Amy and Owen

Last weekend saw the first of our 2012 weddings at Pickwell and what a wedding to start with. The weather was amazing, the guests gorgeous and it all looked beautiful.So here are a few of the highlights from Amy and Owen's wedding that I thought you might like to see.

The theme colours of the wedding were yellow and white with a relaxed summer garden feel. Lots of effort had gone into making their guests feel welcomed to their apartments. I really liked the daisy detail on the door tags.

Each guest had a little hand tied parcel of 'Love Hearts' on their beds. I do love a 'Love Heart'!

Then an itinerary allowed guests to know what was going on where through out the weekend. They also left lovely breakfast bits in the apartment kitchens for guests to eat at their leisure before the ceremony.

On Friday night Amy and Owen hosted a family meal in the Snug that was wonderfully cooked by Amy's dad. Then on Saturday morning, whilst Amy was getting ready in 'Affinity', Owen and his friends played 5 a side football in the sunshine.

The flowers arrive! Gorgeous jugs full of daisies, sweet peas, hocks and all things yellow and white.

The flowers were by Kelly at 'Offshore Blooms' , a wonderful local florist. Amy had been saving up jam jars for the flowers and the different shapes and sizes added to the relaxed, summer, care free feel.

Kelly placed a garland across the wedding rose arbour to draw in the flower theme.

The cup cakes by Lucy at 'Juicy Lucy Cupcakes' were a very important part of the table decoration and would later become a delicious pudding with clotted cream and summer fruit coulis, yum! Each cup cake looked like a real flower placed in a plant pot.....almost too good to eat.

Amy and Owen are currently living in Australia, so the table names were taken after their favourite beaches over there.

The tables looked wonderful, the cupcakes and the little packets of seeds on each place setting really enhanced the summer garden theme.

For the table plan each guest found their name on little tags and their table name was on the back. I thought the frame looked great.

After footy, the boys scrubbed up rather well. Owen pictured here having a quick sandwich and a beer before the ceremony. I would say to calm the nerves, but he was actually the most relaxed groom imaginable. He just seemed excited and expectant all morning and was just loving having all his fantastic friends and family around him.

Owen then met with the registrar before the ceremony to go through the final formalities.

Amy coming out of the main entrance ready to walk down to the Rose Arbour. Her dress was stunning and was complimented with a simple hand tied bouquet that smelled wonderful with sweet peas.

Amy walked down the aisle to Eva Cassidy's 'Somewhere over the Rainbow', I love that song.

After the ceremony they served sparkling wine, Corona, and pints of Tribute. What an afternoon for drinks on the terrace, no one would believe it was cold and raining a couple of days before.

The boys playing a leisurely game of croquet in the Italian garden.

Alex, one of Owen's friends, was an amazing master of ceremonies for the day. Alex and Amy's nephew Charlie introduced the speeches and Alex  even managed to slip in a speech of his own as an introduction. I wonder if someone who had entered the 'speech sweep stake' had slipped him a fiver?!?

Instead of a guest book this message line was very effective and looked great in the Snug.

During the evening reception a photo reel projected in the hall provided great entertainment. Although there was a worry that all the pictures of Amy's beloved, but recently deceased, Bunny rabbit might bring back sad memories.

Then everyone danced the night away, the band were great and kept everyone on the dance floor all night. They were called 'The Mad Hatter's Tea Party' and although they all now live in London and Brighton they have local roots which provided them with an opportunity for a visit to the lead singer's mum. After the wedding they were heading back to her house for a home cooked curry and all seemed very excited about the prospect. What a wonderful day full of love, friendship, football, music, family and all manner of loveliness. Congratulations Amy and Owen!

Amity

Over the years we have all been inspired, challenged and moved by conversations that we have had with friends and strangers. Inspired by the 'World Cafe Movement'and Margaret Wheatley's book 'Turning to One Another' we decided a few years back to gather some of our friends together at Pickwell and put aside some intentional space and time at New Year to have conversations. With that 'Amity' (meaning 'friendship')was born. Last weekend was our fourth Amity but our first to be held in the Spring.

So here we all are....62 of us to be precise!

So just to explain how it works..... Everyone comes up with ideas of topics they would like to talk about or questions that they would like to discuss,they write them on a post it and stick them on the wall. Rich then gathers them together in subject areas. This years topics included vulnerability, social media, parenthood and community organisation. There is usually a wide range of questions ranging from the personal to political, social, economic and even theological issues. Everyone chooses to go to one of 3 conversation topics taking place in different lounges around the house, et voila!

Sophie concentrating very hard on her burning question.

