She walked across the tessellated floor, under trailing ferns above from the hanging baskets and into the fernery. As she walked in she was taken by surprise at it all, and stopped and looked around. She’d been working so hard she’d not really taken much notice about how different it now looked from that first day when she’d come to view it and had sat with Shane Pence on the old iron table envisioning the fernery as a Gin Room. Now it was very much that vision playing out right there in front of her eyes.
The same iron table she had sat at with Shane, together with other similar ones she’d found online were now clean and sitting down at the end of the narrow room, and the ferns and tropical plants they’d found had gradually come back to life. She’d driven to a closing down nursery sale a one hour drive away, bought as many plants in her budget as she could and planted them all the way down either side and they too were showing signs of loving their new home.
Behind the bar at the end which Ben had made from the old trestle tables was now full with bottles and bottles of gin. Large gin glasses she’d sourced from an industry supplier were stacked up beside the bar behind a plethora of dried herbs. It all looked amazing - they’d turned a rotten old room full of dead plants into a wonderful additional area and all on a very tight budget, not a lot of help and not a lot of leeway for mistakes.
She walked through to the room at the back, now a kitchen - the plumber had piped hot water to the old water troughs, turning them into dishwashing areas and Ben had fitted three dishwashers underneath and covered them all with timber doors she’d painted a dark charcoal grey. Sallie walked behind the counter and turned the thermostat to high and hoped that it didn't take too long to warm the place up - it was another very chilly day and there had even been reports of more snow.
As Sallie walked back through the Orangery, she heard the heating crank on and pulled open the door to help Ben bring in the boxes of decorations. Once all the boxes were in she opened up her laptop and planner to show him in more detail the sketches she’d made with her ideas and some input from Juliette. He leafed through the pages, looked up at the walls and the look on his face was doubtful.
Each of the arched windows, according to Sallie’s plans, was supposed to hold a large oversized wreath. They needed to drag the first tree into the corner and somehow get it to stand up straight in water and all along the back where the bridal party would sit she had envisaged a large, garland made of faux greenery that she was going to intersperse with florist’s oasis, fresh greenery and the vintage, gold baubles and fairy lights.
It was a big ask to fix it all to the panes and Ben’s job was to somehow work out how to not only attach it all, but more importantly, get it to stay up. It was a stroke of luck for her that he was extremely handy, and most of the ideas that she had in the back of her head came to life when he worked on them - he’d done all sorts in the marquee all with great results, but this was a challenge on a whole other level.
He stood there looking up at the glass paned wall, the three large garlands she’d sourced through Juliette and looking back at the sketch on her planner - according to the drawing she wanted them to hang in a very certain way.
‘They can’t go straight? I know the answer will be no,’ he said smiling and scratching his head.
‘Nope, they have to drape like that - that's the whole look. Look here’s the idea online.’
‘Oh God no, not a picture online - where nothing has to really hold up in real life.’
‘You can do it Ben,’ she said, laughing, and stroking his arm.
‘It’s a big ask to get that weight to hang along that glass wall and stay up,’ he said, moving closer to the paned wall and inspecting it more closely.
‘I know but it has to look right, otherwise it’s not worth doing...’ Sallie replied as she started unwrapping the baubles.
‘I know, I know it’s all about the look, the feel, you don't need to reiterate that point. I think I’ve heard it a million times now.’ He winked and got out his measuring tape and drill. ‘So how many baubles will be on it? How much extra weight?’ He asked, looking very dubious.
‘Well not sure yet but it needs to be pretty packed to get it looking good - Juliette thinks the same too.’
‘I bet she does. Right, so that’s the oasis, the real greenery and the baubles and the lights...’ he trailed off doing the maths in his head.
An hour and a half later, and after much swearing under his breath and Sallie standing on a stepladder holding up bits of the garlands all three of them were tentatively in place, forming one long length behind the main table.
‘So, I can start weaving in the oasis?’ Sallie asked, looking at it doubtfully.
