Rabbit tracks in the snow…!

We’ll, we’ve just had a wonderfully snowy week and were lucky enough to enjoy it without having to worry about guests travelling on icy roads. In fact, the timing was very good – all our deliveries had come and we had a week before our first group arrived.

So we just enjoyed being snowed in and went for lovely walks down by the river.  Steve had a fascinating time tracking in the snow the movement of all the rabbits that are currently decimating our bulbs!  We’d put up some barriers to the walled garden and could clearly see where they had tried to get around them.  In fact, it’s a good job everything has thawed as it could have become something of an obsession!  We may just have to stick to daffodils which they don’t seem very keen on…..We mainly stayed cosy up at home but Mel made occasional forays out to the rather parky office to check the phone and emails.

Fortunately, the roads thawed in time for a rare opportunity to get all the staff together in one place.  Because of the part-time nature of the work, we can all be a bit ships-in-the-night, so it was lovely to have an all-day staff meeting up in the facilitator’s flat to be together, talk about things, and share lunch (Steve’s wildly experimental but very good spicy aduki bean shepherd’s pie which was wonderful teamed up with one of Hilary’s home-grown cabbages!).

We now have a new yoga group in this weekend tutored by Suzanne Jevon-Hughston who is a local teacher.  The sun put in its first appearance for a while this morning.  So it was lovely, fresh and bright for their mid morning walk.  Next week we have a group of shamans coming, who have been working at Poulstone for over two decades!!  Some of them come from west Wales in very rural locations so we are hoping that the thaw will continue and they can get to us easily.

More soon!

Mel & Steve

Poulstone Court Retreat Centre

Book launch

As promised, we now have the full details of Barbara Turner-Vesselago’s book launch.

The launch will be on Saturday 2nd February 2013 from 6.30pm – 8.30pm at Bristol Music Club, 76 St Paul’s Road, Clifton, Bristol, BS8 1LP.

Barbara will be talking about Freefall Writing; what it is, how it came to be, and why both beginning and experienced writers find it a reliable way to get the thinking mind to step aside, so that writing becomes a truly vulnerable and open-hearted engagement with the moment.

You are invited to join Barbara in the delightful ambience of the Bristol Music Club for wine, refreshments and perhaps a little creativity!  Barbara will also be signing copies of her new book, for sale at £12.99.

RSVP to iva.carrdus@valapublishers.coop by 25th January.

“Here is a book that charts new territory, inviting the writer to fall with confidence into the ether of the creative self in order to write with skill and authenticity”

Louise Green, Editor of Lapidus Journal 

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year from everyone at Poulstone!

We hope you had a peaceful and relaxing time over the Christmas break?

Ours was quiet and cosy and spent with family.  We did have to remove a flock of sheep from the veg patch on Boxing Day morning (!) but otherwise it was a wonderful opportunity to unwind…

We’re looking forward to receiving our first guests soon and hope we see you here some time in 2013.

Warm wishes and love,

Mel & Steve

Poulstone Court Retreat Centre