Summer holiday

 

Summer holiday

                                    Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons

It’s lovely to live in an attractive part of the world, though it can be a disadvantage if hordes descend upon it for their summer holiday. Generally, it’s the coastal regions that spring to mind, but there are other bucolic areas that attract holidaymakers.

I have no wish to mention the name of one particular American visitor to the unspoilt loveliness of the Cotswolds. He has as much right as anyone to a vacation, though I understand he has had several already since being appointed to his role as 2iC USA. He and his family and a large cohort of security ‘people’ have descended upon Dean, a picturesque hamlet in Oxfordshire. It and its environs are home to many slebs, including Jeremy Clarkson, David Beckham, Ellen DeGeneres, and former Prime Minister David Cameron. The locals are accustomed to seeing ‘famous’ faces and are unfazed by them.

However, 2iC’s advent has caused enormous disruption in the area, with public access being closed and local residents having to prove their identity as they attempt to go about their daily lives. Though it may only be for a few days, it has drawn attention to 2iC in a quite remarkable way, inflating his profile, as he travels from A to B in his 29-vehicle motorcade.

To put it into some sort of perspective, 1iC, the Orange One, has a circus of forty or fifty vehicles. Putin has around twelve vehicles and Xi Jinping about ten (in China) The French President has three to five vehicles, while the German Chancellor has around six. The Japanese Emperor has three to five vehicles, and the Dutch Prime Minister has one of two, or perhaps a bicycle.

As the UK Prime Minister fulfils his                                                                                 duties, his motorcade consists of four to six vehicles, though that number may increase for high-risk situations or state visits.

Meanwhile a typical Royal motorcade would involve between three and six vehicles, with more for state occasions and visits.

The question that comes all too readily to mind is whether 2iC is practising for a more significant role in the future?

Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons

Things that please

 

Things that please

Often, it’s the small details that make something different and special.

I discovered that we had almost run out of soap recently. I searched feverishly through my drawers, where I store soap bars, but there were none to be found, so I sent away for some.

The Little Soap Company started life in the Cotswolds. Its original name was the Naked Soap Company and the founder, Emma Heathcote-James, created her first soaps in her kitchen and started selling them at local farmers’ markets. That was more than fifteen years ago, and her business has gone from strength to strength. Her soaps can be found in supermarkets, pharmacies and online.

The soaps arrived securely packaged in recyclable materials. The scent, as I unpacked them, was sensational (yes, that’s a pun!) If one were susceptible to strong perfumes, the package might be overwhelming, with the concentration of many bars, although I didn’t find them so. Individually, the soaps are pleasantly perfumed.

I am aware of how scents can sometimes be too much. I bought a scent diffuser a few weeks ago that had such an overpowering smell – all natural ingredients! - that it made my throat sore. I had to put it at the end of the garden, and even at a distance of about twenty yards, I could still smell it.

The little thing on the box of soap that really made me smile was the packing tape, shown at the top and below.

It depicted scenes of bucolic bliss, bringing to mind the rolling Cotswold hills, the sparkling streams and the honeyed tones of the buildings.

                                    Essential information.

 I know that Alison in Devon, (once upon a time in Wales) makes her own soap. Does she sell locally, I wonder?