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Easter Issue March 2008

Dear Friend

In this issue…

News from home …

• The Italian one-month mistress (and other stories)
• What are water buffaloes doing in Italy? Making cheese, of course!
• Lois’ (and Bill’s) recipe of the month: Tricolore

Painting holidays…

• Painting tutor of the month: Charles Sluga
• The 2008 painting holidays and availability
• An exclusive and inclusive painting holiday

Creative writing courses…

• Writing courses: creativity and commerce!
• The 2008 creative writing courses and availability
• Writing courses: what’s included

Self-Catering apartments…

• Renting an apartment rather than attending a course

...... The Italian one-month mistress (and other stories)

First, a success story..…and hearty congratulations to Sabrina Hicks, who came on Sharon Kendrick’s first creative writing course at Castle of Park in October 2006.

She’s just emailed to tell us: “On the last day of my writing course with Sharon Kendrick, I woke up with an idea for a book - and guess what?  After more than a year of hard work, on Friday I got the call from Mills and Boon to say they want to publish it! "

Sabrina adds: “I haven't got all the details yet, but I just wanted to share the good news with you and let you know the course proved invaluable”.

She tells us that the  scheduled release date  for her book is February 2009, and “as everyone seems to need a pseudonym these days, I'll be writing under the name of Sabrina Philips”.  The title of the book is still be confirmed, but Sabrina’s working title is 'The Italian's One-Month Mistress'  and, rather coincidentally set in Tuscany, and also London and Rome.

Sharon Kendrick also heard from Sabrina and emailed us saying “such fabulous news” and adding her congratulations to ours.

We’ve always said that our creative writing courses not only foster creativity, but we also give you vital insights into the mechanics of writing and into just what publishers are looking for. (See 'Writing courses: creativity and commerce!' below.) Sabrina is proof that it works – we’ll tell you more about her success as details emerge.

For us Breckons, the true-life romance of living in our cottage on the beautiful Forglen Estate continues. We are watching Spring slowly emerge in our daily walks with the dogs along the Forglen itself. The snowdrops, which first heralded the end of Winter, are withering, to be replaced by the daffodils, now beginning to bloom in their thousands. Everything is budded and will soon be burgeoning, and the waterfalls sparkle in the low March sunlight.

The girls are busy at school and with their music: we’ve even persuaded them to practice before breakfast, so Bill’s shaving is often accompanied by Lara’s rendition on the cornet of The Policeman’s Song from The Pirates of Penzance, while Lydia regales him with a Scottish medley on the piano (to be heard at a Burns Federation competition soon. That’s Rabbie Burns, of course, not lesions caused by excessive heat).

They’re both also reciting Scots poems for the Burns Federation: Lydia’s is a petition from a river for the laird to plant more trees along its banks, while Lara’s The Escapee tells of a wee piglet who escapes from the sty: “Ye’ll nae hae me fir pork”.

The morning school run often finds us honing up our Scots accents (“No, it’s not ‘understand’, it’s ‘onnerstaan’”). We’ll see how oor twa wee Sassenach quines get on …

We’re now looking forward to our Easter visit to the mill with a group of Scottish friends (and two or three Swiss). We are going to be 10 adults and 8 children, so we hope the natives are prepared.

As well as enjoying the sunshine (we hope), the scenery, the architecture, the history, the art, the hospitality of the people, the food and the wine (can’t imagine why we like Italy so much) we’ll be going round with Kerstin checking that everything is ready for the 2008 season.

Our painting holidays and creative writing courses are filling up fast. Some are completely full and on many of the others we have only one or two places left. There are details below. Our painting course ‘tutor of the month’ is the Autralian artist, Charles Sluga, and you can find out why the painting ‘The boyhood of Rayleigh’ by Sir John Millais means a lot to him.

So, although you’ve undoubtedly heard it before from others, now really is the time to book. We reckon we have a maximum of 132 places all told and we’ve already sold 120 holidays, so if our maths are OK, that leaves just 12 places left for 2008. Why not make sure one of them is yours?

