Play.Eat.Laugh.Sleep..Pickwell: Strange animal happenings

Friday 24 June 2011

Strange animal happenings

On Sunday we had some friends round for lunch. We were just tucking into our sunday roast when we heard a pager go off. Fiona is a coastguard and this year her pager has only gone off three times. We happen to have been with her for the last two! We started to wonder about this 'coincidence' as she ran out the door shouting she'd try to be back later for pudding..

Well, the story goes that a cow had got scared by some music, at a local festival here, and ran through our friends garden and straight off the cliff into the sea. It dropped 15ft and started paddling madly out to sea. Aparently it went as far as half a mile, passing surfers along the way. It took a while for Fiona and her team to coax out the fightened thing and unbelievably it survived with not even a broken leg. The story even made the daily mail (which obviously someone else informed me of) You can read it here: www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2007360/Surfs-buttercup-Cow-paddles-alongside-bemused-swimmers-plunging-Atlantic. I was just telling Steve's 73 year old mum this story, and when i got to the end, she looked devasted. All she could say was 'poor cow' and for some silly and childish reason i have been giggling ever since.

So that was sunday. Today, Tracey races into my house and asks me to follow her as she has something to show me. Our two girl rabbits have miraculously given birth to a bunch of gorgeous little baby rabbits, and we just thought they were having a hug.

This is the mum and er..dad.

Heidi had pulled out lots of her fur over the last week and we were thinking she might be a bit stressed when no! Lo and behold, she was about to give birth! She was preparing the nest with her fur. We have been told not to touch them or she will eat them (surely, surely not) so we have been careful to just peer in occasionally. It does explain why she has been growling at us everytime we went near. She is suddenly much more chilled.

This is a pic of our babies three days after the first picture i took, you can actually see them here! Anyone want one? or 6? Help!

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Our Story

Many people have asked what the story is, how did the Bakers and Elliotts come to be at Pickwell?

Are you sitting comfortably?

Tracey and Susannah became friends at 6th form college. Steve and Tracey lived in the same village in Sussex. Steve's dad was the vicar and Tracey's dad was Steve's scout leader. Even more wierd, Susannah's dad (also a church minister) and Steve's dad were friends, but Steve and Sus never met.

One summer Tracey took Susannah along to a youth summer camp. Steve was one of the leaders (read : heightened attraction) and a little later Steve and Sus got together. During their 6 on/off years they met Richard, a blue eyed boy from Guildford.

At a club night run by Steve, somehow through the dark and crowded room, Tracey and Richard bumped into eachother (if you have seen the shapes they pull on the dancefloor you would know how easily this happened)..

In the year 2000 they all got married. Tracey and Susannah were eachother's bridesmaids. They have remained firm friends ever since.

When Steve and Susannah came across Pickwell Manor, they knew they couldn't manage such a project on their own. They asked the Elliotts if they would give up their house, their jobs and their community to come and live and work with them and own the project together. They knew there weren't many people they could ask to do such a thing knowing they would still love each other by the end. So they all left everything in Sussex and came to Devon.

They moved on the same day in August 2008. It has been a crazy, wonderful, scary, emotional and beautiful experience so far. All of them would say they feel very ALIVE!

Since they moved they have run 51 successful and wonderful weddings (with more to come), many, many holidays, built or totally refurbished 6 apartments from scratch, updated carpets, painted white throughout, put in quite a few kitchens and bathrooms (including 2 baths on concrete plinths), changed much of the furniture, converted a laundry and have started to convert the chapel. Every year they also have a bonfire gathering in October, an Easter Eggstravaganza fundraising event, and anything else that is not-for-profit that they can fit in. Tracey has completed a dissertation and gone back to nursing for 2 days a week, Steve has started up a new company in London, Richard has mastered a lot of the running of the house as well as training as a coach, specialising in stress management, Sus has taken on the interiors and Tracey and Susannah have learnt weddings in at the deep end! All with 4 young Pickwellians by their sides.

"Our passion is for making life count. Our values lie in
friendship, celebration, valuing others, and social justice. We see Pickwell as a reflection of these things but also a place for rest, recouperation, laughter and conversation. We want to support charities and social enterprises to fufil their dreams and make a difference."

"We love Devon, we love the community here, we love seeing our children grow with nature and discovering the great outdoors. We have to pinch ourselves sometimes when we think about our life here, it is amazing".