TheItalianRetreat

2012-01-16T07:08:00.000-08:00

Winter is finally here with the first bigger snowfall this winter. The sceneray, as at any time of year,
is just beautiful. Needless to say, the Lily and Ivy Rose just love playing outside.

2012-01-03T12:21:00.000-08:00

TANTI AUGURI
We wish all our guests, friends and family a very happy 2012 and hope to see you for the new painting season starting in spring. Don't forget to check out our brand new website: www.lemarcheretreat.com and our range of exciting new courses for this year.

Buon Anno a Tutti!

OurBrand NewWebsite

2011-12-18T08:17:00.000-08:00

We are excited about our brand new non-flash website going live at the end of December 2011. We have worked hard together with our web-designer Barry from BEwebsitedesign to improve the site and make it easier to navigate.It will now also be possible for Mac and Ipad users to navigate the site. We have also re-worked our logo. We hope you are going to like the new site as much as us.

2011-10-05T04:50:00.001-07:00

3rd September-10th September' Vineyards and Olive Groves'.

2011-10-05T04:42:00.000-07:00

Becky in the Vines!

Rewards at the end of a hard days toils in the vineyard! Becky and Sandra at Cafe Lorenz.

3rd September-10th September' Vineyards and Olive Groves'.

2011-10-05T04:36:00.000-07:00

Becky Chan using palette knives to paint the view from 'The retreat'.

Becky and Mary (from Kentucky) doing perspective workshop down in Ascoli Piceno.

Becky working on atmospheric perspective workshop in the Olive groves....

3rd September-10th September' Vineyards and Olive Groves'.

2011-10-05T03:27:00.000-07:00

Just about finished up for our painting season at the Retreat. Thought I would post some random photos of the wonderfull people and places we have seen this year.

Joty and Rohid

At the Festa in Ortrezzano

Becky from Hong Kong in the Vines!

Mary Hysong finished the 'single stroke' mural.

2011-08-26T08:07:00.000-07:00

Mary finished the single-stroke mural in 1 and half hours!

Well done Mary it's brilliant!

Mary Painting 'One Stroke' mural in the kitchen of holiday appartment.

2011-08-26T07:08:00.000-07:00

Just taking a moment to post some pictures of Mary Hysong who you may know from Arizona. She is a 'One Stroke' tutor and is about to give a master class in this quick and impressive painting craft here at the Retreat this weekend.
She wanted to add a rustic look to the appartment and here she is at the start of a grape-vine mural!
Go Mary!

I will publish more photo's of it when it's finished.

13th-20th August Sunflower painting and Starry Night!

2011-08-22T01:26:00.000-07:00

Well what a wonderfull week we have just spent painting sunflowers in their fields. We were very lucky to have such perfect fields of flowers which allowed us to create some lovely studies in watercoloour, chalks and acrylics.
This week i was joined by Griff who travelled with Britta from Germany, then there was Anne from Cardiff and painting first timers Pauline and Helen from St Albans.

We had a lovely 3 days immersed in sunflowers. Much needed shade was provided by the hedgerows and trees.

Everyone produced some lovely work and there was even time to paint some studies of cut flowers in the studio!

13th-20th August Sunflower painting and Starry Night!

2011-08-10T08:01:00.000-07:00

A selection of sunflower compositions taken from fields surrounding the Le Marche retreat today!

30thJuly-6thAugust Course 'Opera night at macerata and Italian Landscape'

2011-08-10T07:32:00.000-07:00

After a great week of painting we finished off with a trip to Macerata staying at a wonderfull 3* hotel as part of our package organised by the Retreat. We enjoyed a delicious meal at Macerata's finest restaurant all included in the trip. Then just before nine we took our seats at the world famous open air opera arena of Sferisterio (which is a Roman Ampitheatre which is the perfect setting for this truly magnificent event!

top

47^th Macerata Open-Air Opera FestivalMacerata Sferisterio 22 July to 6 August 2011
Sferisterio Arena
22, 26 & 29 July, 5 August 2011
t
RIGOLETTO
music by Guiseppe Verdi

30thJuly-6thAugust Course 'Opera night at macerata and Italian Landscape'

2011-08-10T07:22:00.000-07:00

After a flying start to this week the group painted with a certain gusto which I attribute to inspiration from Gullio Gabrielli and in some part to the splendid food and drink that this region boasts, prepared by our in house culinary talent Jana!
She even suprised us with some delicious lavender muffins!