What are water buffaloes doing in Italy? Making cheese, of course!

In the Campania region of southern Italy, strange creatures roam in farms crossed by rivers and provided with man-made ponds.

These are Asian water buffaloes – and no-one knows how they (or rather their distance antecedents) got here in the first place. What we do know is their milk is used to make an excellent cheese, called mozzarella di bufala campana. This is the most prized of all the Italian mozzarellas, the generic term for cheeses that are made by spinning and cutting (the Italian verb mozzare means ‘to cut’).

Some say the Campanian water buffaloes (Bubalus bubalis to their friends) were brought to Italy in ancient times from India via the Middle East, others that they plodded behind Hannibal’s elephants in 216 BC, but it is more probable that they came with the Barbarian invaders of the 6th Century AD.

The early buffaloes were principally used for ploughing and were excellent in watery terrains, because of their strength and the size of the hooves, which did not sink into moist ground.

After the fall of the Roman Empire, Paestum, the major Roman city in Campania, started to decline (it was ultimately totally abandoned in the Middle Ages) and the land around it, previously cultivated,  turned back to malarial swamp, in which the buffalo roamed wild.

First mention of cheese-making only occurs in 12th Century manuscripts and it was not widespead until the second half of the 18th. For centuries, though, Campanian cowboys (butteri) rounded up the buffaloes --  and their milk was made locally into cheese.

The swamps were drained in the early 20th century and the wild buffalo were tamed and kept on dairy farms. (They need to immerse themselves in water several times a day, to regulate their body temperature, so rivers  and man-made ponds are essential on the farms.)

Of the ranges of mozarella available today, mozarella di bufala campana must come from Campania, while in the more generic mozzarella di latte di bufala the buffaloes will have wallowed elsewhere. Mozzarella fior di latte is made from cow’s milk and, although not the real McCoy, is not at all bad.

Traditionally mozzarella was bought and served on the day it was made, as it did not keep beyond 24  to 48 hours. Today, however, it is usual to see it sold in little balls, weighing perhaps 100 to 150 grams, surrounded in watery whey and sealed in small plastic bags. This means it can be kept a little longer.

Cooked mozzarella is used in pizzas, of course, in lasagna and in the Campanian insalata caprese, a salad made from mozarella, sliced beef tomatoes and basil leaves.

For us, however, the best way to enjoy mozarella and celebrate Italy is to make tricolore, a salad which looks as it says it is, three-coloured: red, white and green, just like the Italian flag. And it couldn’t be simpler to prepare – even Bill can do it!

Lois’ (and Bill’s) recipe of the month: Tricolore

You’ll need a large serving dish, preferably rectangular, but a large oval platter is fine. For four people you’ll need two 150g fresh mozzarella balls, a couple of ripe avocados and three or four plum or beef tomatoes.

Slice the avocados in half, remove stone and peel off skin carefully. Slice diagonally (about a quarter an inch thick) across the halves to make C shapes. Place these carefully on the serving dish, making a green panel filling the left-hand third.

Then take the mozzarella balls out of their wrapping (over the sink) and slice them up, too, putting them in a panel in the central third of the serving dish.

Then wash and slice the tomatoes, which occupy the final, right-hand third.

Tear off and roughly tear up fresh basil leaves and scatter them all over avocados, cheese and tomatoes, sprinkle with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Then glug on some balsamic vinegar and finally drizzle over the best olive oil you can find, preferably Extra Virgin oil from the region of Lucca.

And there you have it: instant nationalism. Forza Italia!

Painting tutor of the month: Charles Sluga

In our newsletters we like to highlight the talents of each of our tutors at the watermill. This time it’s the turn of Charles Sluga, a charming Australian artist who taught a lovely course at Castle of Park last year and is looking forward to his first trip to the watermill. His course at Posara will run from Saturday 4 October 2008 to Saturday 11 October 2008. We already have seven people booked on to Charles’ course, so we have room for four or five more.

