Holiday 2009 sale!

We're having a sale!

Any 4 oz. bar soap 20% off* Dec. 1 through Dec.15, 2009
Also, free shipping on Dec. 1
For free shipping, use code Xshpg09 at checkout


*This replaces our bulk rate as well as single bar purchase (and is a better deal!).

Stumbling into the Holi-daze...

Wow! Where has the time gone.?
Actually I sorta know - last month my back went out, and before it was healed (Hooray for chiropractors) we both caught what appears to have been the infamous H1N1 (or "swine") flu. It was a mild case, I think. We stayed in self imposed quarantine for about 3 weeks or so, with sore throat and fever and some congestion but mostly feeling short of breath. Cloudy of mind and weary of body, it was as if someone had stolen our oxygen.
So here we are, just before the holiday season and behind in everything except, thank goodness) soap. Fortunately we have everything here we need to make special gift assortments.

Our job this time of year expands to include making our customers gift giving easy. We choose combinations to please a variety of situations and make them as beautiful as possible, filling a range of prices in the hope of making something to fill most needs. It is rather fun, actually, seeing how attractive and practical and luxurious we can make any gift - all at the same time.

We love the challenge. We approach it as though these are the gifts we are giving to our family and friends, as, indeed, some of these have been.

We hope you appreciate our efforts and choose some of what we have at Simmons Natural Bodycare to offer in your gift giving this year.

War and Peace

Today, November 11, is Armistice Day (also known as Remembrance Day and Veteran's Day). It commemorates the armistice signed between the Allies of World War I and Germany at Compiègne, France, for the cessation of hostilities on the Western Front, which took effect at eleven o'clock in the morning — the "eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month" 1918.
This date was declared a national holiday in many allied nations, to commemorate members of the armed forces who were killed during war. After World War II the name was changed to Veterans Day in the United States and to Remembrance Day in countries of the British Commonwealth of Nations. Armistice Day remains an official holiday in France. It is also an official holiday in Belgium, known also as the Day of Peace in the Flanders Fields.

Nobody celebrates the beginning of hostilities. But when peace is finally achieved (or, at least, the end of a given conflict), it is a cause to commemorate. And to remember.

The following poem, written by a surviving veteran of WW1, was inspired by the poppies that spontaneously grew on the disturbed soil of the battlefields. Hence the scarlet poppy came to symbolize the blood and sacrifice of those who fought and died.

Those in the Armed Forces deserve our respect. While there are many reasons for enlisting: some noble; some of necessity; some for adventure, these are the people who put their life on the line to serve our nation. While we may disagree about any given conflict, that is not the soldier's doing. Their ambition is to serve in the cause of good, not evil.

Our job is to try to make sure those are the only causes for which they are sent into harm's way. And to honor and respect those who serve on our behalf.

In Flanders Fields

By John McCrae 1915

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields

 Celebrate Peace.

Every Day - work toward Peace, honor the dead, respect the living.

River bummin'

Made it to Fortuna yesterday & while there, walked the puppy, Kumalie, on the Riverwalk Trail. To my amazement, all along this stretch of Eel River there were huge salmon leaping out of the water! I must have seen 20 or so. So very cool. I have never seen them jump in level water and, while some suggested they were being chased, I saw no indication of predators, be it seal, otter or other.

I love Riverwalk. It is, for me, the highlight of the town of Fortuna on the North Coast. A biking, walking trail of some length bordered by the Eel River and pasture. These views are, respectively, looking South, SouthEast, and NorthWest along the river there.

In early summer I saw a congregation of around 75 (!!!) Merganser Ducks on a riverbar there. On the return leg of the walk they had disappeared -  then I spotted them further downriver diving, all in a frenzy.
Obviously they were feeding on something (Anchovies? Sardines? What comes up the Eel?). Very odd to see these loner ducks in a group like that.
Love it.
Nature phenomena of the river habitat.

Besides the ocean and mountains we have 6 rivers that define this area. In addition to the Eel there is the mighty Klamath, the beautiful Smith, Trinity, and Mad Rivers, and the Van Duzen river on which I live. The Van Duzen River has been federally designated as a "National Wild and Scenic River". Here's a view of kids in the Van Duzen in summer.

One last Eel River story for now... When I first lived in this area in the late 1960's I was standing in just-over-the-knee deep water in the Middle Fork when a huge school of shad went upstream. Hundreds, maybe thousands, of medium size shimmering silver fish filling the river, bumping my legs, backs sticking out of the water. This went on for several minutes.
Interestingly, it turns out the American Shad is a non-native species. From the Atlantic coast, they were introduced in the 1800's and are another migratory specie that lives in the sea and journeys upriver to spawn.

Be familiar with your local waterways. There is much to discover there and to enjoy. And knowing them will encourage you to work to keep them healthy.

In Memorial - Brio

We unexpectedly lost our 9 year old Border Collie, Brio, Oct. 18. A loyal, if neurotic, part of our animal family, Brio was happy with the way things were, especially if someone would play fetch with him. You could always find my husband by looking to see where Brio was. He generally would be on the step of the shop or house or barn - whichever.
He only wavered when there was company staying in our guesthouse, then he could be counted on to be sleeping on the step there.

Crazy fast and, perhaps, just a bit crazy, he would run in the direction he thought you would throw the ball or stick. Often this would be the opposite direction, but he would seek for 1/2 hour if needed to find that object so he could bring it back to play again. As have all our dogs (all dogs?), he loved snow.

Now he and our old Australian Shepard, Rosie, are both gone. She died at 17 in 2008. It was rather expected, she had slowed considerably her last few years.
But with Brio it was entirely unexpected.

He missed his canine companion, but when we got a new puppy 6 months later they became the best of friends. They played furious games of tag and follow the leader, particularly every morning and at twilight. He was busy teaching her all his (bad) habits.

And then one day last spring Brio was running and began to limp. The limp continued and became more serious over the next few days. It turned out he had ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). It appears that in most dogs with the problem, the ACL slowly degenerates and becomes weaker until it ruptures, without any sudden injury.
We decided to have it fixed as the chance was high that his other hind leg would go, too, if we didn't. After the surgery we had a Border Collie in a crate for almost 2 months. He was a very unhappy dog.
After that he was never the same. He recovered well, and lost the extra weight from being sedentary all that time. Was playing with the puppy some, but not as much. Would fetch, but not as enthusiastically. Then, this past month, he started having days where he was just - well - depressed, as far as we could tell. He would not come out from under the truck to say 'hi' or play or eat. The next day - fine!

The day he died he seemed slow but OK in the morning. Followed us around and had a dog biscuit treat in the afternoon. But when our family came over in the evening they found him in his usual place, under the truck, dead. No visible sign of distress.
We miss him. Now we just have our one 11 month old Aussie pup, Kumalie.
She misses him, too.