‘It’s now or never - we’ll soon find out if the whole lot falls to the floor!’
‘Don’t even joke, we’ve paid for a photographer so we don’t want anything to go wrong.’
‘No, look, I think it’ll be fine,’ he said as they both stood back looking at it.
Sallie walked over to the oasis she’d ordered through Felicity; it had been soaking overnight and she stood on the stepladder at one end and Ben at the other and they started to thread it through the imitation garland until they met in the middle. The plan was that the next day just before the shoot, they would top up the water and fill it with the greenery. Just before the wedding it would again be refreshed so it looked lovely for the photos.
They did the same with the wreaths - Ben fixed the hooks to the middle of the tall, arched windows and Sallie laced the oasis through and tied it to the back of the wreaths.
They spent ages on the Christmas tree - it was way too big for any of the regular Christmas tree holders and Sallie had realised when the tree itself had come through the door of the Orangery that keeping the thing upright would be an interesting conundrum.
‘There’s no way that bucket we thought would work - it’ll just topple over, even if it’s filled with stones and water.’ Ben said.
‘Yikes Ben, this is a major mess-up of mine, I can’t believe it - I just didn’t calculate that the base would be that big. We’ve simply got nothing that will keep the thing up!’ Sallie said with her hands on her hips as they both stood there looking at the tree which was leaning up against the table precariously.
‘Let’s go outside and have a look around the back where we put all that stuff when we were first clearing everything out.’
They put their coats, hats and boots on, braced the cold and walked around the back of the Orangery down towards the elderflower trees, looking through the neat piles of pots, falling apart wheelbarrows and old plant pots - nothing was big enough.
‘What about in the garage of the old shop - there’s still quite a lot of outdoor stuff in there,’ Sallie suggested and they walked back down the path, over the courtyard and into the garden of the cottage next to Juliette’s.
Ben pulled the door to the garage open and pushed it up and over. They walked in - it smelled damp, musty and old and Sallie started to walk towards the back, rummaging through all sorts of things.
‘Look back there - that might work. It looks like one of those old tin dolly planters.’
Ben clambered over an old chair, a broken lawnmower, a huge bag of compost and started to pull it out.
‘It’s perfect.’
Chapter 46
Juliette strode along the pavement, her long pale pink coat over a floaty, knee-length dress, thick cosy tights and boots. Maggie in a white hat with a fur pompom, pink wellingtons and puffball skirt chatted away as they walked along the laneway, turned right and down towards the back doors of the Orangery.
‘Ooh mummy, it’s so pretty from around this side, prettier than from my bedroom window.’ Maggie said, letting go of Juliette’s hand and running over to Sallie as she unloaded boxes from the back of the car.
‘Good morning Maggie, how are you today? Are you ready to help us with this Christmas decorating?’ Sallie said tapping Maggie gently on the top of her curls.
�
�I’m so excited, we love Christmas don’t we mummy?’
‘We certainly do! It's a good job that we do with my little shop, since we get Christmas all year round in our house.’ Juliette replied, smiling at Sallie.
Maggie took off her little pink mittens, took her polka dot backpack straps off her shoulders and opened the zip and pulled a crocheted bauble out from the interior pocket of the bag.
‘Look! I made this for the tree.’ She held up the crocheted bauble to Sallie who took it and inspected it carefully.
‘Goodness Maggie, you’re so clever. Did you make this all on your own for our tree here?’
‘Mummy helped me with it - I glued it on the ball all by myself though.’
‘Right. Well, it’s fabulous and we will put that right at the front where everyone can see it. It’s so beautiful though, I might have to get you to make me another one for my tree at home when I get it. Do you think you’d be able to do that for me?’ Sallie asked Maggie.
Maggie looked up at Juliette with a questioning look.
‘Of course we can - what a lovely idea.’ Juliette smiled and Maggie beamed taking the bauble back from Sallie and putting it carefully back in her backpack.
