch them as they come by.

The restaurant might have been fairly busy but I tell you, the airport was extremely quiet and there were only a few planes in and out while we were there. Still, it's a fun place for breakfast or lunch when the weather is so perfect.

Then we came back to San Dimas and thought we would check out the Veteran's Memorial that had been put up recently.

It just wasn't the time of day to take a shot in front so I had to find some shade behind a flag pole to get this one.

The skies are so blue today.

We walked around town a bit but San Dimas is pretty much a ghost town on New Year's Day. I suppose quiet is a good thing to start out the year. Relaxed, contemplative and enjoyable. That's how I would describe the start to 2012.

I hope everyone has had a wonderful start to this year!

Portugal Tiles and a Merry Christmas to you

Melanie Doerman — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 10:49:52 -0800

You may be asking just what Portugal tiles has to do with Christmas. Nothing. Except one thing. I am posting about them on Christmas Day! Yes, the promised photos of tiles are here. I took so many it was a bit overwhelming. And I took some twice.

One morning, I went out by myself with the sole purpose of photographing tiles. I'm not sure exactly why I am so intrigued with these beautiful tiles on the outside of houses except that I would find it most cheerful to come home to these tiles greeting me every day.

So, here we go on a small Portugal tile tour. I won't have many commentaries on these, as I think they speak for themselves. Most of these tiles are on the bottom portion of the buildings. There were some on the top portion, but most of the ones I took were at eye level (which means low since I am short).

This next tile, I will comment on. I was on my way back and started to pass two older men sitting at a table outside a home cleaning fish. The front door was open and it stopped me in my tracks. I asked them if I could take a photo of the entryway and one of the men (I assumed the owner) smiled and gestured for me to go ahead.

This is just a small portion of the entryway. The whole thing was tiled and incredibly beautiful. What would it feel like to walk in your front door to this every day?

With my tile photographing adventure over (at least for one day), I started back towards the apartment, stopping, of course, for a lunch of grilled fish.

And now, in case you have convinced yourself that I am a total heathen for leaving out Christmas, I will assure you that I am not. Well, that heathen part might be up for debate but I will wish everyone out there a nice peaceful and happy Christmas. Oh yeah, and Merry, too!

The rest of the vacation, at long last.

Melanie Doerman — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 14:40:13 -0800

I do believe one of the major rules of blogging is to not just disappear, without word or warning. Well, that seems to be precisely what I do. I have apologized for this behavior in the past and at other times, I have refused to apologize. Well, this time, hmm, maybe not an apology exactly but a sort of promise that when I think I will be taking a bit of a leave, I will let you know. The only problem I can forsee in this is that most of the time I have no idea there's going to be a break until I am in the middle of it and one day I realize amidst all the noise, busyness and sometimes confusion of my days, that I haven't actually blogged for a while. We'll see what happens.

I will say something about my long absence, though. I had last blogged about our summer vacation and if vacations lasted as long as the time between my posts, we'd all be very happy, rested up people indeed. Wouldn't get much done, but maybe that is highly overrated.

The last post was entitled Waterford Part 1. Well, it seems that as I am posting this, I am out and about with the little netbook and I don't have Waterford Part 2 photos on this. So I am going to finally post about Portugal, which was the second part of our trip. Asbjorn's sister NIna had rented an apartment in the little town of Fuseta, on the southern coast of Portugal.

The weather reminded me quite a bit of the weather here in Southern California so I can report that the weather was absolutely beautiful.

I always enjoy exploring a new city. For the three days (or was if four?), we were there, I tried to document as much of my experience as I could.

The architecture of Fuseta was different than any place I had been. The streets are narrow and as you can see, in some places, the sidewalks are quite narrow, too.

Front doors open right up onto the narrow walks. Some streets are paved, others have brick.

There is a worn quality to this city that makes me feel at ease, makes me even more curious to explore and wander around.

I am mesmerized by all the tiles covering some of the houses. They are beautiful, a leftover from the times when the Moors ruled Portugal.

I had hoped to include some tile photos with this post, but I have to tell you, I took about 150 photos of tile alone. I haven't gone through them yet, but will post a few of them when I do. They are quite wonderful.

I really enjoyed walking some of these streets, their curves hding surprises just out of sight.

