Sharon Linolli isn’t bragging when she proclaims herself “queen of the lathe”. Rather, she’s reflecting on the fruits of an unexpected journey. “I was really scared of retiring,” she tells The Weekly.
“I thought, ‘I’m just going to die. This is the end of my life.’ It sounds dramatic but that’s how I felt. I thought, ‘I’m not going to be able to contribute’.”
Joining the Robertson She Shed in the NSW Southern Highlands seemed a smart way for the single retiree to pick up some handy skills. She has now built new kitchen drawers, decked her house out with her own exquisitely turned woodwork, and gained a bunch of the handiest, most supportive friends you could wish for.
The 30-year-old men’s shed movement is well known. It was begun with the idea of bolstering male retirees’ mental health. It boasts steady funding, a peak body and sheds across Australia bristling with expensive tools. Few of the women’s sheds that have cropped up over recent years enjoy such benefits. And there’s another important difference.
“Men go to men’s sheds to learn to open up,
