June, 25th, 1927
Summer has arrived and the days have been sunny and long and warm. It is nice to see the weather standing strong…particularly in this cloudy country of ours. The guests enjoy it and we are thankful for it.
Today we are receiving new guests, two couples with two children each and a businessman, and tomorrow two more couples will be arriving, so, we will be booked for the rest of the week once more. This little hotel of ours is flourishing. It's a joy to see our dream finally coming true, without any obstacles in between. God knows we've had enough of that already.
But most importantly, today is the grand opening of Anna's Garden Tearoom. She's really excited, and I'm so excited for her. I can see her now from the office window placing small bouquets of flowers from our garden on each table.
She looks quite pleased with herself, and so very beautiful in her simple powder blue summer dress. I see she has pinned a pink rose behind her ear. She'll outshine them all. I know she feels cumbersome and has taken to calling herself a whale lately. Try as I might, I can't convince her otherwise…but she takes my breath away.
In the end we managed to fit six tables and it looks quite serene out there. She told me Mrs Trent and Mrs Bridges and a few more ladies from the church have reserved it for their meeting tomorrow, and hopefully that will become a standing monthly reservation.
Today is just a run-through. We'll see who stops in. We've posted a nice sign out front announcing the opening. Anna designed it and tried to paint it, but the smell of the paint made her sick, as many things do these days. My poor Anna. Anyway, Sarah was able to finish the sign. It looks quite professional.
Anna's sitting down at one of the tables now. I shall finish this entry and go take her something cool to drink and see if I can help her.
John Bates
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The tables were set and the colourful bouquets of country flowers enhanced the simple white of the tablecloths. It was a rather chic sight. Anna had learned well from all of those fancy tea parties she had set up on the lush lawns of the Abbey. She couldn't feel more proud as she looked at her garden tearoom.
The day was hot and she was already a bit tired. Carrying such a big belly around wasn't easy, and setting up all the tables on her own had been quite the task, but she wouldn't have it any other way. She wanted to do everything by herself now, at least until time for tea to be served. Surely she wouldn't venture to carry the trays back and forth herself. She was much too sensible for that.
A happy sigh escaped her, and she rubbed her tummy lazily, as her babies moved inside of her. That's when she thought it wouldn't hurt to rest her feet, at least until it was time for tea. She glanced at John's office window and saw him there, writing at his desk. It would be nice to sit with him for a bit, to let him know how excited she was. Although he already knew that too well since she had been going on about it for the entire past week.
'Hello, Mr Bates,' she smiled as she entered the room through the backdoor, walking towards his desk. 'What are you writing there?' The question came from her curious mind when she saw him close the small notebook before him.
'Oh! Well…' he looked down at his hands, a shy smile spreading across his lips. 'Names.'
'Names?'
'Names for our babies. I've been thinking about some and writing them down as I do,' he confessed.
'Have you really? You didn't tell me!' she smiled, surprised.
'Yes…I was going to tell you though. I just wanted to make sure I wrote down every possible name first.'
'And may I see this mysterious list?' she chuckled.
'It's not mysterious and of course! One or two were mentioned by William…he was very happy to be part of choosing a name as well.' He handed her the notebook and she opened it eagerly.
'Let's see…' she sat down on the chair across him at his desk. 'Oh, girl names?' she eyed him and he shrugged his shoulders. 'John, what if we have boys?'
'There are some boy names there.' He rose from his desk and walked towards her, leaning over her he pointed to the page. 'There's…one boy name. I like David.'
'What if it's two boys?' she rolled her eyes.
'You like Daniel, don't you? Then, David and Daniel. See!'
Anna had to smile and shake her head. Her husband was so sure they would have girls. She looked at his list. 'Oh! I like Sophia. Laura…very nice…butGertrude? John!' Her eyes were on him now and she furrowed her brow in disapproval.
'That was William's. He made me write it down.' John handed her a pencil. 'You can scratch it. It's awful.'
'Finola. Uh, that's rather exotic, isn't it?'
'Irish, more like. I rather like it.' He chuckled, kissing the crown of her head.
'Oh! Yes…Finola. Sounds very good. Sarah…well, I like it but…Miss O'Brien is a Sarah.'
'Oh my, she is! I completely forgot about that…you can scratch that one too.'
'Our Sarah is a good girl though.'
'We can't take any chances, love. Scratch it.'
'Margaret, your mother's name…I really like it.' Anna smiled lovingly. 'And Elisabeth.'
'Strong names, I reckon.'
'Yes…Marge and Liz…I like the sound of that.'
He nodded smiling. 'I really like Fiona too.'
'There was tale my mother used to tell me before bed about a Fiona. I like it too. Oh my…how many names did you write down?' Anna widened her eyes as she turned the pages.
'Just a few.'
'We are only having two babies, John. Not an army!'
'Well…who knows? We may be needing that list again… in a couple of years.' He winked and she rested the book on his desk, asking him to help her stand.
'Oh my! Alright, I think I've rested enough. I'm going now,' she said wrapping one hand around his shoulder to bring him down so she could kiss his cheek.
'Good luck today, my love.' John gave her backside a pat. 'Now I need to talk to Archie about next week's menu.'
'You do that. Will you be popping in today?' Anna asked.
'I think not, unless you really need me. This is your party and I'll do my part by keeping Will out of trouble.' John flashed her a smile.
She kissed him again and left as he put his list in his desk drawer. He would write down a couple more in the days to come.
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What a wonderful, but tiring day!
I'm forced to admit these babies of ours might be getting the best of me. I don't ever remember feeling this exhausted at the end of the day when I was carrying William.
My garden tearoom was indeed a success! Even more so than I thought it was going to be. Sarah passed 'Grand Opening' announcements all over the village yesterday and more ladies than I could have imagined showed up for tea!
Our six tables were full and some people even insisted on using the wooden benches we have scattered around the garden to sit with their cups of tea. It might be worth considering opening up other areas of the garden to fit in more tables.
It was so enjoyable and the weather couldn't have co-operated more. I was able to visit each table and talk to some old friends. Sarah carried out the tea trays. I didn't dare chance that myself. If my huge, whale-like belly had suddenly decided to shift while I was walking across the garden laden with tea trays…well, that could have spelled disaster.
John made a surprise appearance when a curious William suddenly burst forth from the backdoor of the office and he had to come chase him down. After greeting all the ladies and I'm sure feeling like he was the main attraction at a hen party, he grabbed William's hand and beat a hasty retreat.
All in all, it was a very successful day. And we have the ladies from the Church coming tomorrow. That will be the real test.
As tired as I am tonight, I doubt I'll be able to wait up for John, although one of his wonderful foot rubs might be just the ticket and worth the effort of staying awake.
Well, I must get up and give William his bath now else I'll sit here with my feet up all night.
Until tomorrow, Anna
The babies will be here soon! So we're asking you what you think the names should be. Drop us a review with your ideas!