Charles is a highly respected and sought after artist and watercolour teacher in Australia. He has gained a reputation for his versatility in both his technique and choice of subject matter. His friendly and enthusiastic approach, and eagerness to impart his wide knowledge, is reflected in his popularity as a tutor.

Recalling his beginnings as a painter, Charles pays tribute to artist Carmen Puls, with whom he spent every Sunday of his 13th year. This was in the small town of Great Western in Victoria, some 220 kilometers North-west of Melbourne, an area noted for its fine Australian wines.

Charles says: “On these Sundays Carmen not only taught me how to paint in acrylics, but also introduced me to famous artists and their paintings through her extensive library of art books.

”While attending these lessons I learnt the skills of observation, composition and the plein air approach and developed a love of art. On occasion I would copy a print of a painting by one of the old masters.

“It was certainly an incredible experience, when 22 years later I stood in front of the painting ‘The boyhood of Rayleigh’ by Sir John Millais at the Tate Gallery in London - one of the paintings I had copied on Sundays with Carmen. I only wished that Carmen were there with me.”

Boats and marine subjects have been a lifelong interest for Charles. He says: “They offer such a wealth of subject matter and visual stimulation”. Here’s a rather fine watercolour, called Sunny Day, Giglio Island.

Charles says: “What I was after in this painting was the sense of light, heat and a lazy kind of day. To create that sense of sunlight it was necessary to have a full range of tones/values: 'There is no light without the dark'”.

The sunlight hitting the boats is emphasized by the strong violet shadows cast by the boats and the dark background wall. The lovely glow in the hulls of the boats was achieved by dropping blues/violets and raw sienna into wet paper and letting it run and flow on its own. It is crucial not to play with the paint while doing this. The static horizontal composition adds to the relaxed feel of the subject.

Here’s another ‘seaside’ picture, though no hint of the sea. It’s called  The Afternoon Chat, Dubrovnik.

“ I was fascinated by these three women who meet each day to have a chat and feed the pigeons,” says Charles. “The backdrop of a bullet-riddled wall is a reminder of the 1990s conflict. I see this as a positive painting- “Life goes on!” One of the most important aspects of this painting is that the women were painted not as separate entities, but as one connected shape. The clothes touch, overlap and flow into one another. It was important to paint their clothes wet into wet allowing colours to bleed and folds to be soft. The foreground and background were also painted after the women were completed, which is a reversal of the classic watercolour technique of working from light to dark.”

And continuing the watery theme, here are two other Charles Sluga paintings which give a good idea of Charles’ talent and style. One’s called Scuba lesson and the other, Fountain, Carlton Gardens.

Charles’ courses are great fun as well as stimulating and inspiring. You can find out more about Charles on www.sluga.com.au and see our website www.watermill.net for more of Charles’ work and details on how to book on his course. (Or simply call Bill or Lois now on +44 (0)1888 568 375.)

The 2008 painting courses and availability

Here’s the list of all the remaining 2008 painting courses at the watermill and availability at the beginning of March 2008 (the full list, including those that are fully booked, are listed on our website, www.watermill.net):

Annelise Pio Hansen
(1 or 2 places available  at the mill, 1 place in the village )
(Saturday 10 May to Saturday 17 May 2008)
Watercolours

Annelise's colours are soft but bright, just like the light reaching the sandy beaches and the soft hills not far from where she lives just outside Copenhagen.
For more about Annelise and her paintings, visit her Tutor's page

Mike Willdridge
(3 places left at the mill)
(Saturday 31 May to Saturday 7 June 2008)
Watercolours, oils, acrylics, pastels

Mike works in a wide variety of media both ‘on location’ and in the studio. He works and teaches in a loose and free painting style.
For more about Mike and his paintings, visit his Tutor's page

Frank Halliday
(full at the mill, 1 place in the village)
(Saturday 26 July to Saturday 2 August 2008)
Watercolours