For Spring Amity we chose to have the conversations in the evenings so that the days could be filled with fun for all the family (a bit of a gamble given our recent weather!). We have not done this format before so it was a new experience. On Saturday morning, after making our packed lunches, we all headed in the glorious sunshine down the fields to the beach for a picnic.

Nothing like a game of rounders to work up an appetite.

Then some wonderful friends of ours (and local youth workers) Becky and Esther came and did a treasure hunt around the beach with the children. It was brilliant fun, they had to follow the clues to find hidden letters, which they had to put together to give the secret location of the treasure.

They then had to dig for the treasue box to get the booty!

Then back to Pickwell for tea and cake on the terrace. There certainly was a lot of food over the weekend. It felt rather as if there was an eating opportunity every hour. I do love my food, so I am not complaining, but I think I have enlarged the general size of my tummy somewhat!

Everyone is put on a rota in teams to help cook a meal. These are often the best times for a bit of banter.

Steve's team cooked an amazing selection of curries. Here is the ballroom all laid up banquet style.

After dinner the kids head off to bed; Fires lit, snugly sofas, cheese and biscuits at the ready, baby sitters in position and it's time to settle down and 'chew the cud of life'. That is unless you opted for the conversation around the fire pit and then warm jumpers were definitely a must!

On Sunday we headed out for a walk to Heddon's Mouth, bags heavy laden with picnics and hot chocolate.

Marshmallows around the camp fire, yum........ or maybe not so yum!

Paddling is an option, however.....

There were a few sock casualties! Mmm toasted sock anyone?

Back at Pickwell a cream tea awaited us, cream first before the jam of course (the Devon way!) whilst birthday girl Liza took charge of the tuck shop.

On Sunday night Susie and I opted for the parenting conversation around the fire pit on the terrace. All the ingredients of a great night; inspiring and thought provoking conversation, a large glass of wine, cheese and biscuits, a snugly fire and a view to die for as the sun went down over Hartland.

It did get a bit nippy so hilariously the boys snuggled up under a blanket together. Paul and Jamie look like they are rather enjoying the experience.

Sunday morning (and the whole weekend for that matter) saw a lot of competitive croquet.

Steve on his way to giving someone another posting!!

The sunshine was glorious and the company wonderful. It turned out to be a fantastic, inspiring, invigorating, challenging and altogether great weekend. I have certainly come away with lots to think about.

Happy birthday too, lovely Liza, I think we know who put the fire work in your cake!

Walking in Lynton

Sus and I decided we would go off in the Pickwell motorhome 'Henrietta' and explore some of the beautiful coastline of North Devon and Somerset, walking for a couple of days. As the parents-in-law had our children, we couldn't pass up the chance for a mini-break of our own.

First stop was Lynton and a walk out to the Valley of the Rocks.

We stayed overnight parked up next to the River Lyn at Sunny Lyn campsite, which was a beautiful place to stay, in the valley less than half a mile from Lynton.

Once we had parked up the van and hooked up the electricity - essential when camping out in April to get the heater working - we headed off on a long walk in the afternoon sunshine.

Our walk took us along a sweet little track called Lynway which runs along the side of the valley parallel to the river. We passed some beautiful houses and gardens, picking up some ideas for the doors at Pickwell, as we went.

There was a fantastic view as we went along Lynway,

and some great viewing spots to stop and take it in.

When we arrived in Lynton we started to recognise a few sites we'd seen before when we've visited with the children. The Lynton and Lynmouth Cliff Railway ferries people from Lynton at the top of the hill to Lynmouth down below. Our walk out on the path to the Valley of the Rocks passed over the railway on a small bridge.

The path then took us past some lovely looking hotels and guest houses with stunning views across the valley and the Bristol Channel.

One which we really liked the look of was Hewitts Villa Spaldi (only because we have good friends with the same name, could be awful inside?!).

The walk then became a lot more remote, although the footpath is excellent and very smooth,

it has some sections where there are steep slopes falling to the sea and dramatic rocks both above and below.

When we reached Castle Rock, which is at the end of the Valley of the Rocks,

we decided to stop for a cup of tea at Mother Meldrum's cafe. The place was adorned with witch paraphernalia (see the black thing hanging from the tree on top left of pic) which started to slightly unnerve us (the only people there and otherwise completely deserted) as we sipped on our coffee!

There are many footpaths you can take in this area but Sus and I decided to loop back past the cricket pitch and then climb over one of the hills before dropping back down through a wooded area to Lynton.

The view from the top of the hill was truly stunning.

Lynton is a very pretty town and retains an old English charm,

we loved the colours of some of the buildings.

