The next slide shows the pink fan, then red, purple and orange. Finally, I show them a mocked-up view of the gardenwith the pond and all five fans in full bloom surrounded by green grass alternating with a grass/wildflower mix.
“I have an additional proposal,” I say when the lights come back on. “The official opening at the end of May needs to go without a hitch, so any problems should be identified and fixed sooner than that.”
“What kind of problem?”
The question, predictably, comes from Evan.
“Logistics mostly. How visitors will respond to the garden. Access, staffing and maybe a few unforeseen issues.”
“And your solution is…?” he asks.
“A test opening,” I answer, making my voice steady, willing myself to look confident and sure of my idea.
Evan regards me, his gaze steady.
I stand there. Just me. No slides, nothing to support me as I propose this insane idea. I might have emotional reasons for wanting to challenge myself, but the other partners are business people. “The aim is to test as many of the features as possible. So walking tours around the flowerbeds, information leaflets and signs, a couple of recorded demonstrations on video loop. Feel free to invite friends, relatives, anyone from the village. Free entry of course, because most flowerbeds won’t be mature yet. We give them feedback cards to see what they think.”
The room is silent, as if everyone is holding their breath.
“When?” Evan asks at last.
“Easter weekend,” I say.
The silence breaks into shards of noise and questions. “Easter?” “Three weeks away.” “Will anything be ready?” “Howmany visitors?” “Good Friday to Easter Monday; that’s four days.”
Osian, who’d had not a clue about this idea, looks shocked. Nora asks him something but his eyes are on me. He starts to rise, to come to me in case I need help. But it’s Evan who stands up and silences the clamour.
“Can we have a bit of order, please? Raise your hand to ask questions.”
Several hands shoot up at once.
Alex is the first.
“Can I do the test opening for the mosaics as well? All the ones inside the house that we’ve uncovered and restored.”
“I, also,” the professor says. “I think we have enough about the history of the house to offer a few tours inside.”
Evan holds up a hand. “I think I can see where this is going. So let’s look at logistics. Can we staff this? Can you afford to hire so many people when you won’t be earning anything?”
“We do have volunteers,” Haneen interjects in her calm soothing voice. She might pretend to be little more than a cook and mother but it’s clearly obvious her mind is every bit as sharp as Evan Kendric’s.
Several people argue back and forth that while our teenage volunteers are willing and mostly reliable, they’re young and might struggle to handle customers.
That is true.
Gethin raises a hand and when he has everyone’s attention, he says, “We are happy to help. The Jack Bevan residents might be old and some of us not very mobile”—he pats the arm of hiswheelchair—“but we can man information points and entrances, hand out leaflets and answer questions.”
Had he been any closer, I would have bent down and hugged him. “Thank you. That would be perfect.”
Evan has his business face on. He might be sitting comfortably, in jeans and a sweatshirt, the remains of his dinner still in front of him, but he gives the illusion of being in a pinstriped suit at the head of a boardroom. “Will your information leaflets and signage be in both languages?”
“Of course,” the professor says. “All the signage will include details about the background and progress.”
“Good.” Evan nods. “Let’s say all signage will have in-depth information.”
Osian catches my eye, the same objection on his face. I hold up a hand. “The garden needs plant markers identifying each of the varieties. That’s particularly important for Welsh wildflowers embedded in some of the lawns. So unless we want the garden to look like a library, there’s a limit to how much information can go on each sign. In both languages.”
“A significant objective of your project plan,” Evan argues, “was to celebrate Welsh plants and the complex ecological history of the area. To communicate the importance of this regeneration of theBannau Brycheiniog. How will you do this without making the information available?”
