Spring Time...!
1472 Words
Samuel got back to his antics again as Ben stood on a wooden and announced his prophecy on February 5th 1441, "Hear Ye... Hear Ye... Hear Ye... King's College, Cambridge, is founded by King Henry VI of England in exactly a week from today...!"
And that was about a month ago...!
It was the 1st week of Spring, signalling the end of Winter as snow on top of branches slowly melted and the water in the river turned to mini rapids.
Two months had passed through the winter and nothing uneventful had happened ever since.
The deforestation project had long ended. The trees were fell and tree stumps were uprooted. The works to renew the land and plant orchard trees were completed and from the seeds they had been planted earlier in bamboo pots had all been replanted and marked.
The lands had been watered and properly churned out before planting and it was rich as there was a lot of earthworms unearthed during the process.
The weather had turned slightly warm and the frost slowly melted on the ground, giving way to sprouts of grasses and to new life for both fauna and flora.
The factory had long been completed and the production of both the liquid Hair Wash and the block of Body wash was such a welcome in the 15 towns as well as far as Durham.
The production was brisk as we had gotten a great deal of bulk purchase discount over animal fats instead of using olive oil. The animal's fats were heated once more while adding screw pine leaves to neutralise the smell of fats.
It costs a mere 2 gold coins for a 300 pounds of animal fat and it was a good darn deal after all.
The wire caged incandescent lamps were a hot seller and it was always been a steady production of 2,000 of those weekly which brought in a steady income of 20 gold coins weekly as well.
It was money worth receiving and meanwhile, work began to trickle in as normal as the days progressed on.
Isabela had made a great leap in her abilities and the 6 militia invalids from Burghbrig had already been totally cured. Their amputated or 'dead' arms or legs had been regenerated and they could finally use their cured limbs like ever before.
They were grateful to the Gods above and also to Isabela that had given them a new breathe of life the moment they stepped out from the infirmary.
No more limps, no more casts on their arms and legs and they were just like before and the 6 of them soon pledged their allegiance to us and to serve and protect Gracehaven to its best interest.
Soon, it was Sat 27th March 1441, a day we pioneers had decided that it was also Gracehaven's first anniversary as well as the completion of the complete set of 8 types of drinks and additional 4 more grilled and fried foods to Gracehaven's Greasy Spoon.
"It's quite dandy, don't you think so, Your Majesty? We now have 4 ales and 4 ciders and on top of that we are going to have grilled fish, skewered barbecue boar meat, venison and game meat plus a new addition for the young — deep-fried fish fritters..."
Strongbow was simply over the moon over the new addition of drinks and food as well as the side expansion. Besides Gracehaven's Greasy Spoon has grown in size since its establishment some few months ago.
"Aye, Strongbow, of you are happy... The residents couldn't be happier. Hahahaha."
Soon, we engaged the help of Samuel to announce that today was the first anniversary and had him announce it when the morning meeting had ended.
When everyone heard about it they got quite excited and began to ask the earlier citizens about it. Soon they got their answers from the pioneers stating that the date marks the estimated date when Gracehaven was established.
Everyone go worked up and soon were asking details about it. Samuel then announced that work would end by high tea and merriment would commence thereafter.
"There would be wrestling matches for those who are interested. No weapons and all subject to a pin of 3 counts. Register now for an individual match, a tag team match and even a royal rumble of 4 men on each side...!"
Samuel added and those who were interested to brawl and show their prowess all lined up at Michelle, Nolan and Oscar to give their names to sign up for the bout.
The prizes were pretty attractive. 10 silvers for the individual champion. 25 silvers for the tag team and 40 silvers for the last man standing on the Royal rumble.
Quite a lot of men were interested to participate and were even jostling around during the registration. Even though it was friendly but the jostling around looked rather serious.
After everything was back in order, those who need to tend to the crops went about to their tasks.
The children went to the class waiting for teacher Michelle to commence the class.
The senior citizens all worked in the clay making areas and they churned out 480 clay bricks complete with firing every day.
The younger teens would attend to make the pinch pot complete with lids so that stock would always be readily available when they were in need. Besides, the pots make a nice accessory to keep trinkets.
The bamboo production areas were making the military-grade bows as usual and the weaver production areas were concentrating to make the Standing Icebox meet the demand of the public.
Besides, since the price was available for hire purchase instead of cash payment, the middle-income families were able to extend their budget by paying through the treasuries by the hire purchase agreement.
So far, the bread, biscuits and cakes supply had been smooth with additional being introduced so as not to make the range of confectionary too fixed.
As for the other trades like planks, clay bricks and also military-grade bows, there were some fluctuations but it got off on a record high for some months while being moderate in some months as well.
Overall, all the businesses brought in sufficient gold bullions to keep on rainy days.
The winter wheat crops had sprouted to almost 3 feet tall once the weather got warmer in spring and with Penelope flitting around, the wheat sprouts got rejuvenated and would be heavy with grain within a week.
Besides, 5 crop fields were meant for the corn where 1 of the crop field would bear young baby corns instead. This was managed by Firestone and would be slightly boiled and soaked inside brine to preserve them.
As for the other 4 fields of corn, it would be turned into steamed or grilled corn on the cobs during their break time.
Everything had been planned and worked accordingly. The local community had been spruced up, free from leftover snow off the slanted thatched roofs and bright streamers were once again adorned along the street lamps and also the main streets and the watchtowers.
Even there were no others who were watching the anniversary from outside, but the feeling of camaraderie was born for such events.
All works were done in an orderly manner and by 3 in the afternoon, everyone had gone back to their homes and changed into their best clothes as well as dressed up the residential lots with colourful flags and streamers.
Today, they would be watching the main event of wrestling that would be at 5 in the evening till right the end of the show. Dinner was prepared early and people would come and dine as they please as they took turns to watch the wrestling match.
Everyone cheered for their local heroes as they displayed their unarmed combat in the squared ring as they kicked and punched through their competition.
They made use of fictitious names such as plants, trees and even animals to describe themselves on the ring. Frankly, the men became another type of species the moment they stepped onto the squared circle.
After the gruelling match, the winners were announced as I went to the stage to give out the cash prizes. It was a great show since it also helped to generate extra income from Gracehaven's Greasy Spoon.
Since Heather was nearing her due date, she was sent to the infirmary as she would be attended to round the clock as midwives and nurses milled about to make her as comfortable as possible.
Everyone was excited to have a lot of firsts here in Gracehaven and right now they would be welcoming the first birth which also happens to be a pair of twins from the Royal family.
Yipee... I also can't help to describe the happy feeling...!!
- Writer
