Local Business

We have been trying, for several years now, to buy products manufactured in the U.S. With all due respect to the hard-working Chinese, we are just sick of buying cheap quality goods that come from China, especially. Long hours of research online have turned up interesting items, items such as plastic flip-flops, cherry wood salad bowls, leather belts, and dish-ware.

This year, we have learned about new things and want to share them with you. 

I did a lot of research on different kinds of turquoise. I learned, for example, that turquoise is named after the mine from which it has been extracted. Among the rarest turquoise is solid blue Persian turquoise and Bisbee turquoise from Bisbee, Arizona. The Bisbee turquoise is a dark blue. Only 3% of the turquoise in circulation is all-natural, meaning it has not been dipped in a type of resin to "stabilize"it. Turquoise is a soft stone and prone to crumbling. I also learned that much of the turquoise up for sale is either reconstituted from a powder form or a complete fake, made of howlite and dyed blue. I realize now that all my other pieces of turquoise are complete fakes!

The turquoise in the photograph is all-natural Royston Turquoise, from Nevada. It is known by its brown markings. I love this piece because it has an aquatic look to it and reminds me of an adventure I had in Maui, when six giant sea turtles made me the focus of their swim. 

After our standby bath rug received an unwanted splash of bleach, we set out to find rag rugs made in America. Rag rugs are made from leftover fabric. They could be made from denim jeans, shirts, and so on. The rag rug concept was first brought over from Europe, then established in the United States. When every penny counted, folks used old clothing they could no longer wear and made floor rugs with them. This practice continues with the Amish and with craftspeople in New England, especially. There aren't too many people making rag rugs out here in California. The Amish rugs I found online are what you would expect leftover Amish fabrics colors to be-- dull browns, mostly. 

One craftsperson in New York makes these rag rugs from leftover fabrics at a textile mill. She makes a whole other line of rag rugs from sock toe clippings at a sock factory. Sound business and friendly to the planet. I thought it was worth checking out. The talent is all in how the colors are chosen and put together. This is the one we finally ordered.

This one is from a another company in Vermont. 

These rugs are machine washable and reversible, too. 

I only added this picture because I have had so many questions about it. This is a silver pendant. The center is not made of gems but of heather cut in a cross-section. It is a piece from England. The heather there grows on the moors--think Wuthering Heights. It is dried, dyed, and cut, then coated with a type of clear resin.