Feed the Birds

The beautiful snow arrived at Pickwell on Friday. I know we had less than others, being so close to the sea, but we have really enjoyed it. It does make everything even more beautiful and magical, just like a scene from Narnia! There are some wonderful photos that Susannah took on our facebook page if you would like to see more. The snow is lovely for us, but always makes us mindful of our Pickwell feathered friends who find it tricky to find food.

Molly got this great book by Stephen Moss for her Birthday which we absolutely love (highly recommended for adventurous, nature loving families). There is an enticing trailer for it on you tube.

We have been out spotting birds in the snow with the aid of the 'guide'. We have a little Wren that flutters around the herb garden that we can watch from the kitchen window and also a Wagtail, who sits on our sill, that we are particularly fond of.

So in light of the challenging conditions, we decided to make some 'fat balls' from a recipe in the book as a special treat to feed the birds.

We didn't have any coconut shells to hand so searched in the garden for pine cones to fill instead. The fat and seeds can collect really nicely into the cone and it gives the birds something to hold onto. First Millie-Grace melted some lard in a pan.

Then we stirred in the seed.

There was however, rather a horrible smell to the melted lard, which was particularly difficult for Molly who is a vegetarian!  She decided to sellotape her nose to escape from the smell! Since making our 'fat ball' lots of people have suggested just mashing the lard and seed together to avoid the smell. We are definitely going to do that next time!!

We then spooned the mixture onto the pine cones....

and left them to cool and harden.

All ready to hang on the tree.

Ta da!!! Lunch is served birdies!

We have put lots of bird boxes around the Pickwell woods to encourage nesting.

I wish we had put a little camera in them, I would love to see if anyone is in there.

Believe it or not this unsuspecting mound of old wood has a hedgehog house under it. We are hoping it has a sleeping hedgehog in it too, shhhhhh!!

So just enough time to play in the snow before it all melts. I wonder what she is making??

And Zac??

Surprise, surprise, a snow man!! Cute!!

A balancing thing?! And then....

a snowman....maybe a slightly muddy Scout sort of snowman!!

All the while Mrs Blackbird was hopping about us until....

Mr Blackbird came along singing at the top of his voice and they frolicked around the garden. Here they are on the roof, courting perhaps? A bit early, I know, but the start of spring is most definitely in the air!!

We hope that our Pickwell guests will enjoy our amazing wild birds from Owls, to Robins, Buzzards to Greater Spotted Woodpeckers, all frequent visitors to the garden. For the younger visitors there is a 'spotter back pack' in the games room complete with binoculars, spotter sheet, bird book and clipboard. Happy spotting Pickwellers and here's to lots of garden adventures in 2013!!

Heddon's Mouth

In the winter, if the sun is shining you have to be outside.

It was so lovely on Saturday, that we got together with our friends, drove 30 minutes to the edge of Exmoor and rediscovered one of our favourite walks.

It is a gentle and scenic walk of about 25 minutes each way. The walk follows this rushing river 

which leads you to Heddons Mouth -a beautiful wild and rugged beach that can only be accessed on foot.

It has now become tradition to take stuff to make a fire and a big bag of marshmallows to toast over it. 

In fact, I think that's the kids favourite bit.

This is the sound. It is only after you have left that you realise your sore throat is due to you shouting for 2 hours!

 While the kids toast, we make our own fun...

Dave found this unusual stick so hey presto! Game no.1, can you throw the stone through the hole without knocking Jacs unconscious?

Game no.2, what has Mark found? Is it just a big piece of driftwood? 

Nope, its a GIRAFFE! (He was so proud of this)

Game no.3, Can you get across the torrent of water without getting wet? Of course New-Zealand Dave made it...

Err, Steve where are you going? Its the OTHER WAY!

Bottled it.

Mark tried but I don't have a memory of him making it?

Dave entertained us from the other side of the water by creating this sculpture from the washed up debris.

So, game no.4, was trying to knock it down with pebbles.

Game no.5, introduced by the more genteel Ben, started like this...

Then progressed to this..

and once the kids cottoned on, they popped up 

everywhere!

