A very productive day for Savannah!

Savannah made herself a cup of tea, a very strong cup of tea that is, as she definitely needed it. She felt

terribly excited, but extremely anxious too. Today will be the day that she must do it. She made that promise

to herself nine months ago. She turned around and looked at the typewriter glaring at her from the dining room table.

She poured the tea, and took a sip. She turned her head again to have a look at that terribly frightening sight. Maybe it is too soon, maybe she was too optimistic. How on earth will she be able to write anything after almost two years of nothing. At the beginning of the year Savannah encircled today's date on the calendar, it would be her only resolution for the new year. Hugo inquired what it meant, but Savannah felt too insecure to tell Hugo. 

She wanted to do it alone and only if she was ready. She surely didn't need the extra pressure. So that morning, when everyone had left, Savannah went upstairs to their room and dragged the big old typewriter from under the bed. It was a bit ironic that she has slept on it since they moved into Beechwood Hall. She had to laugh at her own silliness.

The moment, however, when it was completely out from under the bed, it was just too much for Savannah. She almost pushed it right back. It was a terrifying sight. She rushed downstairs, just to get away from it as soon as possible.

To her disbelief their was nothing for her to do downstairs, as she had already done all her chores before she made the tea, subconsciously maybe another way to delay facing her worst fear. She started to remake the kids beds and slowly but surely started to build up the courage to start with the inevitable.

It was quite exhausting to haul the big old thing downstairs and place it on the table. It was extremely heavy. In the past Hugo always carried it around for her, but as he wasn't around she had to too it herself. He used to moan quite a lot about the old heavy thing, and offered to buy her a brand new, modern and smaller version on various occasions. Savannah wouldn't hear of this. She loved her typewriter. All 9 books she's ever published was written on it, and she always lovingly reminded Hugo that he bought it for her some years ago at a jumble sale held in Rooibosch Hill. 

Finally Savannah felt ready to put the few ideas she had, and been playing with in her head to paper. It was simply magical, like she has never "left", the words came tumbling out, and thank goodness she was a good typist as her fingers could barely keep up with the words that just poured out. It was as if they have been locked up for too long and was terrified that they may be stuffed back in, if they don't get out immediately.

After a few hours of constant fast typing, Savannah needed a break. Her fingers was cramped up and her head was spinning from all the adrenaline pumping through her veins. Her first book, after a two year hiatus, was almost finished, it needed another chapter or two, and obviously some fine tuning, she felt terrific and it surely was satisfying to be doing a different "job", than just being a mother for a change. As she was about to sit down and enjoy her sandwich the doorbell rang.

Savannah played with the idea of just pretending not to be home, but then she remembered that she was the Mayor's wife and maybe someone really needed her. She opened the door and forced herself not to sigh. The visitor was Mona Hazelnut. Savannah had no problem with Mona, they were not best of friends but Mona wasn't unpleasant, but just so exhausting. This visit may take hours, and Savannah wants to finish her book.

Savannah invited Mona in and offered her some tea. Mona declined, muttering something about indigestion. It quickly came to light, that Mona might not have a particular reason for her visit. 

Savannah inquired politely how the pregnancy is going, which was a huge mistake as Mona wailed for, which felt like, an eternity of how inhumane it is to carry and grow a new life inside of one. Savannah decided not to comment on that remark.

She just let Mona talk, as she obviously needed an ear that listened. Savannah sneaked a secret peak at her typewriter, how she wished she could just be alone and type.

Then Mona suddenly got up, and Savannah gave a sigh of relieve, this visit was over quicker than she anticipated, but it turned out that Mona only got up to show her some pictures of their recent trip to Lisbon, Portugal.

Savannah felt horrible. How could she forget, especially after she has told Mona to take plenty of pictures and that she must come and show her. Immediately Savannah had a mindset change and vowed to give all her attention to Mona. She is not a self involved person, never has been.

Savannah took the envelope of photos from Mona and looked at the pictures with interest. She tried to make up for her absence of the past 15 minutes, by asking some questions about the pictures and encouraging Mona to be as descriptive as possible.

