This past weekend, while doing a walking tour of the wonderful & beautiful Historic Inns of St. Augustine, I stopped into the Old Drug Store at the corner of Orange Street & Cordova Street to visit Old City Remedies. I had visited their shop in the past just prior to moving here & purchased some soap, but this time decided to purchase an ounce or two of Tea they have available (in addition to other handmade bath & body products)! They have a huge selection of teas... black, red, green, white, rooibos, organic herbal, oriental... you name it, they have it!
First I tried their sample tea, I think it was Red Berries Fruit Melange, which was a melange of different fruits including blueberries (great antioxidant). I was very VERY surprised at how deliciously thick this tea was and enjoyed it's naturally sweet flavor which was not overpowering!After drinking the sample, I got busy sniffing all the samples of tea, and decided on two: Cocoa Cardamom: black tea, cocoa chips, cardamom, & cinnamon. Smells like cocoa tea! :-D Lemon Chiffon Rooibos: South African rooibos, lemongrass, marigold flowers. This truly smells like lemon chiffon, but the rooibos & a hint of lemon shows through when enjoying the tea!I'm looking forward to trying some of their organic herbal teas as well. They have a website that includes a large selection of their popular teas in a variety of areas and all their handmade products as well, but it doesn't include the flavors I mentioned above! Be sure to ask them for those flavors or... you'll just have to visit St. Augustine to find them! '-DVisit: Old City Remedies
The BEST way for me to know whether a new town that I'm considering moving to is the right place is when I find THREE (3) handmade soap & body product shops, especially when one is organic & vegan!! :-D JACKPOT!! LOLOf course, I'll share these three wonderful shops with you... they all have a website, but it's worth visiting St. Augustine to check out their distinctive little shops & smell all the goodies to spoil yourself with! The first place I wandered into is called Bath Junkie. It's an interesting shop with lots of colorful soaps, soap beads, bath salts, bath products... and empty bottles, etc. Your delite & treat is to custom create & blend your own bath & body products! Even though they have products made with essential oils, I actually found a handmade soap made by Nikki's Naturals. I tried Cranberry, and was greeted with a soap having a variety of oils with a spunky cranberry scent! It lasted a long time too... as I'm still using it! Apparently the Pet Soap is very popular on the 'net with a lot of pet shops; since I don't have a dog, I can't say how good it is. Anyway, Nikki's Naturals is a one woman soap company (just like Jackie's) out of Arkansas. Her soap is definitely one to try as it's available in a variety of scents, sure to please everyone, including your dog(s)!The next shop... Hickory Ridge Organics was definitely a TREAT! Originally when I sought out this shop, I was looking for Dead Sea Salts in particular. I found a wonderful jar of Lavender Dead Sea Salts, and also Vanilla Ylang Ylang. I decided to try the Lavender and was NOT disappointed! The first night I used it in my tub it was SO relaxing with little bits of lavender seeds floating around, I had the deepest night's sleep afterward! :-D LOL It had a very nice strong scent of Lavender; 
I'm looking forward to trying the Vanilla Ylang Ylang next! The owner, Lisa, and I had a really great conversation about organics available in the St. Augustine area. She also included a free sample of Lavender soap for me to try... that's next on my list! Next time I visit, I'll be purchasing a few bars of her soap as well as the perfume! She has a website also, and I noticed she has an interesting type of soap available also... Felted Artisan Soap! Sounds interesting, huh? :-D With an order from her website, you receive (2) Free soap samples, which is a nice bonus, PLUS Free Shipping for orders over $50! Very nice incentives for shopping online! '-D I also learned that the B&B I stayed at, the Centennial House, has contracted with Hickory Ridge to purchase their soap & body products for the B&B! A very NICE choice!! This B&B was also a wonderful place to stay... I'll elaborate more in another article. '-)The last shop I visited was in the "Oldest Drugstore" on Orange St. After looking at a variety of antique drug store products (of which I noticed they had no antique Johnson & Johnson items) further perusal of the shop in the back led to a variety of handmade soap, face, & body products, as well as large glass jars of blended tea, all made by Old City Remedies. 
I purchased a small package of Peppermint Dead Sea Salts as it smelled so minty fresh, I could imagine it clearing my sinuses while bathing with the salts! I also purchased two handmade soaps: Pear Berry and Black Licorice. It was really a tough decision... as the Vanilla Silk smelled like warm caramel, but I decided to try that one the next time, along with the facial products. I did try a sample of the shea butters -- very nice, looking forward to purchasing a container of that also!Stay tuned for more tidbits from my north FL visit to St. Augustine, the oldest city in the U.S.!
