Changing Seasons: Winter V, part 1.

Winter V, part 1 “I can see as how you’re plannin’ for spring already.”
“Spring, summer and beyond.” Grandpa Geo followed his old classmate into the room.
“Might take me a bit longer than it used to, but I’m aiming to make this garden lovely again. And mebbe a few others as well. I don’t think anyone’ll be objecting…” “How you been keepin’? Georgie said as you’d not been too well…”
“Have to admit, I’ve been feeling my age a bit. Now you look as fit as a flea on a butcher’s dog…”
“Better’n I was five years ago, and I wasn’t complainin’ none then. But meetin’ new people – ‘n old friends comin’ back as well – watchin’ this place come back to life, well, it’s kinder given me a whole new int’rest in things that’s been kinda livenin’, if you know what I mean.”
Geo nodded. “After my Annie died, it was being needed by my daughter-in-law and the grandchildren, when Alan was so sick…Didn’t stop me missing her, but I sure as heck knew I still had something to do.” “Well, they look ‘bout as good as Bess Preston’s cookies to me. Smell mighty good too.”
“Thanks,” Georgie said, smiling back at Old Tench. “Eat them up while they’re still warm.” “So what you plannin’ to do with yourself?” Old Tench went on. “Geo here, he’s got his gardenin’ under way ‘n I know he’ll have you on with the heavy diggin’, but that ain’t goin’ to take up all your time. Got any ideas yet?”
“Funny you should ask that…” Georgie said. After Georgie had gone out to pursue her ideas, Grandpa Geo sighed. “I do worry about her some,” he confessed. “About what she’ll find to do here, I mean.”
Old Tench pushed his chair back, ready to pick up the plates and mugs. “Don’t reckon as you need to worry any,” he said. “She’s a smart one, that Georgie, and what ain’t happenin’ for her, she’ll make happen. Artie‘ll be over real soon, ‘n then we can think about what you want doing with all these white walls.” “So what do you think?” Artie asked Geo. “What colour do you want in here?”
“Well now, that’s hard. I mean, we’ve picked up bits of furniture, Georgie and I, but there isn’t really a theme is there? I can see it doesn’t look right, but I’m blowed if I know what to do about it. And I kind of don’t want to go back to the way it looked when I used to live here…” Old Tench nodded sympathetically. “It ain’t the same. You can’t be goin’ back.”
“No. Annie and I, we chose things together for this house, and there’s a few things I’ll be putting back up when we’re done decorating, but I’m not trying to turn back the clock.” “You’ve got plans and ideas for the garden though.” Artie had already admired the seedlings and heard those plans. “So why not think of this room as an extension to the garden? Plan the colours to go with what you’re putting outside?” Geo’s face lit up.
“Now that’s a really good idea!” “Thanks for the compliment! I’m glad you think this feels really homely and welcoming. But it didn’t look like this when we first arrived…Like Old Tench was telling you, we were the first people to come here after everyone had left and there was just him stopping that company from being able to wriggle out of their compensation agreement. Gosh, when I look back at it, I can’t quite believe how young and innocent we were. And optimistic too…” “But why are you interested in our story? I can tell there’s a reason…”
“Well,” Georgie said. “One, I love hearing people’s stories. Two, I love telling them – that’s what drew me to journalism in the first place. Three…we’re going to need publicity for this place. And everyone loves reading a bring-things-back-to-life story. I want to get a series of articles written and ready to coincide with the gallery opening, to release in the nearby local papers, The Newborough Times, the Hillside Telegraph – get local people coming to see what’s happened, and coming back again to see the ongoing changes. So tell me your story!”
Annette cast her mind back… “I remember when we arrived, sleeping in the old cattle shed because at least that gave us a roof in case it rained! It was where the wine presses are all standing now.
Marcus had inherited the place and we decided to sell up what we had (which was not much!) and go there. We were just friends then – had been for ages, and we’d always been up for trying the crazy together. Total enthusiasm of youth!”
“Oh come on,” Georgie said. “You’re still young now!”
“Not like that, though. Not that invincible we-can-do-anything sort of young any more.” “Anyway, we arrived to discover a total lack of amenities. We cycled over to the far side but found nothing but deserted factory buildings and an eerie empty silence. A sadness, almost.” Hard to believe, now, that the art-gallery-to-be had once looked like that. “There was one dried-up lake and one that had diminished to just a watering hole and acres of dusty, sandy soil. Which reminds me, have you seen the changes over there yet?”
