Huib grabbed his cell phone again. "I have already photographed everything in the guesthouse, and in the work shed the dresser. I want to take a few more pictures of this little table, and I'd love it if you took a few pictures of me while I'm busy in the work shed. I'm not working on anything at the moment, but I can pretend I'm working on the dresser, it shouldn't be that hard. Would you like to do that?"

"Yeah, seems like fun," Margreet responded, "right now?"

Huib nodded and embraced they walked to the barn. He handed his mobile to Margreet. "Just see, take as many pictures as you want, then we'll choose behind the computer which ones we'll use for the website."

Margreet looked around the barn through the camera of his mobile, taking pictures of the corner where he had stored his leftovers. Even though such a work shed could never be really clean, it did look neat and orderly. She took a few pictures of it and then turned to the work corner. She took pictures of Huib bent over the dresser, pretending to sand the edges. She took pictures of the dresser itself, pictures of the knobs in which Danielle had placed the gemstones.

"With those pictures of the knobs we should mention, I think, that those gemstones came from Danielle," Margreet thought.

"Good plan, that's also a piece of advertising for her, she has earned that!"

While they walked back home, Huib looked at the pictures Margreet had taken. "What have you done now? Silly!" he exclaimed at the last pictures.

"Taking pictures of details, that was the idea, wasn't it?" grinned Margreet.

"Yes, of my butt and even more detail, of my butt pocket! I'll just put them up on the website, mentioning that my wife loves my ass so much."

"Hahaha, don’t you dare!"

Huib quickly put his cell phone in his pocket and grabbed Margreet. He fooled around with her, tickled and hugged her, then they went into their house laughing.

.

During lunch, Lisa told about her conversation with agent Marcel. Huib immediately interrupted her, "Marcel? We just got a booking for the next two weeks from some Marcel and his wife Janny, let's see..." He looked up the booking details, "From the same place, would that be that agent you spoke to?"

"That must be him, quick rascal, that Marcel. He already promised me this morning that he would discuss with his wife to come and stay here for a week, and now they have even booked for two weeks?"

"Yes, he called me just before you joined me here in the living room, Sjaak, to ask if they could reserve those two weeks. He had seen on the site that there was still a room available. I told him that I would keep that room free for him, with the request that he fill in the form on the site, so that we could make further arrangements. Well, he didn't waste any time! It's nice by the way, that he found his way here through you." Huib nodded to Lisa.

Lisa went on to share, also about the possible lawsuit, and her ideas for a second and third project. "That second project has to do with the guesthouse. I would like all of you to let your wishes be known, you don't have to do it now, but for example when we know how much money we have to spend. Annerieke, I'd like you to include Simon as well. And about the third project, that is about a shelter. If you guys are up to it, and if it is possible to build a house against the edge of the forest, I want to accommodate up to four women there. Women who come from similar situations as I do and need some peace and security for a while. No more than four, otherwise there will be too much shit together and it will be too intense for them. Well, that was what I had in mind."

Lisa looked at Sjaak, who nodded at her, smiling. "Yes, sweethearts, please take Lisa's ideas seriously, but don't feel obliged to do anything. They are projects that come from her heart, but if you don't like it, for whatever reason, please be so free to say so, now or later. Actually, just let it sink in, I guess..."

Lisa nodded, but Annerieke stood up and said very firmly, "If it can be done according to the zoning, I think that shelter should be there. I had an instant click with it. As for the guesthouse... a paint job inside and especially outside, I don't know what else. I know that Huib wanted to renovate the veranda himself in the spring. But apart from that I have no idea at the moment."

She sat down again and Margreet took over from her, "I don't know if you should include it under the project, but I've often thought that it would be nice if there were a lot more plants around the veranda, preferably flowering, flowering in all seasons, so also winter lilacs for example. And every guest room has a sort of mini balcony. I like those by the way. People can't sit on them, but they can open the doors and still feel like they're outside a bit. We could hang planters on the little fences in front of them. I would be happy to take care of the plants that go in them. Maybe the purchase could all just come out of the guesthouse budget, or else as part of Lisa's project plan. At least if you guys think it's a good idea."

"I've thought about that before," Huib told, "but it just didn't happen yet. I think for those plants the budget is just fine, but for that paint job I'd like to call on project two!"

"Good idea," Lisa replied, "I'll add that to my brainstorming list later. If you feel any wishes bubbling up later, just let us know. It still has time, Huib's store takes precedence I think, unless something really urgent were to arise in the guesthouse, but we'll see about that. Collecting ideas is always possible! Hey, I love this! When I got that message about the inheritance, I thought 'what am I going to do with this cursed inheritance', but this way we can make something beautiful out of it!"

