It’s hard to believe the last update on the blog was June 2010 when I introduced a good friend & Artist Jude to you all. The 2nd half of 2010 has flown by. The Hammond family went on an extended (3 week) holiday to the USA in August, we flew into Washington DC – where a thunderstorm & bouncing rain greeted us – not the start I had envisaged.
The following day dawned, dryish, brightish & hot hot hot – oh yes, this is the weather I was looking for – almost! We took the Metro into the city of Washington DC & visited the Air & Space museum – part of the fantastic Smithsonian complex – its huge! Then after wandering around the air conditioned building we braved the walk to the Whitehouse – unfortunately we picked a day The President was not in residence, so no offers of a cup of tea were offered – next time Mr Obama?
DC is a beautiful city & hot – so good to feel the sun on your skin. The Whitehouse, is not as big as we had imagined it to be, mind you a duster & vacuum cleaner in hand & it would seem HUGE. It is unbelievable that you can actually walk up to the building & touch it – how cool is that? There are plenty of visible security men around with terrifyingly big weapons in hand – no pun intended. I didn’t think we would even get into the grounds never mind walk almost completely around this beautiful building – the outside that is.
We then strolled away from this iconic building, to the Washington Memorial & from there the mesmorising view of the Jefferson Memorial, which I am told the waters in front appear in the Planet of the Apes film.
We drove by Arlington National Cemetery, where more than 240.00 service personnel & dependants are buried, the endless rows of white crosses, really does make you reflect up on how many lives have been lost in conflicts around the world. Next was the Pentagon – quite a drab building as you drive by but nonetheless another iconic building we have now seen.
We left DC & headed south, driving through Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, seeing lots of beautiful countryside & eventually into South Carolina – at last we had arrived only to be met as we crossed the State line by the darkest most powerful thunderstorm we had ever witnessed, not the weather I had planned, ordered & had confirmed to me that we would enjoy!!!!
Talk about little & large – he obviously didn’t want to leave his toy at home!
After 3 fantastic weeks, we headed home, landing at Heathrow to be met by our wonderful British weather, grey, dull, overcast, cold – a good 30 degrees cooler than the USA but we were almost home. The following few months were extremely hectic but thoroughly enjoyable.
Tweaks to the website – a new look is emerging, some product labels are being re-designed & some new products have emerged, Massage Candles, Cocoa Butter Bath Melts, Soy wax melts – it’s been so busy there wasn’t even time to photograph them, they were made, packed & shipped. A few more products are emerging – those are still in a file marked ‘Top Secret’ – well it pays to add a touch of mystery & wonder doesn’t it?
Christmas has been a lovely break, to wind down, spend time with family & catch up on some things on the ‘to do’ list which grows ever longer. It’s now a couple of days until we return to normality & works begins again at Scents-ible HQ.
Wishing you all good health & many happy times in 2011. I hope you make many wonderful memories – remember they are ‘The Treasures of the Mind’
Hello Helen,
I have just had the most enjoyable hour reading your blog.
I loved every part of it.
Our blog is written by my Aussie husband Peter who gives his thoughts and views on what happens in our Thai village and our Thai Silk Magic business.
It must have been a great trip the Hammond family had to the USA – I enjoyed the post very much.
I have a question for you. Your product images are superb. Do you do the photographs yourselves or have a professional photographer? This is a big problem for us as being located in a remote Thai village we have to do our own with our little camera as there is no one within 200 miles that could help us with this task.