This blog has no value

Gannet Diving necklace by Rie Taniguchi

Penguin brooches - I Got Fish and Gimme Fish, Rie Taniguchi, 2025

Process photos below the cut:

I was obsessed with the movie ‘The Silence of the Lambs’ when I was a teenager. I think I saw it two or three times in the theatre, which is a lot in a single-parent income household. I even read the book; those thriller film adaptations got me to read all sorts of inappropriate books for a young teen girl.

So it’s not too strange that when contemplating what to say about the origins of my writing life, the line ‘where do we begin to covet?’ came to mind. The reply, in the film anyway, is that we covet what we can see everyday. I’ll carry that line of thought along further to the idea that familiarity then breeds contempt.

I would love to tell you that I started writing because I had a burning need to tell my story. But truthfully, I had a raging need to write a story about young adults wherein they spoke and behaved like young adults. I was teaching eighth grade (Yr9UK) at the time and while I found ‘The Fault in Our Stars’ so moving that I was willing to ignore that the dialogue went beyond aspirational, I could not do the same for that vampire/werewolf saga I doubt I need to name. After reading the whole of that series. Several of them more than once. My takeaway was three-fold. I hated the way the FMC was treated. I hated how masculinity kept being reduced to one’s willingness to commit violence for ‘love.’ And I hated how not a single actual teenage character spoke like one. No one even cursed! Completely absurd.

The same weekend that I had my attack of contempt for the familiar, one of my oldest friends asked me what I thought my life would’ve been like had I not moved from rural North Carolina into a university town (also in NC) wherein my education improved and my accent was flattened by my peer’s disdain. It was like a ‘click’ in my brain and a story appeared. I wrote fifty-thousand words in a week of a tale about a girl who was not me, but she sure sounded a lot like me at 16; curse words and all.

I’ve discussed in other posts what happened from there, but thinking about this and the idea of writing as a response to rage is particularly interesting to me as I continue along in my rage-era. I am fed up with so much, be that attitudes towards undocumented people, immigrants, and trans people as well as the growth of fascism, misogyny and corruption. All of that is wrapped up in the writing I do now as well as my reactive process to writing in my genre. Putting a romantic thriller out that has a female lead who of course falls for the male lead but is treated as his equal and is not just a male character who’s been written over a woman as a lot of thriller female leads (written by men) often do is transgressive. Doing that with a diverse cast, queer leads, and an ending that doesn’t put … wait. No spoilers. Sorry!

So the Galapagos Islands off the coast of Ecuador are home to some of the largest tortoises in the world. Huge. Beautiful. Iconic.

What I didn't realize is that, just like Darwin's finches all adapted unique beaks for conditions on the different Galapagos Islands, different islands have their own unique variety of giant tortoise!

But bad news for tortoises, in the 1700s-1800s whalers and other sailing ships would stop in and grab as many tortoises as they could carry as portable snacks bc the tortoises can live a few months without eating, so they make good fresh meat in a long voyage??? And it turns out if you keep doing this, even if you start out with 20k tortoises on an island, eventually you run out.

So on Pinta Island, for example, everyone thought their tortoises were extinct bc no one saw any after the early 20th century, but surprise! Out of nowhere in 1971, a big beautiful boy appears!

Enter Lonesome George. Look at that neck!!!! He's the only Pinta Island Tortoise in the world and scientists and conservation experts are scrambling to figure out what to do! We thought they were extinct but now there's just One More???

So everyone's studying him and trying to get him a girlfriend and hoping somehow we can have a miracle and try to bring back this tortoise from the razor's edge of extinction.

Unfortunately, George never had offspring. He passed away in 2012, and the Pinta Island Tortoise was once again declared extinct. He was already full grown when he was discovered, so he could have been anywhere from 80-120 years old.

So this is the low point in the story. No tortoises, no chance. Until!!!!!!! 2015! Down on Isabela Island, near Wolf Volcano. What sort of tortoises are these? They have these crazy hump shells, not like the native Isabela Tortoises should have....

Turns out!!!!! There's a bunch of hybrid tortoises down here, but they have a ton of features and genetics from our bestie the extinct Pinta Island Tortoise!! We know from historical records that sometimes sailors would pick up tortoises on one island and drop them off on another.

So then it's like,, can we breed these descendant tortoises to get more Pinta features and reintroduce them to the right island ??

On Wolf Island, more out-of-place hybrid tortoises have been spotted! (This is... early 2000s?) These ones look distinctly like the Very Incredibly Extinct tortoises from Floreana Island

We're talking, like, some of the most recent sightings of these Floreana Tortoises in the wild being recorded by Charles Darwin in the 1830s. We're talking more than 180 years of extinction. And there's little tortoises with the same shell shapes and features wandering around way over on Wolf Island!!!

Again. Sometimes old-timey sailors would drop off tortoises in weird places. But like!!!! These hybrid tortoises are descended from the Floreana lineage!! No one has seen these suckers in two centuries and their little descendants are still alive and kicking!

