Tea With The Maharaja

 

This is our loo...I can almost hear some of you shouting “How Primitive!” at the screen, but we are very happy and grateful for it. It’s called a “Long Drop” and is basically a pit with a toilet seat over it. Instead of having a flush, we sprinkle sawdust each time we use it and not just any old sawdust...we came across a pine furniture maker who gives away off cuts of wood – which are great for the wood stove and big bags of sawdust, so our outdoor facilities are smelling pine fresh!

When we saw this little hut I was transported back to the film “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” – it reminded me of the kidnapping of Caractacus Potts senior. The whole shed gets transported over the sea to Vulgaria, while Caractacus (Lionel Jefferies) sings a song about the posh travelling life...Wonderful stuff!

We don’t really sit in fear of being kidnapped, but we have had some windy experiences...and I’m not just talking about eating pulses! The shed can feel like it’s about to take off, though in reality it would be more likely to tip backwards and roll down into the field - it does seem to be leaning that way, or maybe the shed itself will take off and leave one of us sitting there, trousers down and exposed to the elements ... We realise that this way of life wouldn’t suit everyone, but it does feel good to not be using water, each flush uses so much!

We will need to rest this loo eventually and allow the poop to rot down...we won’t be using it on the garden, but it would be nice to have a proper compost loo. Sime fancies building a bigger one which will double as a bird hide...though I would love to turn part of the workshop into an indoor loo. We have the space, if we open up the bathroom...yes, we have a plumbed in Victorian bath - which sounds rather grand, but it is old and quite small, so we are thinking about replacing it eventually. We have different opinions about bathing...I love baths, so am very pleased to have it, whereas Sime prefers showers and walks down to use the farm one. We would both love a hot tub or at least a bath big enough for two with a shower attached! We shall see.

Anyway, it’s time for tea with the Maharaja.

Cheerio!

Kay (and Sime) xx