They were a real treat and the colours were natural and vivid!
Not to be out done our guests; Karen from Canada, Nauha from Australia, Jean from Spain, Janet from Norwich and Keith from London set about creating their own Marchesian delights. Whilst Katya enjoyed a relaxing holiday as many guests, non painting partners do!

Katya reading whilst Pheobe, our pouch supplies some company!
All of our guests had such a wonderfull time (as all groups do!) that they exchanged emails and vowed to keep in touch! Some promising to come back for more painterly adventures at the Le Marche retreat!
Here is just a selection of the painterly contributions achieved by this fantastic group!

Keiths watercolour of 'Force'.

Jean's copy of a Gabrielli's Ascolian scene.

30thJuly-6thAugust Course 'Opera night at macerata and Italian Landscape'

2011-08-10T06:45:00.000-07:00

This is one of our favourite courses at the Le Marche Retreat. Painters come from around the world with clothes packed for painting and then frocks and jackets for the Opera.
The week kicked of to a flying start with a visit to Ascoli and the Civic Gallery to see the work of the Italian Landscape painter Gullio Gabrielli. He lived and worked in and around the Ascoli area, painting during the 19th century. His particular style is a romanticised form of impressionism- his style being perfect for those wishing to gain accesss to this complecated landscape. He uses plenty of devices to simplify his 'alla prima' style but still retaining some suprises. His best attribute I feel is that he is a master of the understatement-never revealing his limits.
We stayed for awhile to sample the architectural delights of Ascoli (one of Italy's least known but stunning cities.)Then it was back to the Retreat for lunch and then painting in the afternoon!

Jean and Janet at Gabrielli exhibition!

Nauha searching for inspiration!

Guests painting at the Retreat!

Janet's acrylic painting of view form the 'Strada Vechio' to Rotella!

Janet's painting of Ascoli!Inspired by Gabrielli!

Jean using pen and ink washes to suggest trees!

Jean making full use of her sketchbook and painting trees!

discussions at lunchtime!

Edith from Hong Kong working with pastels...

2011-07-03T05:26:00.000-07:00

Landscape Painting this week 26th June to 1st July

2011-06-30T09:02:00.000-07:00

This week I have been joined by Edith from Hong Kong and Mark from England for an Italian Landscape Painting course. The week started with a trip to Ascoli to see an exhibition of Giullio Gabrielli's Italian landscape paintings. From here we worked on key features in the landscape, buildings trees, focusing on the eternal problem of mixing greens, looking at multiple perspectives and working in pastels and watercolours.It has been wonderfull!

Working in our sketchbooks we have made some lovely staudies based on Gabrielli's work.
Here are some that we did today.

Here is another one of Macerata- where my next course Opera and the Italian landscape will take place!

2011-06-06T02:19:00.000-07:00

This is the view north from the studio. I gunned the camera down the valley just including the onion crop that is in the foreground. The onions are out of focus- to be honest it's all a bit too hazy. So I manipulated the contrasts to give a bluer background and a warmer foreground. It's almost an abstract with strong diagonals . I like how the diagonals at the top are balanced by the large warm diagonal in the mid-ground. This could make a decent subject for a loose painting.

This is a view which I normally cannot see too well. It's hazy again but I used a 55-200mm zoom to cut through and pull up that large hill in the centre.

I like aspects of the composition and decided to post edit some more and crop sections which look more balanced.

As I worked through it was inevitable that some detail would be lost. But i still have the original photo to as a control. It kind of reminded me of those pointillist paintings by Seurat. He always used lots of blues and violets to add depth, so I just felt I should once again post edit the hues and the saturation slightly to see if it could look better.

I think this could also make a decent subject for a small loose painting.

Landscape Painting this week 22nd May to 29th May 2011

2011-06-03T07:22:00.000-07:00

Alistair mixing colours...

Sylvia enjoying working her way through to the foreground...

Sue, laying in background tones of distant hills...

Jan, making good use of wax resist

Jan and Mary...in the zone!

One of Mary's paintings!

Just taking some time out whilst I make a recovery from a hernia operation this week. Thought i would post some more photo's from last weeks course.

