Keeping up with the Joneses

I first heard of Pilsdon from a book I read last November called Utopian Dreams. It’s written by Tobias Jones, who documented his visits to various communities in UK and Italy, searching for somewhere he and his family could feel at peace in. He was dissatisfied with the standard model of our contemporary Western lifestyle of consumerism, studio flats and TV dinners. He also wanted to discover whether a community with religion at its core would prove to be more cohesive than one without. It’s a very thought-provoking and intelligent read.

Nice warm ice warm, fresh milk!

It’s 5:40am. I get up and open the window on the verdant panorama which the early sun is warming, and listen for a minute to the dawn chorus. A quick wash then it’s on with my blue overalls and steel-toe-capped Doc Martin’s and outside to the dairy where I collect the two metal pails, the two plastic milking buckets, the dual-teated bucket for the calves Boris and Daffodil, the single-teated bottle for the youngest calf Bluebell, and another bucket of warm water with cloths for udder cleaning. My milking partner will normally meet me here.

Stumped for words

The sharp thud of leather on willow. The desultory applause. The cries of fielders certain that a batsman is now out. The shake of the head of an umpire equally certain that he is not. The baa’ing of the sheep on the hillside above. Yes this was an actual cricket match that I was actually participating in, and oddly quite enjoying it.

Food, glorious food

There are quite a few communities dotted around the British Isles, according to the WWOOF UK website (www.wwoof.org.uk).  My own experience of living in a community is limited to Pilsdon, where I am now; Monkton Wyld, just a few miles from here, where I spent a great few weeks last November and in January this year, and a week at Othona community, also quite close by, perched on a cliff above Chesil Beach.

Keeping the home fires burning

Right now there are no children or young people at Pilsdon which is something of a shame. Having kids around tends to cause more noise, more mess, more questions, more tantrums, and generally more fun. There have been children at Pilsdon in the past, and in fact any day now we are going to have a brand new child burst onto the scene. Laura and James* are having their first baby and today is Laura’s due date, which of course means everybody is bubbling over with excitement and anticipation. Laura herself has been calm enough to teach me the basics of Mahjong this evening.