Chapter 26
With the challenging health events for Will in May and June, and the weeks rolling by with Cath’s continuing efforts to support him and his girls, time was moving on.
In fact, it had blooming well steamrolled on.
It was great that they had the date and venue fixed for the community afternoon tea, but numbers were constantly growing.
As well as the large group coming from the care home, the lads had confirmed that since they’d put a poster up advertising the event in the shop window, the complimentary tickets were being snapped up from the village stores.
Firm plans for the catering and entertainment needed to be made, and soon.
With Will still recuperating, only finding enough energy to venture out to check on his cycling shop which was opening on shorter hours, it would be down to the remaining supper club five to put the practical wheels in motion.
Cath wanted to ensure the tea was another wonderful social event filled with fantastic food, music and dancing.
Could they match the brilliant cuisine, fun and atmosphere of the Christmas lunch?
It was a tall order. They’d set their own bar very high.
This called for a supper club get-together and brainstorm.
Cath felt a bit mean pushing her gang to help out yet again, so soon after all that hard work renovating the beach hut, but this was too big a task to face on her own.
She had already jotted down some thoughts and ideas. Her notebook in her phone listed:
Food? Proper afternoon tea style – dainty sandwiches, scones with jam and cream, mini cakes and bakes. She’d added LILY in capital letters. The baking queen might fancy taking a lead on this one, and they’d yet to firm up who exactly was cooking and making what.
FUNDS?? More capital letters. Funding was going to be her biggest dilemma.
Again, they’d agreed to host this as a free event, keeping it accessible to the elderly and those who might feel isolated or a bit lonely, including both young and old from the area.
Tilldale wasn’t a big village by any means, and they strongly felt it was important to try and cater for everyone who’d like to join in.
At least, with ticketing via the shop, it meant that they had a track of numbers.
Cath felt slightly panicky, realising she’d left all this a bit late.
But her mind and energy had been diverted to caring for Will these past few weeks.
The other supper clubbers had been focused on their own lives plus doing the beach hut renovations.
School teacher mode began to kick in as she sat pondering over a cup of coffee, ramping up ideas: the raffle – they’d need to get that hamper of tea-time goodies out on display with tickets for sale, the tombola to organise, additional donations – where might she ask locally for help?
And she needed to check up on those sponsorship ideas mooted at the last meeting, including the Brownies’ bounce-a-thon and Nikki’s boys’ car-washing idea.
Had anything in fact moved forward with those? Time was running short.
Her usual organised self had been flagging; of course she’d had a hell of a lot to cope with, and right now, it being late in the evening, her energies were low.
She stifled a yawn, realising her mind felt rather mushy instead of productive.
Right then, time for bed. She’d sleep on it.
She knew better than to try to make important decisions with a tired brain.
But she hoped to have some more concrete, and also inspiring, ideas to take with her to the planning session tomorrow.
She also hoped that Andreas would have some baklava handy for the morning. She needed thinking fuel.
*
A baklava brainstorming session was indeed doing the trick.
In Andreas and Dan’s flat above the shop, coffee was poured, and the sweet honey and walnut delights were going down a treat.
Nikki had pushed her first cleaning job to an hour later, and the lads were going to take turns to mind the stores.
Lily was there, looking like she’d just got out of bed – which she probably had done after getting used to post-exam lie-ins.
She’d turned up with her kohl looking slightly smudgy, not quite as slickly painted as usual this morning (or perhaps it was still last night’s, Cath pondered amusedly).
And, terrier Shirley, their extra team member, was there acting as a crumb cleaner and foot warmer for Cath under the table.
‘Right, guys,’ Cath started with an upbeat tone. ‘We have four weeks to go until the Tilldale Afternoon Tea, and so far other than a poster in the shop and handing out several tickets …’
‘Twelve,’ added Andreas. ‘Twelve tickets, so far.’
‘Plus, the minibus – correction, minibuses – coming from the home, which at the last count was …’ – she took a breath – ‘twenty-six residents plus three carers.’ Of course, they’d loved the idea, and word had spread within the home about the Big Christmas Bash, so there was a ‘fear of missing out’ factor going on.
‘Well then, we have a venue, a date and plenty of guests … and, I’m sorry, I realise I’ve let things slip lately, but … ’
‘Hey, that’s only natural. You’ve had important stuff going on. You’ve been caring for Will and his family,’ said Nikki kindly.