Frank’s dry Yorkshire sense of humour makes every class or course that he runs a perfect delight, and you will have fun learning. Frank ran a fun-filled course at the castle last year; this is his first trip to Posara.
For more about Frank and his paintings, visit his Tutor's page

Jennifer Branch
(full at the mill, 1 place in the village)
(Saturday 30 August to Saturday 6 September 2008)
Watercolours, oils, acrylics

Jennifer is a modern impressionist bringing her subjects to vibrant life on paper. While she prefers to work in watercolours, Jennifer is also skilled in oils and acrylics and is happy to teach in those media, too.
For more about Jennifer and her paintings, visit her Tutor's page

Laraine Simpson
(full at the mill; 1 place in the village)
(Saturday 6 September to Saturday 13 September 2008)
Watercolours, oils, acrylics, pastels

Laraine is highly regarded as a perceptive, patient and encouraging tutor working with beginners and advanced students alike. She works in oils, pastels, watercolours, and a variety of drawing materials.
For more about Laraine and her paintings, visit her Tutor's page

Terry Jarvis
(full at the mill; 1 place in the village )
(Saturday 13 September to Saturday 20 September 2008)
Watercolours, oils, acrylics, pastels

Terry is one of Australia’s leading watercolour artists. He also works in oils, pastels and acrylics. He also loves drawing and helping his students to develop their drawing skills.
For more about Terry and his paintings, visit his Tutor's page

Charles Sluga
(4 places left at the mill)
(Saturday 4 October to Saturday 11 October 2008)
Watercolours

Charles is a highly respected and sought after artist and watercolour teacher in Australia. His friendly and enthusiastic approach, and eagerness to impart his wide knowledge, is reflected in his popularity as a tutor, and the waiting lists for his regular classes.
For more about Charles and his paintings, visit his Tutor's page and see 'Tutor of the month' above.

An exclusive and inclusive painting holiday

A Watermill at Posara painting holiday is excellent value for money:  everything is included in the cost of your course: accommodation (including all linen and towels), pre-dinner aperitifs, all meals (including dinner with wine at charming local restaurants), local transportation (including transfers to Pisa airport; the excursion by train to Lucca) and tuition.

All you have to do is to get to Pisa and we do the rest!

Prices depend on which room you choose (see www.watermil.net for details). They start at £665+IVA (Italian VAT) per person per week (based on two people sharing), with a discount of £25 for a non-painting partner. Single rooms start at £715+IVA (Italian VAT). Italian IVA is currently 20%.

It is very easy to join a Watermill at Posara painting course. We pick you up at Pisa airport between 11am and 2pm (unless you decide to drive to Italy, in which case we’ll give you full directions).

You can book your own flights (there are good connections from Heathrow, Gatwick, Luton, Stansted, East Midlands, Birmingham, Leeds/Bradford, Manchester, Bristol and Exeter) or, to make life easier, you can use the services of our Personal Travel Adviser, Ann Carter, who will fix everything for you at very competitive prices. There is absolutely no obligation to use her, but if you would like her help, her phone number is 01886 889000 and her email address is ann.carter@tarsc.net.

Writing courses: creativity and commerce!

"The week I spent on Anita Burgh's course completely transformed my approach to writing fiction and gave me a huge injection of confidence about the possibility of writing something publishable.

"Sharon Kendrick made me look at writing in a completely different way and I feel I have learned so much from her."

Our two creative writing course tutors have a wealth of experience and getting on for 90 published books between them. Sharon Kendrick (Writing Romance, 3 to10 May) has written 65 books for Harlequin Mills & Boon, while Anita Burgh (Novel writing: release your potential, 27 September to 4 October) has written more than 20 novels for Orion.

So they know what they are talking about!

You’ll find itineraries for Sharon and Anita’s courses in the Creative Writing Courses section of our website (www.watermill.net), although we always emphasise that our itineraries are frameworks, not straightjackets, and they’ll be altered to best meet the needs of each group.

