Spring Veggies and Creature Comforts

Bok Choy Blossoms and Shoots, tender and delicious

This morning we rose early, donned our lightest jackets and drove up the 280 to the San Mateo Farmer's Market where we feasted our eyes upon the things we would take home.

There was so much irresistible produce, and as my favorite nightly meal is a 'veggie trough' as Anthony puts it, the farmer's market is the best place for me to go nuts

or go vegetable, if you will!

Pea Shoots were in abundance, thank goodness -

seasonal eats in the Bay Area have me excited about every season:

Bing Cherries in late spring

Heirloom Tomatoes in the summer

Sweet gems lettuce in late summer

Squashes in the fall

PERSIMMONS(!) in the winter

and

pea shoots in February -

that's some calendar!!

First asparagus of the season: three bunches went home with me!

Here is how I make them:

snap them above the stringy, thick bottom of the stalk,

toss the tender parts with olive oil, lemon juice and lavender sea salt (seriously.)

Broil for as long as it takes for them to lightly caramelize and crisp

take them out, let them sit to cook themselves for a few minutes and then dig in!!

Kabocha Squash - the finest of the fine, truly.

Pullet eggs, small and delicious, raised on a small farm; free-range and happy!

The giant organic strawberries have arrived!!!

This week I will gorge on all of these wonders and HOW.

It will stop me from nibbling kitty paws, much as they tempt...

Anthony and I always joke that as comfy as Jane has gotten with us, she still gets this look in her eye sometimes and we surmise her inner monologue to be, "Oh, heavens, they're finally going to eat me!"

Well, you've been spared another week, sweet girl: thank your veggies!!

Softest place on earth

Happiest day to you all-

xoxoxo,

Allison

Calla Lily Ring

SPOKEN FOR

Tucked inside of this agua nueva stone is a calla lily with an 0range-red stamen

Flanked by an engraved copper leaf

And a tiny stack of sterling saucers

This ring is a sight to behold

and quite hard to look away from.

With the narrow, asymmetrical band this ring fits a size 9 finger.

There is something about its asymmetry that evokes a corsage; a bit of prom for an adult finger.

xoxoxo,

Allison

Sunshine in a Jar

I used the recipe that Ms Kelly used...

I stirred forever and a day

with my Mom laughing next to me, holding the errant candy thermometer

and instead of a clear yellow, it came out creamy.

You see, the Meyer Lemon tree in my back yard has a ton of Pith -

almost as much Pith as there is pulp

and so it came out this amazing, tender solid yellow

and after a few days of not quite jelling,

IT SET.

IT IS AMAZING.

I WANT MARMALADE ON EVERYTHING!!!!

I am waiting for the second crop of lemons on the tree to ripen:

this kind of magic happens but once a year here at chez Schmill...

The sauce curse is lifted!!

Love and Long Boil Recipes,

Allison

P.S. Thank you for the 'reserve' convo love: I am kind of speechless about the number of responses - wow.

A Wing to Rise, a Leaf to Grow

both pieces have been reserved; thank you for the oodles of overnight convos!!! Xoxo

A small but mighty Botswana Agate, collector quality

a fully hammer-engraved wing

Something that's been in the works for a while now,

finally a reality.

I cannot tell you how this feels....ah :)

Or how it feel ON --- AHhhhhhhhhhh!!!!

And then there's this special beauty.

When Kelly visited, we collected leaves and I watched as she cranked the handle to put the metal through the rollers on my beloved rolling mill....

the stone is dendritic agate in a very definite pattern!

The rolling mill is taking over my thoughts: wondering what textures I can apply to metals, what bits I can collect from the woods, from my yard...

endless possibilites...

Both of these very special pieces will be available in the shop later this week,

and they can be reserved with a simple

convo.

As always, love and gratitude,

Allison

Good Intentions

The world means well.

Life means well.

Let these be the thoughts that rise when experience sinks you below a comfortable horizon.

.

.

.

In times of strife and restlessness, I take solace in the idea that every cell of every natural thing is born with good intentions;

This goodness so often meets with darkness and becomes

dimmed

.

ill

.

twisted

.

bitter

When Heaven knows

We all want happiness

.

peace

.

health

.

and a sense of belonging

And there is unity in our shared experience of challenge:

We all cry

.

struggle

.

lose clarity

.

and feel pain

.

I believe in light renewed

for those powerful enough to know how to be their own new dawn.

.

And I pray for those weakened by sadness, illness, rancor or shame

to learn the art of rising.

.

.

.

xoxox,

Allison

Forever and Ever Amen

A bit of Redlands for you :)

xoxox,

Allison

A Breath of Spring

Perhaps the first breath of spring has come to your neck of the woods, or perhaps you are patiently waiting for signs of it....

You'll know it by the restless feeling you get around sunrise and the renewed romance you find with everything around you.

When I lived in New York City the first breath of spring was met with unfettered joy and lust blooming in the populace.. it was divine, a marked change from the tired and sad faces of late winter.

Everyone blushed, everyone looked.

In honor of this momentous time of year, I made a beautiful hammer-formed sterling flower for you, in whose center rests a gorgeous organically round piece of peach Mexican opal, rare and special: the fire in this stone is subtle, rainbow flecks in the sun and lamplight:

it is to be seen to be adored.

It will be in the Metal Shop today.

