Dormant

It has been a while since I've written a post, and I have a few things I'd like to share with you:

• Bryson and I have recently implemented a new rule in our home. On Tuesdays, we unplug our internet and spend the whole day away from the rest of the world. Although it was strange at first, it is something we both truly look forward to.Instead of scrolling through Instagram posts, and escaping through YouTube videos, we play cards.We ski, we laugh, we eat candy, we clean the house, we clean the car and the smeared dog noses and cat noses from the windows.We reconnect.

• We have been taking full advantage of the last bits of snow. Walking through these wild places, following deer and rabbit tracks. breathing in the cold and crisp winter air, and feeling the hairs in our noses stick together from the cold.

• Trout is growing like a weed and he and Ruby have truly become best friends.

• We have welcomed two new chickens into our home. Their names are Moose and Goose and we love them dearly.

• I have been experimenting with some new pieces in my studio and planning for a possible market season, Covid depending.

• Bryson and I are planning a move in the fall, more on that soon.

• I have been having a tough time with my anxiety lately.

I've been told by a few people who follow my blog or Instagram account, that they admire my lifestyle, and to be honest, I feel as though I am a constant work in progress.

There are times where my mental space isn't the best and needs work, and there are even times like this past week where crippling anxiety has kept me from living normally.

In times like these, I feel scared to share how I truly feel because I'm worried I will be perceived differently.Like my life won't seem as idyllic as it might on social media, and people will lose interest and think that they can't escape to my platforms for a dose of positivity.

As I write this, I'm starting to feel a bit better. Today truly feels like the first day of spring here on the property. We can hear all the snow melting and water dripping, and our road has become incredibly slippery.Thigh-high snow has settled down to knee height and this has all reminded me that much like the seasons changing, things take time.

When I find myself in a pit of anxiety, it helps when I compare myself to a seed.Sometimes I need to lie dormant during the winter months, so I can find myself planted in enriched soil and drenched in water and sunlight when spring arrives.

It's ok to hide away, to feel anxious, or sad, or lonely, or uninspired because, in time, those feelings pass. They always do.

And in fact, we should normalize and share these feelings because they are so incredibly common.

So here I am, telling you that I'm not feeling great, I'm doubting myself, and my anxiety has been really bad recently, but I am working on it, and it's going to be ok.

I hope you are all doing alright during these strange times, but I think we are starting to see a light at the end of this winding tunnel.If you ever feel as though you need someone to talk to, I am always here to listen, and please remember, spring always comes after a dark cold winter.

talk soon,Chloe

♥

Leaning Into Autumn

It is tremendously beautiful this time of year.

The quaking aspen turn to gold and the morning air is more rejuvenating than any amount of coffee.

This is our second autumn on this property and I seem to fall more in love with the Cariboo seasons every year. If you'd like to see what it looks like in the autumn here, I have uploaded a new Youtube video on my channel.

I've been enjoying making silver and taking on commissions over these months. It's so refreshing joining someone in a project and hearing their perspectives and ideas for a piece. Thank you to everyone who chooses and has chosen me to create a piece.

It's good being home and preparing for the winter. We've switched our summer wardrobe for our winters and have started prepping the chicken coop and airstream for the cold months ahead. Soon I will turn over the soil before the first snowfall and let the hens scratch the garden earth to their heart's content.

We are now on a small holiday and will be going off-grid over the next few days while visiting Bryson's mom. She has three goats, three horses, a beautiful flock of hens, and has recently adopted a new shepherd/collie mix pup into her pack. I just can't wait for Ruby and the new pup to meet!

I'm hoping we can go for a ride or two while we are there. The arid sagebrush landscape there is just heavenly.

I'll be back in the studio this coming weekend and I am so looking forward to seeing what inspiration this week of family and the outdoors brings. Until then, I hope you have a wonderful rest of your week!

Talk soon,

Clove and Hound

xo

Mosquitoes, Storms, Sun, and, Silver

I've been living in our cabin by myself for the past month.

While Bryson has been hard at work finishing school in the Okanagan, I've been busy on the ranch working on silver, our garden, and doing daily chores to keep myself busy.

My neighbor Marion has been great company. If you follow me on Instagram, you'll know that we have been on daily adventures together. Canoeing, mushroom picking, strawberry picking, getting eaten alive by mosquitos, taking care of our landlord's animals while they were away, and sharing stories over cups of tea and homemade brioche. She is a true dream and is also an incredibly talented seamstress. You should definitely go check out her Etsy!

The land is so alive here! Everywhere I look are daisies, Indian paintbrush, wild sweet peas, camomille, tiger lilies, and mushrooms galore! It's been a rainy summer with types of storms I had never experienced before. I have seen countless bolts of lightning, and Ruby has howled back at all the thunder that roars our way. We also experienced an unbelievable hail storm which I will never forget as it destroyed half of our garden.