Now, Floreana Island,,, got put through the wringer. Ecologically, it was just a mess. We're talking a bajillion invasive species, species going extinct left and right. It was one of the most frequented islands by whalers back in the day, and it's taken decades of hard work to even begin to undo the damage. There's a reason the Floreana Tortoises went extinct, that's all I'm saying.

But so now we have these Floreana lineage tortoises (not pure Floreana Tortoises blood, that's gone now, but very close!) and we've got a Floreana Island that's been cleaned up and a whole team of ecologists who are very, very excited.

It's going to take a lot of planning to reintroduce these tortoises, though. We've got 15 of these Floreana lineage tortoises who still have a mix of traits, we want to end up with thousands of tortoises, and we can't just stick tortoises back on Floreana yet bc the invasive rats, feral cats, dogs, etc all love eating baby tortoises and tortoise eggs

So thus begins a decades-long project to raise sturdy tortoises with as many Floreana traits as possible and get them big enough to safely release onto an island that's still trying to get its rat problem under control.

All of this culminating in the release of 158 tortoises (aged 12-14, so they're all big enough to stay safe) on February 20th, 2025

After nearly 200 years without any tortoises on the island, Floreana had its tortoises back!

The young tortoises, each weighing between 30-50 pounds, had to be carried to the release site on foot by park rangers and volunteers. (link to video)

So much work went into preparing for this day, and this isn't the finish line! The Galapagos Conservation Trust plans to release hundreds more tortoises in the coming years, and to continue efforts to rebuild the ecosystem! Other native animals are making a comeback, like the Galapagos Rail, a bird who hasn't been seen in 190 years! We thought it was extinct!!! But as the island recovered they've reappeared!

There's so much thought that's gone into releasing these tortoises. They released them in February to take full advantage of the rainy season. The long term plan to handle the rats is timed to wrap up in the next 12 years before the new Floreana Tortoises are old enough to lay eggs. This is such a huge win for conservation in general and Galapagos conservation in particular!!!! This is groundbreaking, and it happened 12 days ago.

So for today, there's no Pinta Island Tortoises on Pinta Island. They're still extinct, and Lonesome George was the last pure-blooded Pinta Island Tortoise.

But two weeks ago there weren't any Floreana lineage tortoises on Floreana Island either. Things will never be exactly the same as before, but the ecosystem and the birds and the grasslands are going to love those tortoises. Recovery takes time, and nature is incredible at bouncing back, especially when people are willing to help move things along.

I really do believe that one day, Pinta Island will have charming, long-necked and bowed-backed giant tortoises again. I feel so grateful to live in a world of amazing creatures, and amazing people who dedicate decades to helping them.

Robin brooch by E Wolfe and Co, 1970

Fortuna swallow necklace by Stenzhorn, 2023

Sapphires and diamonds set in white and blackened gold, requiring 700 hours of highly-skilled work over four months. 

Fox ring by Mongolian designer Mariia Khas

Flexible feather armor

The Three Aunts

Norwegian Folk Tale

Once on a time there was a poor man who lived in a hut far away in the wood, and got his living by shooting. He had an only daughter who was very pretty, and as she had lost her mother when she was a child, and was now half grown up, she said she would go into the world and earn her bread.

"Well, lassie!" said the father, "true enough you have learnt nothing here but how to pluck birds and roast them, but still you may as well try to earn your bread."

So the girl went off to seek a place, and when she had gone a little while, she came to a palace. There she stayd and got a place, and the queen liked her so well, that all the other maids got envious of her. So they made up their minds to tell the queen how the lassie said she was good to spin a pound of flax in four and twenty hours, for you must know the queen was a great housewife, and thought much of good work.

"Have you said this? then you shall do it," said the queen; "but you may have a little longer time if you choose."

Now, the poor lassie dared not say she had never spun in all her life, but she only begged for a room to herself. That she got, and the wheel and the flax were brought up to her. There she sat sad and weeping, and knew not how to help herself. She pulled the wheel this way and that, and twisted and turned it about, but she made a poor hand of it, for she had never even seen a spinning-wheel in her life.

But all at once, as she sat there, in came an old woman to her. "What ails you, child?" she said.

"Ah!" said the lassie, with a deep sigh, "it's no good to tell you, for you'll never be able to help me."

"Who knows?" said the old wife. "Maybe I know how to help you after all."

"Well," thought the lassie to herself, "I may as well tell her."

And so she told her how her fellow-servants had given out that she was good to spin a pound of flax in four and twenty hours. "And here am I, wretch that I am, shut up to spin all that heap in a day and a night, when I have never even seen a spinning-wheel in all my born days."

"Well, never mind, child," said the old woman, "if you'll call me Aunt on the happiest day of your life, I'll spin this flax for you, and so you may just go away and lie down to sleep."

Yes, the lassie was willing enough, and off she went and lay down to sleep.

