The House with the Pink Shutters – The Bath on the Balcony. Samos Greece
Last year, as part of the gardening plan, we decided to keep the bath tub when we renovated the bathroom and installed a walk in shower. Having been a social worker for a good part of my life I have seen way too many older people admitted to hospital with broken hips, hypothermia, head injuries and an assortment of other broken bones and skin tears. The cause? A shower installed over a bathtub. A huge falls risk for people with limited mobility and creaky joints. So in the spirit of planning ahead and thinking about our retirement home – we decided that bath tub had to go and with it the daily battle with the shower curtain that constantly tried to mould itself to our bodies.
Our neighbour, Kosta, who happens to be a good tiler, reliable and hardworking – a rare combination for a tradesman on Samos if my experience is anything to go by on this island was hired to carry out most of the work. Our plumber, George, popped in and out to give orders and delegate. First the bath had to be removed and being one of those old cast iron affairs which would be worth a small fortune in scrap but extremely heavy and difficult to transport even if we had a car/truck, we had to decide what to do with it. So I polled my friends for a solution. My preference was to use it as a herb garden down at the allotment or on the terrace of the little unit opposite the house. Most of my friends liked the idea of using it as a huge ice bucket for social gatherings and I have to say that I was tempted for a while. As it turned out the bath was so heavy that the only solution was to move it a short distance onto the terrace and leave it there.
When we returned this year one of the first things on our list of to do was to build a wood surround to support the bath and turn it into a useful item rather than a redundant, rusty, enamel chipped tub. Then I had an idea how to make the it multi-functional that is both garden and ice bucket. Currently I have strawberries in the bath but they are planted in a grow bag that can be removed at a moments notice should a container be required hold a ton of ice in order to chill the copious amounts of alcohol that my friends consume, and clearly think that the two fridges in our house are inadequate. So there, I have planned for happy gardeners and happy drinkers. After all if strawberries and champagne is good enough for Wimbledon its good enough for us. Should be a good summer.
A Word in Your Ear 
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PS.. it’s strange that the image in the email notification is different from the one that shows in your post…. email-garden with tub.. web page- Let’s Fun…. maybe it’s my slow connections?
Every time I see ‘The House with Pink Shutters’ I picture that title being on a best-selling book as well as a movie!
Reading about the bathtub dilemma hits home, as 8 years ago I converted a small boat into a bathtub with a sink at the very back… now that repairing the house is not worth the expense or effort, there are two items that need a special home. One is the boat and the other is a double-sided painting that protected the window….
Your plans are good ones, and mine are still incubating… there’s no house with pink shutters in the neighborhood, but eventually a new ‘home base’ will present new options….
Let’s Fun!
You can’t have a cooler that’s too large, great idea.
Let me know when the party starts! 🙂
Perfect use for the bath. Strawberries…….yum!
Perfect solution!
Sounds (and looks 🙂 ) like an excellent Summer to me. Yamas!