“No man is an island” is part of a longer paragraph by John Donne.
“No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main; if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as any manner of thy friends or of thine own were; any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind. And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.”
That is very thought provoking and very suited to the Shed culture. It counteracts the loneliness and isolation that people frequently feel in our fluid society that does not make it easy for people to become rooted in place.
Look at the statement at the top of our home page which is repeated here for convenience.
Sheds are about fellowship, inclusion and acceptance. A place where people can meet and work together, enjoy each other’s company and give to others.
Sheds are a legacy that we owe thanks to our cousins down under for. It’s an export far more valuable than XXXX.
In earlier blogs, Len Thomson has been mentioned. He is an Aussie Shedder that Graham met by chance (or was it?) in Whitby as he and his wife were passing through. A great friendship born of Sheds developed that led to mutual visits to each others homes and a lot of very useful cross fertilisation. There was connection between the Labrador Shed on the Gold Coast and the Whitby cluster of Sheds here.
Interest and encouragement has continued with our new Norton Shed. Yes, we are known about half a world away.
Graham has a son and family in Victoria and a visit was planned as Covid-19 lockdowns came in universally. Now at last, with a granddaughter who has doubled in age since we last tickled her, we can visit. We can also meet Len and wife Ros again (not just on Skype or WhatsApp).
We decided to meet up in Canberra, the nation’s capital for a few days sightseeing.
Len has approached his local MP (a great supporter of the Shed movement) and we are now invited to lunch with him at the Members’ Dining Room and to listen to proceedings in the House. It is not to be a barbecue:-)
As our Shed in Norton evolves my hope is that through our Shedders we will look to learn and help in all directions from Norton and indeed overseas. Soon we’ll be equipped with gadgetry at the Shed to meet the world.
Shedder Gary is into digital music creation and manipulation. So are two guys in the Whitby Shed where we are collaborating with others to establish “The Doing Place”, a kind of department store serviced facility with creative activities run by others. “Creative Sounds” will be a part of that and maybe Gary can join with them to share online.
Thus, we need to close the gap between what goes on in and between places and realise we as individuals are key to creating the ethos needed to solve current and future counter-isolation needs for individuals and for localities.
Knick Knacks
We are now in a position (just about) to use the Shed as intended. The majority of the jobs to repair, refurbish and fit out are(thankfully) behind us. It has been an interesting journey since January 2022.
Here is a Knick Knack for the birds made by Staithes Shedder Malcolm as a start. We’ll be adding other pictures.
The French Cleats have been installed. Ooh La La.
They are a place to hang the knick knacks that Shedders’ need.
Like ready access to to screws of different sizes, a fitment for holding sets of screwdrivers, boards for hand tools etc.
Mick fitting the French cleats.
Support brackets for lengths of timber mounted on cleat hangers. The brackets are from Whitby Shedder Lance who made them.
Following a trip to B&Q on Friday afternoon . . . .
On Friday evening Scotty Dave finished the structure of the planter he’d started, smoke alarms were installed inside, solar lights were fitted to the outside and we helped with an adjustment job on fencing for the football club.