The On-Going Creation of the She-She-Shed

The She-She-Shed... in the distance...
mid-snowstorm.

chichi: adjective,

showily or affectedly elegant or trendy; pretentious.

she: pronoun

the female person or animal being discussed or last mentioned; the woman; anything considered, as by personification, to be feminine; a female person or animal; an object of device considered as female or feminine.

(www.dictionary.com)

Thus, my She-She-Shed, is that feminine space dedicated to all things chichi and absent of: mens’ socks on the floor, baskets of laundry that second as a dresser drawer, malodorous exhausts of any kind, disused wrappers on the floor that never quite made it into the trashcan, and beef jerky.

Things that are allowed in the She-She-Shed: light perfume, creams and pinks, (although I think I’m going for a slightly more vibrant color scheme), a comfy chair, a crafting table, and walls and walls of books. Add to that, one corner that will be a mini film studio, another corner that houses my writing desk, and a coffee station. (Never forget the coffee.) And just for good measure, although I’m not a particularly ruffly-flowery sort of woman, I do like creepy dolls. Yes, I am that woman.

The doll that goes by the simple moniker, "Creepy Baby"

The other things that are/will be allowed: kids, (occasionally), husbands, (occasionally), writing buddies, (but shhhh, because this is a quiet writing place), and the occasional guest in need of a quiet space to sit and read or write… or drink coffee.

There hasn't been a lot of activity on the She-She-Shed this month. Well, I did move most of the tools out and into the official "tool shed". And I did move in a large crafting table. There's still a lot of cleaning out to do, but it will have to wait for the snow to go away. We typically have at least three days of hellish winter here in Virginia. Okay, we've used up all three of those. We're done now, (please?) so it'll be back to work for me after another day or two of melt.

After my last post, I connected with my friend, Leah, who was willing to share pictures of her she-cave! And it had a lovely story. The room, originally intended as a "Man-Cave", was gifted to her as a sewing room. And since that time, she has turned that sewing space into a fabulous business, Tryon Quilts! See what can happen, given a lot of hard work, a dedicated space, and the support of people who love you?

If you would like to see more of the fruits of Leah's labor and Tryon Quilts, you can visit her at: www.TryonQuilts.net or at Facebook, Instagram and Twitter at Tryon Quilts! I can think of several ways to thank her for sharing her space with us.

Tryon Quilts headquarters!

I love the pine green wall color.

She with the most fabric wins!

"A Room of One's Own"

Hello. My name is Sofie, and I am a writer.

There’s a twelve step program for this, but I can come up with countless excuses to avoid doing anything about it. I am a writer. There. I admit it. That’s the first step.

The second step, is living like a writer.

I’ve got this desk here – that doesn’t really hold my computer set-up. It’s in the middle of the living room that everyone and their marching band tends to walk through in the course of a morning, disturbing the Mind Palace. Really, what I need are walls… and a roof… and a door that can be closed.

And that brings me to my new project. This project.

The She-She-Shed

This is what I’ve been referring to as my “She-She-Shed”. It was a tool shed until my sweet mother-in-law moved to a condo and gave us her tool shed, so now, all the tools can be consolidated in one place and I get to use the other for my very own, get-out-tha-house, office! Really? I could do that?

Well, this Christmas, I received the family’s blessing by way of the gift of sunlight. Rather, my husband and children gifted me a solar panel with accompanying hardware to run electricity out to my brand new office!!!! I LOVE these people!!!! See it? Up there on the right side of the roof? It looked a lot bigger under the tree. And now, the orange drop cord can go away - the one that's currently draped across the yard.

So over the next months, I’m going to share the progress of my she-she-shed/office. You’ll see it in all of its hideousness – as it sits right now.

The She-She-Shed in all its hideousness!

You’ll see me freezing my tushy off, because that little tiny solar panel might keep my laptop charged and a light bulb burning, but it sure won’t run a space heater. You’ll see me run out of it in the summer time by our formidable Virginia summers.

But hopefully, the she-she-shed will inspire someone else to carve out a corner in their home, to follow a dream. Virginia Woolf wrote an essay/lecture series called “A Room of One’s Own” which lauds the importance of a space in which to pursue one’s interests, but it is also about creative license and poetic freedom, financial independence and security, and the tendency of women to deny themselves. Check it out.

I would love if you would send me some of your own inspirational pictures of niches you’ve carved out for yourselves! I’d love to see and share them, if I may. You can send them to me at sofie@sofiecouch.com . And follow my progress here and on my Pinterest Board: https://www.pinterest.com/sofie321/cottage/ There, I’ve pinned some inspirational pictures and I’ll keep a record of the progress on the she-she-shed, as well as my writing progress.

This past month, I was able to eek out a short anthology of Christmas stories, In the St. Nick of Time. 

It's past its prime now - January - but I'm off on the next venture. I'm working on a series of sweet romances set in the fictional small town of Poropotank, Virginia. (That's pronounced poh-rope-oh-tank. It's a native term, meaning, "muddy creek", and the river really does exist.) Can't wait to work on my four book series out to the She-She-Shed! Wish me luck. I've got some work ahead of me!