knitting

You are spoilt for choice on your Watermill excursion

Painting by Chris Franklin, a guest atThe Watermill at Posara painting holidays/vacations, Tuscany, Italy.

It is excursion day on Wednesdays during our creative courses and we offer you the choice of either going to the quintessential Italian walled city of Lucca or to the delightful fishing villages of the Cinque Terre, linked by clifftop paths.

It’s a major dilemma, and one best solved by coming to the Watermill twice, so you can enjoy Lucca one time and the Cinque Terre on your next visit! That’s just what Watermill guest Chris Franklin has done. He has been not only on painting weeks but also on our Italian language course. Chris has just sent me some of the pictures he painted on his visits here. Above, a street scene in Lucca and below, a picture of one of the villages of the Cinque Terre. Thank you for sharing these with us, Chris.

You’re spoilt for choice, too, when it comes to this season’s creative courses painting, creative writing, knitting and Italian language. Although many of our courses are already full, we still have spaces on a wide range of different courses.

Here are the creative courses where we still have places available at present. Following that there is a list of fully booked courses. (If you’re interested in one of these, please let us know, as there are often cancellations. We will put you on a waiting list.)

Painting course availability at 23 January 2020

The Watermill at Posara for painting, creative writing, knitting, and Italian language holidays/vacations/workshops, Tuscany, Italy.

Carl March
18 – 25 April 2020– still a few places
Drawing and watercolours en plein air
To learn more about Carl and his course at the mill, please visit his 2020 Profile Page.

Vicki Norman
20 – 27 June 2020 – still plenty of places
Oils and watercolours (and other mediums)
To learn more about Vicki and her course at the mill, please visit her 2020 Profile Page.

Mark Warner
11 – 18 July 2020 – places available
Colourful Acrylics, Drawing, Pen & Wash
To learn more about Mark and his course at the mill, please visit his 2020 Profile Page.

Mike Willdridge
29 August – 5 September 2020 – still a few places
Watercolour and drawing (also gouache and acrylics)
To learn more about Mike and his course at the mill, please visit his 2020 Profile Page.

Rebecca de Mendonça
5 – 12 September 2020 – still a few places
Pastels and Mixed media
To learn more about Rebecca and her course at the mill, please visit her 2020 Profile Page.

Maggie Renner Hellmann
12 – 19 September 2020 – places available places AND 19 – 26 September 2020 – places available
Oils, acrylics, watercolours and pastels
To learn about Maggie’s courses, please visit her 2020 Profile Page.

Mary Padgett
26 September – 3 October 2020 – – places available
Pastels (and other portable media) en plein air
To learn more about Mary and her course at the mill, please visit her 2020 Profile Page.

Milind Mulick
3 – 10 October 2020 – still a few places
Colourful watercolours
To learn more about Milind and his course at the mill, please visit his 2020 Profile Page.

Tim Wilmot
10 – 17 October 2020 – still a few places
Watercolours
To learn more about Tim and his course at the mill, please visit his 2020 Profile Page.

Knitting course availability at 23 January 2020

Louisa Harding
23–30 May 2020 — 1/2 places available
Knitting and La Bella Vita
To learn more about Louisa and her course at the mill, please visit her 2020 Profile Page.

Louisa Harding
27 June-4 July 2020 – places available
Knitting and La Bella Vita
To learn more about Louisa and her course at the mill, please visit her 2020 Profile Page.

Knitting Retreat
4 – 11 July 2020 – two places left
Knitting and La Bella Vita
To learn more, please visit our 2020 Retreat Overview Page.

Renée Callahan
15 – 22 August 2020 – places available
Knitting and La Bella Vita
To learn more about Renée and her course at the mill, please visit her 2020 Profile Page.

Creative writing course availability at 23 January 2020

Jo Parfitt
2 – 9 May 2020 – still one place left
Write the stories of your life
To learn more about Jo and her course at the mill, please visit her 2020 Profile Page.

Italian language course availability at 23 January 2020

Langues Services and Francesca la Sala
22 – 29 August 2020 – still a few places
Learning Italian with the Italians
To learn more about Francesca and her
2020 course at the mill, please click here.

