Spring Ahead!

If you know me then you know that I'm a fan of the rainy weather.  I mean, who doesn't love a cloudy day?!

Portland makes me happy because just when I'm starting to get in that winter funk (which takes a while!) spring starts hinting that it's just around the corner!

Days are getting longer, flowers are blossoming, the chickens are laying eggs again, and the sun starts peeking out from behind the clouds.  I tend to get started on garden stuff a little too soon because I just can't wait to get things growing!  

Bring on the garden!

Pearl the Persian

I've been working in the Cattery at the Oregon Humane Society for just under 4 years - and I've seen a LOT of cats.  Big ones, small ones, fat ones, skinny ones, cute ones and ugly ones.  But I'd never seen any thing like Pearl the Persian before!  She came to us as a transfer from another shelter, and naturally everyone was super excited that we were getting a fancy Persian!  I've never been a fan of the siamese or persian kitties so I just went about my day and didn't join in the fuss.

When the transfer arrived everyone was looking in the Persians carrier (her name was Dumpling!) but I just sat at the computer typing up some paperwork.  Finally a coworker said "Melissa, look at this!" and handed me one of the cutest things I've ever seen.   Dumpling was a full grown, 2 year old cat that weighed in at 4lbs!  She had been found as a stray severely matted and covered in fleas, so not only was she tiny and grumpy looking but she was shaved and had a lion cut! And she was being sooooo nice, purring and being so sweet                                                            that my eyes welled up with tears.  

The pictures of this cat don't do her justice...you HAVE to see her in real life to fully understand what she is!  I sent a picture of her to my husband Cameron and he was cracking up, but I just had to show her him in real life. Lucky for everyone she needed foster for a week so she came home with us, and after a day we knew we weren't bringing her back. Within 2 hours of bringing her home Cam had set up all of his camera equipment and did a photo shoot with her.  Check out his blog: Cat and Gremlin Photography

It's not easy picking out a name for a critter, especially not for us!  I mean, we have an Italian Greyhound named Slim, a blue cat named Blue, and hen named Baby Bird.  After tossing a couple ideas around, the obvious ones just weren't sticking (Gizmo, Smalls, Biggie).  Cam called her a blue oyster the first night, and as we were watching TV I heard the word "oyster" and thought of the name Pearl.  It was purrrrr-fect for her, She looks roughed up on the outside, but she's a sweet little treasure.  The official dictionary definition is "a precious thing; the finest example of something". 

Ultimately it was Slim, Stan and Blue who had the final say on adding her to the family, and they think she's pretty rad too!  We don't think that Slim has ever seen anything smaller than him so she's been an ego boost for him and he's been a great big brother by sharing the fireplace warmth with her!

Holiday Card and Outtakes

Every year for the holidays my photographer husband comes up with a creative way to include the entire family in our Christmas card.  Since our newest addition to the "Smith Farm" is our kitty that we fostered, then adopted, he became this years highlight!  When we first brought Blue home his name was Wren, but it just wasn't sticking.  "Blue" is such a great name because we get to use it so many ways!  "You're my boy, Blue!" (for those who don't know it's from the movie Old School) or "Big Blue" because we are avid NYG fans and he happens to be big...and blue!  And now "We're having a BLUE Christmas without you" (c'mon everyone knows Elvis)! 

Clean in 2015

Handmade Soaps

Since moving to the great NorthWest, the hubs and I have pretty dramatically changed our lifestyle and it feels great!  We're constantly learning new things, and getting more in touch with nature and ourselves.  It was nice having a big house and new cars, but now that we've scaled back we find ourselves much happier.  Owning our own home again is one of our main goals but the new pad is going to be much different than the ones we've had in the past!  Our number one priority is lots of land to garden on and live off of.  We love knowing exactly where our food is coming from, and feel better physically from watching what we've been putting in our bodies.  
Over the past year we've also started watching what we've been putting ON our bodies .  I  learned how to make our own cleaning products such as laundry detergent, soap, floor cleaners, etc.  Vinegar, lemon, baking soda and essential oils are my new best friend.  It's amazing how simple stuff is and how beneficial things found in nature can be for us.  
To ring in the New Year I decided to take it a step further by "naturalizing" some daily beauty products.  My favorite new blog is Live Simply I learned so much!  I'm a wanna be hippie and started cleaning my hair with baking soda and conditioning with apple cider vinegar.  What is all the stuff found in my old products anyway? I've started cleansing my face with avocado oil, made a homemade astringent (apple cider vinegar, essential oil and water) and moisturize with a mixture of coconut oil, vitamin E, and lavender essential oil.  I even made my own "acne mask" using oatmeal, honey, tea tree oil and lemon.  My favorite part?  Having all the ingredients that I need already on hand!  Didn't even have to leave the house (which if you know me well makes me very happy!).  Why have I been using products with all these unnatural ingredients when I can just use 1 or 2 things that work great?  Since moving to Portland my face has been breaking out a lot, but my new regime has improved my skin greatly.  For the holidays I made some homemade body scrubs and they were a hit!  I'm super excited to ring in 2015 and see what other new "discoveries" the year has in store!

 

Warm Vanilla Sugar & Rosemary Grapefruit Salt Scrubs