Friday 14 December 2012

There's no need to be afraid....... (in the shed)

Thats right, its officially Christmas time and indeed, there is no need to be afraid - well, maybe a little.
 
I really really love Christmas, it had lost its charm a bit until Skye was born.  Then Eilidh came along and now with the girls at 6 and 5 there is no escaping the joy of it all.  It is true, it is for the kids.
 
Sometimes I find it all a little overwhelming though.  There is just so much to be getting on with and so much to spend on and so little time.  We have a big family Christmas at our house being "The people with the kids" and it is lovely but now and again I dissapear quietly.
 
Mrs M knows.  The kids know.  Even old Wullie next doors knows.  Davie is in the shed!

So what do you need for the ideal garden shed.  I'm not talking a store room to dump your rubbish in but a real shed to "work" in.

As a basic it has to be watertight and have a door that closes fully from the inside.

Ideally it should be near an electric supply or perhaps have an extention cable running to it.

Clearly as cover it must have a potting bench, sundry pots and gardening equipment.

Now the important stuff......

An armchair.  Thats right, your shed should really have an armchair.  Don't be bothering DFS for this (there is a sale on you know!).  Have a rake round any old junk shops, 2nd hand furniture shops or jumble sales.  I have a rather ancient but lovely Parker Knoll with wing sides which I paid the grand sum of £2.50 for.  It has a lovely old blanket over it which when required can be taken indoors and washed. It is soooooo comfy. I also have an alarm clock - thats how comfy it is!! 

A radio - get a fancy DAB if you want but again, I got my rather cool Pye radio  from a jumble sale.  50p well spent.  Shed rules.  No loud banging tunes.  There is a time and a place and the time in the shed is neither!  Please.  Radio 4 is fine - gardeners question time.  Radio Scotland is fine - Beechgrove potting shed.  Radio 5 live or general chat and sport programmes fine. 

A kettle or some means of heating water for a brew.  I have recently got a Kelly Kettle which is a great thing but the previous gas stove and whistling kettle is a versatile tool.  I also have a pan in the shed for boiling up the first new potatoes of the year - an old tradition - the first shaw  picked, boiled and eaten outside as nature intended with a generous serving of butter.  I also have a tea pot and a couple of mugs in case of guests - normally just old Wullie.

Sensible reading material.  Gardening magazines are of course great cover but I find the shed a great place for novel reading generally and a particularily great place for a long read of a Sunday paper.

So if you are ever at Martin Towers and I dissapear for an hour come down the bottom of the garden, thats where I'll be.  Enjoying a little solitude in this noisy happy house of ours!  Maybe you should get one!

 
A Truly wonderful shed* (and garden in fact)
*not mine!
 
 


 My great Kelly Kettle boiling away during the summer


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