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Looking at this amazing row of freshly varnished display trays Eric and I were marvelling at how everything we produce at Moon Haven is truly ruly hand crafted!

Eric has been working away for the past few weeks with his wood working tools, individually making the huge numbers of display trays and backing boards for our marvellous  network of retailers around Australia.

We are nearly complete with all the orders from the Melbourne August Fair and are readying ourselves to attend the Reed Gift Fair in Sydney starting on the 20th September.

Then it might be time for a short camping trip to recuperate from all this busyness.

As you know we have been busily soaping, stirring, packaging and labelling steadily for the past few weeks preparing soaps, lotions and potions for all the wonderful orders we received at the Melbourne Gift Show.

A lot of that action has occurred at our wonderful soaping shed in the Cowaramup Light Industrial area.

As we look back on where moon haven started we are amazed that we now have dedicated manufacturing facilities as well as a wonderful herbarium and herb processing area in the back of the Moon Haven cottage.

… and yes we truly do believe that these spaces are where the magic happens!

We have listened and we have acted… Purple Passion is now available in our Designer Series Soap range.

The scent blend is a sensual fantasy of Ylang Ylang, Lavender, Patchouli with a hint of spice. At Moon Haven people have been asking…no demanding…for some time that we include it in our Designer Series soaps.

So here it is …ta da.. Purple Passion designer soap for the Ylang Ylang enthusiast…. or the sensualist in all of us!

With Chris away in the snow since the Melbourne Gift Fair, Eric and I (Leonie) with our fantastic Moon Haven team have been flat out soaping, pouring lotions and potions, packaging and generally filling our fair orders that there has been little time for anything else.

So when our good friends Dale and Craig at the Broadwater Par 3 golf course suggested a night camping at Lake Jasper we were jumped at the chance.

So we set up the Moon Haven van with our bedroll, loads of doonas and rugs (temperatures were dropping into the low single digits at night) and ooddles of good yummy food.

After first taking a look at the sandy bush track to Lake Jasper and deciding that it was not suitable for a 2 wheel drive we decided on side by side sites at “Snottygobble Loop ” at the Carey Brook CALM campsite.

This is a fantastic set up with level places to park cars, campers, picnic tables, fire rings and of course the pit toilet!  Situated right on the small river/stream it was secluded enough to really feel as if we were truly away from it all.  We had the whole campsite to ourselves and the boys didn’t waste any time getting the fire lit and the billy on the boil.  Then it was time for lunch and a much needed lay down with newspapers and books.

Our van was exceedingly comfortable and as night came on along with the layers of clothing we found that with a beanie to keep our heads warm and our multiple bedding layers we were as snug as bugs in a rug.

The next day we all climbed into Dale and Craig’s 4 WD ute and we went exploring Lake Jasper and then Jasper Beach near Black Point.  This is serious 4 WD driving with deep sand tracks, letting the air down in tyres and lots of low range gear changes.  Of course as Eric describes it, its like being on an ‘E’ ride at Disney land…lots of tossing and bouncing in the back seat.

The southern ocean at Jasper beach was an awesome sight with its huge rolling waves and gigantic rips that sucks everything way out to sea. What did disappoint us though was the amount of plastic, rope and general human rubbish that was washed up on the otherwise perfect golden sands.

We returned to camp for a quick kip and then quickly packed up for the 1 1/2 hour trip back home.
The weekend was just what we needed to recharge the batteries, reconnect and realise what a wonderful life we really do lead.

And so we returned to our beloved Moon Haven with a lightness in our step and an enthusiasm for our work.  Life is so full of fun and surprises!

Everyone loved Moon Haven’s soaps, lotions and potions at the Melbourne Gift Fair
Eric, Chris and I spent last week in Melbourne showing off our ever expanding range to a very willing band of retailers and wholesalers.

We met an incredible number of interesting people who wanted to offer Moon Haven to their clients.  Of course everyone just adored our designer series soaps and the new Moon Haven displays Eric and Chris have designed and made.

We also introduced our Herbal Home range of ‘Heat with Wheat’ bags, Relaxing Eye and Dream Pillows as well as a NEW designer series soap in out popular Purple Passion scent and colour blend.

So now its once again all go at the Moon haven cottage as we craft logs and logs of beautiful soap, mix and formulate our pulse point potions and essential oil blends and sew our wheat bags and deliciously scented dream pillows for all of the new Moon Haven retailers.

