Every woman needs a Wendy House

Hello, I hope you and yours are well.

Since my last post I have discovered that the town where I live has urban deer. People out and about at night report seeing them walking along the deserted roads.

I'm a writer, as you know, and I need 'space' to do my writing. This is not just physical space but mental space too. Virginia Wolfe identified it as a Room of One's Own and I concur that it is essential to any writer. However, I believe it is important to any woman if she wishes to develop her creative ability to the full. Men may need this too but I cannot (and wouldn't dare!) speak for them.

Historically, women have had 'The Home' as their domain and I recall as a young housewife being very possessive and controlling about what went on in my kitchen. That's okay as long as your man doesn't cook, but lots of them do nowadays. The living room, too, is shared and if you have children, the spare bedroom disappears as well! So what is a woman to do?

When I was a little girl in nursery school we had some wonderful toys including a make believe cardboard house painted in bright colours with a door and windows (no glass). It was big enough for tots to play 'house' inside and was known as a Wendy House after, I believe, Wendy from Peter Pan. I adored it.

As I grew older, life became more complicated and busier and there were times when I thought nostalgically of a play house where I could escape to my own space. Even my office in the house isn't totally my space because paperwork for running my home and lifestyle is in there, and isn't that complicated these days!

I wanted a Wendy House and why not? Men have their sheds or garages or boats for their escape so I decided I would have my hut; just for me, for my personal space, for my personal survival. Visitors are only allowed in by express invitation. My hut is a beach hut and I have to take the car to get there, but it is worth it. At the moment it is known by its number but I am thinking of calling it Wendy. 'Just going off to Wendy for the afternoon' sounds hugely liberating. I recommend it and as the weather gets warmer I shall blog more about it.

Next week I am in London for a few days and I'll Tweet about the fun. If you're interested, follow me on Twitter @cathkingauthor.
Enjoy your reading
Kindest regards
Catherine

Bambi in my garden 1 May 2011

You have to look closely but there is a young deer in the shade under my old apple tree. He stayed in the garden all day and had gone by the following morning. I hope he found his mother. He must have negotiated a few urban roads to reach my garden. I suppose the pickings are good - apple, hazel and beech leaves with wild violets for pudding. My garden is about 400 metres from busy shopping centre!

The lovely weather continues but my lawn needs some rain.
Best regards
Catherine