In other news, a jumping jack was the catalyst for renewed and searingly painful neck strain:

prepare to be patient with me, ever so very patient.

xoxoxo,

Allison

14 years of Love

Looks something like this

xoxo,

A

The News in Leather

I made you a scarflette: bright mustard Elk Hide with a really dense and generous medallion that is the work of one Kerin Rose, whose sweet self owns quite a bit of real estate in my heart.

Her cast piece is that of a mountain range by moonlight, and I thought it perfect for this particular lacy scarflette for reasons I cannot find the words for, which somehow means it's right.

I feel like the woman who will own this piece is a roamer, a lover of the road and the mountains in all of their seasons...

The tangerine tagua nut button completes a very special work of art.

Next week I hope to have this little belt bag done: the back actually snaps around a belt, up to 1.5 inches wide.

I am so excited to see it done!!

And then there's this hawk wing necklace, rich with soul and intention....

Fly on over to the Leather Shop and peruse, my dears.

One of my very best besties is on his way to me right now, the beautiful and beloved Jeremy; dancer, yoga teacher-in-training and all around joyful sprite.

I will be checking convos and such while he is here, but I will likely be getting back to non-urgent convos after he leaves this weekend.

THEN the Umber Dove arrives on my doorstep with her newfound metal knowledge:

I will greet her with a glass of something celebratory

and revel in the rich visit we're sure to have.

I am blessed to know the dearest friends, the most wonderful family: even though most of my days are solitary, I know they're a phone call or a plane ride away

and

that makes solitude

beautiful

and

bearable.

Love,

Allison

All Things Green and Growing

From the time I left my parents at 18 until my late twenties, I had a recurring dream:

I was the caretaker for a tiny animal, normally misshapen and quite frequently near death.

I would have this panicked moment right before I woke up: how do I save this tiny infant

kitten/lizard/baby/troll?????

My eyes would pop open, my skin covered with a sheen of night-terror sweat: invariably, the baby beast didn't survive, despite my feeble and fumbling attempts to right its life.

In my waking life I smoked, over-worried and generally treated my body like an "old honky-tonk", to borrow a lyric from Kenny Chesney.

I had a black thumb, a sad heart and a chip on my shoulder.

When I met Anthony (after a tonload of self-work) the dreams stopped, the self-care increased and the desire to keep a plant or two around the house began.

I scooped Jones from a litter in need of a good home

Janey followed soon after:

I fed them, watered them and watched their health carefully, giving them tender loving care and a nicely socialized home.

Fast forward 5 loving years: the cats are alive and well and the thumbs have been turning a nice shade of grasshopper...

I try and rescue plants; sometimes I succeed, sometimes I fail.

I could still get weepy over the maidenhair fern I rescued from the 'hot and dry' section of a local greenhouse (they require moist and dim!!!)

whose root ball was infested with mealy bugs.

I killed her in my attempts to save her from the infestation. Oh, Marian.... how I adored your fronds!!

*sniff*

In my studio, I did a bit of re-arranging with my mother here:

I put a bookshelf under the window with the best light and moved the big comfy chair into its place: it looks bigger and comfier than ever....

and the plants are

hella thriving, with room now for even more of them on the shelf.

Tell me about your thumbs!!!

Do you have any indoor plant recommendations?

xoxox,

Allison

Adieu

This morning my mother left San Jose,

bound for the cold and love in Minneapolis.

We had the best of times

learning these new versions of ourselves and

made tremendous inroads in our communication and gentleness:

it was so refreshing to see us both so grown up and full of love and respect,

going to yoga

shopping at the farmers market

sitting and talking until late morning

Janey in her lap

lamplit studio naps for her, working for me

heart to hearts

endless ENDLESS marmalade stirring with my mom manning the candy thermometer

(I have resigned myself to being a sauce-maker - the jelling point seems to ever elude me but oh my goodness, did we laugh)

brioche

jicama

korean barbecue

bungalow specs

selling Fits to strangers at Trader Joe's

(seriously, this woman asked about my car in the parking lot and I showed her Penny post-accident and extolled the virtues of this magnificent sub-compact car that Honda makes - give me five minutes, you'll buy a Fit.

.

We saw the woman in the grocery store some fifteen minutes later looking at pasta and she jokingly held up a container and asked what I thought of it and we laughed really hard)

the good times :)

Here's to more visits, to even better weather next time

and the promise of this new phase of our lives as mother and daughter.

Off to list and work with gusto and renewed energy,

Sunny One

The Architect

RESERVED

When I was a little girl and people asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I'd say without fail, "An artchitect".

My love of constructing came from endless hours with a huge box of legos, mostly mismatched and thus perfect for building fantastical structures.

RESERVED

I still love the idea of designing houses: these days I do it with stones and sterling and copper.

I must say, though:

we are all architects.

THIS RING IS TAKEN!

Every day is a blueprint for what will come after, and though we cannot anticipate or control what life will bring our way via miseries and miracles, we certainly can establish the way we respond.

We can make rooms in our hearts for grieving, for respite and for renewal, always.

We can build a bridge to the things we want most:

compassion

truth

beauty...

RESERVED

Our very words and thoughts, bricks that can protect

and encompass.

This series of pieces is inspired by the architecture of our living and a filled with prayer for strong beams and good insulation;

may the place you live be warm and inviting, inside and out.

Two rings feature stones cabbed by me, stones of great power and supreme beauty.

RESERVED

Necklaces that toy with being lighter than air

Or as substantial and inspired as Falling Water.

In the Metal Shop this Tuesday late morning:

Please feel free to contact me HERE

with any questions

or to reserve a piece.

With love,

Allison