If you would like to see more do take a look at where you can purchase our products locally, do take a look at our  Moon Haven Australia website and our Moon Haven retailers page

Well we made it!

After three weeks of absolute busy-ness, recovering from our overseas extravaganza and then immediately plunging into preparation for exhibiting at our first Melbourne Gift Fair, we have arrived home from the fair exhilarated.

Moon Haven was an absolute hit…

Retailers from around Australia loved our soaps, lotions, potions and herbal gifts. We have so many new retailers wanting to stock our products that the next several weeks will be crammed full of soap and aromatherapy production.

Soaping marathons will be plentiful and our wonderful staff called upon to perform extraordinary feats.

I just want to say thank you and welcome to everyone we met at the gift fair. We will update our website with all our new stockists as time permits ( is there ever a permitted time?).

It is just so wonderful to see so many businesses intent on making sure that their clients are looked after with good, honest natural products such as Moon Haven’s.

After 6 weeks on the road we are home. It was such a delight to pull up in our driveway late in the afternoon, smell the fresh ocean air and our winter green garden, be greeted so enthusiastically by Scotty the Dog and absolutely smooched to death by our two felines of distinction Tsaina and Tattiana.

Oh the experiences we had whilst away. From our Turkey time meeting Nesrine in Cunda and experiencing her wonderful hospitality as well as the produce from her edible garden, with our hosts Mustafa and Betul swimming in the Agean sea from a boat charted for the day and eating a most amazing barbecue, to meeting everyone at Beauty Eurasia and promoting Moon Haven.

Then onto two weeks in Florence, Italy with Eric’s brother Tony and his delightful lady Anne. With everything from the famous Calcio Storico - a most brutal foot ball game surrounded by pageantry and ceremony, amazing fireworks and of course the art, sculptures and history. Meeting artisans and art students, eating, eating, eating and living Italian style and of course aquiring my bauble (a beautiful diamond triplet ring given to me by my darling Eric) from the Ponte Vechio.

Then on to Singapore for the Lifestlye Australia exhibition where we met up with son Chris who had done an amazing job of organising, setting up and managing the first two days of the show. Meeting with so many great people and showing moon haven to the Singaporeans who were delighted with our offerings. Staying at the Pan Pacific where you are greeted personally and escorted to your room by your account manager where check in is completed in style with panoramic views across Singapore. The sights, experiences and tastes of Singpaore…again amazing.

So with three totally different and yet rich countries, experienced in just on 6 weeks we were so pleased to be able to come home where we will be contemplating each facet and re-membering so many things that it is almost overwhelming.

One thing I do know is that there is really no place like home and to walk into Moon Haven after such a long time away was the real true homecoming my soul needed.

Talk about a gourmet travel extravaganza. The whole time we have been away from Australia has been one gastronomic adventure after another.

One day trip Eric, his brother Tony and wife Anne and I took away from Florence was to nearby San Gimignano (about 1 hour by bus away) in the heart of the Chianti region. This is a beautiful hillside town within a medieval wall.

Whilst there we found a little ’slow food’ restaurant tucked away in a back street far from the main piazzas.

From the outside you couldn’t really tell that within lay one of the most incredible gastronomic experiences of my life.

Ristorante Dorando proclaimed it provided “art in slow food”

From the moment we entered (in jeans and joggers no less) we were cared for by unobtrusive but highly attentive staff.

With four of us for lunch and after a quick discussion on the menu we all decided to experience something different…and to run through three courses!

My meal ran from Stuffed onion with sweet sauce, quail and truffles for appetiser, with secondi bringing in succulent lamb chops with almond and sage stuffing, stuffed artichoke and fennel and the piece de resistance, dessert was a creamy lemon cheese affair (in a zabligione style) surrounded by a fresh strawberry compote with aged balsamic vinegar topped with thin shreds of preserved and dried lemon zest. Purely heaven on a stick!

Other plates around the table included a canneloni served as a vertical bundle tied with the green of a spring onion with asparagus, a basket of delicate cod mousse and piquante tastes, pate foie gras with blueberries, pork fillet with pastry filled mushrooms presented 3 ways and a cheese board of 14 different cheeses presented with wines to match.

The tastes were individual and completely different but oh so complimentary. Each course was light but fulfilling …balanced in such a way that you were happily expectant for the next course. We all left the table pleasantly satiated but not uncomfortably full.

Eric felt our meals worthy of a Michelin star of two as he also placed his gastronomic experience as one of the best of his travels.

I know I will be talking of this meal for a long time!

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.