These are the courses that are currently fully booked. But if you are keen to come please let us know and we will put you on a waiting list.

Grahame Booth
25 April – 2 May 2020 – fully booked, waiting list open
Watercolours
To learn more about Grahame and his course at the mill, please visit his 2020 Profile Page.

Brienne M Brown – fully booked, waiting list open
16 – 23 May 2020
Watercolours
To learn more about Brienne and her course at the mill, please visit her 2020 Profile Page.

Sandra Strohschein
30 May – 6 June 2020 – fully booked, waiting list open
6 – 13 June 2020 – fully booked, waiting list open
Watercolours
To learn more about Sandra and her course at the mill, please visit her 2020 Profile Page.

Randy Hale
13 – 20 June 2020 – fully booked, waiting list open
Watercolours
To learn more about Randy and his course at the mill, please visit his 2020 Profile Page.

Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran
2 – 9 May 2020 – fully booked, waiting list open
Scriptwriting
To learn more about Laurence and Maurice and their course at the mill, please visit their 2020 Profile Page.

Filed Under: General Tagged With: acrylic, creativewriting, Italian, Italy, knit, knitting, Languages, memoir, oilpainting, painting, pastel, travel, travelphotography, Tuscany, watercolor, watercolors, watercolour, writer, writing · Leave a Comment

The latest availability on our 2020 creative courses

20 Jan By Bill Breckon

Update at 20 January 2020

Our 2020 creative courses – painting, creative writing, knitting and Italian language — are filling fast: we already have some 215 bookings out of projected total of 250. So now is the time to secure your place with your favourite tutor, at your favourite time, in your favourite bedroom. You will see below that a fair number of our courses are already booked up, but if you are particularly interested in that specific week, please let us know. There are often cancellations and we will put you on a waiting list and let you know immediately if a place becomes available. We do hope we’ll be able to welcome you here on one of our sun-filled, fun-filled, inspiring courses. And don’t forget that as well as a warm welcome, we are also Cool and Green! All our bedrooms and public rooms have air-conditioning, all powered by the sun: our hidden array of photovoltaic panels ensures that we are self-sufficient in electricity generation.

Here is the current availability of our 2020 creative courses.

Our inspiring painting courses

Carl March
18 – 25 April 2020 – one or two places
Drawing and watercolours en plein air
To learn more about Carl and his course at the mill, please visit his 2020 Profile Page.

Grahame Booth
25 April – 2 May 2020 – fully booked, waing list open
Watercolours
To learn more about Grahame and his course at the mill, please visit his 2020 Profile Page.

Brienne M Brown – fully booked, waiting list open
16 – 23 May 2020
Watercolours
To learn more about Brienne and her course at the mill, please visit her 2020 Profile Page.

Randy Hale
13 – 20 June 2020 – fully booked, waiting list open
Watercolours
To learn more about Randy and his course at the mill, please visit his 2020 Profile Page.

Vicki Norman
20 – 27 June 2020 – still a few places
Oils and watercolours (and other mediums)
To learn more about Vicki and her course at the mill, please visit her 2020 Profile Page.

Mark Warner
11 – 18 July 2020 – places available
Colourful Acrylics, Drawing, Pen & Wash
To learn more about Mark and his course at the mill, please visit his 2020 Profile Page.

Rebecca de Mendonça
5 – 12 September 2020 – still a few places
Pastels and Mixed media
To learn more about Rebecca and her course at the mill, please visit her 2020 Profile Page.

Milind Mulick
3 – 10 October 2020 – still a few places
Colourful watercolours
To learn more about Milind and his course at the mill, please visit his 2020 Profile Page.

Tim Wilmot
10 – 17 October 2020 – still a few places
Watercolours
To learn more about Tim and his course at the mill, please visit his 2020 Profile Page.

Our enticing knitting courses

Louisa Harding
23 – 30 May 2020 – fully booked, waiting list open
Knitting and La Bella Vita
To learn more about Louisa and her course at the mill, please visit her 2020 Profile Page.

Louisa Harding
NEW week 27 June – 4 July – places available
Knitting and La Bella Vita
To learn more about Louisa and her course at the mill, please visit her 2020 Profile Page.

