History Living In The Garden- Gypsy Soul.

"Click on photos see details"

"Simple honest living impacting the land and garden."
A shepherds hut wagon makes for a soulful back yard garden getaway that will wow your guest before they step foot inside. A few historical huts have carried on providing comfort, and shelter to their Shepherd, but by around 1950 most were either pushed into the woods to provide somewhere for the gamekeeper to store his Pheasant feed, or abandoned on the edge of a field, or worse being broken up, and burnt as they had became redundant.

This post aims to record the newly built, and survivors that are still with use. The ones that got away, and those that hide silently, and quietly in the corner of a field "waiting, and just listening." It is these old sheds on wheels for shepherds tending to their flock that hold our true passion for their history, and once again history has a way of recycling. Lets hope they will be around for another 100 years with the interest of preserving them in our gardens.




A perfect European garden cottage furnished with love, and passion to create a welcoming restful place to write, as well as resting with nature. Whether the garden space is roomy, or down right limited in room, you could add a charming touch of history with a found vintage shepherds hut, or recreate one that fits your personality of your garden style making you, and your guest want to stay awhile. I am drawn to natures happiness with the capacity to welcome us into these little home spaces, offering us a promise of happiness.

The History behind Shepherds Huts
In the 19th and early 20th centuries, the shepherd's hut was introduced so that
the shepherd could live on the fields for extended periods of time to look after his flock day, and night, a haven of warmth with simple comfort. Such huts were widely used throughout England, and Wales, and followed a similar basic design with a curved corrugated iron roof with a stable door, and small windows on each side so he could keep an eye on his flock. The interior was usually simply furnished, and was warmed by a small cast iron stove. Most huts were built by small agricultural farming firms, some huts were constructed on the farm out of locally sourced materials, but all were built using blacksmith-made forged components such as axles, and draw bars. As farming methods changed over time the shepherd's hut gradually disappeared from the landscapes, those original intact built examples are rare, and hard to find.







They sing to me soulfully, I will have one someday, how about you!!

"Offering us a promise of happiness." Inspire your garden with the love of history.

Fragments, Salvage, And Shop Keeping

"Click on Photos to show details, and the Wall treatment I created to my Shop- walls"

This is what I have been up to, finding pieces I can salvage, and restyle, while painting everything I can get my hands on, always looking at familiar objects in a different way. I have been tending to my shop space filling it with pieces that charm us, restyling for a use of design, and accessorizing our homes. Embracing a style with French flea market finds, fulfilling an understated, and elegant role that is also an integral important part of the whole home. French European style that is not attention seeking, yet receives attention deservedly. These pieces, and accessories are not lacking elegance- but elegance of use, pieces well loved in a life before they are found again, adding a touch of new all over again to them- used for purposeful use or ornamentation to them. While loving pieces that have acquired a soulful patina of age, I cannot resist painting the pieces that call out to be painted.



I stocked up on apothecary jars, and then got busy making my famous terrariums price range starting at $39.00 they just don't stay around more then a couple of days when I bring them in. I like to add sea shells, and little vintage bottles nested under a fern with a little message of love or inspirational piece of ephemera book art tied, and dropped into the bottle, it leaves you wondering what beautiful treasure should one seek out.

Hand made Columns with added altered pieces turned into candle sticks, making for a treasured piece for a French country ocean side home, created by "Judy Rael" a most dear, and beautiful artist friend who lives beach front with more than enough inspiration to fill all our poetic hearts.





Embracing old discarded frames, I take pride in cutting them just right where the personality of the piece adds grace, and balance to it, turning them into beautiful fragments, perfectly imperfect salvaged pieces of art that can also be found in my shop. I love to personally hang them over the tops of other frames in my home, as well as in wall groupings, mixing them into the things that are a muse of inspiration to me, giving them a paint treatment that looks to be mellowed with age.


Look what I have done by just painting my art with passion...
Loving odd pieces with a hidden charm, and letting these pieces find me is better yet. After an old chair was on its last leg it had been discarded, the bottom of the back rest split, and abused with little life or love to give to anything of use. Its small voice pleaded to me to except its less than perfect state, then allowing me to give it a deserving life. Letting this piece become my new muse of inspiration has shown me there is no ugliness in the little imperfections of what we look at daily, its all in what we see.


Showing the back side with a simple eye hook to hang from, I love the ever so slight bowed back to it, making this piece a teeter-totter on the wall, but I think this is what in most part charmed me. I did nothing to it to alter the life, and journey it had been on before it rested in my artful hands, I am not sure I should let this little sweet chair back go, I may have to keep it around awhile letting it tell me where it wants to rest.

"Loving odd things, adding to a poetic heart."
I feel like I have become a guardian of pieces with history.