“No, I’ve not been down to the lake bed. Amber said something about it to Rafe – that he must go to the top of some building or another and have a look at what’s happened now. But there’s so many bits of this place I haven’t had time to see yet, what with getting Grandpa Geo settled and sorted as well.”
“Get her to show you. In fact, I might try and go myself, when I can get a bit of child-free time that isn’t full up with other work!” “And then we met Old Tench, when we were exploring another bit of the town. Well, the ex-town as it was then. He was all set to run us out of the place at first because he thought that we were reporters…”
“He nearly threw a blue fit when I told him that was what I was,” Georgie said, laughing.
“But then he found out that Marcus was James Winter’s great-nephew and suddenly transformed into the Old Tench we all know and love so well.” “He gave us the keys to the library – such as it was, back then – and we both studied like mad and just experimented to see what would grow and sell, those first few months. The fact that there was plenty of fish in the river definitely helped! Food and also fertilizer – worked wonders on the soil. And we found out what grew and decided to give winemaking a go. If we’d known then what we know now, we’d never have done it – and never have succeeded either.”
“Just as well you didn’t know, then!” “And then more people appeared. Well, one to start with – Clara just turned up from nowhere, researching her family history, camping out in the old church. She knows loads about a certain period – apparently her great-great aunt came from round here, and wrote loads of letters, like people did back then. And Clara found them and thought she’d come and see the place. I don’t think her home life was any too good, though she won’t talk about it. Anyway, she just sort of stayed and we all took care of her. And she talked us all into restoring the church.”
“I saw the scaffolding coming down the other week. Is it finished now?”
“Outside, anyway. We commissioned Marianna to make new stained glass windows for it, and she’s been doing that for the last couple of years: Marcus and I, we decided our spare profits could go into restoring the church. I had this dream of Mary getting married there one day – and maybe Clara Anne and Sarah Jane too.” “So who came next?”
“Patience and Euan arrived next, and their triplets – the first set – arrived pretty soon afterwards.”
“What brought them here? Did they inherit property too?”
“No. You’ll have heard of the Lee Popeman company by now? The one that ruined the town? Anyway, one of “them danged journalists” wrote an article about how the company graveyard was being neglected, so they decided to send Euan here to be the graveyard caretaker. I don’t think they treated him any too fairly over that: you’ll have to ask Patience for their story.”
“Sounds interesting. I want to do a series on the back story of how the town died, as well as how it’s coming back to life.” “It was fun having more people around. And their babies were so cute! We’d go over and babysit sometimes so that they could go for a walk together – which was about all the entertainment there was! We’d swop our not-much-more-than-a-shack for their grotty house for the evening, and enjoy the contrast.” “And then Marianna and Lachlan arrived – gosh, he was Mr Gloomy to start with! – and suddenly Two Lakes was feeling so different. Seven children made the place feel alive. Old Tench, two couples, one resident Troubled Teen, four toddlers, three babies – and Marcus and myself.”
“But you and Marcus were still Just Good Friends?”
“To be honest, I think we’d been working too hard, were too exhausted, to have the energy to think about being anything else in those early seasons. But then…” “Go on! But then…”
“But then Marcus proposed! Proposed we got married. And also proposed that we took on a seasonal worker, because we were just totally at our limits.”
“I thought you had two people working for you?” “We hired Blake first of all. That was really funny, because from the ad he was expecting an old couple and he started off by asking if my grandparents were around! We were the first people here to employ someone! And now he’s running Smallcott Honey and making a living from that. We hired Chris and Caleb on a two year contract, and their time is nearly up – we’ll miss them. And we’re advertising again for new hands: we can’t run this place on our own. Now that we’re beginning to make a name for ourselves, we’re getting more applicants.” “That is quite a story! I’ll let you see what I write: I’m not going to publish anything that people aren’t happy with. One, it’s not kind and two, it’s dumb.”
“Especially in a place as small as this! Tell you what, Georgie, could you write a sort of story that we could put in a leaflet for the wine tours? And use for publicity as well?”
“Sure. Tell me what size you want the leaflet to be, and I’ll work from that word count.”
“I guess this town must have had a newspaper once – I mean, the offices are still there.”
“It did. The Two Lakes Chronicle, it was called.”
“It’s a pity we don’t still have one,” Annette said idly.
“It’s funny you should say that. Because there’s an old printing press in those offices that could probably be fixed by the right person…

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

Changing Seasons. Autumn V, part 2

Autumn V, part 2 “Mmm, coffee. The smell brought me down.”
