Rock a bye Baby

Mr Nielson better known as Sid, spent a long time in the old oak tree in our garden one summer, hammering away at his idea of a tree house.

Eventually I was invited up to see the beauty of his handiwork, only to discover that even in a tree, I don't feel altogether comfortable more then a few feet up, above the ground.

I was never seen in Mr Nielson's treehouse again.

And no-one else was allowed up there either, until Mr Nielson better known as Sid had put a little fencing up, to protect the small visitors who frequent its dizzy heights!

Still, I can't stop loving the idea of a treehouse. Not the higgledy piggledy, wall-less wander that is Mr Nielson's, but something more closely resembling one of these little beauties.

Bruce Attwood, who was once married to the extraordinary artist Judith Mason, has built a little villiage of them on his farm in the Natal midlands, and best of all he hires them out to tree lovers from all over. The one below is an example of their charm and romance...

I feel sure that I could manage a few days holed up in one of these darlings. Give me a few books, a pot of tea and my very own treehouse builder, that is Mr Nielson, and I'd feel dizzy for all the right reasons! Of course.

xxx elle