"Do you keep in mind the tax authorities, Lisa? They like to get a piece of the pie..." came Huib cautiously.

"Good that you mention it, also something to look into. I'll be able to find that on the Internet, I think."

"Probably! Margreet, shall we go to the village in a moment? We were going to have a look at that building and you still wanted to go to Action."

Huib turned again to Lisa and Sjaak: "Did you want to go to that building too?"

"No, I've already seen it, it's up to you now, up to both of you. Or do you still want to see it Sjaak?" Lisa looked at him questioningly.

"I've seen the building too, before, when there were paintings hanging in it. So I can roughly see what it is, in my opinion perfectly suited for Huib. When would that auction be?"

"We don't know yet, Alexander has already taken pictures of the contents. He expects it to fetch quite a bit, but of course he couldn't give a target amount yet."

At that moment she received a call. Lisa looked at the screen: "Now we’ll have him right there! Hello Alexander, it's Lisa!" She listened to what he said and ended the call with a thank you and a friendly greeting. "The auction is as early as next Saturday! He has plenty of connections, and has already put ads in the paper. He also has, in consultation with John, the realtor, mentioned in the ad, that the house will come up for sale with John after the auction is completed. Handy! And he expects to be able to transfer the money to us sometime in the week after the auction. Let's hope your property is still for sale then, Huib, at least if you find it suitable."

Huib smiled, "We'll see, such a shallow building is not suitable as a regular store, so I don't expect it to be sold very quickly."

.

Huib and Margreet took Margreet's car and headed for the village.

"What a luxury, a car and a pick-up!" said Huib, chuckling.

"Yes, but also easy, this little car is ideal for parking."

They found a parking space near the Action and walked to the empty building. They looked through the window and looked at each other.

"What do you think?" Margreet asked.

"Perfect to start with! I think I should try to start making some things in the next few weeks that I can start putting in right after I buy the property."

"I also have a click with this property, but take it easy, Elly was going to paint the wall first right?"

"Oh yes, that would be nice. Maybe we should first put the same kind of wallpaper on it as in the children's room. That's fine for painting on."

"We'll keep that in mind," Margreet replied, "first we'll see if we can buy it, and if the stuff that's on the wall now is suitable. By the way, you can make some smaller things for the window in the meantime. I don't think you've done that often, have you?"

"No, I think the umbrella stand and our flat bowl are the smallest pieces I've made. I'll see what I can come up with for the window display. Wait a minute, I could make a series of those flower boxes for the guest house and then also for the window here, and also other flower pots, of all sizes. I know how to treat the wood of those to make them moisture resistant, so that should work. And besides that, I still have to make the set-up for the website... Well, it will probably be until the end of December before we can get both the website and this building started."

"Well, take it easy, even if it would be January, rushing is not an option, right?"

Huib smiled, "Thank you for helping me relax, I needed it for a moment. I find it all quite overwhelming! I don't need a script just yet, I think, but a brainstorming overview wouldn't be bad after all. Come on, let's go to Action!"

The weather was lovely for their little walk. The street was quite quiet, the children were still at school. They only came across a few women, probably mothers who were using their free hours to do some shopping. At Action there were not many people either. Since Margreet did not know the store at all, they decided to go through all the paths. They discovered all kinds of small, nice things, like all kinds of pens, nicer than the standard pens they always used, a little drawing pad made of thicker paper that Margreet wanted to use as a kind of diary. At the creative shelves she found a tube with crochet needles of all possible thicknesses. And cheap balls of knitting yarn, which she could use perfectly in her tapestry.

"Nice this, with those different colors mixed together," she said to Huib, "I think I can do something with that."

"Sure you can, they look flowery," laughed Huib, "just take a few of them with you. I think we should also think of something for that cupboard we were going to put in the hobby room. A cupboard with open compartments where you can put baskets for these kind of balls. How do you like that? Do you want to bring baskets here already? Or rather later?"

"I think rather later, when you have that cupboard ready. I see those baskets there. Shall we just see how deep they are? Hmm, it doesn't say on the card..."

Huib estimated with his fingers: "Almost 40 cm I think, if I make the cabinet 40 cm deep, with a couple of open compartments, then you can put such baskets in it."

"Seems nice, a few of those series. Smaller ones for smaller balls or something. For now, I'll make do with the box I have put them in now. When you get the cupboard done, I'll go basket hunting!"