Landscape Painting this week 22nd May to 29th May 2011

2011-05-29T06:46:00.000-07:00

The Place- Monte Falcone.

The artists...

Alla-prima paintings by John and Jan

.

Landscape Painting this week 22nd May to 29th May 2011

2011-05-29T06:36:00.000-07:00

Sue painting! " in-the-zone!"

Alistair and Sylvia with Sue...

Me painting view from Monte Falcone!

Jan takes a snap of "alla-prima" artists working at -"Monte-Falcone".
This is one of my chosen locations for the Italian Landscape painting course.
It is off the beaten track- with a small cafe serving ice cold beer nearby! You will adore it- I do!

Landscape Painting this week 22nd May to 29th May 2011

2011-05-29T06:24:00.000-07:00

Jan and Mary- painting "alla -prima"

Landscape Painting this week 22nd May to 29th May 2011

2011-05-29T06:20:00.000-07:00

Some examples of work by guests from days 1+2 motif painting.

Landscape Painting this week 22nd May to 29th May 2011

2011-05-29T06:16:00.000-07:00

Days 1+2
What a most splendid week of painting we have just spent at The Retreat. We had guests with plenty of talent, from the U.S.A Jan and Mary(from Seattle and Michigan friends since school!) From S.A came Sue who has travelled on to Florence! From St Andrews Scotland; keen watercolourists and golfers, Alistair and Sylvia!
We started out with two days Motif painting of the adjacent hill town, FORCE, pronounced four chey.
Changing media and brushes along the way. The objectives were to loosen up technique and increase mark making vocabularly. We developed skills using watercolour and experimented with resist.
We used the same study to make transfers that we reworked using acrylics and palette knives. No-one really uses knives anymore...but who knows maybe the trend will grow. They are great fun and a must if you wish to loosen up.
Anyways... enjoy the pics.

This Year's Painting Season is off to a Good Start

2011-05-03T04:42:00.000-07:00

The New painting season 2011 at The Retreat has gone off to a good start. We kick-started the Spring Season with a 5 day Life-drawing course. Painters from the US as well as Europe have enjoyed learning the observation and gauging techniques so vital for any accomplished painter. with all guests having extended their stay to do some extra landscape painting over the Easter period, what was going to be a 5 day course extended to be a 9 day art extravaganza. even the Easter bunny was impressed by so much effort and rewarded our guests for their hard work. Well done everyone! We are already looking forward to the next courses and are delighted to be welcoming so many of last year's guests back this summer.

Painting Holidays at The Retreat Slideshow: John’s trip from Force (near Montefalcone Appennino, Marche, Italy) to 5 cities San Benedetto Del Tronto, Loreto, Pedaso (near Massignano), Montalto delle Marche and Montefortino was created by TripAdvisor. See another Italy slideshow. Create a free slideshow with music from your travel photos.

2011-01-25T08:05:00.000-08:00

Painting in studio...

2011-01-23T09:06:00.000-08:00

Once more I have been working on trees. Nearly finished an Italian Oak with a mistletoe attached to it. While it dries i started a mini painting of a view from a roadside nursery.

Snowy morning in Le Marche!

2011-01-22T01:37:00.000-08:00

Hi, woke up to 50 cm of snow here in Force! It's still snowing! Making my futile attempts to clear pathways look ridiculous! However it needed to be done and I must continue with an autumnal landscape that I had started. So I will be painting again! Yipee.

2011-01-06T06:33:00.000-08:00

Still working on larger tree painting.

I have touched up older paintings. This one is a Tuscan Style View from Monte Falcone again. I like the meandering road and the banks of rolling hills. Lovely view and a great perspective, this sought of perspective is common in Le Marche!

2011-01-06T00:20:00.000-08:00

Ok, here is the basic tree that i worked on yesterday. The oil has become fat now so I need to stop and let it form. Meantime i am going to work on a bigger sketch this time on paper.

2011-01-05T12:31:00.000-08:00

Blocked in the composition for tree in landscape painting. Will post photo in blog tomorrow morning. Also drawn out larger version for painterly sketch tomorrow. Orderred Michael Harding paints which were on sale at Bellearti art shop in Macerata.

Painting in the studio.

