You may recollect that a couple of weeks ago we told you about the harvest of our cacchi, persimmons, golden orbs of delicious fruit. Lois picked 100 or so of them, which we’ve enjoyed for breakfast and given to our friends here in Florence, to brighten their locked-down days.
We are not the only ones to savour the cacchi: numerous birds have enjoyed the high-grown fruits beyond our picking reach, most commonly sparrows and black caps. But our most exotic visitor has been a usignolo giapponese, a Japanese nightingale, seen above. Our gardener, Flavio Terenzoni, captured his/her visit (you see how good my ornithological knowledges!) on a short video, which you can watch by clicking here.
As we have no doubt mentioned before, The Watermill is surrounded by two environmentally protected areas: The National Park of the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines, the backbone of Italy, and the Regional Park of the Apuan Alps, home of the marble mountains of Carrara. The air and the water are pure and unpolluted, and the area abounds in wildlife. With his night-vision camera, Flavio has recently videoed a large stag, porcupines and a fox going about their nocturnal activities, which were the subject of previous blogs.
As well as this mammalian wildlife (there are badgers and wild boar, too) we have a plethora of birds, which make the springtime dawn chorus quite noisy, and many species of butterflies and bees. I particularly like the swallowtail butterflies and am intrigued by the hummingbird moths, which can actually fly backwards.
As for the Japanese nightingale, I must confess I know little about it, so if anyone’s got any information, please tell us more.
So, as well as our inspiring teaching, our beautiful setting, our delicious food and wine, and our warm and welcoming hospitality, you will also enjoy communing with nature during your creative course at the Watermill.
Our 2021 courses are booking fast: we have more than 215 bookings for next year out of a theoretical total of some 250/260. So why not beat the coronavirus blues and book your place and enjoy pleasant anticipation during the winter months? Below is the latest availability of all our creative courses for 2021.
Keiko Tanabe Places available
Saturday 17 April to Saturday 24 April 2021
Watercolours
To learn more about Keiko and her week at the Watermill, please click here.
Mary Padgett Fully booked, waiting list open
Saturday 1 May to Saturday 8 May 2021
Pastels (and other portable media) en plein air
To learn more about Mary and her week at the Watermill, please click here.
Carl March Fully booked, waiting list open
Saturday 15 May to Saturday 22 May 2021
Drawing and watercolours en plein air
To learn more about Carl and his week at the Watermill, please click here.
Grahame Booth Fully booked, waiting list open
Saturday 22 May to Saturday 29 May 2021
Watercolours
To learn more about Grahame and his week at the Watermill, please click here.
Sandra Strohschein (1) One or two places remaining
Saturday 5 June to Saturday 12 June 2021
Watercolours
To learn more about Sandra and her week at the Watermill, please click here.
Sandra Strohschein (2) Fully booked, waiting list open
Saturday 12 June to Saturday 19 June 2021
Watercolours
To learn more about Sandra and her week at the Watermill, please click here.
Paul Talbot-Greaves Places available
Saturday 19 June to Saturday 26 June 2021
Watercolours
To learn more about Paul and his week at the Watermill, please click here.
Rebecca de Mendonça Three or four places remaining
Saturday 26 June to Saturday 3 July 2021
Pastels and mixed media
To learn more about Rebecca and her week at the Watermill, please click here.
Vicki Norman One or two places remaining
Saturday 3 July to Saturday 10 July 2021
Oils and watercolours (and other mediums)
To learn more about Vicki and her week at the Watermill, please click here.
Sue Ford Places available
Saturday 10 July to Saturday 17 July 2021
Watercolours, pastels, collage and mixed media plus acrylic
To learn more about Sue and her week at the Watermill, please click here.
Caroline Deeble Places available
Saturday 7 August to Saturday 14 August 2021
Watercolours
To learn more about Caroline and her week at the Watermill, please click here.
Randy Hale Places available
Saturday 21 August to Saturday 28 August 2021
Watercolours
To learn more about Randy and his week at the Watermill, please click here.
Mike Willdridge Recently opened, places available
Saturday 28 August to Saturday 4 September 2021
Watercolours and drawing (also gouache and acrylics.)
To learn more about Mike and his week at the Watermill, please click here.
Mike Willdridge One place available
Saturday 4 September to Saturday 11 September 2021
Watercolours and drawing (also gouache and acrylics)
To learn more about Mike and his week at the Watermill, please click here.
Milind Mulick Places available
Saturday 11 September to Saturday 18 September 2021
‘Colourful Watercolours’
To learn more about Milind and his week at the Watermill please click here.
Brienne Brown one or two places remaining
Saturday 18 September to Saturday 25 September 2021
Watercolours
To learn more about Brienne and her week at the Watermill, please click here.
Charles Sluga Places available
Saturday 25 September to Saturday 2 October 2021
Watercolour and drawing (also gouache and acrylics)
To learn more about Charles and his week at the Watermill, please click here.
Tim Wilmot One or two places remaining
Saturday 2 October to Saturday 9 October 2021
Watercolours
To learn more about Tim and his week at the Watermill, please click here.
Ali Hargreaves Two places available
Saturday 9 October to Saturday 16 October 2021
Watercolour and mixed media
To learn more about Ali and her week at the Watermill, please please click here.
Our elevating knitting weeks
Norah Gaughan Places available
24 April – 1 May 2021
Knitting and la Bella Vita
To learn more about Norah and her week at the Watermill, please click here.
Louisa Harding Fully booked, waiting list open
Knitting and la Bella Vita
To learn more about Louisa and her week at the Watermill, please click here.
Knitting retreat Three or flour places remaining
17-24 July 2021
Knitting and la Bella Vita
To learn more about our knitting retreat week at the mill, please click here.
Our illuminating creative writing weeks
Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran Places available
8 -15 May 2021
Scriptwriting
To learn more about Laurence and Maurice and their course at the mill, please click here.
Jo Parfitt Two or three places remaining
14 -21 August 2021
Writing your life stories
To learn more about Jo and her course at the mill, please click here.
Our impassioned Italian week
Francesca La Sala Two or three places remaining
16-23 October 2021
A novel approach to learning Italian
To learn more about Francesca an her course at the mill, please click here.