In the late Spring, I took a class about growing herbs. It was given by a woman who owns Redlands Herb Farm with her husband and son. It was a very interesting class and she brought lots of herbs for us to grow in either pots or gardens. She said the herbs were very hard to grow in the heat of the Summer, not only in So. Florida but especially in the Keys. I remember reading that the Community Garden down in Key West had been harvested in late Spring/early Summer, and all will be replanting again in the Fall. But undaunted by this "impossibility", I purchased two herbs and two veggie plants, and repotted them in pretty clay pots and set them out on my front porch, which gets a bit of sun in the morning, then mostly shade by the afternoon.What did I buy? Mint -- which has been doing rather well, believe it or not; I'll make some mint tea soon with those leaves. Another plant which is a cross between Parsley and Celery, but smells like Celery. I was fortunate to have some of this in my chicken salad one day... but that one has (just recently) unfortunately bit the dust. :-/ I thought it was "Borage", but I guess I got the name mixed up with another, 'cause borage tastes more like cucumber. I also have some mini carrots -- they have to be the SWEETEST little carrots I have EVER tasted!! It's too bad their so tiny!! Perfect for a tiny person the size of an ant!! :-D LOL She said they should be potted in a deep pot so that they'd grow deep & long, but that hasn't happened. Maybe I'm supposed to do something else, I don't know. Maybe you know? :-) ...and English Lavender... she said this one was especially difficult to grow because of the Summer heat, but so far so good! It smells SO NICE when I run my hands through it! And believe it or not, it's holding up rather well!! I'm looking forward to drying & using in sachets maybe, or in my bath... or maybe in my food! '-D The woman who hosted the class made some sugar cookies with lavender sprinkled on top... how simple and how fun! :-D When I lived in IL back in the 90's, I had a HUGE garden full of lavender, right out in front of the house! It was wonderful... did I do anything with it, not then... just enjoyed the flowers and the scent mostly. NOW, I wish I had a garden full of lavender since I use it so much.So, I've made it through a good part of this hot Summer with most of the plants! I'll take a picture to show... so you have a better idea! Coming real soon... '-)Somebody recently gave me some pole bean seeds... but I'm not a bean person, so some lucky person may be receiving those from me. If you're interested, let me know! '-D
We all get into RUTS in our lives... driving the same route every day to work/school, dealing with the same job day in and day out, having the same routine when waking up/going to sleep. Sometimes it's nice to just CHANGE that routine... do something different. Imagine what we could learn if we changed our schedule just a little bit!Recently I decided to take the advice of a daily newsletter I receive from "First 30 Days - Everyday Change"... and break up my routine! I decided to change my morning routine a little. After having breakfast & cleaning up, I take a walk down to the Oceanside park, several blocks from my home, rather than going to my computer and checking my mail & etc..
Instead of putting the tea in a favorite mug, it goes into the travel mug. The walk (instead of bicycling) can be quite nice and quiet, in & out of the warm sun, breeze or wind blowing, birds chattering... It's amazing what *new* sounds can be heard. My favorite place is to sit on a large jetty with picnic tables, and just LISTEN... listen to the water rolling up against th
e rocks... it sounds so soothing; just like those CDs we listen to for relaxation! Everything is calm & quiet or if the wind is kicking, white caps on the waves! I enjoy sitting here for a short while taking in all the new sites and sounds around me... and enjoy my morning tea! '-DChanging my schedule doesn't seem like such a bad idea after all! New sounds, new ways to relax/meditate, possibly new people to meet... Change can be a very positive experience! EMBRACE IT!! :-DVisit: First 30 Days
A very nice bar for very dry skin is the Calendula and the Cocoa Butter soaps from La Marguerite Farm. Missy sells her soap products on "Etsy", which hosts a variety of artists in every medium! It's a great place to explore if you LOVE buying anything handmade! You just need to create a User ID & Password to gain access. But if you're not logged in, you'll miss out on her products (as well as a host of others)! It's a real TREAT to explore Etsy and all the wonderful products & artists in there. I've purchased a variety of things from within and never had a problem. '-)
Jennifer of Alchemille's Garden has also evolved into a Master Herbalist with her exquisite selection of artisan & healing handblended teas, skin/body products, incense & candles, and readings & healings. She hails from France and has been studying Herbalism for 15 years. In her own words: MY PRODUCTS ARE INSPIRED AND INFLUENCED BY TRADITIONAL FOLK MEDICINE AS WELL AS THE WISE WOMAN TRADITION WHICH FOCUSES ON NOURISHMENT, HEALING AND INTERCONNECTEDNESS WITH NATURE & THE SPIRITUAL REALMS.
Her website gives a description of all her products with ingredients, however, if you'd like to order anything... you'll need to become a member of Etsy. There's a link to her Etsy shop on her website. I am a devoted fan of her teas. I did sell a variety of her teas in the boutique, most notable were the "Teeny Bits" Samplers.
Links to the above & most mentioned sites & products in this blog can be found on the right side of this blog.
There's lots of knowledge I acquired in my years of creating as well as owning a boutique full of handmade products. Even now, after closing the boutique (which running it was a rather awesome experience), there are still and always will be *new* products to try, suggest, and share with others.
This Blog has developed over a desire to share my acquired wisdom with you if you're looking for something new to try on your body or delightful teas to tickle your palate or maybe even a place to learn more about things you always wondered about (surprise!). And maybe it's a place to gather old friends, and make new ones with the variety of topics available! '-)
Feel free to post *clean* comments... '-) ... and WELCOME!
First I tried their sample tea, I think it was Red Berries Fruit Melange, which was a melange of different fruits including blueberries (great antioxidant). I was very VERY surprised at how deliciously thick this tea was and enjoyed it's naturally sweet flavor which was not overpowering!
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