Tuesday 26 June 2012

A gypsy caravan....

As a little girl, I always wanted to own a gypsy caravan.
http://www.atchintan.freeserve.co.uk/images/wagon-7-medium.jpg
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I could just imagine myself sat, barefoot on the front of one with a little white pony pulling us along the sweet smelling country lanes of middle England.  And at night I would snuggle up and read books by gaslight.
My reality?  I lived in coronation street land - concrete and bricks.  I yearned for my own little caravan so badly that it almost hurt.  Actually scratch that last sentence... It did hurt.  It did.  Mainly because I knew that it would never happen.

Skip thirty years forward to our first few weeks in this new house... Our newly inherited shed was in a sorry state.  The woodstain had all but weathered away and most of the roof felt had perished.
It was still a good shed though and would cost a small fortune to replace completely.  So I set about purchasing roofing felt and adhesive and I repaired the roof (Admittedly in a rather amateurish and lopsided way) But it saw the shed through another two winters and I made a mental note to repaint it.

I didnt want to simply restain it though - I wanted something more.  I had seen this beautiful shed on Junkaholique's dreamy blog.  And I wanted a little garden refuge.  Perhaps a little craft room of my own.  I could put my sewing machine down there... Its a treadle machine and so doesn't require electricity.  Perhaps I could paint the shed in pastel shades.  Maybe a little beach hut - I wasn't sure but I kept the idea in the back of my mind, retrieving it every once in a while and turning it over, re-examining it, re-evaluating.  But never coming up with anything concrete - until a couple of months ago...


I'd picked up a book on decorative painting and had done a couple of little projects using ceramic paints to decorate some old plates.  My thoughts turned to some of the old plant pots I had and I thought that I'd quite like to paint them in a folk art/ Canal boat style.  As I set to searching the internet for inspiration - I happened across some photos of Gypsy Caravans and as I admired their brightly painted designs - I once again found myself wishing that I had one.  If only a stationery caravan at the bottom of the garden... You can see where I'm going with this, right?  I had my eureka moment.  Only problem... I have a number of other projects queuing up to be started/finished/maintained... And a husband who is growing rapidly sick and tired of the way our house is increasingly resembling a junk shop...Soooo I have some previous projects to nail first and some time management miracles to work so that I can fit in what is bound to be the biggest project I have undertaken so far.... Watch this space.  Its coming.  It might take a while to complete and itll most certainly be a labour of love.  But lookit:
She shall be mine and I will call her 'Buttercup'..

wouldnt you like one of these at the bottom of your garden??
Bye for now
XxshellxX

1 comment:

  1. I would LOVE a Gypsy caravan in my garden! You should so go on a Gypsy caravan holiday around Ireland... xx

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