Treehousetastic! Changing our view - Changing our mind.

Its bank holiday Monday the sun is trying to shine, but failing miserably and being someone that starts to freeze below 15 degrees Celsius, I have retreated to the house while the rest of the family seem oblivious to the lack of heat to the day and continue to build a tree house.

My main reason for helping was that it was fun, playing at the end of the garden watching the children paint each other (sorry I mean the tree house) and gleefully laughing as the realisation of their plans become a reality. As dad builds the ladder and I get splattered with paint. (will that come out before my meeting tomorrow morning I wonder? or will I have to go to see my client with blue skin from paint or blue skin from scrubbing it for 3 hours in the bath.) I can't deny its looking very cool.

When we discussed the idea of a tree house to go with the climbing frame, the decking (the kids not mine!) the summer house (again the kids not mine!) and the swing. I became a bit nervous about the scale of the thing. I was thinking quaint little tree house jutting out from the edge of the walnut tree, close enough to the cherry to enable the kids to collect cherries before the birds nick them all. But from pencil sketches to detailed to scale computer generated plans my nerves set in. "that looks a bit bigger than I was planning" I said while secretly thinking "we may need to get lights put at the top of this thing to allow planes to navigate round it!".

I love our garden, it's long with lots of different trees. From Cherry and apple to plum and walnut. There is a secret place to sit where no one can see you, as you sip a gin and tonic under the shade of a twisted willow. Sat on a big bench hidden away, able to enjoy the sun dappling through the trees and the birds are not so bothered by you, because you are hidden away in their domain. (and yes I did read the secret garden!)

This project made me realise that something that I was not good at until recently (and even now I have my moments) is the ability to let my hubby be in charge. When it comes to our home I am rather particular about it and I like to control exactly how it looks. I had wanted a Georgian themed white and green dining room with fret work shelves and cupboards, delicate and refined. My hubby saw some wallpaper in the bargain bin (its there for a reason!) that looked like Mediterranean style walls in a warm yellow. My plan went out of the window and I bent towards a Mediterranean style courtyard overlooking the sea through a field of vines painted by me. Okay so its not to everyone's taste, but actually I love it. Instantly I am transported to my favourite little vineyard in the South of France and I feel warm and in need of some garlic and some good wine. So I backed off (a big deal for control freak me) and let the plans take shape, and yes it was a scary thing to just say "yes guys, your plans look great I can't wait to see the finished project" when internally I was screaming "step away from my walnut tree!"

Hubby is grand in his ideas and plans so I knew it could turn out to bigger than our home and need its own post code! But I stuck to my goal, this was their project. My role was to paint what I was told, marvel at every stage and secretly love standing up high amongst the trees and see the world from a different angle. A secret place that is special and unique.

Its not just about being able to snoop over the fence. (Although our neighbours garden is so huge with an overgrown medley of vines and brambles and trees that I know where the family of foxes live.) Its about seeing the world in a different way. We have lived here for 5 years but I have never seen our house or the garden or the surroundings in this way before. I have a new appreciation for what we have and the way we live. All from just standing 7 foot higher in the air. That view has always been there, we just had never thought to look at it.

Think about that for a moment, what could you look at in a different way to get a different outlook or a different view on?

I know that I am going to look at things as if I was standing up high among the trees. Same location, different view point. and I am going to notice over the next few days. That's all. I don't need to change anything just notice.