'Oh my, what a to do' it was late evening and Hortensia had finally settled baby Harriet to sleep and was beginning to prepare the picnic hamper for the next day, 'plates, cups, forks, spoons, bread knife, ooh butter dish, table cloth......' she bustled about muttering and humming a little tune, 'my trumpet, blankets and cushions'. The list seemed endless, and then there were all of her preserves and chutneys, her seedy cake and her extra light angel-wing meringues - all ready to face the judges' steely gaze - and her piece de resistance - her spring posy soaking it's stems in a small jug waiting to have it's ribbon attached in the morning.
She had prepared little posies of flowers for Isabel and Harriet (and of course herself) to attach to their dresses and little flower twists for Archibold, Stephanotis, Horatio and Lupins' buttonholes. 'I wonder - should I take the rocking chair for Aunt Mildred in case she faints again when Isabel sings?' Fortunately for him, Archibold came in at that moment and firmly squashed the idea on the head. 'Plenty of mossy banks My Dear and lots of cushions - no need to worry about bringing the chair '. He had enough to worry about with the carrying of the picnic and helping the boys pull the little cart with all his prize vegetables and fruits and Hortensia's preserves and baking - without thinking about carry a rocking chair to the Pavilion.
Hortensia made them all hot camomile and honey tea before bed so that they would sleep well. She was just dozing off herself when when she suddenly remembered Archibold's foot balm and lept up to pop the jar into her emergency supplies basket - Archibold could be very grumpy if his feet hurt and as they had been looking forward to the dance since last year, she thought it best to be prepared.
No comments:
Post a Comment