Happy Equinox!

Spring has Sprung!

You may think that I am in denial about the arrival of Autumn, but I am not. I do see the brilliant yellow, red and rust leaves blowing in the wind and the cheerful pumpkins plumping up in the fields.

But I have it on good authority that today is the first day of Spring...

...in Australia!

Cat Lady Laura of Moags and Smeet should know. She lives there. She says, "Springtime in Australia is beautiful. Our summers are too hot for the type of natural beauty I was accustomed to in Canada, and it is actually through late winter and early summer that most of Australia blooms into its natural best.

"Traditional spring garden plants like daffodils, pansies, and jasmine are all flowering in abundance, native plants like the grevillea are blooming, and all over the countryside fruit trees are in blossom. It is simply gorgeous. Spring also brings some of the most enjoyable temperatures for enjoying the great outdoors, with temperatures in the 20s to low 30s (Celsius), which is much nicer than summer time 40s! Our garden offers up a natural theatre of brightly coloured birds, little lizards and even the occasional flying fox for Tig to watch from the comfort of a sunbeam on his window seat. Purrfect!

[ed. note: I had to google "flying fox" and this is what I found: it is a fruit bat, the largest bat in the world!)

Laura continues: "I have always been a crazy cat lady. Growing up in the countryside of Cormack, Newfoundland, my brothers and I had farm cats as small children, then spent years doting on my Grandmother's cat, before adopting the straggly stray kitten that we slowly nursed into a much-loved pet. Patches still rules the roost at my parents home today at the ripe old age of fifteen.

"Dan and I now have a blended fur-family of our own. Tiger [pictured, left] is a rescue cat whom I adopted five years before moving to Australia - he made eye contact and it was love at first sight. I had to take him home and spoil him rotten. When the time came to move to Australia, there was never a question that Tig would be heading to the land down-under.

"I often joke that he is the most expensive rescue cat in Australia, owing to the prescreening, specialist vet preparations, export and import permits, airfare, and other hurdles involved in his move, but you can't put a price on love! Although it broke my heart to see him off at the airport, he survived the trans-Pacific flight and (eek!) his mandatory 30 days in arrival quarantine before we were reunited in smootches, pats and cuddles.

"Oliver, our Dalmatian, was born in New Zealand and traveled to Australia with my partner, Dan, who is also a Kiwi. The boys get along surprisingly well, and can even be found snoozing together in happy harmony on the bed from time to time."

Find out who is "Moags" and who is "Smeet" by visiting Laura's blog about her jewellery business: Moags and Smeet. (where you can also find out why she spells jewellery that way..!). You can purchase her beautiful creations by visiting her Etsy shop. Also be sure to visit Laura's website Creativity Unmasked, a site that celebrates artists, makers and all things creative!

Thanks for visiting!