Quick update

Just a quick update before i hand over to Tracey...
We have virtually finished the exterior house repaint. Just got the top windows to finish. Hoorah!
Also i have added some colour and general excitement into the child sleeping cabin in the form of a textile picture and some bunting.
Simply had to share. Thats all. Bubbye x

Introducing...Bliss

When Amity was finished we moved onto Bliss, one of our two largest apartments in the house. Previously, this apartment had green carpet throughout (orange in the lounge) and red floral curtains (but not in a good way). Over time we have gradually replaced bits and pieces but this winter was the time to make the big changes.
We built a new kitchen, loo and shower room into what was just the dark coridoor beforehand,
thus making a whole new room (from the old kitchen and bathroom space) big enough for a kingsize bed (see above).
This is the first bedroom you come to, it has a super-king bed. If ever you are tempted to buy any beds like ours, don't go to 'The Island Furniture company', unless you have a few months before you need the bed and even then give them a date 2 months before you really need it...grrrr.
The textiles in this apartment were made by my extremely talented sister-in-law Lou Baker (http://www.flickr.com/photos/25094859@N05/)
We really love baths here so have tended to make them centre stage in a couple of the rooms. It sits happily on a concrete plinth. Not great for those who may be shy, but makes a great conversation time if one is in the bath and the other relaxing on the bed...or two in the bath...
Even though we put new en-suites into two of the bedrooms we were determined to be true to the size and grandeur of the space and not chop it up with partition walls and coridoors. We think we have achieved this balance well (even if i do say so myself..)
I found the marble wash-stand top at our local auction house on a rickety old coffee table and just knew immediately it would be perfect for this little room.
This is how the second bedroom looked before it had the finished headboard (below). The fabric is 'swallows' by Sanderson and we love it. Made for us by our wonderful Deb at Home house Interiors.
Deb is now working on some linen valences for the beds which should match the curtains and finish the room off perfectly.This room can be configured as a king bed and a single bed or three singles.
The Dutch antique furniture was given to us by Lou's Mum (of textile fame)and has been in her family since before she was born. We are very grateful and think it is a great fit in this big spacious second bedroom.
This is the ensuite in the second bedroom. It also has a lovely big bath with shower over, off on the right hand side. It is very spacious but doesn't seem to take anything away from the rest of the room. We built this bathroom with a curved wall and it looks like it was an original wall as our builders have done such a good job.
This fourth bedroom has the most wonderful 'T' shaped window which looks out onto the front garden and beyond to the sea. It is light all year round and has a really lovely feel.
This is the super-king bed in the same room. There is a single bed/sofa also here if needed for a child.
Our lounge has a step up. This was already in place when we arrived 3 years ago and believe it was built like this so that you can see out of the window at the impressive view. It is a fab living/dining space and,like the fourth bedroom, is south facing so gets the sun for most of the day.The door in the lounge is normally locked off. However, if there were two groups of friends or an extended family sharing both Affinity and Bliss, then the door can be unlocked and you can go between the two.

Kat and James Wedding

My biggest worry about yesterday's wedding was the weather. all week it has been completely unpredictable and when the bride and groom are desperate to be married outside, it is a continual yo-yoing of 'its the wet weather plan', 'no, the dry weather', 'ok, now the wet weather...' At the last minute we went for the outside ceremony and we did not see a drop of rain all day! Hoorah! In fact it was really warm and sunny. Made even sweeter by the persistent rain today.
The visibility was excellent, i think it was the first time i have actually seen ripples on the sea from our Terrace.
The bridesmaids, the bride (not pictured) and the mother of the bride all wore matching grey satin dressing gowns all morning and looked very stylish indeed.
Josie Lock (www.josielock.co.uk)is one of our recommended make-up artists and we think she's great. She always comes with a smile and it makes everyone feel relaxed even first thing in the morning. This is Kat in the rollers, who made a very beautiful bride.
The ceremony was lovely. The grooms cousin, Nia, sang the coldplay song 'green eyes'. I'd never heard it before but when i listened to her rehearse in the morning i came over a bit teary and when she asked if it sounded ok, i couldn't actually speak! The older i get the more things seem to make me cry i've noticed. Although, i'm not the only one, my friend Zoe was describing a book she reads to her two young sons and she couldn't get past telling me its title without dissolving into tears!
Tracey found these wonderful bamboo sticks from a website right down our street (www.pipii.co.uk) and i got Steve and the kids making them up with strawberry's, cucumber and mint for the pimms. Didn't they do well?!
Getting ready for the 'confetti shot'.
Sorelli strings played for the ceremony and then on into the afternoon. It created a serene backdrop to the chatting and the laughter.
The Ballroom looked amazing with the chair covers and pink sashes and the flowers which scented the whole space and hit you as you walked in the door.
What a gorgeous cake! The inside was made by the bride's mum, Tricia. three different layers - carrot, fruit and chocolate and the outside was iced by a local cake maker (whose name i will find out as she did a great job!)
The menu: To start.. pan fried salmon with herb cream sauce and asparagus wrapped in pancetta with fresh parmasan. The main course was chicken in a bacon, spring onion and cheese cream sauce with roast potatoes and a hand tie of veg or pan fried wild sea bass with rice, mange tout and a saffron cream sauce (SO gutted i forgot to take pictures of these). Followed by Etonian mess or a rich truffle torte with vanilla and raspberry sauces.
The children had their own special dessert of plain ice cream with a choice of sprinkle treats.
Holly is my right hand woman and is so good she has her own weddings next year. Holly also works with Steve for his company so Holly is almost part of our Pickwell family. I have to thank my friend Caroline here who stepped in for Holly (as Holly was needed behind the bar)and did a fabulous job, especially at making everything look pretty at all times. Thank you Fricksy!
Lovely Ski! Ski manages a surf shop by day and manages our bar by night, as well as having a wife and two gorgeous children. He is totally charming behind the bar and is completely unflappable. Just what we like.
The cake cutting ceremony....
followed by the first dance

