Spring Newsletter
Finally spring is here -then it’s gone and now it’s back again! We have had beautiful sunshine through to snow over the last few weeks, but back to sunshine now, so let’s hope it lasts for the sake of our seedlings! Everything seems to be late this year, the nettles are just about coming up and the bracken fronds, which are always a sign of spring to us, have only just decided to poke their heads up above ground.
With spring comes change and there is plenty going on here. We have started our courses for the year, the first being one of our new alternative hen weekends, which was great fun to run and we had a lovely bunch to celebrate the first course of the year. We organised prehistoric cookery, felting with a pony and local walks. The group stayed nearby at Kerrow House and feasted on Saturday night in the yurt; on Sunday evening they had a lovely meal at the Struy Inn, while local musicians played. We have since heard from the hen, who is now stitching the wall hanging her friends and sisters created for her from local fleece and with a little help from Nutmeg the pony.
The yurt has been a great success this year. We have managed to put a lovely little burner in it, so it is cosy and warm, as well as having a proper raised floor. Alex has been hanging on to the burner for years, as we knew it would come in handy at some point. It was a lovely space to use last weekend when we ran our first natural dyeing weekend of the year. We were able to sit in the snug yurt surrounded by fleece, while I showed the dyers how to card.
I don’t think I can write a newsletter without mentioning our new additions, Christina and Phyllis, two 6 week old goats, one Anglo Nubian (long lop ears) and the other a Saanen (classic white). They are such characters and at the moment seem to take up quite a bit of our time, as they still need feeding 4 times a day. The kids follow Thora every where and she now wants to live in the goat shed! We hope next year to put them to kid and then we will be able to milk them (if they stand still) and produce our own cheese and yogurt.
Other new additions this year include Ellie, Liz and Craig who will be helping us on our craft and hen weekends, as well as Julie who is a local massage therapist who will be offering therapies on our Relaxation Retreats. It is lovely to get others involved and bring new skills to our courses and holidays.
If you have enjoyed any of our courses or escapes in the past, please feel free to nominate us for a Responsible Travel Award (economic responsible tourism) http://www.responsibletravel.com/awards/nominations/ as all these little things help us along the way!
Things are getting pretty busy for this summer, but we still have some spaces on a few of our weeks and weekends if you are interested in joining us or for any last minute offers have a look below.
Prehistoric cookery weekend May 11th-12th Come and learn to cook the way our ancestors would!
Spring Relaxation Retreat May 18th-25th 2 spaces left (£75 off per person!)
Join Joany and I for morning yoga (all levels catered for), stunning walks, wild food foraging, craft and delicious healthy home-cooking, all set in beautiful accommodation.
Fleece to Felt Weeks July 6th-13th & July 27th-Aug 3rd 2 spaces left
Shearing demos, foraging for dye plants, making natural dyes, dyeing your fleece and felting a final piece, as well as an evening spinning demonstration and lovely local walks.
Prehistoric cookery July 20th-21st
Felt-making weekend August 10th-11th
Natural dyeing weekend/ Prehistoric cookery August 17th-18th
If you want to have a peek at what we get up to more regularly join our Facebook page, which I have actually got quite good at updating! https://www.facebook.com/WildRoseEscapes
If you feel like escaping this spring or summer or know someone else who might, just get in touch on:info@wildrose-escapes.co.uk
Or call us on 01456 415454
Yours
Rosie
www.wildrose-escapes.co.uk
