Men and Their Sheds.

Is there a section for this?

Grab a coffee as this is a bit of a ramble...



The â??Rabbit Shedâ?


In the summer of our youngest childâ??s seventh year, she asked us could she have a rabbit.
An â??accommodation was reachedâ? whereby we said she could have a rabbit as long as â??come rain or stormâ?, she cleaned out its hutch and fed it every morning without fail. This was agreed.
We went out and looked in a couple of pet shops at the flimsy arrangements they deemed fit to be called rabbit hutches and I thought â??no.â? Foxes have always occasionally visited our garden and I had visions of a scenario similar to that of â??The Three Little Pigs.â? (several woeful tales from school of rabbits â??takenâ? over the years). So I decided to make one of roofing ply, 3â??x 2â??x 2â?? on a stout stand, no flimsy wire mesh at the front, a piece of â??weldmesh.â? The hutch was sited against the sheltered side of the kitchen wall before we had the extension.

The conditions were faithfully observed, even in â??rain or stormâ? come the winter. Of course as always happens, something befalls of dadâ??s in any pre-planned circumstances involving kids and my wife insisted on a sheet of "viscreen" which could be folded down to protect â??Benjiâ? at night when it rained. Pointing out that Benji had a separate two tier sleeping quarters with an entrance at the back and he could get up there out of the damp even if we had four feet of flooding, fell on deaf ears.

So at midnight any night it was raining, I got the call before we retired; â??Will you go out and check Benjiâ??s flapâ??s down please!! "(note, no question mark, it was an order).
Of course invariably the flap was up and Benji would be sat there even if the rain was horizontal. He was a big black thick-furred Dutch rabbit and didnâ??t give two monkeyâ??s about piddly things like rain. Iâ??ve no idea whether he was in his sleeping quarters when I came out. I reckon he was, but when he heard me approaching and "nipped downstairs", he probably thought he was going to get a â??good boyâ? treat, As I didn't like to disappoint him, this eventually became too much of a routine.

Anywayâ?¦ by the spring I thought; â??S** this for a game of soldiers, Iâ??ll build Benji a shed.â?
This I did, which immediately prompted my daughter to ask; â??Does this mean I can have more rabbits?â? Dadâ??s being dad's, she ended up with four and three guinea pigs.
Due decorum was observed as the rabbits and guinea pigs had several separate gages for the sexes in two banks either side of the shed. She continued to observe the terms of the agreement.
She bought her last rabbit at the age of fourteen. Nature took its course and by the time she was eighteen, the latest addition was the last pet left.
Of course our daughter went off to Great Ormond Street to train as a paediatric nurse and after qualifying and attaining further grades made a career of nursing, met a nice fella with whom she bought their first house and although returns on frequent visits (now with three kids of her own), never came home again to live.

We looked after the rabbit until its demise eight years later!

Anyway... having seen the collection of flimsy strips of wood described as sheds at the time in B&Q or wherever, I decided to build my own.
As was the tea-house which followed it nearly a decade later, itâ??s made of roofing ply and 3â? x 2â? and now at the grand old age of 35 itâ??s still going strong. It has outlived many a neighbours shed and is still solid.

Itâ??s bolted onto the back of the garage and the only maintenance ever required was new roofing felt about ten years ago. It like the tea-house, gets a coat of Dulux mahogany Woodsheen every three years.
The windows were from next doorâ??s kitchen when they had them replaced with double-glazed units. It houses all my gardening equipment and tools and thereâ??s a work-bench the length of one side with drawers and cupboards for larger electric tools beneath.




These are â??recycledâ? office cabinets, very handy for small tools, spanners, screwdrivers, drill bits, screws and nuts and bolts etc.,

Iâ??ve also seen them in second-hand office equipment shops, they can be quite cheap.

 

Good job! I like the reused stationery(sp?) drawers

I'm awaiting planning permission for my planned shed :gnthb:

 

It has lasted very well, Doghouse.:gnthb: Since you've brought this subject up, I wonder if anyone on GC has a shed like those featured in that well-known book on the subject, in other words... you've got more than just a shed? I'm not trying to highjack your thread, but it does rather imply more than your example:thmb:

 

No probs, the more the merrier, I'd be interested to see pictures of anyone's "non-bog standard shed" on this thread. Or as I suggested, maybe a; "Shed Thread?"
What other people do in their gardens is always interesting and the construction of "projects" can be fun.
It can also inspire others to attempt stuff themselves and people on here I'm sure are only too pleased to offer advice on any topic.

Like my tea-house, while I was building it when one or two people said "What?" and "Why?" I replied "Why not?"

 

"I'd be interested to see pictures of anyone's "non-bog standard shed""

Does that include dream sheds? :D

 

Very impressive.

I did have this big telly in one corner, but had to change it for a 14" portable on a TV bracket screwed to the wall in the corner and move that jukebox styled radio/tape player (yes, it's that old there's a "Bangles" tape still in it.) to the space between the windows, as I had to reduce the run of three recycled kitchen units down to a single one, to get in the "real" jukebox.




Fortunately...... the other end remains untouched.

 

Wow! Kristen... if it has a toilet at the back, how much is the rent, I could live quite comfortably in that beauty.:hehe:

Let's hope this thread does produce some more results. I reckon there has to be quite a few des res's out there in GC land?

Fraid I can't include mind, it's just a small brick built construction with no room to swing a fork in, let alone fitting it up with all manner of luxuries.:lollol:

 

Errr does'e it have to be the inside of our sheds, I would be too embarrased to show you ours :o

Here's one of the outside, Decking in front :thumb:

 

Ooo!

Is it "Pimm's o'clock?"

Very nice!

 

Well YDD, with television and a stack of chilled beer, and now your sun lounger and colourful parasol, I reckon that just about anything goes on this thread.:hehe:

 

Hi Doghouse, what a great thread.
We had a shed thread on another garden forum I was on and it was such a laugh peeking into peoples sheds!

I wanted a "pretty" shed when we got ours and I would like to use it as a summer house :lollol: but it is full of "stuff" OH has one side, I have the other side. I have a pic somewhere, will look it out.

 

Come along, Jazmine, where are you pictures? We can't let this fascinating subject slip through the net, can we?:hehe:

 

I dont have a shed:(:(:(
My once pride and joy had to go many years ago to make way for a garage which is also a shed and as the OH says a Blackhole
(what goes in never comes out)
This video may amuse you. It is myself and my son moving the thing to allow access for the garage base to be built.
You wll notice the collection of junk on the lawn which has just been removed from the shed and the uncordinated efforts used to shift it!
You need three weetabix before attempting this.
Robert

 

I thought that was brilliant, at one momement I had a "flashback" to an old PG tips TV advert; "the piano movers,"

"I can't hold it Mr Shifter!"

"Do you know the piano's on my foot?"

"You hum it son, I'll play it!"

 

Hi Robert, thanks for sharing it with us! I laughed and laughed - I was thinking of that song "Right, said Fred, both of us together" etc. I noticed you have a strapping son there but you were doing all the heavy work :rotfl:

For Strawman here is my "girlie" shed. We bought it but OH erected it by himself on the base he had prepared. He also laid all the block paving. He ended up with sore knees!



and this is "my side" :luv: