These ancient mulberry trees in the Watermill car park have just been given a ‘short back and sides’ by local tree surgeons. It may look a bit brutal, but it’s been so skilfully done that soon they will be sprouting mightily again.
No one is quite sure how old they are. We joke with our gardener, Flavio Terenzoni, that they must be hundreds of years old, since he remembers coming as a boy to gather leaves from the young trees to feed the primary school silkworms. But, seriously, Flavio is much younger than that, and with their gnarled and hollowed out trunks (the trees, that is not Flavio) we reckon there are centenarians at least.
And in a few short weeks they will again be pushing out shoots and leaves, and before you can say “Summer in Posara,†their short haircuts will be an old memory. Here is the Google Maps picture of the Watermill entrance gate, with the mulberries blooming to the right.
And here’s a sketch by a Watermill guest of the lane from the Watermill to the village of Posara:
I have used our ancient trees today to commemorate the rebirth which is celebrated at Easter and to provide our usual weekly updates on availability of our creative courses here in Posara. Come and join us and enjoy consideration and conviviality – and marvel at the robustness of our ancient mulberrys.
We are pretty full up through the season,but we still have a few more places left. By the way, if you see a course that takes your fancy and it is tagged ‘Fully booked ‘ , don’t despair! There are often cancellations, so just let us know using the Watermill Contact Form, by clicking here, and we will put you on a waiting list.
First, our inspiring painting courses
Mary Padgett
30 April – 7 May 2022 Two or three places available
Pastels (and other portable materials) en plein air
To learn more about Mary and her course at the mill, please visit her 2022 Profile Page.
Keiko Tanabe
21 – 28 May 2022 A couple of places left
To learn more about Keiko and her course at the mill, please visit her 2022 Profile Page.
Maggie Renner Hellman
28 May-4 June 2022 Two or three places left.
Courageous Color Workshop’ Your choice: oils, acrylics, pastels and/or watercolour travel sketches
To learn more about Maggie and her course at the Watermill, please visit her 2022 Profile Page.
Ruth Koch
4-11 June 2022 One place left
Art journaling
To learn more about Ruth and her course at the Watermill, please visit her 2022 Profile Page.
Randy Hale
11-18 June 2022 Three place left
Watercolours
To learn more about Randy and his course at the Watermill, please visit his 2022 Profile Page.
Vicki Norman
2-9 July 2022 Fully booked, waiting list open
Oils and watercolours (and other mediums)
To learn more about Vicki and her course at the mill, please visit her 2022 Profile Page.
Pamme Turner
9-16 July 2022 Two places left
Watercolour and gouache en plein air
To learn more about Pamme and her week at the mill, please visit her 2022 Profile Page
Carl March
16-23 July 2022 Three or four places left
Drawing and watercolour en plein air
To learn more about Carl and his course at the mill, please visit his 2022 Profile Page.
Paul Talbot-Greaves
20-27 August 2022 Three or four places left
Watercolours (and acrylics)
To learn more about Paul and his course at the mill, please visit his 2022 Profile Page.
Rebecca de Mendonça
27 August-3 September 2022 Three or four places left
Pastels
To learn more about Rebecca and her course at the mill, please visit her 2022 Profile Page.
Mike Willdridge
3-10 September 2022 Course full, Waiting list open
Watercolours and drawing (also gouache and acrylics, with a special emphasis on drawing on location.)
To learn more about Mike and his course at the mill, please visit his 2022 Profile Page.
Varvara Neiman
10-17 September 2022 Still plenty of places
Water-based oils, acrylics and watercolours
To learn more about Varvara and her course at the mill, please visit her 2022 Profile Page.
Milind Mulick
17-24 September 2022 Course full, Waiting list open
‘Colourful watercolours’
To learn more about Milind and his course at the mill, please visit his 2022 Profile Page.
Cynthia Armstrong
24 September-1 October 2022 A couple of places left
Watercolours and gouache
To learn more about Cynthia and her course at the mill, please visit her 2022 Profile Page.
Tim Wilmot
1-8 October 2022 A couple of places left
Watercolours
To learn more about Tim and his course at the mill, please visit his 2022 Profile Page.
Grahame Booth
8 – 15 October 2022 Fully booked, waiting list open
Watercolours
To learn more about Grahame and his course at the mill, please visit his 2022 Profile Page.
Our wonderful writing course
Jo Parfitt
18-25 June 2022 Course full, Waiting list open
Writing your fife stories
To learn more about Jo and her course at the mill, please visit her 2022 Profile Page.
Our notable knitting weeks
Norah Gaughan
23-30 April 2022 A couple of places left
Knitting and la bella vita
To learn more about Norah and her week at the mill, please visit her 2022 Profile Page.
Louisa Harding
7-14 May 2022 A couple of places left
Knitting and la bella vita
To learn more about Louisa and her week at the mill, please visit her 2022 Profile Page.
Debbie Abrahams
14-21 May 2022 One place left
Knitting and la bella vita
23-30 April 2022
To learn more about Debbie and her week at the mill, please visit her 2022 Profile Page.
Our unique Italian Language course
Giulia Balestri
15-22 October 2022 Two places left
A novel approach to learning Italian
To learn more about Francesca and our unique Italian week at the mill, please click here.