‘I don’t think she’ll actually part with it once push comes to shove,’ Juliette whispered to Sallie as she helped her with getting boxes out of the back of the car. Sallie laughed and they followed Maggie down the path to the front door of the Orangery.
They stood waiting for Sallie to find her keys and Holly’s car pulled up and parked outside on the lane.
‘Hi ladies, the troops are here to help!’ Holly said, Xian by her side and carrying a bag of cakes.
Sallie opened the door and the familiar aromatic scent of oranges, warm air, moss and ferns hit them.
‘Mummy, this smells gorgeous!’ Maggie exclaimed as she bounced around the Orangery intrigued by it all.
‘It certainly does sweetheart. Goodness, it smells just like one of the Christmas candles in the shop,’ Juliette said looking over at Sallie.
‘I could try that next - the Orangery Pretty Beach candles,’ Sallie laughed, and put the huge box of baubles she was carrying on the table.
‘It’s better than the smell of my special drink.’ Xian chuckled, taking her tablet out of her bag and making herself comfortable at one of the tables.
‘Okay, so if Maggie stays here with you, I’ll walk back home and get the rolls of ribbon, then we can get going on it all. Shouldn’t take too long,’ Juliette said to them, looking around at the hanging baskets. She pointed through to the fernery, ‘What about in there? What are you doing in there?’
‘Good question! I was hoping for some input from you. To be honest the budget is seriously running out now and I’m needing something thrifty but effective.’
‘My speciality then. I’ll just run back and get the ribbon - Maggie darling stay here with Sallie and Holly, while I go back and get those big rolls of ribbon that we unpacked.’ Maggie engrossed in examining a box of Sallie’s bits and pieces from the charity shop nodded and Juliette headed out the door.
She came back in five minutes later and handed the rolls of wired ribbon to Sallie and passed one to Holly.
‘Goodness, they’re just what I wanted. That’s an amazing price. I saw those online and it was sooooooo expensive!’
‘I know. You have to laugh - it all comes from the same few factories and the same buying fairs in Asia and some brands whack on a huge amount of profit for the very same thing.’
‘Wow, yes - I wouldn’t have been able to do it with those prices, but with this I’ll be able to put lovely big bows all over the place and on the bottoms of the wreaths.’
‘Yep, they’re going to really add some impact. With the colour scheme in here I reckon you went right going with gold and white.’
‘Yeah, I can change it around a bit with some silver and possibly red for different events too as and when I get more budget as long as the basics are quite simple. The fernery though, it’s going to be more of a challenge.’
‘Come on then, let’s go and have a look, get our creative hats on,’ Juliette said taking off her coat and hanging it on an old hook by the door.
They walked into the fernery, the lovely aroma and heat hitting them and stood there looking down at the end to the bar Ben had made from the old tables, the shelves from vintage fruit boxes and the narrow shelving that Sallie presumed had been used for storing preserving cans that ran the whole length of the room.
Juliette stood with her hands on her hips gazing up at it, Holly bent down to have a look at one of the plants and Xian had poured herself a drink from her flask and stayed put where she was at the table.
‘I’m thinking you’ve got to use that shelving - it runs around the whole room, it’s rustic, in fact, it’s gorgeous. You could just place something all the way along it. Something simple. The garlands would be too heavy and costly. Maybe just the ribbon strung along?’ Juliette went back out to the Orangery and came back in with one of the long rolls of white ribbon.
‘Attach it underneath and hang baubles every now and then?’ Sallie wondered, holding it up to try and see what it would look like. She got up on top of a table, attached the wire-edged ribbon to the underneath of the shelves.
They stood back and looked at it, Holly nodding her head. It was nice, good enough, but not doing much wowing.
‘Nah, Sallie, it needs much more than that, much more. That looks like you stood on top of a table and shoved a bit of ribbon on there - which you did! There’s no pop of magic, is there? Nothing that makes you want to stay. I’ve got an idea. Hold that thought. Maggie stay here with Sallie again, I'm popping back to the cottage to go and get something from the Christmas shop.’