There are buildings no longer being lived in and these intrigue me as well. These places have a story. I wanted to venture inside this place and thought there might be some great photos inside. Alas, the noises I heard coming from inside, either from man or beast told me this probably wasn't a good idea. One must rely on intelligence when in a new country but mostly it was probably intuition.

But that's ok. I had plenty of opportunity wandering the streets to get photos of the weathered and worn.

Oh, the wonderful colors and peeling paint on this one:

Or this one:

This newer door was quite wonderful, too.

Doors and tiles were a pretty large focus while wandering around Fuseta. But a trip to a city like this would not be complete without going to the cemetary.

Asbjorn was with me on this walk. Ah, a church up ahead, let's check it out.

A beautiful church. We could hear the bell from the apartment.

But what I really can't resist when there is a church like this, is the cemetary. I have loved cemetaries since I was a kid. This one was especially interesting. You walked through the gate and it was like entering another city, smaller, quiet, a city of the dead or departed, whichever term suits it best.

There was a part that was open with regular type graves and stones along the ground.

And then I came upon the Painted Ladies of the Necropolis.

Walking back to the apartment, I stopped by the fish and farmer's market. What a place to behold. If you like fish like I do and I'm not quite sure there's anyone out there that likes fish as much as I do, then Portugal is the place for some fine eats.

There's all sorts of fish and I imagine this must be where the local restaurants come to get their offerings for the day:

And not just fish, but some very strange creatures:

Not sure what exactly those are or what to do with them. Just add butter.

And then I saw this curious fish:

Is it a fish? An eel of some sort? A belt or slippery rope? What do you do with that one?

But as I said earlier, there was also a farmer's market with vegetable and fruit. Textured green orbs of cabbage.

Jewels of peppers and tomatoes:

Well! All that exploring and then the wonderful fish market makes a woman ravenous for some good vittles. There's all sorts of restaurants and most of them have outdoor seating.

But I chose this place. It was right by the apartment, had great food and also a rather interesting name.

Were they fans of Battlestar Galactica when it was on?

So you go up to the window and pick out which fish you would like to eat. Sometimes, if you showed a lot of enthusiasm, which I usually did, they would pick out a fish or two, put it on a plate and bring it to your table to tell you all about it and let you pick out which one you would like for your dinner.

They get a nice bed of coals on an outdoor grill.

You selection chosen, the grill master commences to work, grilling your fish to perfection.

And I do mean perfection.

Ah, wonderful time. I have enjoyed looking back on this experience and I hope you have enjoyed the journey as well.

I will have to go through the tile photos soon. They are really fascinating to me and how beautiful they were on the sides of the houses.

I hope everyone is having a fantastic week. As far as I can tell, I am back. And it feels great to be back. I did miss my blog and hope to continue posting at a regular pace.

Waterford, Part 1

Melanie Doerman — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 08:23:58 -0700

Slacker, slacker, slacker.

Yes, I know but let's just get on with things! I still haven't posted about all the vacation which has sadly passed by quite some time ago. Well, let's pretend I just got back.

After Dublin, we went to Waterford, Ireland, where Asbjorn's nephew had just recently moved with his wife and two children. It just so happened there was a tall ships race going on the weekend we were there. Perfect timing.

Waterford is a much smaller city than Dublin but very quaint and nice.

We walked from where we were staying to town to see the ships. Houses lined the street and I enjoyed the different architecture.

Thousands of people came to this event. The city was lively and busy.

Some people dressed for the event. Now, here is an interesting pirate outfit.

But all were here to see the ships.

Some were quite fancy, with beautiful detail.

One even had the carved mermaid on the front. I think it's a mermaid, anyway.

The ships were lined up along the waterfront and we enjoyed walking along, some old and some newer but all were quite magnificient.

As you can see from the photos, the skies were the usual mix of sun and clouds, constantly changing. They made for a perfect backdrop for the ships.

But this is installment one for Waterford. Since I had so many photos, I decided to split the post into two sections.

I have to say that I am really not much of a boat person but I did enjoy seeing all these ships. I can't imagine what it must be like to work on one of them for such a race. I wonder now if some of these people live on their boats. Since I get sea sick with the slightest movement that definitely does not sound enticing to me.

But the next Waterford installment will have the photos I took while we walked around the city.

Labor Day weekend has just passed and I hope everyone had a good holiday!