Kieran even began his own 'extreme' pebble piling. It didn't last long..

I'm still unsure as to who did these...but i have my suspicions...Ben?!

This is what happens when you ask a couple of pre-teens to pose for a photo!

 The incredible hulk has nothing on Zac.

So, if ever you were to think life was a bit dull in Devon...now you can THINK AGAIN!

Oh yes. You can keep your cinemas and theatres and restaurants and funfairs and beautiful parks and amazing coffee shops . We got it going on here.  

(We had fun anyway!)

For more on this walk, you can see another blog post from last year http://playeatlaughsleep.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/heddons-mouth-walking-with-friends.html

x

December

You may have heard about the rain and the floods...mostly we have been unaffected, but today..

This is our wood.

The fog hung in the air and it was actually quite beautiful in places, if you didn't need to get anywhere!

This is Rock Hill, a road in the village...well its more of a stream than a road now really.

Hard to think it was only a couple of days ago when the weather was like this.

This month has flown by. 

We held our annual charity ball - this year it was the GOLD Ball. We raised money for 2 amazing surfing charities both at home and abroad. We have learnt much recently of how surfing can be used as a tool to give young people hope, self esteem and respite from difficult circumstances.

The night was an immense success and we raised £6,500 in total. As a team, we were blown away by the generosity of so many people in this community that made this night all that it was. 

So last night some of the Ball team went to the pub to celebrate. I think Tracey is regaling the girls with a story or two?

This week we also had lunch with our wonderful Pickwell team. It's these guys who keep everything looking clean and tidy, both inside and out. We are very blessed to have them.

Always ready to enter the spirit of things, Tracey sports the antlers to get everyone into the festive mood.

Also this week, the school had their production of 'Olivia'. Our kids did us proud! Pickwell has been full of song for the last month, to the extent that none of them can get to sleep at night. The words 'you can't pick a pocket or two' keep going round, and round....

The village hall was packed for both the performances. 

I have to admit I did shed a small tear at the end!

The school hold a great afternoon where the kids themselves design and run the stalls. Every stall is geared as a mini-fund-raiser to make some much-needed funds for the school. This is Liza and Molly's stall. Steve had to forage into the stocking and guess what was inside.

 I stayed up for hours getting things made for Zac's stall at the school fair. He did help for about 15 minutes...to be fair....

We also went to the Christingle service which the kids love...

especially the bit where they get to toast the marshmallows in the candles! (not sure i should be promoting that? - see how I cleverly chose to put someone else's child in the picture, rather than incriminate my own)

Our Pickwell Molly had her 9th birthday last week,

  

and Tracey and Rich ran a brilliant roller-booting party in a local village hall.

Tracey and I had a wonderful night where we learnt how to make these gorgeous angels,

all from this one piece of fabric. 

and a tiny piece of trim.

Thanks to the talented Emma Cocker for teaching us, and Jooley F-S for the cake and the styling :)

So that's it for this year. 

We are all staying around at home for Christmas as our house feels so special and well, christmassy! Our families are coming to us. Lovely.

We wish you all a very happy Christmas and a peaceful new year. 

Hopefully we will see many of you in 2013...

The Pickwell Gang

xxxx xxxx

Not your ordinary day on the beach

Last weekend we headed down to Saunton Sands to join one of the local legs of the Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) Autumn beach cleans.

There was a great turnout with over 100 eager volunteers, young and old, getting stuck in.

"Well done Liza and Millie! What have you found there then?"

The general idea of the morning is to get your gloves on, grab a bucket (and a friend!) and go fill it with as much marine litter as you can possibly find.

A couple of hours later and the bucket is full.... But what sorts of things did we find?

A smelly sock - OK not so shocking (apart from the fact you're holding it in your hands, Daisy!)

And who hasn't left a pair of flip flops on the beach before? (OK maybe that's just me). We did check that the owner hadn't just gone for a paddle!

