Summer She Shed

I have always needed a garden shed to store the rakes and hoes and things. A non-over-lapping-with-Elvs-tools-and-projects space. A girl space sacred to lawn care machines. And the fencing paraphernalia. The reasons seem obvious to me.

So this spring when a ton of thought and dreams materialized into a shop for Elv; I saw my opportunity in the form of Brad’s first “over-engineered” according to Elv, shed. When the concrete pad was poured in front of the new shop, Elv added in the concreting of the floor of the little shed.

I started to see possibilities that I hadn’t noticed before. If Elv is going to spend his evening hours puttering in his new shop, I thought to myself; I must have a spot nearby of my own to play and putter in, as well. It’s insulated and paneled. There’s a window. I could paint and decorate and equip it for storage and a work space and who knows what all.

I tend to get quite carried away in these cases, but Elv never said a murmuring word. In my own defence, I don’t need fancy and expensive things to make my dreams come true.

In the meantime, we suddenly needed an additional bedroom for a few weeks. Why not use the new shed! So I rolled up my sleeves, bought paint, did some quick thrifting and called on the grandchild troop for help.

I had Elv’s support. We had thrown the old and battered door away before the concrete came, so that was one thing I couldn’t fix. We looked for a door. I wanted an antique door. Turns out I had one right under my nose. Years ago, I inherited an old interior door from Grandpa’s Conrath house and had happily used it as the door between the dining room and the porch. That door kept a lot of porch heat and cold and drama out in the porch where it belonged for many years. Then we remodeled the porch: new windows and a little insulation, so the door was more of just a treasured heirloom that we left in place. It still kept a lot of drafts out, too. Anyway, now it’s an exterior door on the she shed. Elv had to cut it down to fit and reframe it and install a modern lockable knob. I kept the old knob. I have half a mind to put it back on because the new one got a fresh position on the door. But whoever heard of two sets of knobs on one door? But then whoever heard of turning an old dirty shed into a bedroom/she shed?

Elv showed his best support when he commented, “Why you had to use that bilious color green in your shed, I’ll never know, but it’s your shed, so I guess.”

Shaking his head and shrugging, he told me his other story about this color paint. “Dad and I spent way too many hours scraping this color off the old farmhouse cabinets years ago…I still hate it.”

Again, I’ll defend myself. What other color could one possibly use for this? I ask you!

Brad made this wall hanging for me. It’s quite rustic, but I love the saying. And now it fits right where it does.

When we went thrifting,I found this piece thinking it would go well with the rest of it. But as soon as I pulled it out when I got home, I saw that it’s really for Lisl’s house. Unfortunately, she thought so, too. She’s heartlessly appreciative of it. After this when I see it in her house I’ll explain to her that it’s really mine and she will hotly argue that it fits her house, “not yours”. And Dru will shake his head at our weird exchange.