This 88-Year-Old Woman Lives in an Old Shed in the Woods – But Wait Until You See Inside!

Bright, tidy, and full of her life

The first surprise is the light. The walls and ceiling are painted white, and daylight comes in through the two windows. The room is only about 12 by 14 feet, but it does not feel dark or cramped. It feels clean and calm, like a room someone has cared for every single day. The second surprise is the colour. Almost everything soft in this room was made by Edna herself.

Over the back of her rocking chair lies the first quilt she ever made, in faded red and blue squares. Another quilt covers the small sofa, and a braided rag rug she made from old clothes lies on the floor. On the windowsills are red geraniums and a spider plant that she has kept alive for twenty years. On a narrow shelf over the sofa stand framed photos: her wedding day, Frank on his tractor, four children on the farmhouse steps, and a long row of grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

In the corner stands the small black wood stove. In winter it heats the whole room in less than an hour, and Edna keeps a kettle on top. "Wood heat is the best heat," she says. "It warms your bones." Her rocking chair stands close to it, next to a basket of yarn and her reading glasses. But the cleverest part of this home is at the other end of the room, where her sons fitted a kitchen and a bedroom into a space smaller than most garages. See it on the next page.