Some of the items left on the beach can however be very damaging to the environment. For example, plastics make up the vast majority of marine litter and they never truly break down. Experts suggest plastic left in the environment will be with us in some microscopic form for many thousands of years.When in the sea, plastics can adsorb toxic chemicals, becoming increasingly harmful over time, and often enter the food chain when mistaken for food items by marine life. Over 100,000 marine mammals and over 1 million seabirds die every year from ingestion of or entanglement in marine litter.

A closer look along any of our beaches is likely to provide you with a history of modern packaging and branding. Remember the ''Its the real thing!' strapline? Apparently that stopped being used in 1985!!!

It may take as long as 500 years for an aluminium can to fully break down and the rusting process obviously poses risks to both humans and marine life (notice the irony of the only legible thing left on this can!)

Along the edges of the sand-dunes we began to find dozens of these tiny plastic pellets. One of the SAS staff told us that these have been dubbed 'Mermaids Tears' and they are used in the manufacturing process of plastic products. 

Once you begin to recognise them you won't be surprised to learn that the Marine Conservation Society found them to be the second most common litter item found on UK beaches

There is a competitive element to add to the fun of the SAS beach cleans and a prize is given for the oldest item found. You can check out the Sun newspaper's report about the 45 year old Golden Wonder crisp packet found during one of last year's cleans of Saunton beach.

There is also a  prize for the finder of the item likely to have travelled the furthest....

As well as the most bizarre find of the day.... Somewhere out there is the fridge to go with this door!

Tides, currents and storms can also sometimes cause marine litter to gather in alarming clusters.

Our friend Jo took these shocking pictures the previous week at 'Crow Point' (just round from Saunton)
At the end of the clean it's time to gather the buckets together....

To survey the contents of the trailer......

And to guess the weight of the finds.... In total our marine litter experts at SAS estimated that we found almost one tonne of litter in the space of 2 hours on Saunton!

There is then time for a little creativity....

Great work kids!

Look at that beach - spotless!

Thanks to SAS for continuing to educate and activate us. They have got some great information and resources so check them out and support in any way you can.

 If you fancy looking further at the global impact of marine litter then you can watch a brilliant BBC documentary called 'Hawaii: Message in the Waves' here . We recently had a showing at the Croyde Deckchair Cinema which was followed by a really interesting discussion time.

Bonfire Preps. Pickwell Style.

If you are a long-standing follower of this blog, you may remember that this is Steve's favourite time of year. The time of year when he walks round with a permanent smile and a spring in his step. 

Never is this more acute than when the lorry arrives to deliver the fireworks. He even tries to draw the kids in to checking them all off the list.

This is why he has been nicknamed Gandalf (thanks PT). 

So here follows the Pickwell recipe for bonfire night preps:

1. Prepare the bonfire. Start by forming a structure which allows for a series of tunnels 

through which the wind will blow thus 'fanning the flames' from below. (make sure you check for hedgehogs at this point as they like to make little houses in a wood pile). 

Then load on anything you have to burn. 

2. Make paper lanterns. 

Start by cutting up bamboo into short and long lengths.

These will form the frame.

Make a triangle shape and masking tape the ends together to hold in place.

 Take a candle, wrap in tin foil (to collect the drips of wax) and fix into place with wire at the bottom. Create a higher, smaller triangle of bamboo and Voila! 

Next, using pva glue, dab liberally over tissue paper and stick onto each side, allowing for lots of overlap.  

Only take the tissue paper up to the point of the higher bamboo frame so it allows for the smoke of the candle to blow out the top.

When they are dry, cut a small window in the side so you can light the candles. Poke wire through the top of the triangle in a circle shape. Wrap wire around the long length of bamboo and create a strong hook to attach the lantern onto. 

3. Make paraffin torches. Cut lengths of wood about 80cm long (Hazel is particularly good for this as it is long and straight).

Cut up felt (make sure it isn't fire retardant as so much is these days), or towelling (we find is just as good) into long, thin strips..

Wrap tightly around the end of the wood and secure well with wire. These will be dipped in paraffin on the night!

4. Go for a walk and find all things 'autumnal'. These will be used to decorate the Ballroom, alongside our beautiful 'pattypan' squash (remember them from a previous blog post?). The final look of the decorations can be seen on a later post.