2011-01-05T00:22:00.000-08:00

Hi from the Retreat's studio. Yesterday we went skiing but on the way I took a moment or two to take some photo's of trees. Trees are fantastic subjects and here in Le Marche at this time of the year their skeletal frames add drama and a cold feeling. Reflected colour from the surrounding landscape intensifies the effect. So this morning I shall be working on printing these images with a view to making studies leading to a painting or two.

2011-01-04T08:19:00.000-08:00

We took Lily up to Sarnano to a ski slope called Boliagnano. Sadly the baby slope was closed but we got her some boots and tiny ski's and off she went. Our friends were there with their children so Lily wanted to join in and I have to say for a three year old she was straight in there. No fear!

2011-01-03T05:52:00.000-08:00

Last night we were invited over to the Preseppi at Porchia near Mont Alto. Debbie and her children took us to the town where they stage a nativity scene throughout the town with Roman Soldiers, Angels and various scenes depicting Medieval occupations. The lighting and mood was amazing but my digital camera just wasn't up to the job once more. It's frustrating as the shutter lapse often blurs any movement.
There was a great fresco from the 16th century I guess.

Painting in studio!

2011-01-03T02:51:00.000-08:00

This is an autumnal view of Montidinove. I took a photo of it on a rainy day just as a ray of sunlight caught it and created a rainbow. Rainbows are difficult to say the least, especially when they merge into the landscape. I have struggled with the placing of the highlights of colour where it hits the hill. So to guide me i shall rework it with a masking tape edge.

2011-01-01T08:56:00.000-08:00

This is the walnut grove only yards from the Retreat studio! I am currently working on the leaves.
The greens can be a problem when you have a canopy that's dense in some parts and high lit in others. I will continue to work it once the paint is less fat. However you have to be careful not to let in completely dry as this makes it difficult to bridge blends. So this is one reason why artists need to work on several at once so that they can manage time appropriately.

2011-01-01T08:49:00.000-08:00

This is a landscape view at the foot of Monte Falcone. It is the back road from Force to Comunanza. I just liked the sheep and the high note colours that are just central to the Le Marche landscape. Apologies for the photo quality- it's a bit shaky but it's not finished so will hopefully get a better shot as it develops! Hey and vineyards are just fantastic to add interest to your composition.

2011-01-01T08:43:00.000-08:00

Ok I am signing off for today- just wanted to show you some of the paintings i am currently working on.
This one is of Monte Falcone. It's a great view don't you think? A cliff edge with a mid ground to the left of the foreground! That's quite unusual. In the background just left of St John's church is The Retreat where I run my courses. If you ever visit us I can show you!

Painting in the Studio New Year's Day!

2011-01-01T03:12:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year from the Retreat! Jana has passed responsibility for this blog over to me. I am John Skelcher. I can't promise to keep it as organised as Hana but i shall try to keep it of interest to anyone who enjoys painting and or the Italian countryside.
Just warming my soul this wintry morning (not quite freezing but cold enough!), by overworking a summer scene painting. The scene includes a view of the much loved Monte Falcone and plenty of sheep! Struggling with greens of the tree tops! Oils can be a little frustrating and it is always difficult to exactly know when it's time to stop and leave for another day. I tend to work it to the paint becomes too fat to work- i.e it starts to blend with the under paint causing you to loose control of the mixed tone.
My work tends to rely on a technically smooth surface, so i try to keep it lean but opaque. Anyone who paints may understand that there is always a temptation to try something new and you break your own rules. This can be good but for me at this moment i am trying to stick with a style of painting that i have developed. So discipline comes into it as well. I shall let you know if it pays off later. But for now i shall get on with painting and hopefully take a snap and upload for those interested...
Anyway Ciao for now!

Snow and Panettone delights

2010-12-19T06:26:00.000-08:00

Lots of snow in Le Marche now. A good excuse to enjoy all those sweet delights Jana has been making for all the family. I especially love the mini panettones. Yum!Why not try out her recipe yourself. They make special presents or party gifts too, if wrapped up in baking paper. They are so easy to make and delicious!