The cinema looked like it was in a converted church building, with windows like ours at home, full of character.

Finally we stopped to pick up some fish and chips before heading back to 'Henrietta' for a nice chilled evening.

On to Porlock next...

The Easter 'Eggstravaganza'

Easter Saturday was our third 'Easter Eggstravaganza' at Pickwell. We had a completely wonderful time and together raised £1010 for Georgeham school and George Palmer. George is lovely 4 year old from Braunton who has Cerebral Palsy. His parents are trying to raise £55,000 for an operation in America to enable George to walk.

Take a look at the website 'George's first steps' to find out more.

So many people and local businesses were really generous with the raffle prizes. A particular thank you to 'The Rock Inn' and the 'King's Arms' for their dinner for 2 donations. Lucky winners!

The Maskell families tirelessly served the extremely popular tea and home made cakes.

The sun shone (amazingly despite the forecast) and it was completely delightful sitting on the terrace chatting.

The Italian Garden was full of stalls. Zac and his friend have spent the last couple of weeks making lovely things and clearing out their rooms of unwanted items to sell. They did rather well I hear.

I regretted giving Millie-grace her own purse as I think she spent all her money on the sweet stall.

Easter Art and craft was a winner. There were many delighted children running around the garden with  a fluffy sheep or butterfly on a string.

To help the children run off the energy they gained from the sweet stall we have devised an Easter egg hunt around the garden. A bit like orienteering they take a map and find their way to 8 stations marked with giant eggs around the garden and punch their card.

If they manage to find all 8 stations they win a chocolate egg.

It was also a wonderful opportunity for the adults accompanying the children to enjoy the bluebell woods. They really are magical at this time of year, the smells and sight of the daffodils, blossom, bluebells and primroses are heavenly.

Angela was on the plant and homemade produce stall. Nice blooms!

Oh yes and then there was the face painting....grrrrr!

There is so much creative talent amongst the local parents. These are some of Julie's driftwood trees from her stall of handmade driftwood delights. Kerry also had her handmade glass beads on sale. She has now started doing bead making lessons, I have to say I am tempted to have a go.

Richard, Nigel and I making a fool of ourselves on the human fruit machine. Nigel seems to be having a little trouble getting the fruit out of his bag.

The girls really enjoyed giving it a go and......

Paul really enjoyed wearing the hat...'woof!'

The Easter hat parade was too cute!

Adele compared the day wonderfully making each participant feel really special.

Then there was baby bunny cuddling. We have had yet another 'accidental' litter of baby bunnies! They were very much enjoyed by all the cuddlers.

Even the adult cuddlers. Nice Easter hats girls!

The croquet was popular, but nothing in comparison to the......

'EGGLYMPICS'. This kicked off with the children's races and then the raw egg throwing competition. Needless to say it got quite messy!

Then onto the cut throat 'mum's egg and spoon' race. And they are off!

Angela looked like she was clearly in the lead but in the last step dropped the egg leaving Mrs Baker the victorious winner. We won't hear the last of that!! Thank you everyone who worked so hard to make this fabulous day the huge success that it was. What a fantastic community we have!

Easter and a new start

Things are looking a little different around here!

Remember this is how the west wing of the house looked? The window on the right was our office

and the window on the far left was a tiny anti-room of the office which was used to house lots of our stuff we hadn't quite managed to unpack from the move 4 years ago!

When we first moved we had to set up an office quickly, so we literally set up chairs and tables and started to work. No thought went into decor or practicalities, no time for that! This is how it looked as we were packing up.

Then Winter came, and so did the builders.

We started to knock through to make a door opening

Lucky there were no guests in as it was a bit chilly for a while.

After the door hole was made we concentrated on our lovely 60's conservatory.

It was built when Pickwell Manor was a hotel and they wanted to expand their dining space. We have always used it as a games room for guests.

It took a big digger and lots of mess to get this baby down. Now it feels like it was never there!

We are absolutely loving our new look west wing!

Our Baker lounge and spare room and Jubilee lounge above, now has wonderful light pouring in the windows!

Our new office (which was our original entrance hall with a terracota quarry tile floor) has such luscious white walls I am sure it helps us to think a lot more clearly?

My only real sadness is that our stationary supplier doesn't do folders in grey...

We have all new paths, new stone edging, a lavender-lined walk way and a gorgeous bespoke oak front door.

I just love the fishing lights (here and in the entrance hall) and the post box (both from 'Grace and Glory' in Barnstaple).

