15 thoughts I had from this Shepherd's Hut

You can't get much more 'out of office' than this.

Hello. I spent Easter on a farm in Oxfordshire.

Specifically, in this Shepherd’s Hut:

Complete with log fire hot tub and outdoor cooking equipment that I didn’t understand.

Whenever I’m closer to nature and away from my phone for more than 5 minutes, I start thinking.

Here are 15 unfiltered thoughts I had from this Shepherd’s Hut this Easter weekend.

• Should I get Farrow and Ball striped wallpaper in my lounge? Striped wallpaper feels like a big moment in adulthood. Am I there yet? I am 30.

• Can I hear a train?

• Omg a train just went by! Just past that field over there! I wonder if there’ll be more.

• Could I live in a Shepherd’s Hut? Would I enjoy it? Could I be one of those annoyingly-enlightened people who have successfully unshackled themselves from pinning the new-ins at Reformation, and instead embraces the simple pleasures in life?

• This kettle whistles when it’s ready, god I love it.

• Another train! About… 10 minutes after the last one? Maybe I’ll note down the time…

• The wood fired hot tub is great. I mean, it took 3 hours to warm up but it did feel nice having a near-boiling bath outside, essentially in the middle of a field. I’m so outdoorsy.

• Maybe when the hot tub cools down I should put my feet in get me ready for the wild swimming event next Saturday.

• Time to do some journalling outside. The sun has almost set, but I’ve got ✨ candlelight ✨… and my iPhone torch.

• Writers used to write by candlelight. Was a dwindling wick motivation to write faster? Is the equivalent now a dying laptop in a coffee shop?

My journalling set up. Writing by candlelight feels higher pressure to write something poetic. I wrote about how I was still thinking about striped wallpaper.

• The hot tub is still warm, even after being unheated all night. Well, it’s tepid. I feel like I’m sloshing my feet around in a washing up bowl. I don’t think this is doing much to prepare me for wild swimming, unless the sea is going to be 19°C (maybe? hopefully?).

• Another train! Westbound this time. It sounded a lot bigger but looked the same as the others.

Tarkie on deck.

• I love David Sedaris’ writing so much. I reread this twice and laughed both times:

  • “Inside were glass display cases filled with weapons, and a wall of purses a woman could hide a dainty pistol in. This was a niche market I knew nothing about until I returned to Lisa’s house later that day and went online. There I found Web sites selling gun-concealing vests, T-shirts, jackets—you name it. One company makes boxer briefs with a holster in the back, which they call Compression Concealment Shorts but which I would call gunderpants.” — David Sedaris, Active Shooter. From Happy Go Lucky.

• The hot tub is definitely cold now. Freezing, in fact. Okay, my feet are going in. Oh that’s cold. That’s—FUCKING HELL THAT’S LIKE ICY SHARDS IN MY SHINS—okay, breathee. Breeeeathe. Breeeeathe. Okay. This is tolerable? Okay. Breathe. Is this… nice? Painful. But nice? I don’t know, but I’m done. I’m getting out. God help me next weekend in the sea. Maybe I’ll paddle.

• I really love the squelch of wellies. You don’t get that satisfaction in cities.