Mini Panettone Receipe

Ingredients (for 12)

250g flour

1/2 cube of fresh yeast or one sachet of dry yeast

8 TbS

sugar

200 milk (warm)

rind of half a lemon

125 g soft butter (or melted in a pot)

2 eggs

75g candid fruit (optional) (soak in the Rum)

4cl Rum

50g Raisins

50 almonds (sliced)

icing sugar

baking paper & ribbons for decoration, muffin tray

Sieve the flour into a bowl, make a dent in the middle. Crumble the yeast into the middle (or put in dry yeast), add 2TbS sugar and some of the warm milk and mix with a wooden spoon

Cover bowl with a tea towel and leave to rest for 20 min

Add the rest of the milk, sugar, lemon rind, butter, eggs and mix until smooth (add more flour or milk if needed), until the dough comes away easily from the sides of the bowl

Cover again and leave for another 30 minutes

Heat the oven (ventilated if available) to 180 Degrees Celsius

Put baking paper into muffin moulds (optional)

Add the Rum soaked candid dried fruit to the dough mis and spoon the mixture into the moulds.

Bake for around 35-40 min until golden brown.

Remove panettones from the moulds and leave to cool.

Sprinkle icing sugar over the panettones

tie ribbons or kitchen yarn around the cakes (if in baking paper)

enjoy yourself of give away as party gifts

Merry Christmas to everyone!

Fairy Princess & Wizzard craft party at The Retreat

2010-12-18T06:22:00.000-08:00

To celebrate Lily's 3rd birthday party we had a magic fairy & wizard craft party here at the studio. Little and bid wizards and fairies had fun decorating their crowns and wands. With young and old joining letting their creativity run wild, we had a magic afternoon and everybody got to take home their decorated trinkets, wands an crowns. Some of the children also enjoyed making fun creatures out of a gigantic bale of straw - like Rudolph the raindeer and Dominic's fantastic spider. See for yourselves how much fun we had...

Templar history and classical architectural features in Italy

2010-12-18T03:53:00.000-08:00

Templar history and classical architectural features in Italy

A retrospective of the year

2010-11-17T07:55:00.000-08:00

Now that this year's painting season has come to an end we finally find a little time get back to up-dating our blog, which has been shamefully neglected. Autum here, a beautiful time of year, is slowly coming to an end and it's staring to get wintery. However, this landscape is stunning at any time of year and we still enjoy magnificent scences across the valley and hills.

It's been a fantastic year for year us and we have enjoyed welcoming so many guests from all over the world. We have many new friends for life and are already planning new projects for the coming seasons, some with people who have come on courses. Apart from organizing next year's courses, John is working on paintings for a forthcoming exhibition in Rome, where we are also organizing some courses next year, Jana has started working on a cook book of recipes enjoyed by our guests and we are working on re-building our old rustico, which will provide more accommodation for guests in the future. So lots to do...

This year has also been marked by the birth of our second baby daughter Ivy Rosein April, who after a cancer scare, has been given the all clear. Thank you for all the messages of support we've received. Lily, now nearly, three has started at the Italian nursery and is nearly fluent in Italian. she now also enjoys her ballet lessons and like her dad, loves to paint and likes giving a critique of his work when thy work together in the studio.

I've added some of our favourite pictures from this year and you will be able to find plenty more on our website. I'm hoping to get the chance to add some recipes to this blog from time to time for you to try at home. Don't forget to check out or site for our new 2011 courses.

See you in 2011

Jana & John

International Artists working at The Retreat

2010-07-19T08:00:00.000-07:00

New York artist Micky Schon and Israeli Printmaking Artist Hadassah Berry enjoyed a week of Life Drawing at The Retreat working alongside British painter John Skelcher in a variety of Media. The course has been a true inspiration for everyone, professional artists and beginner painters alike. More joint work is planned for the future including a collaboration in Jerusalem. "I am looking forward to spending time there to work on some exciting new pieces this coming winter. Watch this space ..." (John)

Life Drawing in beautiful Italy

2010-04-03T06:42:00.000-07:00

Life Drawing in beautiful Italy

Retaining the soul of a building

2010-03-25T09:36:00.000-07:00

Keeping the Italian charm is at the heart of the restoration and renovation of our guest accommodation at the Villa. To give our guests that perfect Italian holiday experience, we are busy cleaning beams and oiling doors, restoring old walls in the bedrooms and coming up with lots of ideas of how to use the beautiful old and durable materials such as the terracotta roof and floor tiles to retain the charm of a typical Marchesian farmhouse. We have seen many restoration projects in the area done by local builders. Sadly, most of them had the authentic Italian character modernised out off them, looking like complete new-builds new replacement "features". As this is something we wanted to avoid in our restoration, we are cleaning and re-installing as many of the old features as possible and already we can see the soul of this building returning to it's former charm. With the walls and floors now taking shape, we are becoming ever more excited about the final look of our guest rooms. We are looking forward to adding the new pictures in the weeks to come.