‘Yeah, we could have got going a bit quicker on this, and helped you out,’ added Andreas.
‘But you were already doing all of that fantastic DIY at the beach hut,’ Cath countered.
‘Okay, so we’ve all been pretty busy,’ said Lily.
‘Right, we need a plan and fast. Food, music – and as we discussed before, a band would be lovely if we can afford it – and yes, we need to sort the finances.’ Cath was getting down to business, with her phone out ready to add some detail to her list.
‘So, the band.’ Lily jumped in. ‘I’ve been chatting with the Swing Band I’d mentioned from school.
With it being the holidays, some are away, but a core of about five or six can come along.
I’ve said I’d check it out with you guys, but that we’d perhaps give them a small payment for their time, plus a free afternoon tea.
I mooted twenty pounds each, hope that’s okay? ’
That was at least a hundred pounds to find on top of all the catering expenses. But hey, where would you get a live band for a hundred pounds these days? Cath figured.
‘They’re really good.’ Lily vouched for them. ‘I heard them perform in a show at the Alnwick Playhouse at the end of term.’
‘Oh, it would be brilliant, having a real band to dance to,’ said Dan.
‘And they can play the 50s stuff?’ Nikki clarified.
‘Yeah, that’s what they do. It’s like their thing, Big Band Swing,’ confirmed Lily. ‘After their concert earlier in the year, they’ve stuck with it. And I’m sure they’ll do extra requests on the day, too, if it’s something they know.’
‘Ah, the oldies will so love it,’ said Andreas with a smile.
‘Okay, let’s go for it. In for a penny, in for a pound,’ agreed Cath. If they were going to do it, they’d damn well do this thing properly. ‘Get them booked in, Lily.’ It felt good to have a decision made. ‘And now, let’s get some detail on the food.’
Andreas launched into singing ‘Food, Glorious Food’, as he passed around more slightly warm baklava. He’d been up early baking this morning.
‘Afternoon tea.’ Lily jumped in. ‘This sounds soo like my kind of thing. I’m looking forward to this, it’s so cool.
I can make loads of mini cakes and bite-sized pavlovas.
They’ll have to look really pretty and dainty, too.
Maybe something lemony, a summer fruits one, and there has to be something chocolatey or caramel. ’
‘Oh yes, we absolutely need chocolate in there,’ agreed Nikki, her eyes lighting up.
‘Okay, leave this with me,’ confirmed Lily, seemingly in her element. ‘I’ve already had a word with Mum, and she’s agreed to help bake. We’ll do the top tier of cakes and fancies.’
‘Are you sure? That’s an awful lot of work. You do realise we’ll be catering for forty plus people. How about if I make a big batch of scones, then,’ Cath offered, feeling that she needed to do her bit with the baking.
‘Why don’t I do a batch of chocolate tiffin,’ Nikki chipped in. ‘We can cut it into cute bite-sized squares. My mam’s got a brilliant recipe. The boys just love it.’
‘Okay, great,’ said Lily. ‘So that’s the chocolate option sorted.’
‘Thanks, Niks,’ added Cath.
‘We could bake some additional scones, too,’ added Andreas. ‘I take it we’ll be having a cream tea.’
‘Of course, how can you have afternoon tea without supersoft scones with jam and cream?’ confirmed Cath.
‘And I can do loads of little sandwiches,’ offered Nikki.
‘I can get the boys to help. They’ll be off on school holidays by then.
It’ll be good to keep them occupied. And though they moaned a bit last time, they really did enjoy helping out.
Hmm, I’d love to see them dressed up smartly as waiters.
Mind you, I’ll have to peel them out of their trackies and trainers. ’
‘On that note,’ added Cath, feeling far more animated about the project already with the buzz of enthusiasm around the table, ‘I’d love for us all to dress the part too, 50s tea dance style. Dresses for the ladies, and suits or smart jackets for the gents.’
‘Oh, and stylish hair. That gorgeously glamorous Grace Kelly and Sophia Loren look,’ added Nikki.
Lily gave a groan. ‘Really? And how do I achieve that with a crop?’
‘Think vintage,’ added Andreas. ‘Yes, I’ve got it, what about Audrey Hepburn, she was certainly cool with her pixie crop. I bet we can get a good haul of suits, and styles, over at the charity shop in Kirkton.’
