Sanctuary; My First Shed

I have dreamed of having a shed for years, to enjoy the garden even if it might be raining or cold
This spring I bought a kit shed, with a lean to, so I can sit out under the porch too. Last weekend in a rare spell without rain, we made it, or rather Jim did, and I held hammers, hit my thumb, and held walls together. I also laid a flat foundation for it, which to my great surprise appeared to be level and solid when the shed was inched over onto it. I would like to use it as a (very small) studio and to watch birds from. The only downside is that I wont be able to make any more ice rinks there.  See The Backyard Ice Rink if you want to read about it

I recently watched a film about writer and environmentalist Roger Deakin who had built a series of satellite sheds at some distance from his woodland cottage, scattered throughout a rather large area of woodland that he owned.  He furnished these with beds and stoves and liked to go to them for particular reasons, such as during a thunderstorm or to spend the night and listen to birds.

“I have a weakness for sheds or huts of all kinds, no doubt inherited from the bothy my father built for me and my animal familiars at the end of the garden when I was about six. These days my cosy cabin is a shepherd’s hut in the lee of a southfacing Suffolk hedge and a big ash tree a field away from the house. Perched on iron wheels, it is lined with close-grained pine boards stained a deep hone-amber by years of woodsmoke seeping from the stove. There’s a simple chair and table where I often work, oil lamps and candles, sun-faded curtains, and a wooden bed.”

An article entitled ‘The place that Roger built’ shows and describes a series of pictures of Rogers sheds and cottage, by photographer Justin Partyka

Really this is what I would like with my shed but I might feel a bit odd being only inches away from my own house.

Sanctuary