“You’re up and dressed early,” Molly said, blinking the sleep out of her own eyes.
“I know. I couldn’t sleep – no, the bed was fine – with the excitement of being here, where Grandpa Geo grew up, the place all his childhood stories were about…” Georgie Rivers came over and joined Molly at the table.
“I want to go everywhere, see everyone and everything! But I think I need to start with checking out Grandpa Geo's old house. Is that okay with you? I don’t want you to feel like I’m treating your house like a hotel.” “Of course it is. Come back when you’re hungry, or beg a meal from someone – no-one will mind you asking. And everyone’s been looking forward to meeting you. A new person is a Big Event round here, you know.” “Make sure you have a good breakfast before you go, though.”
Bess came into the kitchen wide awake, dressed, and firing on all cylinders.
“I’m making pancakes, so you can get yourself round some of those. And there’s cereal too, and toast and home-made preserves…You’ll be doing a lot of cycling today.”
Molly smiled fondly at her mother-in-law. “I’ll go get dressed then, and leave Georgie in your capable hands.” But before Molly headed off into the bathroom, she did what she did every morning now – relaxed on the bed for ten minutes, enjoying her beautiful bedroom. No planning, no mulling over problems. Just letting herself enjoy the transformation, the peace, the this-is-my-home-ness of the room. Bess had been so right to insist that they did this next. It made her day so much better. And she loved the bathroom too. The child-free bathroom! The no-grubby-fingerprints-on-the-towels bathroom. John was pretty keen on it too, especially the no-children-bursting-in-unexpectedly aspect of it. “Yay! Pancakes!” Janet said, slipping in to her seat. Georgie was taking Bess’s advice and starting with toast.
“Yes, and that table won’t lay itself, so suppose you go and make a start on that,” Bess said, flipping a pancake neatly.
“It’s Richard’s turn!” It was, too. “Bess says, ‘Them pancakes ain’t going to improve on keeping, so why don’t you come inside and get some breakfast in you.’ I think she means right now.”
Molly laughed. “I might well do that. I was just checking my bike tyres – you’re welcome to use it, as I won’t need it today. And then I realised that the tomatoes were ripe and needed picking, and wilting and needed watering…Enjoy yourself!” This was Grandpa Geo’s old house? It didn’t look like the place of his childhood stories. In fact, it looked really depressing. I’m not sure I can start with this, Georgie thought. So what else is on the list? “You’ll want to go and visit Clara,” Bess had said. “I reckon the two of you’ll probably get along just fine. You’ll find her house no problem – it’s Tom Tench’s old house, just round the corner from your Grandpa’s house. The painted and fixed up one, with the flowers at the front of it.”
“Hey, that’s some rug,” Georgie said, her eye caught by it as soon as she stepped inside.”
“Yep. I’m the town childminder, in case you didn’t know. But not today, so I’m longing for some adult conversation. Tell me all about why you’re here! Every detail, please…”
“It’s quite a long story…”
“I have rations. And tea and coffee. And lunch if we need it.”
Bess was right – Georgie found herself warming to Clara straight away.
“Well. My Grandpa Geo grew up here…” “It was really nice of you to invite me to stay here…”
“Hey, no problem! Janet gets her bed back, I get company, you’re way closer to your Grandpa Geo’s house. Mind you, you don’t get Bess’s amazing pancakes. I can make them, but not on a work morning.”
The two of them had talked through most of Saturday and then on Sunday Clara had cycled over and suggested that she put Georgie up instead.
“But she’s helping us with the weeding,” Janet had protested. “And Richard only snores a bit.”
“I’ll finish this weeding with you first,” Georgie promised.
“Brilliant,” Clara said. “Can I use your phone, Molly, to borrow a spare bed from Marcus and Annette?” “That’s my namesake you’ve got there. Clara Anne. And this is her older sister, Mary. They both belong to Marcus and Annette, who have the vineyard I was telling you about. As Annette says, she gets a lot more done with only one child at home instead of three. Clara Anna has a twin sister…”
“Oh my. I can see that three toddlers at once could be quite a handful.”
“Euan and Patience have six children – triplets twice.”
“Is there something in the water round here?” “I think I’ll go and see Tom Tench first. Then I’ll come back here and take a good look at that house. I’ll feel brave by then.”
