Mens Sheds - the video

We've covered the Australian Men's Sheds project before on Shedworking but no apologies for returning to what is a very worthwhile campaign, and one which is starting to spread to the UK. Here's a video of one getting underway on the SkillsOne site with some detail:

Why does every man need a shed? SkillsOne chats to Tim O'Sullivan, the Forest Community Men's Shed co-ordinator to see just what goes on inside: besides barbeques, practical projects and loads of laughs - the Men's Shed is all about combatting issues of isolation, loneliness and depression amongst retired men. Men can make projects for themselves, or for local community projects - like stairs for a school, or birdhouses. SkillOne chats to some of the men in the Men's Shed and finding out about the projects they're working on.

Watershed

Here's the very thing if you like to mix your shedworking with water. Camping Raft in Holland. Built of tree trunks, each floating raft is 25 square metres and has its own 12.5m hut. The package includes your own canoe as well as mattresses, stoves, matches, lavatory bucket and small broom. The rafts are spaced well apart among reeds and you need to paddle the canoe quite a bit to reach them. According to the site "extended sanitary facilities are present within acceptable distance" so no need to worry. There's a great 360 photo thingy here.
Via Treehugger

Did your first home office look like this?

The first wired home office? Part of the exhibition at the Musée del’Informatique computing museum in Paris.
Photo by Daniel via Home Office Snapshots

Shed champion - Giles

Cartoonist Carl Giles was known simply as Giles and more particularly for his annual collections of cartoons from the Daily Express. which were a must in many homes at Christmas time. As Shedblog points out, he was at his best when depicting family life which often included some aspect of sheds. Here is the cover of the 31st series annual.

Maud Lewis' house

While maybe technically a house rather than a garden office, folk artist Maud Lewis' house is more than a piece of history, it is also an encouragement to those who want to live and work 'small'. Lewis (1903-1970) lived and worked in this one room house - which had a sleeping loft upstairs - built from spruce shingles. It measured just 3 X 4 metres. She and her husband Everett also had a number of sheds on the property including an uninsulated outhouse and from the mid-1960s Maud used a small tin trailer as a studio where she kept all her artists' materials and a fridge: without insulation it was fine in the summer but too chilly to work in during winter.

What makes the shedworking atmosphere particularly lovely is that while Lewis is known for her bright paintings, she also used her own house as a canvas (a little like the Bloomsbury Group's Charleston in England). Here, for example, is her door (photo by Battersby Family)and an interior (photo by yumikid)After her death Lewis' painted home started to deteriorate and the Maud Lewis Painted House Society was founded to save it: completely restored, it is now on permanent display at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia. Shedworking reader Annie MacTavish, who suggested this post, says that a memorial to Maude was built on the original site of her painted house, near Digby, Nova Scotia: completed in metal, in both size and dimension it is identical to her small home.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Our Monday posts are sponsored by garden2office, the Swedish garden office
specialists.
Click here for more details.

English wigwam

I'm not sure what to make of this but I love it, a reconstruction of what's described as an "English Wigwam' from the 17th century at Pioneer village, Salem. Photos by Prof. Jeffery Howe from A Digital Archive of American Architecture at Boston College.

Best beach huts in the UK?

A nice piece in The Guardian suggests five great beach huts:
- Needleview, at Mudeford, Dorset
- the new retro huts to be opened in autumn in Bournemouth
- the hut near Westover Hall on the shingle at Milford-on-Sea
- the Beach Hut and Boat House in Bembridge on the Isle of Wight
- Elmdale Garden's hut at Walton-on-the-Naze., my personal favourite and pictured above and below. Here's what they say about it themselves:

"Our beach hut in Walton is one of the oldest,built rather like a cricket pavilion with its own verandah. Up on the second row with a beautiful view out to sea.
Inside our beach hut is a comfortable bench and a table and set of folding chairs. The verandah is big enough to sit two deck chairs, and keep you out of the direct sun and any blustery winds. Facilities include a gas cooker, a gas fridge, and a sink with a water container. We provide good quality stainless steel cutlery, and china cups and plates - no plastic."