By: Blonde One
This year – 2017 – is going to be Blonde! We can feel it. Amongst all of our other exciting ventures and adventures we are determined that we are going to finish a book that has been in the planning stages for ages. Probably the only way to make this happen, we decided, is to book some time away from normality and devote our entire attentions to it. So, we decided we needed a writing retreat. This was our list of requirements for our writing retreat…
Someone to cook for us and look after us.
A cosy fire.
Comfy beds.
Deep cushioned chairs in a peaceful lounge.
A supply of good red wine for the evening.
An abundance of coffee for the daytime.
A location on Dartmoor, but close to home.
A view that would inspire us.
A spa, just in case we need extra relaxation.
Friendly staff.
Deliciously tasty food.
You might think that this list is too long and that it would be impossible to meet all of our requirements; we very quickly realised that we had been listing all of the qualities of the Ilsington Country House Hotel at Haytor. So we are booked in, ready to at least make some good progress with the book. Watch this space!
Did you know that the Ilsington House Country Hotel also has a fabulous luxury spa? You can find out what happened when we Blondes visited here:
https://www.twoblondeswalking.com/a-spa-day-on-dartmoor/
Is that not the first year’s profits from your book blown?
Oh no, we plan to make far more profits than that…
Now there’s a thing… One of the pleasures of several decades has been to set up camp, get fed and watered, settle down, and get the fountain pen and pad out to catch up on correspondence. Describe the journey or place, add life events, put down thoughts or questions. It sets the world in order somehow, re-calibrates the mind, clears some space. Seal the envelope, job done. I’ve been known to spend all night at it. Some of those letters have been kept for decades I’m told, especially by folks who know the place, and it’s a different form of communication than electronic mail. Sometimes there really is a need for space to write eh?