5. Find friends to keep you entertained while you work (and not just for what they are wearing)

Whatever props come to hand, we don't care! Just keep the entertainment rolling!

6. Invite the headmaster to keep the 'entertaining' friends in order.

7. Get a whole bunch of willing friends to start prepping the food! Bean and chorizo cassoulet and roasted butternut squash soup takes a heck of a lot of chopping!

We are ready. Let the games begin! 

(We will fill you in on the night afterwards - sorry you can't all be here!)

x

Verity

Last week heralded the arrival of our new local celebrity 'Verity'. She is a 20 metre (66ft) bronze statue of a naked, pregnant woman wielding a sword. The statue was designed by Damien Hirst and has been erected on the harbour at Ilfracombe. With so much press coverage and controversy, including the description by Catherine Bennet from the Observer that 'it has brought public art to a new low', I could not resist a trip to Ilfracombe to see for myself.

I have a real soft spot for Ilfracombe as a place. It does not always get great press locally as there are some less beautiful aspects to it. However, I think it is full of hidden charm, quirkiness, amazing views, some great people and plenty of history, so well worth a visit.

The harbour has what can only be described as spectacular views of the Torr behind it and Wales out across the Bristol channel. As a once glorious Victorian seaside town, that has fallen upon hard times, I think it is really trying to break into a new era. Ilfracombe is trying to find an evolving identity for the future and so the idea of a statue that might speak of this and draw people to this fascinating place, for me can only be a good thing. So here she is.....

This, some may say, is her 'good side'. Her stance is taken from Edgar Degas' late 19th century bronze 'Little Dancer of Fourteen Years'. I love his work and really liked this side of her. Like many of Degas' bronzes, there is something young and full of life about her. However, from the other side.....

There are aspects of 'Verity' that are not altogether pleasant, particularly the peeled skin on her leg and the side view of her stripped away skull revealing her eye ball and socket!!

It has been said that art is not supposed to be comfortable and there is something uncomfortable about her. However, the children found the inner workings of her body and in particular her baby growing inside her completely fascinating! She inspired lots of questions such as 'why are babies are upside down?' and then lots of giggling at her funny knobbly boobs...and this was just from Richard!

Damien Hirst, who has lent 'Verity' to Ilfracombe and lives locally, has described her on his website as a "a modern-day allegory for truth and justice". It really helped me with my discomfort to know the story behind her. Her name 'Verity' is from the Italian word for truth, she holds the traditional symbols denoting justice - a sword and scales but...........

The scales are hidden and off balance behind her back, while the sword is held confidently in her outstretched arm. On his website, Damien Hirst says that "Without the perfect equilibrium enacted by the scales, the sword becomes a dangerous instrument of power, rather than justice." I like this reminder.

Here she is last week under construction. If you would like to read more about 'Verity' and how she was made, take a look at Damien Hirst's website.

If you want to see more of Damien Hirst's art in Ilfracombe he has a restaurant on the harbour 'No 13, the Quay' which is very interesting, has amazing views and lovely food. However, on our visit it was a picnic in the sunshine for us!

After pondering over 'Verity' we could not resist a climb up to 'The North Chapel' to eat our packed lunch and explore.

This little light house /chapel  dating back to the 14th century is perched on the hill. I have seen it  many times but not ventured up there to explore. It turned out to be the perfect place for a picnic with my lovely friend Sarah and her children.

What a view (I am not talking about us of course).

Inside was the cutest, tiny hickledy pickledy house,where the light house keeper lived in 1850 with his 13 children! It is full of amazing photos of Ilfracombe in days gone by.

Millie-grace had lots of fun exploring.

It was also at one point a Chapel and a place of rest for pilgrims landing by boat at Ilfracombe (I can't quite remember where they were going, sorry!)

All in all it was a great day, I enjoyed meeting 'Verity'. I liked her because she made me think, she inspired us to ask questions and to giggle. Perhaps best of all she is bringing visitors to Ilfracombe who hopefully will look beyond the press of both 'Verity' and Ilfracombe itself and discover what both have to offer.