Trunk Show Tomorrow!

Melanie Doerman — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 17:48:55 -0700

I would say that I am a bit late with posting this but better late than never.

I am having a trunk show tomorrow at Beadology in Huntington Beach. I will have my kits and instructions for sale but also a few finished pieces.

Beadology is a beautiful shop, as you can see here:

And here:

I hope to see you there!

And I promise, soon, very soon, I will post the second installment of my vacation. I have been doing a major studio clean and reorganization. I will probably post about that, too.

Have a great weekend and if you can, swing by and say hello.

Down the Rabbit Hole and on Vacation!

Melanie Doerman — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 10:22:45 -0700

Hello All!

I have been away for a good long while. When I get too busy or just don't blog like I should, I usually blame it on falling down the rabbit hole. Well, this time it was more than that. We went on vacation! A real one, with getting on a plane and going somewhere. We went to Ireland and Portugal. But since I have so many photos, I am going to post in installments. It has been a while now since we went on this wonderful trip and even though when thinking about it, it seems so far away, when I look at the photos it's like being there again.

Our first stop was Dublin, where we met up with Asbjorn's brother Thor Bernt and his wife Inger. Dublin was a beautiful and interesting city. Trinity College is there. And the Book of Kells, which we saw. It is a calligrapher's dream.

But I get sidetracked. Dublin. There is a shopping area with a great pedestrian street.

It always fascinates me to see architecture so different than what we might see here. I like the idea of writing on a building, a poem of sorts.

There are pubs, many of them.

Some have the traditional Irish language. You can also see the Irish language on the road signs. It is imcomprehensible to me. The pronunciation is not at all like you would think.

But in all the pubs, you can get a meal that will surely stick to your ribs. Warm, heavy and comforting. Warm is the key word. Summer is Ireland is like winter here in Los Angeles. So a stick to your ribs meal was a mighty fine thing.

So we wander along and I am busy with the camera, trying to record everything that is different from where I live. There is a lot.

Petunias seem to be a particular flower that does very well here.

But there are flower vendors that sell a variety of beautiful blooms.

All that walking around can make a person in dire need of coffee and chocolate.

There are street musicians lined up along the pedestrian walkway. I really enjoyed this band. Traditional Irish music.

Inger takes me inside a shopping mall so I can hurry and take a photo of the inside. The glass ceiling is a view onto the constantly changing skies.

In Ireland, the sun will shine, the clouds will move in, dark stormy and almost looking like smoke. It will rain. It will clear up and start the cycle over again.

I liked the looks of this tea shop and took a photo of Thor Bernt sitting in front.

I not only like the looks of this shop but also the name.

What a wonderful time in Dublin. A really beautiful and nice city to visit.

The next installment will be Waterford, Ireland, where we stayed and visited with more of Asbjorn's family.

A New Look and...an Etsy shop!

Melanie Doerman — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 17:55:12 -0700

Well, finally. I have updated the look of this blog. Actually, it took me a long time to figure out what I wanted to do. And it was a bit sad to take down the Triumph keys but I figure they will return when next I go on a long distance adventure.

But this is a quick post. An announcement. And another finally...

I have an Etsy shop! I have wanted to do this for a very long time and after much work, taking photograph after photograph, posting a couple of pieces then finally, last night posting more. The shop is open for business. And for a little teaser, here is a piece in the shop:

You'll just have to check it out to see more of the pieces I have put up for sale.

And I would love to hear what you think about the new look.

I hope everyone is having a great week!

Weekend Fun!

Melanie Doerman — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 09:44:09 -0700

This past weekend was a very fun weekend indeed! The weather was beautiful, cool, but nice. On Saturday, I went to The Garden of Beaden for a trunk show held by Serendipity Salvage, a company formed by a couple of friends. It was a really fantastic trunk show and I came away with some wonderful finds. Serendipity Salvage specializes in mixed media vintage, something I really love. They had the old fashioned wooden baby blocks, old baby shoes and vintage aprons.

There's quite an assortment of game pieces, keys, kitchy charms, lace and do dads.

There were buttons and you know how I feel about buttons.

Beautiful old perfume bottles:

Wonderful dolls and scuffied up figurines:

Isn't this a beautiful old pair of shoes?

They had a great selection of frozen Charlottes, which I have been experimenting with lately in a new project:

And these doll heads, which I use for the tin dolls. They had some great old tins, too.

