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.

As you probably know by now, a Shields Building isn’t just any old shed. Each element is handcrafted, which is why you can be sure that it will stand the test of time.

For many of us, lockdown was a time to think, to re-calibrate and re-prioritise. We had the time to plan our lives, to decide what we want our homes to be like and how we wanted to spend our time. But as lockdown eased, the busyness of life returned for many of us, and some of those plans got put on the backburner.

I usually try to look on the bright side of life, and with both of my girls back at school, and a busy September at Shields Buildings, things have definitely been on the up. Don’t get me wrong, they still are, but the introduction of the ‘rule of six’ this week is a reminder that we’ve got a difficult winter ahead of us, and that I should make sure I’m stocking up on home comforts!

As you might expect, constructing a timber building from scratch isn’t a walk in the park. Each one is handmade by our team, right here in Devon, and a huge amount of time, effort and application goes into the creation of each and every one; and a fair share of splinters too!

Since the schools closed in March neither of my daughters has set foot inside theirs.

Here’s a pretty common question for us here at Shields Buildings: