moonhaven.com.au

Beauty Eurasia was a whole lot of fun. Held from June 12 to 15 2008 in Istanbul,we were there to support our wonderful Turkish distributor, Mustafa Sadikoglu and to help promote Moon Haven in this new market. This is the Moon Haven Turkey website.

Our soap logs and new body polishes were a hit. Our wall of soap was a big draw and people couldn’t help but pick up a log and smell.

We had a wonderful response with huge interest coming from Turkey itself as well as wide ranging enquiries from a large number of countries. From Russia, Moldovia, Germany and Italy to Moldovia, Bulgaria, Pallestine, Jordan and Israel we could have started a mini UN on the spot.

Hi from wonderful Turkey where the food is so very diverse and totally amazing.

It is the very beginning of summer and we have been treated to a gastronomic tour of Istanbul and the coastal town of Ayvalik.

From the most amazing organic fruits found at roadside stalls, bustling local markets and superb local breads (called simit) to the incredible cheeses and filo pastries - there is just some many taqste tempting delights that I am frightened to even glance at a set of scales.

Some of the many foody highlights of our Turkey trip include an absolutely indulgent eating extraqvaganza from our host’s mother - Nesrine’s -table for three days and nights. With home made/grown preserves, olives, artichokes, plums and dishes of beans, smoky grilled eggplant and sublime turkish coffee - Eric and I were in seventh heaven.

Then there was the dondurma or mastic gum aromatic goats milk icecream...absolutely delicious and quite different and the yoghurt and cheeses…the filo pastries and the tosts.

Of course there are the olives with Ayvalik being world famous for their quality oils and fruit. We were lucky enough to visit a local organic olive press and olive preserving plant where we watched the local ladies pile heaps of cured olives into large jars ready for filling with freshly pressed olive oil. These olives we so fresh and had a taste so different from those in Australia.

As well as the individual tastes of Turkey there are also the feasts to be had where plate after plate of individual delicacies are laid out before you and you with several hours of good conversation you somehow mange to nibble you way through most of them!

All in all Turkey has been a gastronomic and an eye opening adventure, and i know that we have only begun to scratch the surface.

Packing for a 6 week travel extravaganza is never easy…packing when it takes in 4 weeks of business, two weeks of vacation in three distinctly different countries is a challenge! From Turkey to Italy to Singapore it is going to be interesting!

I am lucky in that I have found the One Bag website,  This is one of the best travel light websites I found and their bundle diagram is excellent. This is how to actually wrap clothes in such a way as to minimise wrinkles. In the past I have rolled clothes and arrived at my destination with relatively wrinkle-free clothes…always important when you have wall to wall meetings.

Bundling involves wrapping clothes around a square core (a plastic bag filled with underwear and scarves) in a specific order to help minimise the actual creases and folds in clothes.  It is extremely effective and space efficient.

On my packing trial run,  soap and skin care products vastly outweighed my clothes!  Wonder where my priorities lay?

Of course for 6 weeks you need loads of soapy giveaways..so much nicer than a business card.

One of the highlights of our upcoming visit to Istanbul will be experiencing a traditional Turkish Bath or Hamam.

The Hamam is a tradition that dates back many centuries and was used not only to cleanse and relax but was also as a time for socialising.

From all accounts a session in a Hamam will leave you feeling cleaner than you have ever felt before. For the grand sum of approximately $30.00 you will be steamed, washed, scrubbed within an inch of your life, pummelled and sudsed (see the guy in the picture on the left !) …sounds absolutely fascinating and something not to be missed.

Of course traditional baths are segregated …one side for the men and the other for women, although there is at least one Hamam in Istanbul where mixed bathing is the norm. I think I prefer the women only version for my first Hamam.

I will be taking notes on essential oils and botanicals used and hopefully will be able to bring a touch of the Turkish culture back to Moon Haven when we return in mid July.

Thanks to Chris our NEW Moon Haven T-Shirts are about to hit the Moon Haven international team’s bods!

As you may have gathered our theme for this round of exhibitions is “Passion” Because…guess what…we are passionate about Moon Haven…our clients are passionate about Moon Haven in fact passion is pretty central to the how and why of Moon Haven.

The wording on the shirt is:

“I am passionate about moon haven’s soap, lotions & potions.”

Around the upper circumference of the circle is our mantra:

“born of necessity * inspired by nature * crafted with passion”

About says it all…we hope!

Moon Haven is on the move…to exhibit at Beauty Eurasia in Istanbul  and Lifestyle Australia in Marina Square, Singapore with a sabbatical in Florence, Italy in the middle

With only two weeks until Eric and I leave for our Moon Haven marathon tour, it is all go behind the scenes at our aromatherapy cottage.

