Wild Rose Escapes
Spring Newsletter
The Spring is finally here and things have started moving…The house is going up, the sheep have started lambing, our courses are starting and the Narcissi are in bloom.
I would love to say we have had a restful winter, but infact it feels like we have hardly stopped. After our courses finished last Autumn Ele and I got stuck into making for the Christmas market in Montbeliard. Altogether we spent a month out in Eastern France selling our wares. It was hard work but great fun.. my french improved steadily, but was still a source of amusement to everyone arounds us. We sold our naturally dyed silk scarves, alpaca scarves and our felting kits. We even had a little bar selling whisky hot chocolate and shots of raspberry whisky, which was always entertaining. The locals really treated us to a wonderful time.
We have just returned from the Country Living Spring show where we met lots of lovely people and demonstrated our naturally dyed fleece and felting. It was great fun being in London for a week, but always good to come home.
Our first twin lambs appeared last week and now there seems to be a large gap.. but I think by the time the rest are born these two are going to be extremely well loved. Christina our Anglo Nubian goat is due to have her kids next month, so we all await the date, hoping all will go well. Phillis continues to give us the perfect amount of milk for each day.. she just seems to get it.
We have at last finished milling the wood for our house, thanks to Sage, Craig and Simon it is all done and ready to go. The frame is now up and next comes the walls and maybe even a roof..if you are interested in seeing our progress, from extracting the timber from the woods, milling and now the build, please have a look at our You Tube channel..Wild Rose Escapes One man and his crane is particularly unusual watch.
We have our first course this weekend and then we start for the rest of the season. We have a couple of new courses this year, including our Dye to Spin week, which will take guests through the whole process; from a hand shearing demo to washing and dyeing fleece and ending with 2 days of learning or improving spinning with Bridie. We also have an Eco-printing weekend, using flowers and leaves to print on paper and silk (July 30th-31st). Our last course of the year is our new Craft Retreat, which will include natural dyeing, eco printing, walking, felting, a relaxation evening and optional yoga. Guests will stay at the Old Stables in Corrimony -beautiful accommodation in a stunning setting.
We also have a new website, which thanks to Chris is looking great, but still needs a little bit more input from me.. feel free to join us on Facebook if you want to keep up to date.. you can find the button on our website.
If you would like to book onto any of our week long retreats, we currently have an April offer of £50 off per person if you book before April 30th 2016.
Please see our list of courses below.
We look forward to hearing from you,
Yours
Rosie
Wild Rose Escapes
Wild Rose Escapes
Spring & Summer Courses 2016
Come and join us in Crochail woods for a week, a weekend or a day course.
Felting, using naturally dyed fleece. April 9th-10th& Aug 20th-21st
Natural Dyeing, dye fleece, cotton and silk outdoors over fires using plant dyes. May 14th-15th, July 2nd-3rd & Sept 17th-18th
Fleece to Felt week, May 21st– 28th –Learn the whole process from Fleece to Felt..includes; washing and sorting fleece, picking dye plants, dyeing fleece and felting.
Dye to Spin week, July 9th-16th –Learn the whole process..hand-shearing demo, washing and sorting fleece, picking dye plants, making dyes, dyeing your fleece and spinning.
Eco printing, July 30th-31st –Using flowers and leaves to print directly onto paper and silk.
Craft Retreat; September 24th-October 1st –Natural dyeing, eco printing, felting, walking and optional yoga.
To enquire or book contact Rosie
Tel: 01456 415454 or
Mobile: 07765 173029
Higher Crochail, Cannich, Beauly, Inverness-shire, IV47NE
