I pride myself on being a practical and thrifty person. I would like to live a simple life with fewer things to have to store, dust off, and think about. Yet I try to appreciate the beauty in most everything, especially in people. Like anyone else, I like novelty. That's what enticed my old friend, Pat, and I, to venture into a unique store in Stanford, Kentucky (USA), when I was visiting her last Friday. (Please see this blog, Friday, January 10, 2013: "Hanging Fork Creek and Deer Tracks."
To step into the store of Kentucky Soaps & Such, 203 Main Street, Stanford, Kentucky, is to step back in time. From the creaky wooden floor (anyone remember Woolworth's old wooden floors back in the day?) to the imprinted dark tin ceiling, it is NOT 2013, more like 1913! We actually had a long chat about the benefits of soaps and body creams made with all natural ingredients with the woman who made their products "in the basement here."
My old nurse hands are as dry as a sagebrush bush in a drought! We were told that the oatmeal soaps and creams are particularly effective with dry skin. And the attractive young woman told us that her soaps and creams have zero preservatives or other chemicals. I had entered the store with the thought, "This is really nice but I have no intention of buying anything."
Pat and I meandered through the store, found other bath products, pottery, Kentucky coffee and food. The "highly moisturizing" (that definitely caught my attention!) bar soap is made with fresh goat's milk as the main ingredient. We were invited to try the Sugar Scrub, 'a gentle exfoliant,' on our hands in the back of the store in their old-fashioned sink. Pat did so, liked the feel on her skin, so I tried it and also enjoyed the feel on my hands.
In the back of the store are some children's clothes and toys, including some unique cloth 'paper dolls.' We wandered around some more and selected several items to buy. I had to buy some of the oatmeal soap and cream. I've been using these things for a week and am very pleased with the result: my hands don't look 'flaky' and cracked, and I don't have to lop vaseline and cotton gloves overnight any more. They really feel better! Coming from a nurse who had to 'gel' my hands with antiseptic gel a hundred times a day, this means a lot!
While I knew that it couldn't possibly be healthy to put 'all those chemical ingredients' into and onto my body, I never had time to think about this seriously. I'm going to try to eliminate more and more of artificial food and cleaning products.
This company, "Kentucky Soaps & Such," sells their products somewhere in Lexington. I'll have to find out where so I can continue to use my beloved oatmeal soap. An alternative is going online (www.kentuckysoapsandsuch.com) - they say they ship anywhere.
Pat really is an 'old' friend. I admired her before I even met her in 1969 when we moved across the street from her in Danville, Kentucky. My husband put up the rural-type mailbox in front of her house on a blisteringly hot summer day. Pat came out and gave him some lemonade. Both in our twenties, in 1969, between us, Pat and I had seven children, close to the same ages. It was wonderful having them grow up together!
It was so fun not only last week but throughout the years of our friendship going on various little mini-trips. We spent uncounted hours on Pat's super-wide porch swing solving the problems of our families, our neighborhood, and the universe! Vow to spend time - in person, if you can - with your favorite people!
I praise you and thank you, O Lord, for the love and friendship of my old friend, Pat! I know that this mirrors your love for us all!
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