Millie-Grace (aged nearly 6!) wrote a beautiful sign for me to welcome our Easter guests,

and Liza (6), Molly (8) and Millie-Grace helped decorate these pebbles to sit by the front door too. Zac (9) appears to be completely uninterested in ANYTHING the girls are doing at the moment, thus no contribution from him!

The 'office anti-room' is now this lovely boots/coats/practical space.

Is this how you spell welly's?! A few people have laughed at me for this. Anyway, this area is basically for guest use - leaving dirty boots and shoes, and storing beach equipment, if they don't want to take it all up to the apartment. We also have things people can borrow and these too will be left in the cupboards.

The anti-room then leads into the entrance lounge.

and here you have it! Inspired by the beach and all the colours you find there, from the neutral grey tones of the rocks, to the frothy white water through to the odd bit of bold green coloured string.

We are blessed with the natural features our house has given us, from the stone mullion windows and here in this case,

the gorgeous inglenook fire-place.

A gift for any designer.

I love these little bird door knobs. They are fair trade (v important) and sold through Grace and Glory again. The old sideboard was found in a shed in the garden with chain saws in it. A crime.

These lamp-posts continue the beach theme down the new paths and into our extended car-park. (The games room has been laid to rest under the car-park extension). We tested the lights last night and they light the area perfectly - phew!

The eggs hanging on our Easter tree are from our friends at Sandleigh. I heard their chicken was laying gorgeous sage coloured eggs and Sarah v kindly let me have some!

It is really important to us that our house brings rest to all those who come.

I bought this lovely piece of art in Georgeham village. There was an auction to raise money for Paul's Place, a local B&B which can also provide respite for young people with a terminal condition and their carers.

It was a friend of Paul's who painted this picture and i think it perfectly encapsulates holidays and rest and rolling hills and sea. oh, that reminds me of somewhere...

I need to thank the wonderful team that made this happen. Our builders - Steve (my magic fairy), Joel and Simon. Our plumber - Mike, the painters - Adam and Dave. Our plasterer 'gift of the gab' Dubsy and our electrician Andy. Thank you for working really hard and against the clock as usual..you've done an amazing job x

My New Favourite Walk

A few weeks ago Susie and I had a girls weekend at Pickwell. As a treat we went for the most wonderful coastal walk which Susie found on the internet. This walk was heralded in the Guardian as one of the UK's top 10 walks . I know I live here and so therefore am a bit biased but it really is the most beautiful, spectacular, dramatic, magical walk. So much so, I have now done it 3 times in the last month with any set of friends who I can persuade to go with me.

The walk starts from the heritage centre car park in Mortehoe. You can either join the coastal path next to the picturesque old church or head through the village towards the lighthouse. This particular weekend we set out on the latter with 2 local families and I took some pictures to share with you.

Following the signs to Bennett's Mouth you wind alongside the river in a magical wood.

I can't wait for it to be warm enough to take a picnic and sit in the sunny glade whilst the kids play in the stream and climb trees. Further along the stream tumbles out onto the little beach of Bennett's Mouth where you will find rock pools and spectacular crashing waves. We didn't pause for long (although as usual long enough for Millie- grace to slip in a Rock pool, rendering her pair of socks very soggy).

The next accessible cove is Rockham. You will love this beach.

I am terrible with heights so have to brace myself for the steep steps down to the beach (despite appearance it is quite safe for little ones!) but it's well worth the journey down.

Even if it is March and the water a little bit cold, the children still love playing 'dare' with the waves. This always ends with the waves winning and the inevitable demise of yet another pair of socks......

Not to mention trousers and jumper too!!! We then had to warm up the participants with hot apple juice and cookies.

The beach is covered in flat round stones of all different sizes. The children spent ages playing 'make believe cafes' with stone plates and little stone pancakes (too lovely!!) whilst we sat and chatted in the sunshine.

The dad's got out the rugby ball, not quite Trev's thing (on the left).......can you tell?

Everyone had such a lovely time playing and relaxing before the climb back up the steps to the next breathtaking view.

Millie-grace pretended to be a dog going through the mini gates on each style (I think they are for dogs anyway?!?)

So many beautiful views as you walk past Ball Point lighthouse, then on to Morte Point.

Morte Point has an amazing Stegosaurus like Rock formation stretching its tail down into the sea. You have to stand at the end and look back to really see it. I had taken a film from the end of Morte Point but somehow managed to film the whole thing upside down.... so you have got a photo instead.

This is the view back across to Putsborough, Baggy Point and Pickwell as you turn in land and back to Mortehoe for a cheeky pint with some salt and vinegar crisps at the pub. This walk is a true feast for the eyes and delight for the soul.