An October of Enough

A small eternity has passed since the first week of October but here’s what it looked like for my little family and I — high desert, canyons, mountain water, warm sunshine and cool breezes, rattlesnakes, sleeping out, trout, flat tires in the middle of nowhere (Look at the jeep trail in the fourth photograph, we took a full-size truck down that skranky old nasty thing!!!), poetry, campfires and the pleasure and surprise of getting to know the wilderness that exists South of our little farm. From this canyon trip we proceeded to pronghorn hunt and then elk hunt and then bird hunt and October stretched on forever and forever until it was suddenly over.

The deeper I go with this life of mine, the more I hunt and fish and garden and grow, the more time seems to slow down, or maybe the span of each day seems closer to being enough and the rush of modern day life seems to dissolve in the sun and wind. Instead of feeling like the hours and minutes of the day are disappearing on me, it seems natural and good to feel the day passing. I see each day eaten up by the sun and wind like all things eventually are and it seems like enough. It never used to seem like enough. October was enough.

https://www.thenoisyplume.com/blog/2019/12/21/14966/

Fall Beauties

Thank you all for your amazing support since I reopened my shop at the start of November. I had the most incredible month of October in the field with my husband and I thank you for giving me your blessing to take leave. It wasn’t a vacation. Robbie and I worked hard every single day, filled some of our big game tags, prepared the farm for winter, planted a beautiful 2020 garlic crop, hunted backcountry with the horses and while we’re still behind on firewood hauls, we’re slowing ticking items off the to-do list which means more studio time for me! FINALLY!

It is wonderful to be creating again. I had these Pollinator Necklaces pieced out in September and am just managing to finish them up this week — I have a few more on deck for completion but I won’t get to them until next week (a cosmic cut of lapis lazuli and two more cobalto calcite stones will be employed). And owls!!! So much peace and quiet goes into my owls. Each one is one of a kind. I love seeing how they develop and change in tiny ways over time. In case you care to read the inspiration behind this piece, visit my Feather and Prayer post from a while back — I re-read that post from time to time because I find it to be full of stillness and power and peace.

I’m hoping to have new work up in my shop tomorrow morning around 10AM MST. See you there!

I’ve been away from the studio for so long now I can’t remember the direction I was headed in. I guess that’s one of the downfalls of the subsistence lifestyle we’re pursuing here — there are month long distractions that drag me from my work and routine while we’re working on securing our food for the year. Robbie is rolling out on a muzzle-loader elk hunt for a week or so and I’m going to use that solo time to dig in deep, curl my toes down into the earth here and remember how to be a silversmith who speaks for herself and The West.

https://www.thenoisyplume.com/blog/2019/11/07/14949/

Modern Huntsman Volume 4

Modern Huntsman continues! Volume 4 — the women’s issue — is now available for pre-order and is set to ship in the month of November. I have been lucky enough to contribute to all four volumes of this book over the past couple of years and have been so grateful for the opportunities. The pages are filled with beautiful imagery, wonderful storytelling and excellent information regarding worldwide conservation practices. You can order your copy at modernhuntsman.com OR you can wait a couple of weeks and try to win one as I plan to give away five copies away on my Instagram account. As always, on behalf of all the Modern Huntsman staff and contributers, thank you for your continued support!