I've also visited my family in both Kelowna and Vancouver. My mom and sister are both in the process of moving and have given Bryson and me some beautiful things to complete our home. I feel so so lucky driving home from a trip with a car full of vintage goods from my family! I think my favorite additions have been the new seafoam chairs my sister gave us for our dining room. They are just so dreamy!

Today the bedding is drying outside in the first summer-like day we've had in a while, I am packing my things, and tomorrow I'm driving back to the Okanagan to see my love.

I'm in desperate need to feel his hugs and breathe in his scent. He is my happy place and always will be.

I'm going to take a bit of time off and enjoy everything coming my way for the next little while. Soon, I will start sharing more of my life, studio, jewelry making process, and inspiration on Instagram, Youtube, and this platform. I absolutely can't wait!

I hope all is well with you!

Let's talk soon ok?

♥

xo

The Light And Darkness All At Once

Hello dear friends!

It feels like it has been a small eternity since I posted here.

I guess my excuse is that I've been taking time to focus on this beautiful home of ours, and the land that surrounds it before we move to the interior of BC for the next 6 months.

Over the past week, we've been busy buying plastic totes and packing important things up from any rodents who might make themselves at home while we are away.

Those who know me know I love wool blankets and hats, antlers, bones, and basically any dead creature that needs a new loving home, so the majority of those are being packed away until the summer months when we return.

We've also been arranging our outdoor storage tent for the up-coming mud season, to ensure that nothing is ruined or drenched in the floods that spring brings here in the Cariboo.

It's been an incredibly refreshing experience going through all of our things and donating everything that we haven't used for the past year. At our dump, we have a little shelter called the Share Shed, where our community donates everything that they don't want, but could still be of use to someone else. I have found so many amazing finds there from a Cowichan dog sweater, to gumboots, to winter coats, and kitchen wear, and a pair of retro cross country skiing boots right after mine broke in two.It is just fantastic! Knowing that these donations we make are going right back into the community sure warms my heart.

And of course, we have been organizing our chickens and their belongings to move them up to our landlord's coop while we are away. We will surely miss them and their delicious eggs, but know they will be in the best hands!

After a long week of preparation, we woke up on New Years Eve to the pops, bangs, and cracks of trees falling behind our cabin. It was nothing I'd heard before. They sounded like rifles being fired off in the distant fields. The air smelled likeSpruce and Quaking Aspen that day.

The new year started with a huge dump of snow and a massive wind storm. The better part of our town lost power and our ranch also lost water for about two days.

Our modern life melted into the ice and knee-deep snow that surrounded us. We all focused on keeping the fires going, making sure our neighbors were well taken care of, melting snow and ice to use toflush the toilets and wash the dishes. We gathered and cooked around the open flames, we sat with headlamps reading our favorite books, plowed the driveways, and dug out the chicken coop.No technology, no distractions, just our community in the here and now.

It was a beautiful excuse to slow down when life started to feel a little out of control.

I felt I was able to sit down and reflect on this year that has passed.On the way moving to the country has softened my edges.On the beautiful moments I have experienced, the beautiful people I have met and the lessons I have learned.I've learned to appreciate the little things, the big things, the learning curves, and the growth through it all.I've learned to expect the unexpected, open my heart to new experiences,

and appreciate the light and darkness all at once.

Amen to that. Amen.

♥

By and By

The colours around us are changing, the temperature has surely dropped, and we are just crossing our fingers that our hens keep laying throughout the autumn.

♥

The past month has been busy to say the least.

My projects have been:

•Stripping the airstream paint off to caulk her, sand her, and prepare her for the winter. I've also been taking time to completely gut the inside to make room for the new.

•Finding any and every little hole between the logs of our cabin and filling them up with spray foam and steel wool.

•Trapping pack rats and mice daily as they try to hunker down in our crawl spaces. (I've come to despise rodents)

•Collecting wood with my love for the winter months

•Picking the last fruit and veg from our garden.

•And in the studio I have been working hard on commission pieces.

• ☾ •

Recently, I found myself with a bit of spare time in between my projects and was able to sit down at my desk and create these 5 new pieces for you.

It felt so good to put flame to silver again with total creative freedom.

Oh how I've missed it.

Now with the winter months coming around the corner, I will be spending a lot more time hunkered down in my studio creating for you.

I want to thank you all so much for your generous interest in my work and your constant support. I wouldn't be able to live this dreamy little life of mine without you.

You’ll be able to find these pieces in my shop tomorrow afternoon.

I hope to see you there!

May you be loved, Always.

♥