(Herewith a few pictures taken on my own vacation to Lisbon recently. I actually did take the Hazelnut family with me with the intention of taking pictures of them, but there were really never the time. Feel free to visit my facebook page for more photos)

Mona excitedly showed Savannah the pictures of the wonderful shops first. In Barrio Alto and

... Rua Augusta. This strip leads to the Placa de Commercio and the Triumpal Arch on the Tagus river.

Beneath is the Triumphal Arch, an unbelievably majestic structure. Next to it a picture of the Lisbon Cathedral.

Mona excitedly showed her a picture of the funicular trams and also pointed out how many of the building was not plastered off and painted but was tiled.

Their are several viewpoints in Lisbon, it is afterall the city with the seven hills. And the views from it was breathtaking.

One of the main attraction in Lisbon is of course the Torre de Belem. Another enormous structure.

After having another quick look at some of the pictures Mona indicated that she must leave. She thanked Savannah for a wonderful visit and that they must do it again soon. This made Savannah feel even worse, especially after her initial disinterest.

Savannah, who was starving by now, quickly ate half of her sandwich and just got comfortable in front of her typewriter when there was another knock on the door. Savannah wanted to cry, but she quickly suppressed the feeling, as she still felt bad about Mona.

She went to open the door and was incredibly surprised with her visitor. It was Margaux Bercher carrying a bouquet of flowers. The Berchers was relatively new in Sugarbush, and though they have met, they weren't really acquainted.

Savannah invited Margaux in and again it became evident very quickly that there was really no real reason for her visit. Margaux mainly talked about the village, the friendliness of the villagers and asked a few questions about some day to day events. Margaux obviously only wanted to get some inside information of all the unspoken rules and regulations of the village.

Soon it was time for Margaux to leave and this time it was Savannah that invited Margaux back for another visit. Savannah felt pleased. It turned out that Margaux was a lovely person and definitely someone with whom Savannah can become friends.

Satisfied Savannah got comfortable in front of her typewriter again. Surely she will not be interrupted again. She still has a few hours left before her family return home, which will be enough time to finish the last chapters.

It was not to be. The knock on the door came just as she hit the first key on the typewriter. At first she thought it was the sound of the typewriter, but then she heard the second knock. Savannah couldn't believe her misfortune, but once again she got up and opened the door.

If Savannah was surprised with Margaux's visit, she was completely shocked and astonished with her next visitor: Pansy Chestnut. In all the years that the Chesnuts have lived in Sugarbush Valley she and Pansy has never once had a conversation. Obviously they greeted each other at public events or when they pass each other on the streets. For the second time that day, Savannah felt as if she was a bad Mayoress.

She had a dreadful feeling about this. What on earth could Pansy want, maybe she wants to tell her how snobbish Savannah is and that she do not care about her fellow villagers. What made things even more difficult was that Pansy's 2-year old son, Ricky (she can not be that bad if she knows his name AND age, Savannah thought), doesn't sit still for a moment. She tried to ignore it and attentively listened to Pansy.

In the end it turned out that Pansy only wanted her opinion about the nursery school and daycare center. According to Pansy her children was ready for daycare, but that she didn't want to send them to different institutions. She was in two minds of what to do, as technically Amy who is 3 should go to Delia's nursery and Ricky who is 2 and too young for the nursery school, should attend Penny's daycare center.

After a good chat, Pansy was happy and thanked Savannah for being such great help in making a decision. No word was uttered about Savannah being a bad Mayoress, on the contrary Pansy was extremely friendly and grateful. 

Once again Savannah got in front of the typewriter feeling pleased, however, more reluctantly, as she was waiting and listening for that knock on the door. This time, though, Savannah got the peace and quiet she desired and finished her book.

Later that day when her family got home, it was with great pleasure and an enormous feeling of accomplishment that she showed them her handy work. The babies obviously didn't understand any of the fuss that was made by their father or older siblings. Not even Nellie and Igor could fully comprehend the enormity of the situation, but all that Savannah needed was that look of sheer pride in her husband's eyes.