Last Autumn we bought a shed, it took us 3 months to work up to it, but finally in September we took the plunge. We needed the extra storage space so we could safely make room in the garage for the new car (Mazda MX5) we had bought in June.

The problem was, neither of us really wanted a shed, we’d both have preferred some kind of summerhouse or log cabin, but we couldn’t afford either of these so, after much soul searching and lateral thinking we decided it would have to be a shed or nothing.

It is said that in life you generally get what you pay for, and so it is with sheds. When ‘Billy-O’ (for that was it’s name) arrived it was clear we had got exactly what we’d paid for.

The wood was thin, the fixings brief and not always to the point, and the felt just big enough with no room for error. We tried to overcome our disappointment and struggled manfully to do the best job we could with what was available. It took us several days to erect and paint Billy-O, and then it took me a couple of hours to fill him up. By the time I’d finished I was growing rather fond of him and calling him by his first name, yes I know I’m sad, whoever heard of a shed called Billy!

billy

Yesterday when I ventured into the garden for the first time in weeks, it was also the first time I’d been to see Billy since early December and I was a little concerned as to what I might find. I needn’t have worried, when I opened the door, everything was warm and dry and there was that reassuring smell that you get in a garden shed, a sort of ‘sheddy’ smell if you know what I mean. All was well and I was pleased, Billy had survived the first part of his first winter.