Knitting Retreat
4 – 11 July 2020 – two knitting places left
Knitting and La Bella Vita
To learn more about this retreat, please visit our 2020 Retreat Overview Page.

Renée Callahan
15 – 22 August 2020 – places available
Knitting and La Bella Vita
To learn more about Renée and her course at the mill, please visit her 2020 Profile Page.

Our enriching 2020 writing courses

Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran
2 – 9 May 2020 – fully booked, waiting list open
Scriptwriting
To learn more about Laurence and Maurice and their course at the mill, please visit their 2020 Profile Page.

Jo Parfitt
2 – 9 May 2020 – still one place left
Write the stories of your life
To learn more about Jo and her course at the mill, please visit her 2020 Profile Page.

Our illuminating Italian language course

Langues Services and Francesca la Sala
22 – 29 August 2020 – still a few places
Learning Italian with the Italians
To learn more about Francesca and her
2020 course at the mill, please click here.

The first glimpse of Renée’s beautiful brioche hat: a project for her knitting course at the Watermill.

15 Jan By Bill Breckon

Here’s the first picture of Renée’s Callahan’s lovely brioche hat, one of the exclusively designed projects for her knitting holiday at the Watermill this August. Here’s another shot:

Now Renée’s is busy on other projects to captivate her students on her Knitting and La Bella Vita Italiana week. There are more details below.

When you have produced the beautiful hat above, you will want to make sure it’s even more perfect by ‘blocking’ it, in order to make the knitting look as even and tidy as possible. Here’s Renée’s recipe for success:

First the ingredients: one freshly knitted hat, one tumbler and one soup bowl.

The method:

Give your hat a gentle wash in lukewarm water with a little bit of wool soap or a tiny bit of shampoo.
Squeeze the excess water out of the hat and roll it up in a towel. Press the rolled towel with your hands, or you can even walk on it to get more water out of the hat.
Place the damp hat over the soup bowl and allow it to dry completely.

*Top tip*: “If you are in a hurry, place the freshly finished hat over the upside-down bowl dry and steam it with an iron, being careful not to touch the iron to the knitting. It dries in seconds!”

We are delighted to welcome Renée to the Watermill knitting tutors team. She is a prolific knitwear designer, from London in England, who loves to combine texture and colour to create handknit-knit patterns that are not only enjoyable to knit but also remain wearable for years to come.

Renée has always loved textiles and the technical challenge of knitting: she finds a real joy in producing something both useful and beautiful. Renée studied Fashion Design with Knitwear at the prestigious Central Saint Martins College in London.

She will be with us for another of our famous Knitting and la Bella Vita Italiana weeks, from Saturday 15 August to Saturday, 22 August 2020.

As ever, your knitting week will combine expert tuition, like-minded company, wonderful food, the delightful ambience of the Watermill and outings into the surrounding unspoiled Tuscan countryside of Lunigiana.

. (Everything is included in the cost of your holiday: tuition, accommodation, all meals and wines (including outings to charming local restaurants) and all local transportation. You get to Pisa, Italy, we do the rest!)

To find out more about Renée and her inspiring week at the Watermill, please click here.

We would be delighted if you could join us!

The Watermill at Posara for painting, knitting, creative writing, Italian language, personal development and yoga holidays/vacations/retreats, Tuscany, Italy. — Knitting under the shade of the vines in the Watermill garden. Photo: Phil Wright.

Filed Under: General Tagged With: Italy, knit, knitting, travel, travelphotography, Tuscany · Leave a Comment

Warm hospitality, cool rooms: all part of the plan to make the Watermill green.

14 Jan By Bill Breckon

The Watermill at Posara is renowned for its inspiring creative courses, its beautiful setting, its delicious food, and its warm and welcoming hospitality. But we are also working hard to make the Watermill Cool and Green!

We are now busily putting in air-conditioning units in all our bedrooms and public rooms (the dining room, the sitting room, the studio) and they should be in place well before the beginning of our season, at the end of April. They will all be powered by our array of photovoltaic cells, installed last summer, which are already making more than enough power to ensure that we are self-sufficient in electricity. You’ll have to work hard to see our photovoltaic panels which are on the south-facing roofs of the 19th century mill and on the studio, looking out towards the river. You can hardly see them in the picture of the south façade. Here is a better shot from above the 19th century mill.

