Changing Seasons, Autumn V, part 3

Autumn V, part 3 “Good morning, Mary. Hey, Clara Anne, haven’t you got a smile for me today?”
“No. Because this is Sarah Jane! I’ve got all three of them today. Looking at your clothes, I’m guessing that you’re not at the house today.” “Play Tickle, please, Jojo,” Mary said, and Georgie swung the young girl up into her arms.
“Me, me, Jojo, me,” Clara Anne said, coming back into the room.
Over the giggles, Georgie said, “No, Rafe and Amber are taking me round the art gallery and the other buildings up there. The house is scrubbed to within an inch of its life – I just want to make sure it’s totally dry before I start doing anything inside. So I’ve left all the doors and windows open and if that doesn’t get it bone dry, I don’t know what will!” “What shall we show Georgie first, then? The bookshop to be? The gallery? The house?” “What would you like to do first?” Rafe asked Georgie, who’d been admiring the bookcase at the foot of the stairs (“Rafe’s brother, Leo, made it for us as a wedding present.”) “I’d love to see what you’ve done with the house so far. And any hints you can give me – I’ve got all the prep work done on Grandpa Geo’s house, thanks to Clara’s advice and help, but now I have to start the actual doing.” “So, I should do the floors and ceilings first because they’re the messiest. And do that all through the house?”
“Yes. If you’re planning to sand the floors – you can rent the machine from Minnie’s DIY shop! – then there’ll be dust everywhere, so get that over with all in one go! And don’t forget face masks and ear defenders: she sells those too.”
“And then I should start on the walls room by room?” “We did the kitchen first because being able to cook and eat really helps your energy levels! But you’re staying at Clara’s so that just needs to be done for your Grandpa Geo arriving. You’ve only got a sink, haven’t you? We can take you to Newborough some time: there’s a brilliant place there that does recycled goods. The van carries my sculptures, so it’ll carry a fridge and cooker no problem. Shall we go see the gallery now?” “So this is the entry and exit to the gallery – and it’s also the gift shop, of course. There’s more stock to come yet; Lachlan’s got some of his scrap sculptures and Marianna’s got some of her glassblowing. What we’ve got here so far is the commercial stuff – mugs, bags, and so on.” “And this is the main gallery. Everything in here is for sale. We’re hoping to attract other artists to the area as well. We want this to be – not an established gallery for expensive artists, nor something totally amateur, but a place for up and coming young artists to exhibit. And somewhere that buyers come on the lookout for promising talent, hoping to buy early works by someone who’ll be famous later.”
“A sort of springboard, really?”
There was a pause, and then Amber said slowly, “We couldn’t find the right name. I think you might have done that for us.” “You might notice a slight difference in the quality of paintings here! This is the you-can-come-and-paint-here space. Now there’s so many children in the school, this space is used a lot – they all come over here for art and then dance at the gym as well.”
“And what’s through there?” Georgie asked, looking through the glass doors to what had once been Amber’s writing space. “Somewhere for the parents to sit while their children paint! They can keep an eye on then but also have a cup of coffee or whatever…Lucie’s going to run painting sessions that you can put your kids into while you go round the gallery. Or just sit here and relax. We’ll add some magazines too.” “Nice,” Georgie said, admiring the retro fridge and hot drinks maker. “You’ve really thought this through, haven’t you?”
“Oh yes! At length! We’re aiming for a whole day out experience, to make it worthwhile people coming this far. And to have things that appeal to a wide range of people. So there’ll be vineyard tours and wine tasting, stable tours and maybe one day even racing again, Smallcott Honey tours, local history tours, lots of places to eat, we’ll open the gym, maybe put in a pool and spa somewhere in a year or two…and the bookshop opens very soon. Come and see that.” “And this will be a working open bookshop in a very few weeks!” “Downstairs will be the children’s section. That big building you saw to the side - yes the one with holes in the walls! - is going to be a café, toilets, children’s play area. And then upstairs here will be the teens and upwards books.”