You see first we are going over to visit Mustafa and Betul, our lovely distributors in Istanbul, Turkey.  (Aside: Does the song “Istanbul…Constantinople” spring into your mind every time you hear the name Istanbul… like it does in mine? ) We will be helping them exhibit at Beauty Eurasia as well as help them promote and educate their retailers about Moon Haven and our product range. We will be there nearly 2 weeks.

Then we move onto Italy where we will have a two week sabbatical with Eric’s brother Tony and his lovely lady Anne.

Tony teaches art history for Arizona State University in Florence every year for the Summer break (remember it is the northern hemisphere!).  Tony retires this year so this is our last chance to enjoy Florence with them.

There is nothing quite like visiting a gallery or museum in Florence with Tony and Anne, their knowledge is so extensive, informative and entertaining that I am constantly wanting to know more. Having Tony explain the differences between Michelangelo’s sculpture of  Apollo/ David  and Donatello’s David is absolutely fascinating.

Then we move on to Singapore for the Lifestyle Australia exhibition.  this will be held at Marian Square, a huuuge shopping complex  from 4 to 13 July.  Chris will be flying up from Perth to help man the exhibition as well.

So with just on 6 weeks away from the moon haven cottage we will be very glad to come home.

Phewww.

On the way home from Moon Haven I watched this massive cloud formation move across the landscape.

It was so close to the ground that at times the tips of the trees were obscured by its lower reaches.

I think the landscape artist John Constable would have done this cloud proud!

When looking for the classifications of different clouds I came across the Cloud Appreciation Society

Their homepage says it all:

“At The Cloud Appreciation Society we love clouds, we’re not ashamed to say it and we’ve had enough of people moaning about them. Read our mainfesto and see how we are fighting the banality of ‘blue-sky thinking’.”

I think I might just join…just for the fun of it!

This is how Eric the “soapmaker extraordinaire of the family” works in the home office…with Tsarina (one of our 2 Russian Blue Aristocats) draped around his shoulders.

It’s not so bad in winter…but summer when clothes are minimal, if not optional… ooohhh those claws!

We have been having fun at Moon Haven this week. Our new Shower Friendly Body Polishes are about to hit the shelves of Moon Haven.

With the onset of winter I have been able to more than look longingly at my workshop come laboratory.
One issue we wanted to solve was that many of our bathing products are just that.. for use in the bath… and our “shower only” users had been missing out - but not for long!

So Herb Girl (Stacey) and I formulated, discussed, sampled and finally decided on a set of formulations we definitely love and now the team and our happy band of testers are now busily polishing away…not the family silver …but their bods.

You see Stacey and I have developed a great range of Body Polishes for use in the shower. Based on the purifying power of sea salt and the incredible skin moisturising properties of Jojoba oil, this new range of exfoliating scrubs leaves your skin marvellously alive and moisturised -AND IT WON’T LEAVE AN OILY RESIDUE IN THE SHOWER

The polish actually changes to a salt laden lotion on contact with water and so washes straight down the drain with the water. So no more major shower clean ups and rescues just because you wanted to exfoliate your body!
We are still finalising packaging and firming up the final varieties but so far we have:

• A Spice blend withGinger, Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Clove and antioxidant Rooibos scattered throughout

• A Floral blend with ground Rose, Jasmine and skin softening Blue Mallow flowers

• A Herbal formulation with ground Spearmint, Peppermint and Rosemary

I will get back to you with the final names, photos and packaging in the next few days…so watch this space.

Today was a day at home.

Note that I did not write a day away from work…as today was a web day where I was to write and tweak and enhance Moon Haven’s webpages.

Everything started well… webpage updates and uploads fully underway when …blink…splutter…flash and my computer, as well as the rest of our relectronic world …came to a spluttering halt!

So after a few anxious minutes to see if things would miraculously return to normal I called Western Power for an update. It looked like it was to be at least a 2 hour wait. This on my day of electronic wizzardry… a few precious stolen hours in the privacy of my state of the art, gadget driven, electricity dependent home office .

I was far from pleased, but being the adaptable little soul that I am I went and watered my pot plants, cleaned away the breakfast dishes, read snail mail and generally made myself busy.

After an hour I was lost. Everything I could do without electricity I had done. It was cold and wet and decidedly winterish here and so with fading light I wasn’t even able to read or start on my sewing projects.

So what could I do but sit in my rocking chair with Sarina Valentina Katerina - the bossier of our two Russian Blues on my lap and just …was…

I don’t often get the chance to just BE…but this imposed BEING was a delight to me. So peaceful and comforting… I was able to just exist…just me and my cat with the Scotty dog at my feet.

Of course just as I was settling in… the power came on.

There goes Murphy and his law again!