There comes a time in a man's life when he starts to become irrationally aroused in the presence of hooks, hinges, paints and powertools.
As he turns this corner, it is natural and right that he should mark the change with the acquisition of a shed.
After lengthy preparations, we heaved the old panels over the garden wall and assembled them into a structure very much greater than the
sum of its parts.
Disturbingly, Clare keeps referring to it as OUR shed; I'll humour her for now… She has always been a tad sceptical about the oddments of timber I've hoicked out of skips over the years. But they have been put to good use for patching up, bracing and shelving, and I feel properly vindicated.
With so much new storage potential, we have been inspired to streamline various areas of our house and garden. Some of the tasks couldn't be completed with reclaimed materials alone and so we had to visit a hardware shop.
We've often found Cherry Tree garden centre in Long Melford a good source for practical items. Then there's Kent Blaxill, also in local ownership, and great for bulky supplies. But for all the odd things we needed to make full use of "our" shed, we needed a more sophisticated outlet.
Thus we found ourselves in Partridges of Hadleigh. Even the most superstore-hardened folk must be able to see what a gem it is. Every surface is heaving with hardware, so densely packed there's no need to wander confusedly through miles of aisles. From storage baskets to wood preservative, grass seed to brass knobs, they had everything on our shopping list and plenty more to tempt and delight.
Smaller, though no less densely stocked, is Hudgie's in Clare. We used to visit this authentic "four candles" shop for such fittings and products that are not available in the likes of Homebase and Focus. But this year we have also gone to Hudgie's for general DIY and gardening supplies and realised that it is very often cheaper than the superstore equivalents. Furthermore, advice and suggestions come free of charge, things that are sadly lacking among the often young staff at the superstores.
On the way home from Partridges we passed Homebase and its sign offering 10% discounts. To us, it seemed an act of desperation – they'll have to try much harder than that to tempt us in future.
