Shop Update
All five of these silver beauties will be available in my shop on July 8th at 5PM (PST).
Thank you for stopping by!
I hope to see you there
xo
♥
Son Of The Lake
I continue to learn from the land here in the Cariboo more than I ever have before.
♥
The other day while catching up with my mom on the phone, I was telling her about all the birds I've held in my hands over the past year and a half of living in this wild country.
I told her of all the moose and bears we've seen.
Of all the beavers we've seen slapping their tails on the surface of the water and the grouse we've heard drumming in the groves of trees.
Of the long, slippery, and frisky sons and daughters of the lake we've caught and taken to our table.
The list is long and mighty and I think she could hear my smile the whole way through.
We have officially moved into our new cabin on the property and had our internet hooked up last week. It feels good. It feels spacious and it really feels like home. We have enough room in our kitchen for all our canning supplies and I'm so excited to gather foods and our harvests and begin preserving them. Our pantry will slowly fill with beautiful glass jars full of tomatoes, garlic, cucumbers, rosemary, jams, jellies, radishes, and onions, all from the growing season.
Today was the first day I set my fingertips to silver in what feels like a very long time. My new studio space is so warm and bright and my face still hurts from smiling while doing my work. I can't wait to share my new pieces and my new studio with you!
In other news, Bryson and I have somehow ended up with a rooster!
Bryson's mom bought herself some hens and was able to get a free rooster for our landlords while she was there. Margot and the rooster will be coming our way mid-month and we are both excited and a bit apprehensive about adding him to our flock. Our girls are so very independent and I'm worried he will get a bit picked (pecked?) on. He's a black silkie and is going to hang out with our girls until our landlords are able to get hens of their own. It's a bit tough this year finding laying hens during the pandemic so he may end up sticking around for a while and who knows? We might fall in love.
I think we are going to call him Jack, but we've got to meet him first. I promise to post all over social media when he arrives!
We also have another visiter, Miss Ivy the barn cat. She has been paying us visits every evening since we moved into this cabin.
If you follow me on Instagram, you'll see that we snuggle just about every night on the porch. She is such a sweetheart and having her around has been such a treat. She and Ruby are still getting used to each other, but I have faith they will be friends eventually.
With the move, we moved our garden bed over to the new cabin. Last week, we harvested our first radishes and ate them all for breakfast. I have never tasted something so spicy and delicious in my life! The colours were so phenomenal! I'm excited about our garden this year as I'm growing things I've never grown before but my pride and joy lies in our sunflowers...
May they grow so tall, they fall over from their own greatness!!!
Amen to that!
xo
Changes
Like a faithful pony, I bear an optimistic heart.
One that reaches for the light even in times like these.
Times of uncertainty, of human against human, of change and confusion.
I reach for the light.
♥
Last we spoke, Bryson and I were heading to the Okanagan for the better part of the year.From January - March we were living with my sister and her family on their property in a camper while Bryson advanced his studies as a paramedic.We made new friends, started climbing again, and took advantage of the conveniences of the city. It was a seamless transition for us really.
Much like the rest of the world, in mid-March we had to change our plans.Although we were unsure of the future with Bryson's classes, we decided to head back to our home on the ranch for the time being.This unexpected change in plans was met with an equal feeling of excitement, confusion, and disbelief. We were so mentally prepared to be in Kelowna for the better part of a year and going home felt strange, especially for Bryson who was mid-way through an intense program.
But as easy as it was to find our rhythm in Kelowna, after a few weeks back home, we fell back into the rhythm of the Cariboo.
Bryson returned to work, I continued with my silver commissions and started our garden, Ruby was over the moon to be back on the acreage, and it was such a great feeling to be reunited with our hens who had been so well taken care of by our landlords.
It's easy to say that we all find such a deeply rooted joy here.
We are surrounded by Indian Paintbrush, wild violets, tiger lilies, ravens, owls, and snakes, toads, deer, bears, moose, hare, and sandhill cranes.
Everything that inspires us most is right here in these hills and valleys we call home.
I'm sure like many of you, I have set some goals for myself during this time of quarantine.
Since arriving back, Bryson has been helping me train as a trail runner.It is something I have wanted to do for years and years now but always questioned and doubted my abilities.
With a load of encouragement from my love, I've learned to lean into the discomfort of the cold air in my lungs and trust the uneven ground beneath my feet. It has become a meditative experience I've never known until now and for this, I am so grateful!
We also have some exciting news!In a week or so, we will be moving to the larger cabin next door to us on the property!Our lovely neighbors are moving into town and asked us if we wanted to move into their cabin which sits about 40ft east of ours.We will have two bedrooms, a washer and drier, a proper freezer, and two floors.Although we are very sad to see our neighbors leave, we are very excited for this change!
I am so looking forward to moving my studio space into the second bedroom and photographing our new home for you to see!
Bryson is returning to school in Kelowna come the end of June, and I think I'm going to stay here in the Cariboo during that time. It is all still a bit uncertain and the feeling of loneliness is creeping in slightly but I know we will both be ok.
I hope you're all coping through this time of uncertainty and know I am always here if you need to talk.
I'm here to listen.
I am going to go tend to my garden now, bend my back to the rich soil, get my hands dirty, and sing to all of our sunflowers and collard greens.
—Stay tuned—
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.
♥