Introduction to Painting and Water colour Techniques

2010-03-13T00:24:00.000-08:00

Introduction to Painting and Water colour Techniques

Under the Italian Sun

2010-03-07T02:37:00.000-08:00

Under the Italian Sun

Art & Printmaking Workshop

2010-02-28T06:24:00.000-08:00

Art & Printmaking Workshop

The Italian Truffle Experience

2010-02-21T10:16:00.000-08:00

The Italian Truffle Experience

Introduction to Landscape Painting

2010-02-20T01:32:00.000-08:00

Introduction to Landscape Painting

2010-02-07T08:32:00.000-08:00

Introduction to Landscape Painting

Off to see Ceasar in Rome

2010-01-25T03:01:00.000-08:00

I am huge fan of Canadian artist Ray Ceasar. So, I'm off to see his second exhibition at Rome's Mondo Bizzarro gallery today. A great way to beat the winter blues. If you haven't heard of his work before, check it out on his website: www.rayceasar.com or why not visit the gallery yourself? www.mondobizzarro.net. So when in Rome...

Ouch!!

2009-12-03T04:10:00.000-08:00

We couldn't quite figure out why Chester wasn't coming to greet us with his usual waggy tail this morning but instead refused to come out of his hut altogether. It wasn't until we realised that must have sat on porcupine last night - judging by the sting sticking out of his bum. Ouch!

Spare a little thought for the poor fellow....

Truffle Season at The Retreat

2009-11-29T08:04:00.000-08:00

This year's truffle season has been off to a good start with plenty off rain and humid conditions. Both the elusive White Truffle and the Autumn Black Truffle can be found on the grounds off The Retreat making it a popular spot for truffle hunters. We like enjoying this aromatic fungus in home-cooked local dishes at this time of year.

Freshly hunted Black Truffles from this morning have made it to our table by lunchtime today. What better way to enjoy your Sunday lunch Italian style. Thanks to the generosity of our local trifolao, there's even plenty left for scrambled eggs with Truffles for tomorrows breakfast.

Why not try one of our favourite truffle recipes for yourself?

Spaghetti Al Tartufo

Serves 4

Ingredients:

6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

2 anchovies packed in salt, rinsed, boned

and finely chopped (or use from a glass)

2 teaspoons tomato sauce

salt and pepper
1 pack dried spaghetti (500gr)

1 oz/30gr. black truffles, finely grated (or use

a good quality truffle oil instead)

finely chopped parsley and grated

Parmesan to garnish

Method: Heat the oil with the garlic over medium heat, making sure the garlic does not turn brown. Lower the heat, add the anchovies, and cook for 5-10 minutes until they are dissolved. Add the tomato sauce and season with salt and pepper. Cook for 4-5 minutes. Meanwhile cook the pasta in a large pot of salted boiling water until they are al dente. Drain and transfer to serving dishes. Sprinkle with the truffles and top with the anchovy sauce. Garnish with the parsley and grated Parmesan.

Sticks and Twigs - Creative autumn fun for the kids at The Retreat

2009-10-29T06:10:00.000-07:00

Creative Autumn Fun at The Retreat Today we went for a stroll with the dogs and Lily to the old chapel ruin at the top of our hill. along the way we collected lots of autumnal forest fruit and leaves, which we used to create these charming little characters. (Andy Goldsworthy - eat your heart out...)

There is lots of fun to be had for all the kids here at The Retreat all year round.

A Walk in The Sibillini Mountains

2009-10-05T05:11:00.000-07:00

Enjoying an exhilarating walk in the National Park on this Sunday provided a much needed break from our work here at The Retreat. The dogs had a great time too chasing everything that moved and jumping in and out of the water. A public holiday, many Italian families were out and about too, so not just mad dogs and Englishman...
We are now looking forward to our short trip to the Biennale in Venice, a fantastic location for this Art festival.

Owls nesting in the walls of The Retreat

2009-08-26T06:05:00.000-07:00

After leaving their nest in old stone wall at The Retreat's rustico, our yound tawny owls can now often been seen roosting at a nearby tree