Here's to a fresh start!
At last we have said good-bye to February! It’s been a blustery month here in Yorkshire, with the snow visiting us intermittently and gusty winds battering the old roof day and night! The conservatory roof has indeed collapsed and we are now in the process of getting quotes for the repairs!
However it certainly has not been all bad.. the days are getting longer and the sun has a beautiful warm glow after so many months of grey skies. I am loving the late-afternoon walks – such a treat to be able to have light after 4.00 pm! The lighter days have been working very well with the Virtual Writing Retreat routine, which I have kept up thanks to new institutions coming on board. I have been working with a number of UK universities, offering a structured writing space as well as more lively breaks! With so many people working in isolation, it has been great to get a number of writers together to share downtime as well as goal-setting and challenges.
The wood is waking up and every day I cross the beck to go into our arboretum I see more snowdrops, crocuses and anemones peering at me. We have got a grant to be planting some new saplings along one of the fields which borders the wood; more trees are on their way and will be planted in March in the furthest part of the tennis field.. so lots is happening and hopefully you will all be able to see the progress yourselves before too long!
I am now advertising new dates. While I am holding back on announcing our spring dates while we wait to see how successfully the government-planned opening up phases rolls out, I have some good news to share: all the 2021 writing retreats will be open to 3 night stays (instead of two nights) at no additional cost.
Confirmed dates - which can be booked on the website are:
14th-17th September
5th - 8th October
I have also introduced an earlier arrival time (if you can make it) so there will be two writing sessions on the Day 1.
Looking forward to welcoming all writers again!
