News from Shields Buildings

I haven’t got the worst eyesight in the world, but it’s certainly not 20/20, which is why I found myself on Okehampton High Street on Saturday, five minutes early for my opticians appointment. The world of glasses is a funny one, with designer frames and specially coated lenses at one end of the spectrum, and cheapo “off the shelf” glasses from supermarkets and pharmacies at the other.

We’re big rugby fans here in the Shields household, so you can imagine our delight when the Exeter Chiefs won on Saturday – fingers crossed for the double this weekend! In truth, John’s the rugby nut (although I enjoy it a lot too), and if you live with an egg-shaped aficionado, you’ll know that the calendar is somewhat dictated by the international calendar.

We had a prospective customer pop in yesterday, which – in itself – is far from unusual. But what I was surprised by was her trepidation when approaching our office. As it turns out, she wasn’t sure she was allowed to just show up, which means I clearly haven’t done a good enough job at communicating how and when you can come and see our display buildings!

In my head, there’s a moment each year when we finally, properly bid farewell to summer. Some might call it the line in the sand, but I call it the line in the ash, because it’s the instant when the chimney sweep turns up.