We have a neat little app on our mobile phones, which shows us how much electricity is being generated at any given time, so Bill is likely to exclaim ‘7.63 kW’ while having coffee in the local café, adding to his reputation for eccentricity. We’ve certainly lightened our carbon footprint, having saved more than five tons of CO2 production already! (‘5.6 metric tonnes’, mutters Bill, while ordering his brioche.)

Here’s a snapshot of our app (an app-shot?) on a cloudy evening in the middle of January, not the ideal time for electricity generation!

Nonetheless, we have already generated more than 8000 kilowatt-hours of electricity in the seven months from the middle of June 2019 to the middle of January 2020. We’ve done the sums and we reckon we should be able to generate nearly 14,000 kWh in the whole year. This should be considerably more than our consumption, even with all those new air-conditioning units.

As part of our greening campaign, we have also taken steps to slash our use of plastic, notably in the plastic water bottles we used to provide for our guests when they went out on location. Lois demonstrates the solution below.

We bought a couple of dozen robust stainless-steel vacuum flasks and mark each one with a number. We loan a specific flask to each of our guests for their creative week.

Then they fill up from our fancy plumbed-in water-dispensing machine in the communal kitchen. At the touch of a button, it will dispense filtered water, either still or fizzy, either chilled or at ambient temperature. Each week the flasks are sterilised in our dishwasher, for re-use by the incoming guests.

It’s just a bit more of a faff than plucking a plastic bottle from the fridge. But we reckon it’s worth the (slight) effort. We hope you agree!

You will have to search hard to see our photovoltaic panels, but to enjoy our other environmental efforts, you won’t have to lift a finger! Just lean back in your chair on the vine verandah and contemplate the fact that we are surrounded by two environmentally protected areas: the National Park of the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines and the Regional Park of the Apuan Alps. The air and the water are pure and unpolluted, and the area abounds in wildlife.

Gaze about you at the sensitive restoration of historic mill buildings, which has incorporated modern energy-saving construction methods in the upgrading process, from insulated roofs to double-glazed windows. As you tuck into one of our delicious meals, prepared by Lois and our Italian cooks, remember that we source all our food locally wherever possible, growing some of our own and using local suppliers and producers. There is one deprivation, however, that you will have to live with: sorry, there are no Yellow plastic ducks in our bathrooms! But you will be Cool and Green.

These are the only ducks you will see:

Keep It Simple and Take It with You Everywhere!

9 Jan By Bill Breckon

Painting by Mike Willdridge, a tutor at The Watermill at Posara painting holidays/vacations, Tuscany, Italy.

What is ‘It’? Why, it’s a sketchbook! And, says Watermill painting tutor Mike Willdridge, those two simple tips will not only add to your daily enjoyment, but improve your painting too.

Tip one: Keep It Simple. Mike says: “Choose a sketchbook that fits a pocket/handbag/rucksack etc. and as few pens/pencils/paints as possible.” The picture above is of the basic kit he takes with him everywhere: when going for a walk, enjoying a coffee, or lunch or dinner, or simply sitting in the sun. Mike is currently in Australia, visiting his grandchildren, and here’s a simple sketch of a bicycle made from a café in Manly across the Bay from Sydney:

Tip two: Take It with You Everywhere. Not just when you are sightseeing or feeding the inner man or woman, but also when your shopping or travelling. Mike says: “It doesn’t matter if you don’t use it at first. You will eventually, but get into the habit of taking your kit with you everywhere you go.”

Mike practises what he preaches, and he will encourage you to do the same when you join his Watermill week this year. Mike will be back with us from Saturday 29 August to Saturday 5 September 2020, and we’d love you to join us for his fun-filled, sun-filled, inspiring week. There are more details and links below. Here is Mike’s sketch of a couple of our guests enjoying animated conversation in the sunlit Watermill courtyard.

Here are a few more of his sketches, made when out ‘on location’ during one of his Watermill courses. Each was painted rapidly, merely to give an impression of the scene.