I believe their plan is to travel around to various shops and hold trunk shows, so if you are interested, you can contact them for your own wonderful trunk show. Guaranteed fun.

That was Saturday's fun. And I rode the motorcycle to the show and then around running errands, so that made it even better.

That leaves Sunday. I decided to go on a bicycle ride in the morning to Claremont village. It was a beautiful day and just a little ride. I figured I would stop for coffee, maybe a bite to eat. What I didn't know was that Claremont has a farmer's market on Sundays.

There were artists set up selling their wares along with the usual produce you would expect to find:

And flowers:

I think that might be yarrow, but I'm not entirely sure.

But there were a few favorite things at the market. Like the Ukelele Girls:

I'm sorry I didn't get all their sign in the photo. They were singing away, having a grand time, making a few dollars, too. Love it.

And then there was this:

Looks like one might do fairly well with insta-poems! This was a fine young lad with his portable typewriter and paper. I just managed to catch him before he left for church:

And my poem?

Sometimes you must rush

even if you want hours

you get a minute.

How true, how true.

It was a fine weekend but as I like to say on a Monday morning, It's back to the flour mill! Well, not quite but nearly. While I was in Claremont, I happened upon a bicycle shop, went in a inquired and plan to ride my bike back there this morning where I will have a rack and baskets put on the back. Then, when I happen upon a farmer's market, I can buy that beautiful bunch of yarrow.

I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend!

A year ago today.

Melanie Doerman — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 18:09:27 -0700

One year ago today I set out on my grand adventure. Hard to believe a year has gone by. I saw so many things and had so many experiences during that trip but the one thing that makes me smile whenever I think of the trip was leaving that morning. I remember...

I went to yoga that morning, came back, had my breakfast and then started to pack. All my clothes, what little there were, my electronic equipment and gear was set out in neat little piles. I got it all in the saddle bags with just a bit of room to spare.

"Wow." I thought, "I'm all packed up."

So the bike was loaded up. Ready. I had taken photographs of Mr. Bill, my traveling companion.

"Wow." I thought, " I'm ready to go."

Saying goodbye to Asbjorn was strange and awkward. Difficult. It seemed surreal. Our friends, Graham and Kate were visiting from Australia and came out to wave goodbye when they heard the bike start up.

I waved, my bike pointing in the direction leading onwards.

"Wow." I thought, "I'm actually going to do this."

I put the bike in gear and started down the road.

"Oh My God!" I thought, "I'm doing this! Wooooo Hoooooo!"

And what a time, what a time. I must admit to feeling a bit nostalgic about it all today, maybe a bit sorry that I'm not on a trip right now. I am hoping for a little one, just a few days perhaps, at the end of the summer. Maybe another in the fall. I miss it. I really miss the road. It calls me still from time to time. And during the year I have pondered what has changed since the trip. I think a lot has but maybe not by appearances. I am still working, doing my beading, although I have taken a break from teaching. It's hard to put into words really; the changes are internal and also a constant. I didn't come back a completely different person yet I had changed. The changes didn't stop when I came back but are still continuing today. Doing a trip like I did instills a sense of accomplishment but it is so much more. Perhaps that sounds like a riddle to you and hmmm...maybe it is. All I can say is that I really loved the trip and hope to do another one in the future. There's really nothing like taking to the road on a motorcycle. It is pure moving meditation. I can find stillness on a motorcycle like no other time. Forget sitting on a cushion, give me two wheels.

And speaking of two wheels and moving on from remembrances of things past, I have been riding the pedal pickle quite a bit lately. What is a pedal pickle you may ask? Well, there is the motor pickle, like the one I mentioned in the above paragraphs and then the pedal kind.

Of course my bike has a bell, which dings every time I hit a bump. It is dinging pretty much all the time. I'll never sneak up on anyone riding the pedal pickle.

And to make today an enjoyable day, I took the train downtown. There is a very quaint French restaurant, Cafe Angelique, on Main street:

It has a very nice outdoor area but it was a bit chilly and windy to sit outside (so I sat near the door).

It's one of the places where I can get an Orangina, a favorite of mine:

I had quiche and I am wishing I had their pastry recipe because it was perfection.

