A Cowslip's Belle Inn Newsletters
When we purchased Cowslip's Belle Inn in 2023 we started a newsletter to introduce ourselves to guests who stayed with the inn in the past. We put out three newsletters introducing the the owner/operators and keep guests apprised of things happening in the Ashland area and our Inn. We have finished introducing our three owner operators and conclude our newsletter missives. However please feel free to peruse the past newsletters.
Find our recommendations for local events Cowslips Recommendations
Meet us at Get to Know Us
Summer 2023
Greetings from Ashland!
We are writing to you to share a new chapter in A Cowslip’s Belle Inn's life. Steve, Jan and Greg purchased the property this Spring. We are excited to bring some new energy - post COVID and the big fires. We intend to be very hands on, hosting and operating the inn ourselves, so you have the opportunity to get to know us! We plan to give the rooms a little update, a touch newer look, spruce up the finishes - and yet honor the beautiful Craftsman character of the building, the openness of the courtyard, and peace of the koi pond.
Oregon Shakespeare Festival
Tyler Hokama is the new interim director for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Nataki Garrett recently resigned after leading the festival thru a lot of challenges. Follow this link for more information: https://www.osfashland.org/new...
Who are we?
Greg, Steve and Jan. We all met in Eugene Oregon almost 2 decades ago. Since then Steve and Greg got married, we’ve worked together, played together, cooked together, camped together, been to Burning Man together, and explored together. While Greg and Steve left Oregon, and then so did Jan for a while, we are reuniting in Ashland to run this property, greet guests, and enjoy Southern Oregon. With the 3 of us, we have the skills to take care of the property, buildings, guests, and take care of each other. In this newsletter we’re going to focus on Greg.
Greg grew up not too far away and has a sister and father in neighboring Phoenix OR. He has experience in construction, building maintenance, loves making jewelry, taking care of plants (and now Koi), dressing up, hiking. He is our personal grill master. He believes he’s going to enjoy getting involved with the local Talent Maker City with 3d printers. He is interested in exploring what being an ocularist is, skilled in the art of fitting, painting and fabricating custom ocular prosthesis. He is great with his hands, detail oriented and patient teaching the rest of us some of his skills! He is also known for his Burning Man creations. - The Umbrella of Photo Memories that lights up at night and twirls in the breeze - at the Alvord Desert.
Housewarming Party
We took advantage of an open window and invited neighbors, friends and family. This included Michael, the previous owner who has been wonderful to help us with the transition, and Megan who grew up in A Cowslip’s Belle.
Many friendly welcoming neighbors stopped by to meet us, meet each other again after COVID isolation. There are ideas of gathering again, maybe a reading by a neighbor who’s a published mystery writer, maybe neighborhood yoga, Halloween Party, wine tasting… It’s really wonderful to find ourselves in a friendly community. Jan found a fellow Chinese American just a couple of doors away.
After hours photo with Angela's friends
Spring in the Garden
In the short time we have been here we have watched the rhododendron and azaleas grow from green buds to bursting blooms! The warm sunny weather after the very snowy winter here is lighting up redbud and dogwood.
The housewarming party inspired us also to clean the koi pond and give them an equally fresh start. One of them is now named Murky because “they” were particularly good at hiding in the muck.
Jan's Featured Event
September 9th and 16th, 2023 - Crater Lake Ride the Rim https://ridetherimoregon.com/&...;
This is a ride that I’ve done twice and had a great time! Want to join me this year?
Ride, run, walk, or scooter on two VEHICLE-FREE DAYS at Crater Lake National Park. 33 miles, 4000 ft. elevation gain, with plenty of bike support stations with bike repair, snacks, water. Amazing views, calm peaceful roads, and many happy friendly people out to enjoy the day and experience Crater Lake in a unique way.. You don’t have to do the whole route, you can just go for a couple of miles. We saw families on a quad tandem, someone riding a wooden bike, tricycles, pedestrians, kids, and dogs. I’m even trying to get my 95 year old active mother to join us on a scooter! The volunteers were wonderful. It's only a $10 suggested donation to join this ride. ~
~Jan
__________________________________________________ Winter 2023/2023
In this edition of our newsletter, we will highlighting:
- Cowslip's Main House Kitchen rental
- Who are we? Steve Boswell
- Fall and winter in Ashland
- News from the Oregon Shakespeare Festival
- Another Local Theater Company
Rent the Historic Main House?