‘Hah, yeah, cos most of the townsfolk there are ancient,’ added Lily, sarcastically. ‘Probably been wearing it all since the 50s.’
‘Well, I think it’s a great idea,’ said Cath. ‘No one needs to spend a fortune that way.’
‘I suppose I could try the Hepburn thing,’ Lily conceded, having quickly checked out the icon on her phone, and evidently liking the look.
‘That’s my girl,’ said Andreas, adding, ‘Right, my time is up. We said we’d switch after twenty minutes. I’ll go and relieve Dan. Ooh, now then, fancy.’ He gave a cheeky grin. ‘I didn’t mean it to sound like that.’
What was he like? The girls shook their heads at him, unable to hold back the grins that creased their lips.
He headed out of the room, chuckling to himself. With the swap made, Dan was now in the brainstorming hot seat. And funding was at the top of the agenda.
‘Okay, we did agree at the start of all this that it should be a free event for all those coming along. So, any ideas?’ Dan prompted.
‘Well, we originally thought of the raffle for a hamper of tea-time treats, perhaps with a bottle of bubbly,’ started Cath.
‘I’d be happy to approach a few local businesses for donations towards it.
And we can do a tombola on the day. That’d be fairly easy to organise and everyone seems to enjoy that. ’
‘We can certainly gift some items for the raffle and tombola from the shop. We have some great local produce that would be wonderful for it,’ replied Dan.
‘That’s great, thank you, Dan. But we can’t let you provide it all. Any other thoughts, anyone?’
‘Hmm, let me have a think. The boys did start on a few car washes. I’ve got twenty pounds in the pot, so far from that,’ started Nikki. ‘Their enthusiasm seemed to wane after the first weekend, but I’ll get them back on to it.’
‘Great, yes, and make sure they’re still down to do mine and Will’s, whenever they get a chance,’ said Cath.
‘Will do. Hmm, and maybe we could do something sponsored with their junior league football team, too. Perhaps with half of the funds raised for the team, and half for the event? A kick-a-thon, or sponsored fitness session, with extra laps of the football pitch or something. They’ll be mightily impressed with that idea, not.
’ She gave a wry smile. ‘But hey, all for a good cause. Leave it with me for now.’
‘Thanks, Nikki.’
‘And I’ll see if we can wangle a reduced price for the hire of the hall. After all the work we put in for the renovations, I’m sure they’ll be amenable,’ Dan suggested. ‘I’ll chat with Veronica. She might also have some good ideas for fundraising or sponsorship.’
Veronica, the rather bossy chairperson of the village hall committee, had her heart in the right place. She could come across as rather scary at times, a force to be reckoned with, and a stalwart of the Tilldale community. She was always good to have on board.
‘Yes, I think she’d mentioned about the Brownies doing something. I’ll follow that up and have a chat with Brown Owl,’ added Cath.
‘Okay, so food will, of course, be the biggest cost,’ said Lily. ‘And we’ll need a firm idea of the final numbers for catering, very soon.’
‘Yes, of course,’ said Dan. ‘I’ll let people know they need to get their tickets early. We could put a ‘two weeks to go’ limit on, or something. I’ll flash up a date on the poster, and put out a post on the village Facebook group.’
‘Sounds a sensible idea,’ agreed Nikki.
‘I have my moments,’ said Dan. ‘Okay, so who’s on for another cup of coffee?’
Thanks to her supper club posse, the event was beginning to come together.
Cath felt so much better than she had last night, when anxiety over the tea-time bash had sent her thoughts spiralling.
She’d need to start making some serious lists.
A mammoth shopping list for ingredients for one, and a to-do list extraordinaire.
She was committed to making this day a special one for everybody involved.
To give the hall, the villagers and the care home guests, another wonderful event to remember, with more pictures and mementoes to add to the memory board she’d started there at Christmas time.
‘Thank you so much, guys,’ said Cath, filled with a warm sense of gratitude. ‘You’re all stars. I actually feel like we might be able to pull this off, after all.’
And, with one very special person missing from this planning session, Cath hoped Will would feel up to making it there to join them.
A few weeks should make a huge difference in his recovery.
Perhaps being a part of this event might mark the start of a new chapter for him, too.
A sign that his recuperation and health were on the up.
He might not be quite up to dancing a jive, but perhaps a slow dance together, swaying to the beats of Lily’s school band, well, that really would make it the most marvellous of days. She could dare to hope, couldn’t she?