Chapter 26

With Billy running the garage, it was decided to offer Sally a position assisting him until her pregnancy became too much to handle the work. Sally was overjoyed, not only because of the extra income but the knowledge that we recognised her as part of our team.

A big party was planned for Jess and Ron's engagement, because of the large guest list Ron arranged for the hire of the Mechanics Institute Hall, a big hall with supper rooms on the side. The hall was used for dances, weddings and any function that required a covered venue.

Peio had started on the foundations for the extension to the store, the old building had been removed and the timbers were at his workshop being re machined into usable sizes. Peio and Roy Seath had spent a lot of time on the layout of the self serve market, the conduits for the power cables and the pipes for water and drainage were all in position. The pour was scheduled for the following day.

Roy was excited about the project; he was even more excited when I told him that we would need to go to the city to look at display cases and shelving. I had made a few enquiries and found several manufacturers who made this type of paraphernalia. Jess had booked us into a hotel for one night giving us ample time to select the appropriate equipment. Jenny was not happy, "this means I will not be sleeping with you that night Jimmy. I said I would be sleeping in 'our bed' for the rest of my life and here you are five minutes later leaving me on my own."

"You can still sleep in 'our bed' Jen I just won't be in it with you. Us 'business people' have to make sacrifices now and then."

"I'll give you 'business people' when you get back."

The shopping expedition was a success, Roy drove the store's van and we did the rounds. The company that made the freezers was very interested in how we were setting up our self serve market and asked if he could come out and take a look at it. Roy explained that the foundations had only been poured the day before but if he left it for a few weeks the shell would be up and he could get a better idea of what we were about, he could also see the architect's concept drawings and plans. A time was arranged.

We looked at several types of shelving and Roy took a copy of their sizes, as we got a bit further down the track we could work out what we needed and place an order.

It was decided to approach the Church Women's Association to see if they would be interested in doing the catering for Jess and Ron's engagement party. They were happy to take it on and a menu and price was agreed on. A liquor licence was applied for and approved, we suggested that the CWA handle the drinks as well as the food, that would put a bit of a brake on the heavy drinkers, nothing like having 'Mum' looking over your shoulder is there?

Jenny was dropping a few 'hints' about her sixteenth birthday that was coming up in a month's time, I appeared to be oblivious to them but in fact I was working hard to come up with the appropriate gift. The one thing I didn't have any problem deciding on was an engagement ring, I intended to 'pop the question' at her birthday party, the only one I had confided in was Jess, she grudgingly approved at first and then gave me a big hug and told me to go for it. Whew the biggest hurdle was past.

With the foundations poured and set Peio started to install the walls, they looked great, he had used the stressed corrugated iron moulds and as they went up it became apparent that he had made a good choice, there were several comments from the pavement supervisors, mostly positive. It took two and a half days to have the outer shell erected and secured.