Rant Ahead - Turning off Vehicles

We don't live in the Dark Ages as far as I know. Every day you either see it on TV, read it in newspapers or books, hear it on the radio or from friends/coworkers.... Our Earth is suffering from "Environmental Change". Global warming, no matter what some government officials are saying, is occuring. Our Earth's climate is going to be a lot different for my children when they become adults and my grandchildren (if I'm ever blessed to have them) then it is for me. And already it is slightly different now from when I was a child.

I love the ad campaign entitled "Flick Off". Every time I see a bedroom light that one of the children have left on, I yell downstairs "(name of child here), Flick Off!". And they're learning - I have to say it less often now. I used to have to say it at least once a day, and now some days go by that I don't have to say it at all. I have had to explain to the kids that it's not about saving pennies - it's about preserving our home planet. We need to make some changes, or Mother Nature is going to whallop us with a huge change of her own, and I don't think many of the human population will survive it. As bad as the movie "Waterworld" was, I think it had an important message. I don't think that it will get that bad, but there will certainly be some changes.

Anyway, I started this rant because of one main observation I make here at the store almost daily. My store is in a little strip mall that also contains a hair salon, a nutrition clinic, and a convenience store. My whole front wall is pretty much glass, and I see people every day park in the parking lot and leave their vehicle running while they go into the store to pick up the lottery ticket, or cigarettes, or milk, or bread, or whatever the case may be. Their vehicle is left running, with nobody in it, for sometimes 1-2 minutes at a time. Why??? Is it so very difficult to turn the key and take it out of the ignition? Does it take so much energy on the driver's part to turn the ignition back on when they get back into the vehicle? It doesn't save more than a couple of seconds by leaving the engine running, and yet by leaving the engine idle for 1-2 minutes when the driver isn't even in the car wastes fuel (which we don't have an infinite supply of) and puts emissions into the atmosphere adding to the "Climate Change" factor.

Seriously people. if we want the Earth to continue to be good to us, we need to be good to her...

Happiness Thought of the Day:
"Happiness is in the warm summer sun...
...in the red leaves of fall
...is near you when your light is low
...is there on the autumn breeze
...it's on the warm wind
...is near you when your faith is dry."

Shea & Silk Soap

Last week, we did a new batch of our Shea and Silk soap. This is a very decadent bar of soap that we've left unscented so anybody can use it. It contains a large amount of olive oil, along with oils of coconut, palm, shea butter and avocado. We use coconut milk for the creaminess it imparts to the lather, as well as silk for that nice, smooth silky feel. The soaps will be out on the shelves the 4th week of August.

We have a new camera which we've been having lots of fun playing with :) Here's a pic of our Shea and Silk soap with our new custom made soap stamps.

Happiness Thought of the Day:
"Think of happiness as a kind of mental gardening."

A New Soap - as yet unnamed

I cut a brand new soap yesterday and it's now curing for the next several weeks. Despite what the title says it does have a name, but it's part of a duo and until the second soap is made I'm not publishing the names of either one.

This new one is in our Silk line, and contains a blend of essential oils that combine for a wonderfully earthy, grounded scent. It has oodles of olive oil (it's main ingredient), lots of coconut oil for a fantastically sudsy lather, shea butter, avocado oil, and palm oil. It contains coconut milk for a creamy lather, and contains silk (which really does make the lather feel silky!). For scent imagine a blend of cedarwood, ylang ylang, vetiver, vanilla, and patchouli. I was trying to come up with a blend that would make me feel like I was sitting at the very base of a tall mountain in the middle of the night during a new moon with no breeze whatsoever to disturb the black, utter stillness of the moment. And I think I came pretty darn close :) It will be on the shelves mid-August.

We made it through our store's 1st Anniversary celebrations! We still have some cards left in our draw, so until they're gone we'll be offering everybody who makes a minimum purchase of $25 the chance to draw a card from the box. You can save anywhere from 5-25% off your purchase, or get an item for free :) This includes all internet/mail order purchases as well.


We have a new Farmers Market in the area that just opened today. I was very excited to hear about this, as I'm a huge supporter of buying local whenever possible. I'm currently reading a book by Barbara Kingsolver entitled "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A year of Food Life". Not sure about some of her statistics as she doesn't reference them, but it definitely makes you think about where your food comes from. And it confirms by own belief about supporting local producers. Unfortunately, there weren't any produce vendors there today, but it is only their first day open so I'm hoping that they'll show up soon. I'd much rather give my money directly to the producer/farmer than some middle man/grocery store. Good thing about going today, though, is I found out the name and contact info for a local CSA (Community Shared Agriculture) organic farm. It's too late to join this year as they're already several weeks into deliveries, but I'll be on the list for next year's shareholders. For anybody in the Elmsdale area, the new Farmers' Market is held on Saturdays 8am-1pm at the Elmsdale Legion on Highway #2. Please go out and support our local producers :)

Happiness Thought of the Day:
"Happiness lies in becoming unafraid of change."