Playhouse or Potting Shed?

Every girl deserves a playhouse.  Growing up that was my dream.  I would build them for my dolls using everything from sticks and moss between big oak tree roots to shoeboxes with doors and windows cut in them.  And when I happened to find a natural arbor with vines growing on it, it became mine.  If my brother happened along it would be a fort, or a secret clubhouse for a time.  A sheet over a table served the same purpose but not as grand as the arbor since we were the only ones who knew where it was.  We even put some old furniture inside to make it cozy.

Fast forward about 50 years and I got a real playhouse.  Courtesy of my husband and son.  Of course, it is called a potting shed but we all know what it really is.  My dream come true.

I love feeding the birds in our yard so it houses all my feeders and seed.  Gardening is high on my list of hobbies so I needed a place to put all my implements for that.  I had something small in mind, but it turned out so much better than I could imagine.  Windows and a french door from a builders surplus, an antique drop leaf table that was given to us years ago after a dear friend passed away, an old kitchen cabinet with flour bin and enamel counter from my mother-in-law, and pieces salvaged by me from the side of the road (to my son's horror) and from the dump.  Hey, whatever works!

My potting shed floor art

I painted the floor myself and must say I love it every time I look at it.  Around the diamond it says "The kiss of the sun for pardon, the songs of the birds for mirth.  You are nearer to God in a garden than anywhere else on earth."   How true that is.  When I am in my yard it is when I feel closest to God.  The house has a tin roof so the rain sounds really delicious when you are out there.  Sometimes I go to rearrange my treasures or refill the bird feeders.  I used old popcorn tins that I have painted for birdseed.  That keeps bugs from getting to it.  Spray the lid with chalkboard paint and you can write what is inside. Other times I just go out to enjoy it and know it is mine.  It never gets old.

There are potting sheds posted on blogs and websites everywhere.  Some are small and others pretty grand.  But this is mine and it is perfect.  The fact that the two men in my life built it for me makes it all the more precious. 

Like I said, every girl needs a playhouse.  Mine was worth the wait.