In the recent past you could rent the Main House with 3-1/2 bedrooms. Now your friendly hosts have moved into the Main House! We have found that sharing it with groups of people who know each other, cook, and enjoy the back patio has brought us a lot of fulfillment. We enjoy the sounds of merriment! While usually we want to enjoy the facilities ourselves, we are open to renting the ground floor of Main House on special arrangements - only to those special people who have stayed with us in the past. The facilities include:
- one bedroom with a private bathroom
- a fully furbished kitchen
- original craftsman dining room
- living room
- rear patio with grill overlooking the koi pond
- the ability to rent up to 5 additional suites in the Carriage House and the Rosebud
Email us with requests including the number of bedrooms, number of people and the possible dates.
~Acowslipsbelle@gmail.com
Fall at the Inn
A beautiful fall came, leaves have fallen, so far a mild winter is here, the koi are still happy.
Winter in Ashland....
We've been exploring Mount Ashland, ice skating in Lithia Park and Chozu Spa. Our mild winter has brought camelias out early in our garden!
OSF is not the only theater in town....
Medford: Criterian Theater (year round), Collaborative Theatre Project (year round), Holly Theater (coming soon)
Talent: Camelot Theatre (year round)
Ashland: Oregon Cabaret Theatre (year round), Rogue Theater Company (Summer)
This issue we will highlight the RTC or Rogue Theater Company which dedicated to presenting thought-provoking plays that inspire, entertain, and illuminate our common humanity. Their team works in a collaborative environment from Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s artists past and present to the vast pool of extraordinary talent throughout the valley, our vision is to encourage dialogue, generate empathy, and inspire curiosity. RTC’s indoor performance space at the winery is set on 40 beautiful acres, with views of nearby Grizzly Peak and Mt Ashland. Come early before a show for a glass of wine, a picnic, or a stroll in nature.
https://www.roguetheatercompany.com/
Winter 2024/25
Pruning Class at the Inn....
In late September, Cowslips Belle hosted a pruning class by Leslie Buck, author of NY Times reviewed "Cutting Back - My Apprenticeship in the Gardens of Kyoto”. A good friend of Jan, one of the owner operators of Cowslips Belle, Leslie gave a hands on class. We were thrilled to also get some advice to improve our courtyard garden! We hope to have this as an annual event.
Ashland Independent Film Festival
Ashland hosted its first post-pandemic annual film festival in early October. We at Cowslips Belle donated two rooms and were delighted to get to know two lovely film directors specializing in animation, Joan Gratz and Joanna Priestly. We really enjoyed hopping to many, many films. All of the familiar faces made it really felt like the community celebrated. We very much enjoyed being able to see a film, walk back to the inn and relax, and go out again for more films!
It was the world premiere of ‘Including Us,’ a film made by local director Brandon Givens, is about the Luke Hogan Laurenson, 18 diagnosed with cerebral palsy who starred in , Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s production of “Hairspray: A Broadway Musical” in 2019. The story focuses on four actors with disabilities who starred in the musical.
Festival Trailer:
Ashland Independent Film Festival
Ashland New Plays Fall Festival:
In October, Ashland hosts an annual new plays festival. Its an amazing opportunity to get to see and discuss new plays in development with sophisticated playgoers, skilled directors, world-class actors, experienced artistic directors and playwrights (from Oregon Shakespeare Festival & Southern Oregon University’s Theatre Department), the local community, and regional theatre hot spots.
https://ashlandnewplays.org/fall-festival/
Ashland Beckett Shorts Festival
Avant-Garde in Ashland? Ashland's local well-known playwright Octavio Solis, asked himself if Ashland could support an avant-garde festival. He dealt with the pandemic by diving into Beckett and decided to see if others local to Ashland might also resonate. We at Cowslips Belle were deeply affected by the evening. We walked between 6 non-traditional theater spaces with a small group experiencing the shorts Not I, Rockaby, Krapp’s Last Tape, What Where, Act Without Words II, and Michael Roth‘s musical composition Imagination Dead Imagine. Although "enjoyable" would not be the word to describe it, we ended the evening feeling like we have experienced a difficult Alice in Wonderland journey, but able to finally earn the ending live concert at the end.
https://www.ashlandbeckettshorts.com/