“It’s a proper bookshop. Isn’t it? All nooks and crannies and corners.”
“Yes. We want to keep the industrial feel to the buildings, keep their history, whilst also making them serviceable again.” “This room’s ready to furnish as well, but we still need to do the top floor.”
“Over there,” Rafe said from by the window, “that building with the red roof, that’s going to have an Italian restaurant upstairs.”
“Everyone loves Italian food! Then there’s the bakery-and-tea-rooms on your estate for the history buffs: those are genuine Sears Roebuck houses and in really good shape, and we’re doing one up as a period example that people can go round…”
Georgie went on listening. This was more than just enthusiasm: there was careful planning behind all these ideas and everyone of them was designed to start small and grow slowly. And pay its own way.
“Rafe and Leo. They’re the reason for that. All those years in the city, making big money…”
“No. Understanding money. You can’t chase making it. It’s all about how you use it. And we want to use it for good.” There was a faint bitterness in Rafe’s tone that intrigued Georgie – she’d ask Amber about that some time, when she felt she knew her well enough. “My, you’ve been workin’ hard on this place! That floor’s lookin’ like honey.”
“The stuff in a jar or Frank’s wife?” Georgie glowed with pleasure at Old Tench’s praise. She had worked hard, and it was good to know that it showed. “But I don’t know what to do next. Clara said, white paint’s the cheapest, so put it everywhere and it’ll give you a good base for adding colour, but I don’t know which colours…” “I mean, I could pick up the red of the tiles in here – they cleaned up really nicely, didn’t they? – but would that look a bit fierce…?”
Old Tench looked sideways at Georgie, and noticed how tired she was looking.
“And we want to get Grandpa Geo down here as soon as possible, before it gets even colder and wetter up there…” “Tell you what,” he said. “Artie ‘n I, we’re both dab hands at this paintin’ lark. Had plenty’ve practice on that old place’ve his. An’ we’re both real keen on catchin’ up with your grandpa. So why don’t you just get him moved down here, an’ Artie ‘n I, we’ll do the paintin’, the paperin’ ‘n the chattin’ all at once? An’ he can pick the colours for himself from Minnie’s place…Ain’t nothin’ wrong with the way the place is now. When’s that kitchen comin’?” Georgie’s shoulders sagged in relief.
“Monday. Rafe’s bringing it over from the Newborough store for me. That would be amazing. Are you sure?”
“Course I am. Ain’t got a lot else to be doin’ – an’ like I said, we’ve got a lot of catchin’ up to do. But iffen you don’t ease off a little, you’ll be endin’ up ill and then what will your grandpa do?” “I see you’ve bought an ironin’ board already. Is he still as dapper as ever, your grandpa?”
“Oh yes,” Georgie said with emphasis.
“Even useter look smart when he was gardenin’ – does he still do that, iron his gardenin’ overalls?”
“We don’t have a garden…”
“The I reckon he’ll be transformin’ all the ones round here – this useter be the prettiest garden on the street, and he weren’t the only one as was keen on gardenin,. You need any help fixin’ these winders?”
“No, Chris and Caleb have said they’ll do the windows at the weekend, and then I can get them painted. Frank and Lachlan are going to get the kitchen fitted for me…you’re all so kind round here.”
“There’s folks as it’s worth bein’ kind to, and you and your grandpa are two of ‘em.” Frank, Lachlan and Leo Hunter were all finishing off the kitchen for her tomorrow. Marcus Winter was using his truck (there seemed to be two modes of transport round here: truck or bicycle!) to collect the new beds and a few other bits of essential furniture. When her grandpa arrived, he’d find a welcoming home. And a welcoming community too.
Hopefully, Georgie thought, this will feel like a homecoming for him. He’s never really liked city life. Me, I’m going to have to do some adjusting, but after all that he’s done for us as a family, I’m more than happy to do that for him.

The iron, ironing board and so on, the bookshop and museum shop bits are by Sandy at ATS3.

The bookshop was made by CycloneSue at ATS3