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
