Winter Refuge

 

I have been sitting in our backyard sunroom to read, write and listen to music throughout the pandemic. Actually long before that too but this past year or so it has been a sanctuary. I've written about it several times in previous posts about our backyard refuge because it has been and still is important to me during this time. I sat out there to late at night over the summer with the party lights on with my books and music while Becky was in the living room watching an old movie. I would often join her but sometimes I just sat there enjoying myself. I also had a setup for my laptop and would often work on mixes or write in this blog while in the sunroom or cabana shed we sometimes call it. In all these years we mostly referred to that space as the shed and in included both to garage like building and the attached glass and screen enclosed porch that I have been calling the sunroom. I like that better. The shed is still the other space back there.

I loved hanging out with the birds and rabbits in our backyard but as the weather changed I wanted to make sure I could still be back there. So as winter approached I did things differently with that space. Usually I store all the backyard table and  chairs, wheel barrels, hose reels, the plant table, etc in that area of the shed after removing all the screens. However, this year I wanted to use the space throughout the winter if I could. We also now had a couch in there which took up some extra space.

I rearranged the indoor shed better and was able to fit more stuff in there then ever before and still had the snow blower handy near the door. The I carefully placed the backyard table and plants off to the side. I put the plant table in its usually spot and took the the front porch chairs and placed them in a good spot in the room. Suddenly it was looking very comfortable. I had also put up some plastic to seal the door and one of the windows. In the spring we plan to replace the glass in that window and to put a new door on the room but in the meantime the plastic works fine for now. 

When the sun is shining it gets very warm in our backyard sunroom. I have it sealed nicely and have some comfortable chairs along with the sound system. I sit in there with a sweater on reading a book, drinking tea and listening to music. It's a good use of space and a place to enjoy the snow, watch birds at the feeder and see the squirrels scampering about. It gets so warm in there sometimes I feel myself wanting to take a nap.