1896 | 1897-8 Interlude

1897 (Winter)

Winter settled in, and the snows covered the ground. Abraham and Florence still managed to go to school each day without fail, even if it was snowy. Abraham managed to keep up with both his homework and helping out around the house, but it was definitely easier to do that with the farm being snowed in. At least Stefan had stopped complaining about the expense of schooling the boy.

Juliet peered out the frosty window and smiled to see Florence playing happily in the snow. She watched for a while, then sighed and turned back to the multitude of toddlers running pell-mell around the house.

Chapter Eight | Island Spirits Welcome page | Chapter Ten

Having Nork back home was a blessing Utel wasn’t about to overlook. He was now determined to master the Gardening skill, and was planting everything in sight.

Utel also asked him to make some new Garden Planters, but he was so busy gardening, she wasn’t sure he’d even heard her request. On the other hand, Gnaar had finally gotten out of his toddler pants, and was learning to be helpful around camp.

WC: Day Six < | Challenge Home Page | > WC: Day Eight

The Application

Wendy was up at the crack of dawn, making some Breakfast Scramble for her house full of hungry sims.

By the time it was ready, everyone had managed to get themselves downstairs by the smell alone.

Chapter 1.9 | Chapter 1.11

Today was the first day of freedom. It was Monday, and Caizey happily got up and cooked some breakfast (the request had been for Grilled Cheese, and what the hey, that’s breakfast, too!)

Then, Caizey sat with her daughter as she ate and got ready for school. A quick hug, and Kailyn was off on the bus, with the bus driver giving Caizey’s beaming smile and jaunty wave a bemused look.

Chapter 1.8 | Chapter 1.10

The Diversity Experiment – Chapter 1.9

And.. we’re back with these guys. Now, I will warn you, I’ve had these pictures for AGES.. and I’m only just now sitting down to write the words, so I may be off about exactly why I took each picture, but I’ll give it my best go.

And we pick up very close to where we stopped. Luke is definitely into Anika, but he can’t seem to figure out if she likes him too.

Back to Chapter 4.1 | On to Chapter 5.1

First, we check on our brand-new goals…

Set #41 - Dog Trainer (Cats & Dogs) - Claire Ireland - (Heir)
Complete the Friend of the Animals aspiration
Have a pet with 1500 Simstagram followers
Level 5 Pet Training skill
Train one of your dogs with all tricks possible
Have one of your dogs have puppies

Set #55 - Handisim - Cody Orlando - (spouse)
Complete the Renaissance Sim Aspiration
Master the Handiness Skill
Create All Woodworking Objects in Excellent Quality
Upgrade 20 Objects
Decorate with 10 Woodworking Objects

This episode turns out to be – basically, the end of the generation. I played this part fully on stream, and I forgot to take as many pictures as I should have. Plus, most of them were, quite honestly, photos of the dogs. And only so many Simstagram photos are worth posting. You get tired of them after a while. LOL.

Chapter 14 | Chapter 16

Things at “Camp Forgotten Hollow” slowly became routine. Mari woke up each afternoon, had a solitary dinner, and did any cleanup the camp needed. I then woke up later (closer to sundown – for obvious reasons..) , went to find my breakfast alone (also for obvious reasons), and came back to camp.

Between the two of us, the camp was always spic-and-span, and the garden was growing weed-free. It wasn’t a huge additional income, but it was welcome none-the-less. I was still making most of our money from painting, because Mari had quit her job so she wouldn’t have to commute to Windenburg every work day. Once we had a house, perhaps she could find a job she could work from home in an office, but I certainly wasn’t going to require it of her. I was making enough money currently that we were still able to save a hefty amount with every paycheck from the gallery.

WC: Day Five < | Challenge Home Page | > WC: Day Seven

Learning to Be Normal

Jaz woke up and ran their hand through their hair, feeling the new lightness of the shorter cut. It felt weird. With a surreptitious look over to Penny’s bed, Jaz quickly ascertained that their room-mate had already headed downstairs for breakfast. Nobody had seen them fussing with their hair in the confusion of waking up. With a relieved sigh, that almost turned into a wry laugh – when had they suddenly become so worried about what others thought of them?? – Jaz rolled out of bed and stretched. A look through their side of the closet was sobering. Their new foster Mom had spent a fortune on them. How on earth was Jaz ever supposed to pay them back for this?? Clearly, there were a LOT of chores in Jaz’s future. Running a hand over the threadbare clothes they had brought from home, Jaz remembered the glee with which Penny had disposed of her old clothes, and wondered if they should do the same. However, these were one of the only things they had left from their previous life… and it felt weird to get rid of it. Peering around to make sure Penny hadn’t returned, Jaz pulled out her backpack and stowed the old clothes in there, out of everyone’s view. Nobody could make fun of her for keeping her nasty old clothes if they didn’t know about it, right?

Zipping up the backpack and stuffing it into the back of the closet, Jaz looked down at their brand new PJs, and, hearing the sounds from downstairs (not to mention the delicious smells), Jaz headed down for breakfast.

Chapter Seven | Island Spirits Welcome page | Chapter Nine

Nork was determined to finish his aspiration, so his stay back at the village was a short one. Before Utel could even protest, Nork had packed up and was heading back out on another long journey. This time, he was headed to a mysterious forest glade that supposedly had some other rare fish he was looking for.

After communing with the tree spirit (yeah, I know it sounds weird, but that’s apparently the only way to get there per the legends.) – which seemed receptive to his approach, Nork was rewarded with a gaping hole in the base of this massive tree. Tentatively, Nork stepped inside… and after a few wrong turns, he came out into the light of a mysterious meadow.

Story Info | 1850 Part Two

Charlotte walked up to their new home, trying to juggle two toddlers and a hatbox she’d kept with her on the coach. Her husband, Theodore, had traveled with most of their belongings weeks ago, and the smoke rising from the chimneys was a welcome sight. Back home, things had gone from good to horrible in the space of a few words from Theodore’s older brother. As soon as he had decided not to go to sea with his ship, and decided to, instead, take over the family farm… Theodore’s prospects changed from wealthy farmer to a homeless family man in moments. It was also very quickly clear that there was no talking Theodore’s brother out of his newfound wealth by birthright. Theodore and Charlotte had been working under the assumption that the plantation was all but theirs, and they found themselves out on their rears from one heartbeat to the next. Theo had found a boarding house that could take them temporarily, and had immediately begun looking for opportunities. The sad truth of the matter, though, was that back east, there just weren’t any opportunities to be had. However, the government was opening up the west, and there were claims of riches for farmers willing to take the arduous journey to the plains. Sadly, They had decided that, to assure their children the best future possible, living near their families was no longer going to happen. With the meager stipend Theodore’s brother had allotted them to “find their own way”, Theo bought a large undeveloped farm sight unseen. Before Charlotte was anywhere close to ready, and with a toddler and a tiny babe in her arms, Charlotte was left to her own devices while Theo headed west to prepare a home for them.

By the time Theo’s “all is well” letter arrived, signaling the start of Charlotte and the kids’ journey, that baby was a toddler, and Charlotte felt she needed four extra hands to keep both of them out of trouble on the journey.