Pamela Butchart: (Secret Seven) Shedworker

One of the nicest people in literature - @Pamela_Butchart new Secret Seven author. Her shed is better than my flat! https://t.co/XpKcwuMwfu pic.twitter.com/60MxMGn5PM

— Jonathan Whitelaw (@JDWhitelaw13) October 18, 2017

Dundee-based author Pamela Butchart already has more than a dozen novels under her belt but the next one is especially keenly-anticipated since it is a continuation of Enid Blyton's Secret Seven series which she has written in her own writing shed. Here's what she told the Scottish Sun about it:

“It took me until the age of 34, but I finally got a garden shed just like the young detectives... Growing up, I always lived in council tenement flats and all I ever wanted was my own garden and Secret Seven shed... But the shed I use now is a bit pimped up. It has underfloor heating and all of my Secret Seven books are lined up.”

The Mystery of the Skull is published in July and you can see lots more photos of Pamela in her shed - including some ginger beer - at photographer Michael Schofield's site here. -------------------------------------------------
Monday posts are sponsored by garden2office, the Swedish garden office specialists. Click here for more details.

Working from home is less stressful: New report

 New research conducted from Canada Life Group Insurance suggests that shedworking and working from home generally offers a far less stressful work environment than more 'traditional' approaches.

The study indicates that nearly 10 million workers suffer from workplace-related stress and anxiety - most importantly, a third of workers in cubicles and open plan offices are regularly affected by workplace stress compared to one in six of those who work from home. Moreover, more than three quarters of people who are offered and take flexible working options say that their productivity has increased as a result.
 

“It is important to keep in mind that not everybody operates in the same way and being flexible with your staff can often mean creating a better working environment and increased engagement," said Paul Avis, Marketing Director of Canada Life. "For example, flexible working not only has the benefit of improving work-life balance but can also have a positive influence on overall employee health. People want to give their best, but we are all leading increasingly busy and “always-on” lives. Allowing employees to fit in time to exercise, drop off and collect their children from school or start/finish earlier or later can make an enormous difference to productivity. It also demonstrates that employers care about their staff and are prepared to move beyond a one-size-fits-all approach to ensure employees work at their best, which can only be a good thing for companies."

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Sunday posts are sponsored by eDEN Garden Rooms. Stunning, bespoke high quality garden rooms, to suit your unique space and style

10 free pairs of tickets to Grand Designs Live to give away

Shedworking has teamed up with Grand Designs Live to give you the chance to claim one of 10 free pairs of tickets, worth up to £34 each, to the UK’s leading contemporary home show Grand Designs Live at the ExCeL, proudly sponsored by Anglian Home Improvements.

This inspiring event, presented by design guru and TV broadcaster, Kevin McCloud, at ExCeL London from 5 –13 May, will see an array of new exhibitors, features and stages alongside established favourites.

To claim your free pair of tickets head to www.granddesignslive.com and use the code SHED2018 before April 16.

Terms and Conditions:
Tickets can only be claimed online and cannot be claimed by any other method. Tickets are available for use on 8th, 9th, 10th or 11th May 2018 only. Tickets cannot be exchanged for cash, are not transferable and cannot be duplicated. There are only 10 pairs of tickets available which will be issued on a first come, first serve basis. Once all tickets have been claimed, the code will no longer work. You must print your own tickets and show them at the entrance to Grand Designs Live on the date you have chosen. Failure to print your tickets could result in refusal of entry. In the event of any dispute, the show’s organisers, Media 10 Ltd have the right to refuse admission. Call the ticket hotline on 0844 854 134. ------------------------------------

Sunday posts are sponsored by eDEN Garden Rooms. Stunning, bespoke high quality garden rooms, to suit your unique space and style

The Cooking Shed

Owned and run by winner of BBC1's Yes Chef! Regan Anderton, The Cooking Shed runs shed-based cookery lessons in Kent for adults and children, as well as private dining experiences.

All ready for a lovely family to come and learn to cook a fish Keralan curry together #familytime #learningtogether #curry #fishcurry #keralancurry #cookeryschool #bromley #westwickham #hayes

A post shared by The Cooking Shed (@thecookingshed) on Jan 13, 2018 at 5:35am PST

The Cooking Shed launch day from regan anderton on Vimeo. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thursday posts are sponsored by Cabin Master: garden offices and studios to fit any size garden. Top quality contemporary or traditional buildings.

Moving to Somerset and need a garden office?

Then here's the very thing. On with Lodestone Property for £615,000, the five-bedroom Bridge Cottage in Henley, Langport, is a lovely former river keeper's cottage dating back to the 1750s. Best of all, the outside space includes a garden office with a mezzanine sleep area, electricity, wifi, and marvellous rural views (not to mention a log storre and another shed for tools/bikes). -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday posts are sponsored by Garden Spaces, suppliers of contemporary garden buildings, offices, gyms and studios, many of which do not require planning

Viking Bauhutte workshop and artist's studio

Viking Bauhutte - Workshop/Studio from Garden #shedoftheyear

Photographer Chris Walter has come up with what must already be in the running for Shed of the Year 2018. He uses his Bauhutte - inspired partly by Noggin the Nog - for a variety of things but especially for designing and building cameras. It has running water, full electrics and an antique Norwegian stove, but there are also many lovely touches such as the dragon handles (below).

The whole build is inspired by a Ben Law design with curved shingle walls and roof and wood roundel covered doors. Plenty of the construction material including insulation has been recycled from other buildings. And the term 'bauhutte'? Here's Chris's explanation:

The name Bauhutte comes from the middle ages when all the craftsmen and artisans would stay in a shed on site - the Bauhutte - and discuss their building and design ideas and drink tea (or mead). This idea of keeping art, design and craft together was revisited in the early 20th century when Bauhutte became Bauhaus.

I also like his idea that there is a Norse guardian of workshops called Bloki... -------------------------------------------------
Monday posts are sponsored by garden2office, the Swedish garden office specialists. Click here for more details.

How do I get wifi in my garden office?

 No apologies for returning to this subject which is always close to the hearts of shedworkers. A nice roundup of the possibilities from Garden Room Masters which gives a brief rundown of the most popular ways of ensuring you stay online in your garden office. In short the options they look at are:

* Using your home power lines with Devolo (strongly recommended by the Garden Room Masters team)
* hardwiring via an Ethernet Cable (good, but you need to dig a big trench in your garden)
* wifi booster (may be tricky depending on your garden office insulation)
* point to point
* Point to Multi-Point

Well worth a read. The whole post is here.

Image courtesy Garden Spaces ------------------------------------

Sunday posts are sponsored by eDEN Garden Rooms. Stunning, bespoke high quality garden rooms, to suit your unique space and style