Everyone went off to bed, tired, happy and a little sunburnt!



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Introducing...Amity

'Amity' means friendship and we felt this was the perfect name for our cosy little two-person hide-away.
Over the winter we were as busy as ever with building and refurbishing. I will introduce you to a couple of our most recent projects in some of my up-and-coming blog posts. This was the house laundry for the first 2 years and it is hard to remember how it looked now! It has been my favourite project so far as i have been able to break away from the more traditional look of the main house.
The sink sits on pebble tiles to bring in the relaxed beach feel.
We put old bottles, found in the ground, in the window. Thank you to Joel for that inspiration.
There is a wonderful intimate dining space for two under the window. you can look out on the lawn while you eat and chat about the surf.
I put bright turquoise tiles in the kitchen to try to bring some contrast to the Cornforth white (good old F&B) that i had painted everywhere.
The blinds were made from the builders dust sheets (new ones i might add!). I was trying to describe to someone how i wanted the blinds to look when i reached for the dust sheets and said 'just like this'! The rest is history.
The bed is on paletts on the floor. I made sure we had a comfy matress and memory foam topper though so it is very lovely when you get in (aparently!)

The chapel has started its transformation from old dumping ground to an eventual bridal suite. I am as excited about this as I was about this project..watch this space for news on that.

Now I have to give a special mention to both Matt Spour and Dominic Blackmore who are both extremely talented interior photographers and friends. They took these shots for us and we are absolutely thrilled with them. Thank you to you both and to Sarita and Jude for all the styling tips. We are eternally grateful x

a new discovery

We had a great time at centre parcs (Longleat for those who are interested) while Tracey did the wedding at home. We go each year with friends who we met because we all were pregnant at the same time. So one thing we all have in common is our 8 year olds. At the mum's lunch we were asking ourselves the question 'how do we raise our kids to be confident in who they are'? The short term result was a rewards ceremony for each child to celebrate something they did at centre parcs this year. Looking at this photo, i wonder whether we over-egged the pudding?
We came home with one of the families who wanted to extend their holiday with a few days at Pickwell. They asked to take Steve and I out for dinner locally. We went to 'Mortehoe Shellfish' and well, what a brilliant find! As Tracey said, it is a family business and the family are one of the original 4 families who were the community of mortehoe many, many years ago. The brother is the fisherman, the mum is the cook, and the daughter was serving us in their lounge/restaurant. It was perfect.
From tripping through the sliding doors of the conservatory to the mismatched vinyl tablecloths,it felt relaxed and homely, despite it being quite busy with customers. I think there may have been 20 people there. On each place there is a sheet of paper which gives the story of the family and the history of Mortehoe. I do love stories so i brought it home.
It was only when i had just swallowed my last mouthful that i remembered the blog and it was too late to get a photo of my delicious seafood platter! So i will try to remember what was in it - lobster, crab, prawns (3 different types)and sea bass. It all tasted really fresh and it was cooked perfectly. This was just a 'mini platter' so i wonder what they put in a big one? I skipped desert, went for a baileys coffee to finish and my night was complete. The whole experience was really worth doing. Our friends are proper food snobs and they loved it! The restaurant is only open from may-september and the opening days and hours do need to be checked as it can vary.

A lovely photographer and her wonderful photos of a Pickwell May wedding

The most wonderful link to one of our favourite photographers blog came through to me and I wanted to share it with you as she has posted the photos from a completely gorgeous Pickwell May wedding and I thought you might like to check them out http://www.rebeccaroundhill.co.uk/blog/category/pickwell-manor/



Catharine and Steve's wedding was so lovely, they are such a wonderful couple and have a really super family. The photographs really captured them and how fun, moving, magical, adoring, beautiful, inclusive of children the wedding was, how true it was to them as a couple and a real celebration of love and family.




On a more personal note...Millie- grace's plaster came off today, hurray!! Although her arm is now feeling very weird and she has nursed it all afternoon not wanting to move it too much, poor Millie.



Mr and Mrs Baker have gone out for dinner with some lovely friends they have got staying to a family run seafood restaurant in Morthoe that we have all been meaning to go to. At 'Morthoe Shellfish' we have heard that the son/husband catches the fish / shellfish which the mum then cooks and serves in her lounge, so basically you go for dinner in their lounge. Supposed to be great food. This may however be a Devon rumour, so am hoping for some Baker details, Mrs Baker always can be relied upon for a great story!