Changing Seasons. Spring II, part 1

Spring II. Part 1 “Well, here we go! You, me, and our wine. Don’t worry, I’ll cradle them like one of Patience’s babies.”
“Let’s hope it wriggles less than Barnabas then!”
“Marcus, this is so exciting! We’ve done all this in a year!” And they set off, Marcus driving far more circumspectly than he normally did! “I can’t believe it! We sold it all! What shall we do with the money?” Annette hugged Marcus enthusiastically. “I want to buy a tractor – but we’re still a long way short of that. How about another one of these? How about buying Henrietta a companion? With two of us treading, we’d make twice as much wine.”
“That makes sense. Maybe we should fix the holes in the shed as well.”
“Might even repaint it. Then we’ll see what we’ve got left over.” The wine shed did look good now. And so it should! They’d had to rebuild it, not repaint it, but at least they didn’t have to worry about it falling down on top of Henrietta and Herbert. They had no money again, but hey, what was new there? And the crops were coming up again… “The soil does look richer this spring,” Annette called to Marcus. “Maybe that’s where all our money is.”
“Well, it’s got to be somewhere! We need to go fishing again – in our spare time.” “We can’t do anything after dark,” Annette had said to Patience. “We’ll come and babysit for an hour or two and you and Euan can go out for a walk together or something.” Patience had accepted gratefully.
“Do you think we can give them a hand cleaning these tiles off?” Marcus asked Annette. “They’re pretty grotty.”
“Don’t see why not,” Annette said absentmindedly. “Joy, you’re so gorgeous, aren’t you!” Helping Patience and Euan though had to be fitted in around everything else! They were up with the dawn every day now heading straight for the fields.
“Fields?” Annette queried.
“Well, fieldlets, then. This is more than a garden.” And that was definitely true! “This is quite fun.”
“You take Herbert, and I’ll take Henrietta. She’s a bit more temperamental,” Marcus had said. Annette was enjoying herself with Herbert. “Ow!” she said, a few minutes later. Marcus snickered, heartlessly. “Why, it’s nice to see you Annette. How are you and Marcus doing? I haven’t seen you in ages.”
“Oh, we’ve been working so hard it isn’t true! Spring, you know, and all the weeds suddenly remembering how to grow…”
“Don’t I know it! I remember my mother saying that about her garden…” “You’ve put another shelf up!”
“Yes. And bought more stock. All these babies and small children – I need to stock cleaning stuff now. I don’t know how Marianna manages with those four…Lachlan’s a nice guy – and he’s made some just lovely little things that my Newboro daughter can sell no problem in her gallery – but he’s kind of quiet. Doesn’t say much. Now Marianna, she’s real chatty when you get to know her, but she doesn’t seem to get out much. I think all four children at once are a bit much for Lachlan to handle…” “Anyway, what I came for was peanut butter. And some more bread flour. Hey, it’s the last jar.”
“Last tomato ketchup too. That Clara, she really likes it. She doing okay?”
“She’s doing fine. We have her for breakfast once a week for sure, and she comes for lunches too. Patience and Euan have really taken her under their wing, and she’s great with the babies.”
“I think she should meet Marianna. I think they might have a lot in common. Sassy women, both of them. You reckon you could fix that up?” “Hmm. I’ll see what I can do. You’re right, they’re probably not just going to bump into each other if Marianna’s at home a lot of the time. I’ll take some more veg round and take Clara at the same time. Thanks, Minnie! Here, what do I owe you? And I think we’ve got something on the pad as well, haven’t we?” “Busier than you’d believe possible,” Marcus said in answer to Lachlan’s question about how were things going?
“But I think we’ve broken the back of the spring planting and weeding and so on. Annette wants to drop in on Marianna – we’ve got some more veg for you – and take Clara as well. Would that be okay?”
“Um, yes. I’ve met Clara.” There was one of Lachlan’s trademark pauses. “I think Marianna will like her.”
The library was changing. Patience had organised a working party at the end of the winter, and there was now insulation, plasterboard, plaster, paint…Minnie was going to get her son-in-law-with-the-floor-sander to drop by as soon as he had a gap and she’d done a book trawl among her family as well. And Old Tench had donated a new bookshelf.
“I don’t spend anythin’ like my whole pension. Livin’s cheap here. And I’ve got no-one to leave my money to – might as well spend a bit of it. I’ll be paintin’ up those bookshelves for you come summer as well.” “Annette! Thank you so much for all of this! But you shouldn’t have…”
“Shouldn’t have what? Shared our extra with you? I don’t think I want to be that sort of person.” Annette was laughing, teasing Marianna. “I don’t think you’ve met Clara yet.” Mason had met her though, and Clara had delighted him by picking him up and tickling him vigorously. She put him down and went over to Marianna. “Hi. I’m Clara Hayes. No neighbourhood – even one as small as this – is complete without a resident Troubled Teen, and I am proud and happy to fill that gap.” Marianna grinned and Annette, watching, thought that Minnie had been right. These two were on the same wavelength.
“Nice jeans fabric. Sort of looks like Harper’s dungarees. I’m guessing you know Patience and her sewing machine.”
“Intimately. Not to mention the pins she accidentally stabbed me with…” Half an hour later they were in the workshop, carrying a child each and keeping a close eye on Fletcher, who was never normally allowed out here. “This half’s mine. I used to be a glass blower.”
I didn’t know that! Annette thought. But Clara’s directness was opening Marianna up.
“Are the children getting in the way of you doing it now?”
“Just a bit, yes,” Marianna acknowledged with a laugh. “But it’s also a pricy thing to do. Not so much the glass, but running the kiln.” “But your electricity is free, remember? And Annette and I could come and ride herd on the children for an afternoon. Or me with Lachlan. I don’t think I could do four on my own.” Clara laughed too, but then went on more earnestly. “You could do this again. You should.” “I’m glad I met you, Clara. Thanks Annette, for everything.”