There will usually be a morning session, with a talk by the tutor and discussion and questions. In the afternoons, students will often work on exercises and have one-to-one surgeries, to discuss any problems and assess work presented prior to the course. The early evening session usually has a talk of about half-an-hour, with more discussions about students´ work. This might be done over dinner in a local Italian restaurant (life is hard).

As well as looking at the fundamental of writing, such as plots and plotting, developing themes, genres, characterisation, dialogue, viewpoint, pace, narrative, style and so on.

Sharon and Anita are also happy to discuss students’ own work in one-to-one sessions during the week. A month or so before the course, we’ll ask you to send your tutor an example of your work (not too much, we don’t want to overcome the poor girls! Two to four pages will probably suffice.) This will give them some idea of your style and will form the background of the one-to-one discussions on students’ plans for the future. It is not obligatory to provide this manuscript and Sharon and Anita are quite happy to talk to you without it, but it would be a help.

The group discussions will also address the issues of exactly what publishers are looking for these days and the best ways of presenting your ideas to them, so that you can maximize your chances of success. There will also be discussions on the vexed question of agents.

So, while the ethos of our writing courses is creativity and enjoyment, you’ll also learn invaluable lessons on how to present and sell your work. This service and the critique of your work is, in itself, worth more than the cost of the course.

The 2008 creative writing courses and availability  

We are running just two exclusive creative writing courses this year. The tutors and the format are based on the highly successful courses we ran at Castle of Park in Scotland.

These are the courses:

Sharon Kendrick
(full at the mill, 1 place in the village)
(Saturday 3 May to Saturday 10 May 2008)
‘Writing romantic fiction’

Sharon will pass on the benefits of her vast experience in writing romantic fiction and her intimate knowledge of what publishers like Harlequin Mills & Boon are looking for in a romantic novel. For more about Sharon, visit her Tutor's page

Anita Burgh
(2 places left at the mill, 1 place in the village)
(Saturday 27 September to Saturday 4 October 2008)
Novel writing: release your potential’

For those of you who want to write a novel, but need help with work in progress or simply don’t know where to begin.  While Anita loves to write, she also enjoys motivating others to do the same.
For more about Anita, visit her Tutor's page

Writing courses: what’s included

As with our painting courses, we should emphasise that everything is included in the cost of your course: tuition, accommodation (including all linen and towels), pre-dinner aperitifs, all meals (including dinner with wine at charming local restaurants) and local transportation (including transfers to Pisa airport; the excursion by train to Lucca). All you have to do is to get to Pisa and we do the rest. (See 'Getting there' in painting courses, above.)

We welcome couples, even if one of you will not be taking part in the course. There is a small discount for non-participating partners. Prices depend on which room you choose (see www.watermill.net for details). They start at £665+IVA (Italian VAT) per person per week (based on two people sharing), with a discount of £25 for a non-writing partner. Single rooms start at £715+IVA (Italian VAT). Italian IVA is currently 20%.

Renting an apartment rather than attending a course

When the mill is not busy with painting and creative writing courses it easily reverts back to self-contained apartments, which are available for self-catering lets for a week or more.

The five spacious and elegant apartments are arranged around the courtyard.  All have comfortable living rooms, well furnished bedrooms, a well equipped kitchen and modern bathroom.

Two apartments are in the three-storey Tuscan house in the mill courtyard, with views over the gardens and the mountains beyond; two others are set above the older watermill, with river and valley views; the fifth is set beside the olive press and the artists’ studio and looks out over gardens and the river.  There’s more information and plenty of pictures on our website www.watermill.net.

We still have availability in April, June, one week in July, the second half of August and one week in September. Please call us for more details.

Anything more you’d like to know?

If there is anything more we can tell you about our activities, and the true Italian lifestyle, please call us on +44 1888 568375 or use our secure Contact Form. And keep up with our website at www.watermill.net.

In the meantime, with very best wishes,

Lois and Bill, Lydia and Lara, Bella and Rosa (the Labradogs)
- and Blaze, the guineapig.

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