I post here about our family and Ugg as well as how to wash and care for them. I just spent an hour searching my blog for a post about my slippers from New Zealand and can't believe I haven't posted about them.... I thought I had posted about them but as often happens, I probably made a video and took pictures to post and then never got around to posting about it. I can't tell you how many times that has happed to me. I think I have posted something and then I need to reference it and can't find it or the girls or other family will call asking for a recipe or dates on an activity and I tell them to search for it on the blog and they tell me they searched and searched and couldn't find it and then I go looking only to find that I never actually posted the pictures and or video. Such is the busy life of a single mom.
Last year, for much of the time, I wore my 35 year old ugg boots shown with the tears in them. If I was headed out to get mail or do something in the yard, I would pull them on and wear them when my feet were cold but I HATE wearing things on my feet and only wear them if I have to wear them so I like something I can easily slip on and not have to bend over. The Uggs always need a tug to get them on so I think in my laziness and health issues being so large now, I just liked having something handy I could slip on and off without much effort.
There are several problems with the synthetic slippers. They cause static so every time I would go to turn on the lights, I would get a shock. I don't like getting shocked so would jump each time and have become jumpy when turning on the lights. lol Also, they don't keep your feet as warm or stay warm like wool does. They don't have a "loft" to them as they get matted in the first few days and then there isn't any cushion on the bottom. Another issue is that the static collects hair and I keep finding hair balls on them or they leave "fur balls" of hair in the house if they come off while I am walking.
And lastly, they don't stay on my feet due to not having a back like my wool NZ slippers so my feet drag when I am wearing them as the backs fall and slide on the ground more like a shuffle than a walk and I have to use my foot muscles to keep them on. This isn't a big deal unless you are walking up the stairs and they happen to start sliding off and you drop your foot just a bit to hold it on and miss the stair and end up kicking the stair just below the top and then falling forward with things in your arms so you can't catch yourself.....
Yes, that is a true story that happened to me last week as I was carrying laundry up the stairs, I was losing the slipper and fell forward on the stairs SO grateful that I didn't fall while walking as both my shoulders have been damaged due to that in the past. I wasn't harmed, but it terrified me that I may actually fall wearing the slippers. So, due to those issues, I said a little prayer that I could find some wool slippers to wear in the house that 1. had a sole I could wear outside. 2. Were easy to slip on and off while standing. 3. Have a back so that they won't fall off and cause me to fall or have an injury of any kind. 4. Were new. 5. Were inexpensive as I know they are near $100 and I don't want to spend that currently on something I'll only wear for the next month or so while the weather isn't sure if it is spring or winter. And 6. Were all wool! I wanted to know that they would keep my feet warm, I could wash them, not have static and synthetic footwear of any kind eventually smell. 
In true form, it didn't take a week before God answered my prayer. I went into a second hand store and wouldn't you know it that they had a new pair of sheepskin wool slippers with a rubber sole that slip on and off, have a back, fit my feet and were $4!
I LOVE that my Father in Heaven takes such care of me. I immediately gave a prayer of thanks for the wonderful new gift! They had a synthetic boot that has leather outside but fake wool inside that were new also and were $5! I laughed that the fake ones were more than the real ones. I actually bought both pair, but have to share that the black boot with the fake insides are NOT keeping my feet warm. I thought that maybe with the leather outside, they would work as more of a work type slipper I could wear outside and not worry about ruining and then wear the real ones for when people come visit or when I am not working on projects. The fake ones have NO support or loft in the base and it feels like I am barefoot and my feet are freezing. It is weird that it feels like they are taking heat away from my feet rather than keeping what heat I have inside the slipper. Maybe they are making my feet sweat and that is chilling them.
It looks like I will be wearing the wool slippers all the time to work and go outside as well as in the house. I LOVE that they have a removable foot insert that is washable however and they also have some padding under the loft so that they are more comfortable to wear anyway. I also LOVE that they are called "Old Friend" making me think God and I am "old friends." The slippers are available online and the cheapest I could find a pair was $70 plus shipping. Just for fun, I looked up the black boot pair I also purchased for a dollar more than the real slippers and they are $40 online. I can't imagine that they would put the effort and cash into making them with real leather outsides only to skimp on the inside.... It seems like such a waste of leather to me. I feel sad for the animal that gave up its life to be wasted in that way. I believe that animal is for the use of man but not to be wasted. Twice in my life I have been vegetarian but both times I have been so protein and iron deficient that I ended up going back to eating meat but do eat it sparingly. However, there is nothing like the natural fibers for comfort and breathability to me. This may sound silly, but I give gratitude to the animals for sharing their feathers, wool, or leather with me regularly. Similarly, I give gratitude to the trees that share their beauty in furniture. Many times, I have given gratitude to the artisan who created beautiful pieces of furniture or artists who create masterpieces or even composers of music for music I enjoy. Just a little prayer of gratitude for them using their talents to bless my life.
I don't know if anyone else gives gratitude like that but I do give little prayers of gratitude when I experience something that moves me and also usually give gratitude for my eyes or ears in that prayer of gratitude as well. I know that the Native American cultures give gratitude to the earth and animals so perhaps it is something similar there. I guess it may seem weird but I also sometimes wonder what trials a tree or animal went through to give it certain grain patterns in the wood or leather. Was there a storm, a drought, a flood etc that caused it to get a knot in a certain spot causing that impression in the wood. It is a weird thought, but I am the first to admit I am weird. Anyway, I don't know how I got on that tangent but just wanted to share with you how grateful I am that my Father in Heaven shared that wonderful blessing with me this week and answered my prayer so quickly!
I want to thank my New Zealand families who gave me such a love of all things wool and shared their wonderful country with me. I consider myself an adopted Kiwi and will always feel blessed to have experienced that country in all its beauty at such a young age.
I also wanted to warn you not to spend the money on the "Lamo" fake wool slip
pers. Spend the extra $30 and get the real thing for comfort, cleanability and warmth! I laughed as they slippers were kinda "Lame - O" ;-)I made a video on how I wash the wool Ugg boots and other wool footwear. I know people say you should hand wash them but I can't get them rinsed well from the soaps and you can't "wring" them out so they have tons of water and take forever to dry so I just use the washer on hand wash setting and have always been happy with that. I have never had a pair rip or get damaged in any way using this method and have done it for 30 years.
Have a Blessed Day!
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