“Give Old Tench my love,” Clara said. “Well, well, well. Ole Geo Rivers’ granddaughter. Ain’t thought of him for years and now here you are, sittin’ next to me. What’s the ole rascal been up to these past years?” “And so, after all he did for us when Dad was so sick, for so long…we all owe him so much. And I’m the one of us who’s most footloose and fancy-free, so I said I’d come here, have a look around, see how the house is looking – and if he wants to come back here, then I’ll come too for a bit, to keep an eye on him, get him settled in, give him a hand…” “You ain’t said what you do for a livin’.”
“I’m a journalist…”
“Can’t abide journalists! Not a decent bone in their bodies, the lot of ‘em…”
“I’ll tell Grandpa Geo that,” Georgie said demurely, amused by Tom Tench’s look of disgust. “That you don’t think I’ve got a decent bone in my body…” “You know I wasn’t talkin’ ‘bout you…”
“But I’m still a journalist,” Georgia said firmly. “I like finding stories that are worth telling. Or re-finding stories that have been lost. If we lose our stories, we lose who we are.”
A silence fell between then, broken by Old Tench saying, “You might be right there too. Since folks have started comin’ back, I’ve found a heap of stories I’d clean forgotten ‘n I’m better for it.”
“Are the newspaper offices still here? Grandpa Geo said the building was worth seeing.” “I’ll take you there, iffen you like. Now’s fine by me. Ain’t got nothin’ planned for today.”
“Great. And you can tell me just why you called Grandpa Geo an old rascal. In all the stories he tells us, he’s positively saintly…I need some ammunition to get back at him.”
“Well, there was the time Miss Kirk asked us all to go find some autumn leaves for the class display…” “Wow. That is quite fancy for a small town newspaper office.”
“Iffen you go over to the other side and take a look at the old Dunbarton factory, you’ll be seein’ a likeness. Stuart Dunbarton, he founded the newspaper way back when. Said a town needed its newspaper for its births, marryin’s and deaths and all them bits in between too.”
“Stories,” Georgie said softly. “My kind of reporting.” And then, aloud, “How do we get in? Or can’t we?”
“Follow me,” Old Tench said. “That Clara, she’s found her way into just ‘bout every buildin’ round here and this one ain’t no exception. Never did ask her how come she was so good at doin’ that…” Georgie laughed with him.
“This here was the old printin’ shed afore they put the new press in downstairs. But then that company took over the paper – forced the owners into sellin’ by not givin’ them any advertisin’, so I heard – promisin’ to keep it goin’. Only the very next week the press ‘broke down’ and they never fixed it. Said it was only worth breakin’ up for scrap and wouldn’t let no-one else take a look at it to see iffen it could be mended.”
“I really don’t like what I’ve heard about this company so far.” “Hey, that’s a Campbell!” Georgie said, looking at the rusty old printing press they were passing.
“They don’t make ‘em like that anymore,” Old Tench agreed. “Through there,” he went on, pointing at the door ahead of them. “That’s where the action useter be.” “This here was the newsroom. Never was more ‘n the editor plus one cub reporter, but folks would send stuff in. I remember my Mary getting’ a poem published one time when she was just ten. My, but she was proud as punch.”
As Old Tench went on talking, Georgie gained a picture of what the local paper had been like – a once-a-week paper full of local news, celebrating the good things and commiserating with the bad. If Grandpa Geo does decide to come here, she thought, I know what I want to do… “Good day then?” Clara asked, coming in from her I-need-to-stretch-my-legs run.
“So interesting! I’m writing stuff down before I forget it. This town is full of amazing stories.”
“Watch it. You’re already beginning to sound like a girl who wants to stay.”
“Worrying, isn’t it? I’m going to have to get that house and garden tidied up so that I can send Grandpa Geo some appealing pictures. Next time I’m in Newborough…”
“You can always write to him though. Drop the letter off with Minnie and she’ll mail it from her local postbox.” “Now you really look like you belong here,” Clara said as she headed for the bathroom Georgie had just vacated. “Everyone round here has an outfit like that. Some of us live in them…”
“I figured I’d be needing this when I packed to come here, if only for cleaning. You said Minnie sells cleaning stuff, didn’t you?”
“Cleaning stuff, gardening stuff, decorating stuff – you name it, she sells it.”
“I know where I’ll be going as soon as I’ve measured up then.” “Clara’s home looks really nice,” Georgie told herself. “With some serious work, I can get this one to look good too. Come on, girl, you can do this. Let’s work out how much paint we’re going to need. Where’s that tape measure Clara lent me?”