I had a few things to get at a couple of the shops so it was nice to have gone out and about today. I have to say I really love downtown Los Angeles.

So that is my day today. One year ago, I keep thinking. I really think I am going to have to go on another adventure.

But for now, I am home and it is beautiful here, cooler than normal I believe, but beautiful. I am really enjoying my work and have so much to do it's crazy.

I believe I promised months ago that I would change the banner for this blog. Well, since a year has passed I think I have to. I have some ideas of what I would like to do so you can expect that to happen soon. It was this weird thinking that if I changed the banner then that meant the trip was over. Well, I have to get used to the fact that indeed it is.

The ride was a truly lovely memory. Or should I say a collection of memories?

Back from the Rabbit Hole

Melanie Doerman — Thu, 12 May 2011 11:09:36 -0700

Sometimes, and I know I have said this before, I feel like I have fallen down a rabbit hole. Just like Alice. Maybe it's not quite so strange or quite so fearsome, but still, a rabbit hole of sorts. So what have I been up to?

The lease was up on my car and I turned it in. Now I have to say, I have very much enjoyed driving this car. But I was ready to let it go. I hadn't really tired of it, but I was just done with that type of car I think. This is the first time, I believe, since i have been driving, that I haven't had a car of my own. It's a sort of strange feeling. Asbjorn has a car and of course, I have Bruce so I am not without wheels. Here is the car I turned in:

A Cadillac CTS. With a manual transmission, if you can imagine that. A friend told me they didn't think that car was me at all. Maybe not, I don't know. I plan to go without a car for a while, but not as long as I first thought. I test drove one of these a few weeks ago and I have to say I really liked it and plan for it to be my next car. And yes, it does come with a manual transmission (one of my requirements, the other being a decent stereo).

What else have I been up to?

We went to the Renaissance Faire last weekend with a friend and I have to say that was a lot of fun. Right after we got there and had walked around just a bit, Asbjorn decided to try shooting some arrows:

Then Forrest shot a few arrows:

I have to admit I did try to shoot an arrow and am very glad no one got a picture of it. I shot an arrow right down into the ground. I think there's a knack to shooting arrows.

I had been to a Ren Faire years ago when we lived in Ohio, but here, I couldn't believe all the costumes. Plus it was in a recreation area with trees and a lake and really had more of a village look rather than a faire in the middle of a cornfield. I had always enjoyed that one but I have to say, this faire was really large and had much more going on.

There were processions (I believe this was the Queen's procession):

And what I guess to be some sort of funereal traveling musicians:

There were stages with actors waiting around until their next performance:

The people working the Ren Faire had on some amazing costumes but so did a lot of the people that attended.

I did see some amazing chain maille. And I also saw more than one bawdy pirate lass:

I don't know. Those corsets just look painful to me. I did try one on at the Steampunk clothing stall. They had some jackets, skirts and corsets that could be worn to this faire. A corset is not a very flattering thing to wear if you have a certain type of body, I discovered. I think I'd rather dress like a man.

But what else did I find intriguing at the faire? The tents.

I would run across a tent like the one above here and there. Then I came upon an area where a lot of people must actually live for the duration of the faire.

They were quite fancied up with the obvious intention of putting down roots for a time. Sometimes, as I walked past, I almost had the feeling of peeping into someones windows. Still, that didn't stop me.

As I walked around this tent village, I was reminded of how many people have asked me if I camped while I was on my motorcycle trip last year. No, I did not camp. Not even once. Perhaps, if I can figure out a way to camp out like this, then maybe I will camp while on a motorcycle trip:

Now that is cozy. I would like to set up such a tent at least once in my life just to see what that would be like.

I discovered a few things about myself while walking around the faire. Dress up was one of my favorite things as a kid and I was a bit surprised at myself that I had never gotten into making a historical costume of some sort. I like to sew. I still like the idea of playing dress-up (some things you really never outgrow) and I enjoy learning about history. But the thing that probably surprised me the most was if I were to pick a subculture to immerse myself in and to dress in costume, it would be Steampunk. Without the corset. I am currently reading a bit about Steampunk so you may see some influence from this in the months ahead.

And that is about it to report on during my blogging absence. I had hoped for a little motorcycle trip, just for a few days up north, but alas, there's a lot of work for me to do and I just can't do it right now. Still, the road calls.

I hope everyone has been having a fantastic week!