Below is a sketch in the tranquil monastery of the Convento del Carmine, a few miles from the Watermill, where we take you to paint on Thursdays:

Mike Willdridge works in a wide range of media and is an enthusiastic and energetic tutor, often encouraging his students to be bold and to take chances. His classes are always light-hearted and fun, with the ‘teaching’ tailored to individual needs. He will concentrate on watercolours, but is also happy to help with gouache and acrylics too.

Some comments from previous guests: “A wonderful holiday. You were such generous and friendly hosts and Mike was an excellent painting tutor.” Another said: “The food was exceptional and the mill itself is great, in such a beautiful setting. A truly wonderful week in every respect.”

Everything is included in the cost of your holiday at the watermill: tuition, accommodation (including all linen and towels), pre-dinner aperitifs, all meals and wines (including outings to charming local restaurants) and all local transportation (including transfers to Pisa airport and an excursion by train to Lucca or the Cinque Terre). You get to Pisa, Italy, we do the rest!

29 August to 5 September 2020

Mike Willdridge – three or four places left

Watercolour and drawing (also gouache and acrylics)

To learn more about Mike and his course at The Watermill, please click here.

Come and paint with Mike for creativity, conviviality – and fun

Filed Under: General Tagged With: and Italian language holidays/vacations/workshops, creative writing, knitting, The Watermill at Posara for painting, Tuscany · Leave a Comment

We have opened a second knitting week for Louisa – and its filling fast!

7 Jan By Bill Breckon

We are delighted to announce that the celebrated knitter, designer and yarn producer Louisa Harding has agreed to join us for a second week at the Watermill. Her first week, in May, is completely sold out, so Louisa is coming to us again from Saturday 27 June to Saturday 4 July 2020. And already five people have booked in, and another two or three enquirers are in the pipeline!

If you would like to join Louisa and experience Knitting and La Bella Vita, now is the time to reserve your place on this relaxing and inspiring holiday in the beautiful Tuscan countryside. We promise you leisurely knitting days, wonderful food and wine and we know you will make new friends and learn new skills with a renowned designer.

Louisa worked for many years as an ‘in-house’ designer for Rowan Yarns. She has recently established a new brand, called Yarntelier, combining the finest yarns from the English county of Yorkshire with beautiful designs, to make each item a piece of hand-crafted couture.

Among the projects for each of her weeks is a cashmere shawl where you can draw on designs in the Tuscan countryside and incorporate them in your knitting.

And as ever, your knitting week at the Watermill will combine expert tuition, like-minded company, wonderful food and the delightful ambience of the Watermill, it’s gardens and riverside walks, and outings into the surrounding unspoiled countryside.

The Watermill at Posara for painting, knitting, yoga, holidays/vacations, Tuscany, Italy.

As one guest said: “The Watermill is an idyllic setting for a knitting course – beautifully situated on the river, you are lulled to sleep in your comfortable room by the sound of the millstream. Bill and Lois are perfect hosts and your every need is catered for: good food and drink, and visits to local places of interest, including a convent, village market and a mountain-top restaurant.”

Everything is included in the cost of your holiday at the watermill: tuition, accommodation, pre-dinner aperitifs, all meals and wines (including outings to charming local restaurants) and all local transportation.

You get to Pisa, Italy, we do the rest!

You can find out all about Louisa and her course at the mill by clicking here. And why not bring a partner or friend, even if they are non-knitters? We have plenty of activities for non-knitting partners, which you can see by clicking here, and there’s a generous £250 (English pounds) discount if they share a room with you.

Come and knit with Louisa for creativity, conviviality – and fun!

Filed Under: General Tagged With: Italy, knit, knitting, travel, travelphotography, Tuscany · Leave a Comment

The latest availability on our 2020 creative courses: we are filling up fast!

6 Jan By Bill Breckon

We hope you enjoyed your holidays and we would like to extend our very best wishes for a happy, healthy, prosperous and creative 2020. Why not make a creative week (or two!) at the Watermill a part of it?

In deep midwinter (in the northern hemisphere at least) it is time to plan some Summer relaxation and inspiration on one of our world-famous courses. Warm yourself with the thought of a week enjoying the Watermill hospitality with like-minded people, delicious food and wine and sympathetic tuition.

Here is the current availabilityof our 2020 creative courses.