Next morning when she awoke, there lay all the flax spun on the table, and that so clean and fine, no one had ever seen such even and pretty yarn. The queen was very glad to get such nice yarn, and she set greater store by the lassie than ever. But the rest were still more envious, and agreed to tell the queen how the lassie had said she was good to weave the yarn she had spun in four and twenty hours.

So the queen said again, as she had said it she must do it; but if she couldn't quite finish it in four and twenty hours, she wouldn't be too hard upon her, she might have a little more time. This time, too, the lassie dared not say No, but begged for a room to herself, and there she would try.

There she sat again, sobbing and crying, and not knowing which way to turn, when another old woman came in and asked, "What ails you, child?"

At first the lassie wouldn't say, but at last she told her the whole story of her grief.

"Well, well!" said the old wife, "never mind. If you'll call me Aunt on the happiest day of your life, I'll weave this yarn for you, and you may just be off, and lie down to sleep."

Yes, the lassie was willing enough; so she went away and lay down to sleep. When she awoke, there lay the piece of linen on the table, woven so neat and close, no woof could be better. So the lassie took the piece and ran down to the queen, who was very glad to get such beautiful linen, and set greater store than ever by the lassie.

But as for the others, they grew still more bitter against her, and thought of nothing but how to find out something to tell about her. At last they told the queen the lassie had said she was good to make up the piece of linen into shirts in four and twenty hours.

Well, all happened as before; the lassie dared not say she couldn't sew; so she was shut up again in a room by herself, and there she sat in tears and grief. But then another old wife came, who said she would sew the shirts for her if she would call her Aunt on the happiest day of her life. The lassie was only too glad to do this, and then she did as the old wife told her, and went and lay down to sleep. Next morning when she woke she found the piece of linen made up into shirts, which lay on the table -- and such beautiful work no one had ever set eyes on; and more than that, the shirts were all marked and ready for wear.

So, when the queen saw the work, she was so glad at the way in which it was sewn, that she clapped her hands, and said, "Such sewing I never had, nor even saw in all my born days."

And after that she was as fond of the lassie as of her own children; and she said to her, "Now, if you like to have the prince for your husband, you shall have him; for you will never need to hire work women. You can sew, and spin, and weave all yourself."

So as the lassie was pretty, and the prince was glad to have her, the wedding soon came on. But just as the prince was going to sit down with the bride to the bridal feast, in came an ugly old hag, with a long nose --I'm sure it was three ells long.

So up got the bride and made a curtsey, and said, "Good-day, Auntie."

"That auntie to my bride," said the prince.

"Yes, she was!"

"Well, then, she'd better sit down with us to the feast," said the prince; but, to tell you the truth, both he and the rest thought she was a loathsome woman to have next you.

But just then in came another ugly old hag. She had a back so humped and broad, she had hard work to get through the door.

Up jumped the bride in a trice, and greeted her with "Good-day, Auntie!"

And the prince asked again if that were his bride's aunt. They both said Yes; so the prince said, if that were so, she too had better sit down with them to the feast.

But they had scarce taken their seats before another ugly old hag came in, with eyes as large as saucers, and so red and bleared, 'twas gruesome to look at her.

But up jumped the bride again, with her "Good-day, Auntie," and her, too, the prince asked to sit down; but I can't say he was very glad, for he thought to himself, "Heaven shield me from such aunties as my bride has!"

So when he had sat a while, he could not keep his thoughts to himself any longer, but asked, "But how, in all the world, can my bride, who is such a lovely lassie, have such loathsome, misshapen aunts?"

"I'll soon tell you how it is," said the first. "I was just as good-looking when I was her age; but the reason why I have got this long nose is, because I was always kept sitting, and poking, and nodding over my spinning, and so my nose got stretched and stretched, until it got as long as you now see it."

"And I," said the second," ever since I was young, I have sat and scuttled backwards and forwards over my loom, and that's how my back has got so broad and humped, as you now see it."

"And I," said the third," ever since I was little, I have sat, and stared, and sewn, and sewn and stared, night and day; and that's why my eyes have got so ugly and red, and now there's no help for them."

"So! so!" said the prince, "'twas lucky I came to know this; for if folk can get so ugly and loathsome by all this, then my bride shall neither spin, nor weave, nor sew all her life long."

Source (books.google.com): Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe, Popular Tales from the Norse, translated by George Webbe Dasent (Edinburgh: Edmonston and Douglas, 1859), pp. 205-211.

Source (Internet Archive): Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe, Popular Tales from the Norse, translated by George Webbe Dasent (Edinburgh: Edmonston and Douglas, 1859), pp. 205-211.

Dasent's source:

Books.google.com: Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe, "De tre Mostre," Norske Folkeeventyr (Christiania [Oslo]: Forlagt af Johan Dahl, 1843), no. 13, pp. 69-74.

Internet Archive: Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe, "De tre Mostre," Norske Folkeeventyr (Christiania [Oslo]: Forlagt af Johan Dahl, 1850), no. 13, pp. 61-66.

Collected by Jørgen Moe in Ringerike.