Author Archives: Kim Smith
Kombucha
A few years ago a friend of mine gave me a piece of her kombucha culture so I could start brewing my own. I made it for a while, but then I decided to stop…I don’t even really remember why, but I’ve missed it ever since. Wanting to start making it again, I bought myself […]
Make Your Own Toothpaste
We use toothpaste everyday (at least most of us do…I hope). Television ads portray their toothpaste users absurdly happy about their bright, shiny smiles. But there’s a dark side to toothpaste that you may have never considered. The ingredients that are used to make that pepperminty paste or wintergreen gel may not be things you want […]
Homemade Almond Butter
My grandparents had an almond orchard, and my dad has some almond trees on his property. I grew up climbing those trees, falling out of those trees, and wandering around the orchard eating fresh almonds. My first job was working for my grandpa in his orchard. I pulled hoses, trimmed branches, and painted baby tree […]
Replenishing with Probiotics: Milk Kefir
“All disease begins in the gut” — Hippocrates Your intestines are home to 100 TRILLION microorganisms! These microorganisms are known as our gut flora, and their job is so important to our bodies and our health that they are sometimes referred to as the “forgotten” organ. When we eat we’re not just feeding ourselves, […]
Puppy’s First Vacation
My family and I recently went out of town for a few nights and we decided to take our puppy, Luna, with us. We left the pug with my father-in-law because there was going to be another dog -a male that my dogs hadn’t met yet- at the house we would be staying at and […]
Furry Friends: Mad Catter Dinner & Auction
I recently came upon a flier for the 5th Annual Mad Catter Dinner and Auction, to be held on Saturday, September 28th in Vancouver. The purpose of this function is to raise money for Furry Friends, a non-profit no-kill shelter dedicated to re-homing cats in the Clark County area. According to the Furry Friends website […]
Clark County Dog Parks: Ross
My kids and I took Luna to a dog park yesterday, mainly to see what it was like. I’ve never been to a dog park, so this was a new experience for all of us. I needed to run an errand in Hazel Dell so I decided to go to Ross Dog Park, located off […]
Love is Eternal
A member of our family came to the end of his life a few days ago. He was my in-laws beloved Cody, an energetic Havanese who lived every moment of every day with such exuberance that you couldn’t help but smile when he was around. To watch him play was to see pure joy in […]
Hummingbirds
I adore hummingbirds. I have a few plants in my yard that attract them, but I’ve been meaning for some time to hang a feeder to entice even more of them to come around. An employee at a local plant nursery assured me that if I put one up, the hummingbirds would appear. And boy, […]
Diet Update – Cat Food
This post is to provide an update on how my cats are doing with their recent diet change. I wrote a previous post on optimal pet nutrition that I’d love for you to read. — Clover, my (almost) 16 year old cat, has experienced intermittent constipation for some time now. I have given her several […]