They smiled at each other and walked on. At the accessories section of the clothing department, Margreet found the big pins Elly had mentioned. "Those are really nice, you should see, all kinds of little figures hang down there. Now if I hang about three of them on my vest, I'll always have them handy to pin the vest shut."

"Clever of you, and I like them!"

They continued along the shelves, choosing a shower gel which scent they liked and also put two bars of sunflower seeds in caramel in their basket, and finally went to the checkout. Moments later, nibbling on their bar, they walked back to the car and took their time there, quietly continuing to eat the bar before driving home.

.

Lisa discovered mid-afternoon that she had received an email from Marcel. He told her that he and his wife Janny would be staying for the next two weeks, and that he had already picked out the front door at his friend's. His friend would place the door today. In the attachment he had already added the bill. He told her that he himself had the bunch of keys to the house, and asked her if she would contact the realtor to pick up the keys  from him at the police station so he could go take pictures.

Lisa called John, the estate agent. He promised to pick up the keys this afternoon. She transferred the money for the front door to Marcel's friend and emailed Marcel about her chat with John. She also gave him John's number, just to be sure.

Lisa sighed, she had arranged a lot in one day. Yes, it was a lot, and it had been more intense than she had thought.

She saw that Sjaak was watching her. "How are you, Liesel?" he asked.

"Fine by itself, but it was a lot, my body feels a little tense from it. I think I'll go play the violin, play myself loose a little bit."

"Yeah? I have another idea... I've already locked the doors, because I'm actually longing to hug you flat!" Sjaak grabbed her and pulled her against him. He noticed that she was tightening, and released the rein a little.

"Was I running a little too fast?"

"I don't know, maybe I was just startled," Lisa suggested.

"Then I should reassure you first..."

Sjaak kissed her, stroking her. Lisa relaxed and caressed Sjaak back, kissed him. Even though they still kept their clothes on, the stroking felt beneficial. They experienced it as a deepening of their love for each other and ended in an embrace, in which they pulled each other very tightly against each other and stayed like that for minutes. Their soul connection was confirmed in their embrace.

.

Elly decided to clean her things around the same time as the day before. She heard Huib and Margreet coming home and walked towards them.

"For today my work is done. Do you guys want to see it?"

"Of course!" Huib and Margreet went upstairs with Elly and responded with delight at the result. Besides the sky, the soft green below the horizon was now finished. The heron stood in the water with some reeds around it. In a few places Elly had painted a bush, and in the distance a row of trees. She explained what else she had in mind. "I think I need two more days. Is it convenient for you if I come again tomorrow and the day after? Martin is on duty this weekend, so he won't miss me." She said it with a smile, thinking about how their relationship was already improving, how they were more attentive to each other.

"Yes, we'll just be at home or in the neighborhood," Margreet said. "I'm so curious to see what the final result will be like. It's already so beautiful!"

"We'll see! Then I'll go home now quickly. I'm going to make a sumptuous meal, a little as a surprise for Martin. Things are already better between us, there is a mutual desire, so nice! You'll see us show up for the movie tonight!"

"Yes nice! Enjoy your surprise meal, and see you tonight!" With an arm wave they said goodbye.

Huib grabbed his cell phone and took a few pictures of the mural. Then he went to the work shed to make plans for the hobby closet and the planters, which he planned to make for both indoor and outdoor use. He made a work list, sketched the hobby cabinet and the planters. Soon he would be getting another big load of wood, but right now he had enough leftover wood to start on the planters!

Meanwhile, Margreet took out her box of yarns and tried to roughly sort all the balls of them in the box by thickness. She noticed that she found it difficult to do that in one such large box. Different balls tended to start rolling at every touch. She took everything out of the box and tried to sort the balls on the dining room table. She grabbed a pair of scissors from the kitchen drawer, cut off the flaps of the box, and used them as dividers in the box to make compartments so she could sort the balls of yarn a little easier. As she passed the balls through her hands, she became more and more eager to start working on the tapestry. She soon realized that she would not be able to embroider the thicker threads on the linen in the normal way. She just wouldn't get those threads through. She came up with a technique that was new to her: she would lay those thicker threads on top of the linen and sew them on with a sewing thread of the same or a contrasting color. She smiled, pleased with the ideas and the materials. She put the box in the corner of the hobby room and went to the guest house, curious what Annerieke had in store for dinner!

To chapter 145. Adventurous explorations

Or to the Table of contents