Living with nature is a family business, run by Carole Ann Cronshaw and Steve Powers.Carole relates how it got started, and where it is going:-Welcome to our “Living with nature” website. Background: We set up in business making wooden garden benches & products as a consequence of Steve being made redundant from his job working as a metallurgist. Naturally this came as a shock to us and suddenly without warning but gave us the opportunity to run our own business, we jointly seized the opportunity and set about making it all happen…… Looking back it was one of the best things that ever happened to us. Things have developed better than we could have hoped for, especially with the worse season of weather for some good years and Retail sale of wooden garden furniture and ornaments being at its worse, but we have survived…. through sheer graft, working long hours and with positive determination, Evolvement: The concept of making outdoor wooden garden benches, seats, other furniture and ornaments originated in two ways. We saw a piece of old wood in a skip and thought about what we could make from it and hence the first wooden mushroom seat developed for our very own garden. This then evolved into the creation of different unusual pieces, wooden oak benches and planters, yew bird tables and yew bird baths, laburnum candle holders which look lovely at Christmas, wooden garden toadstools and mushrooms, laburnum fungi, and so the list goes on. Family and friends were extremely complimentary when visiting our garden, putting in unprompted requests to make similar items for their own gardens. We then went on to gain a commission for the Royal Horticultural Show (RHS) Tatton Park, to produce 2 curved benches in one of the main 12 show gardens. These can be viewed in our gallery and are made from beautiful elm. Whilst challenging we delivered to the script and placed them in situ on time. The garden was awarded a Silver gilt, an accolade for the gardener and commendable for our own products too. Development: We continue to develop new products on a regular basis so we can keep our position in the ever competitive market place and bring pleasure to you for your outdoor living space. Commissions are always welcome and offers another pleasure to design each one with its own individuality - so don’t be shy, call or email us via our contact page, and we can discuss your requirements with our straight forward, honest and friendly approach. Our showcase: With the flurry of activity in our best showcase display – our own small garden - for our distinctive, custom made products, we also went one step further and decided to see if our garden was worthy of being passed as a suitable entry into the National Garden Scheme (NGS) a registered charity since 1927 and be open to the public on specified days of the year. We are proud and delighted to say it was assessed and passed. All proceeds are given to NGS charities and we are delighted to be part of such a good cause. So if you wish to come along and see us and our range of garden products in situ, the garden will be open on Sunday 15 June 2008 and Sunday 7 September 2008 opening times 1.00pm until 5.00pm – entry fee is £2.50 each. Details of this can be found in the NGS yellow book, available at various outlets. Visit us now? If you would like to purchase or view any of our stock item products, a visit can be arranged by appointment – do ring 01254 824903 or use our contact page. Thank you so much for taking the time to visit our website – a no mean feat as we had resisted going down this route, but succumbed as we needed to traverse into the 21st century! We hope you found the site informative, interesting and of value, to make a real difference to your outdoor space. Kind regards, Carole Ann and Steve | 