She came back in a few minutes later with a long garland of white pompoms and tiny metal Christmas bells and held it up to Sallie and Holly. Sallie’s eyes lit up. Juliette hitched up the ruffles of her dress and stood on the table to attach the garland to the underneath of one of the shelves, one end of it draping down the panes of glass with white pompoms of differing sizes trailing down the wall. Every so often the tiny little bells tied in between a pompom tinkled as she got down from the table. It popped against the greenery and rustic feel of the fernery.
‘Run some lights under there and then weave this all the way through, the contrast of the softness with all the plants and greenery in here... I think it really pops.’
‘It certainly does. How much will they cost though? There’s a lot of ground to cover to go all the way around. They’re gorgeous Juliette.’ Sallie replied, as Holly looked up at the little pompom garlands and smiled at how lovely they looked.
‘Hmm, well the good news is they’ll cost you nothing, the bad news is I made them myself and to make enough length to get around this room, will be days of constructing a lot of pompoms.’ She raised her eyebrows at Sallie and Hollie, held up her hands and laughed. Sallie touched one of the pompoms and one of the tiny little bells tinkled.
‘I’ve got all the supplies - I’ve been meaning to do them for years, but since the thing we don’t mention,’ she pointed down to Maggie, ‘I just haven’t had time and it does take a while to get them done - you get sick of the sight of white wool! I’ve sold them in the shop when I have managed to do them and they go like hotcakes. People love them’
‘Right, so I just need to recruit some Pretty Beach pompom makers then, do I? We'll make enough for me and some extras for the shop,’ Sallie replied chuckling.
‘I’ll get my mum on it and the girls in the shop.’ Holly said, standing there with her hands on her hips as if ready to get to action.
‘For this amount, yes, I think you do and with the amount of wool and ribbon I’ve got, I’ve enough to supply all the way to Seafolly Bay.’ Juliette said, laughing.
Chapter 47
Sallie finished poking the last of the sparkly gold baubles into the garland, and carefully stood back and evaluated her work. Ben had done a great job with get
ting the three garlands to drape exactly as she’d envisioned it in her mind, and even though she’d have liked it to be larger, it was good enough.
The oasis was now all in place tucked and tied in at intervals, filled with fresh greenery she’d picked from the garden at the Boat House and the fir trees that lined Holly’s garden. Vintage, faded gold baubles and the metallic gold baubles Juliette had recommended weaved all the way through and huge bows were tied to either end. She’d copied the idea from a picture online from a very high-end department store in London - she’d taken the idea and done her version on a budget scouring the internet for Christmas garlands, the baubles from Juliette and foraging the fresh greenery where she could. The result was lovely, the woods-y, Christmas scent even better.
Tillie was fast asleep in the corner in the pram. Sallie tiptoed over, pulled back the muslin and looked in - she was out cold and not looking near waking up. They probably had about an hour.
She walked all the way through the Orangery, across the tessellated floor, through the fernery and into the back where the old troughs were now a kitchen. Sallie filled the kettle with water, took out a caddy of teabags and popped three into the teapot. Just as she’d made the tea she heard a few gentle taps on the front door and rushed back through hoping that Tillie wouldn’t wake up.
Lucian was standing outside, wrapped up in a big black coat, neck muffler, tan leather gloves and hat. She opened the door and he crept in bringing with him a cloud of expensive aftershave. Kissing her on both cheeks he whispered hello in her ear.
‘Darling, it’s fabulous! Much better than I thought. When you were explaining the garlands I was thinking to myself this could be disastrous, it’s fair to say I didn't like the sound of faux garlands at all. Should have known better, right?’
Sallie smiled and they turned around to look at the tree. Sitting in the corner in the tin planter it filled the room and complemented the hanging baskets full of Christmas decor and gold baubles. It very nearly touched the domed roof at the top and she had been right that it needed to be unusually wide to make any impact on the vastness of the room. It was completely devoid of any decoration, but twinkled and sparkled as if it was alive.
Winter at Pretty Beach Page 16