This is most likely the final post for this family, you'll see why at the bottom of the post. Day 12 starts out decently, it's a holiday so no school. Dad is up before anyone else, he's craving something. Will he have better luck than mom with the wood stove? Sadly dad fared no better, than mom. Burnt waffles for breakfast it is. No one complains because it's hot food on a cold and rainy morning. Also it's not salad. Mom heads out to the workshop, dad heads off to dumpster dive, and one quad makes a trip into town. Mom made the family a chess set to keep, but sells the windows and smelted metals. Dad brought home some new items as well. So that's what was picked up from in town. Bills are picked up, but care was not paid to everything that was signed. Dad got his pumpkin carved and placed out front. Trick or treaters decided to do homework instead of asking for candy. Even though they didn't have costumes the quads went trick or treating too, but the neighbors had run out of candy. Turns out dad is good at making mac and cheese. Mom sends out the mail, still not paying attention to what had been signed besides the usual bills. Everyone's sitting down for dinner when mom receives an e-mail marked high priority on her phone. !Congratulations from Twinbrook Historic Society! Your efforts to preserve and restore the old forge have not gone unnoticed. We thank you for your prompt return of our historic preservation survey indicating a willingness to have your home included on local home tours. Along with the grant of $85,000 we ask that you follow the following guidelines.
Yep, that's right, the game mechanics randomly dumped 85,000 simoleans into the family funds right as mom was sitting down to dinner. So here's the general direction the remodel is going. While they have nicer tech to watch shows on, they'll have to stand to do so. Oh and I discovered an interesting glitch/bug while moving the canning jars to a shelf over the counter. If you look at the center of the yellow painting near the edge of the picture ... yep that's right the game mechanics are treating the picture as a shelf, lol. From past experience once the game mechanics decide to start gifting sims money, it doesn't matter how often you reset the funds, the will continue to be randomly gifted family funds of various amounts.
Having money dumped on the family, while nice for them, pretty much kills the challenge of the renovation for me. With an apoc it's not a big deal, as you don't use it and just pay it to the crime family. With renovations there's no built in rules for random funds.
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The McGowans have made it a little bit further. This post covers sim day 5 to day 11. They will be aiming for the historic preservation on the renovation which as I noted last time put's some serious restrictions on what they will & won't be allowed to do. Also anyone who paid attention to the before pictures of post 1 noticed candles everywhere. I'm adding the twist of the house isn't wired for electricity, something else they will need to address. Day 5 - Daybreak means wet nappies/diapers and hungry tots and parents. Yes it would have been easier to do as I did for Magda and move everyone down to the first floor but where's the fun in that. ;) lol Tot's are fed, and now the parents get to eat. Salad is a very safe dish to make, no stove use to set any fires or burnt food moodlets. If you set the fix meal task before 1 am sim time, they will make salad, or other dinner foods, for breakfast. Same trick, que the fix meal task before the meal time switch, for lunch as dinner or breakfast as lunch or dinner. Day 5 saw the last of the ivy removed for building inspection. It also saw the removal of the victorian style fencing, a stone perimeter wall near the fence as a good neighbor gesture, and 3 panels of fae fencing, which will probably get moved again. Note mom's harvesting fruit, if you recall I mentioned an option of having the ground tested. A brief chat, quads keeps them so busy & tired that they haven't had time to talk let alone fight, a quick chore and then mom's out the door again. One very brief, as in canceled by me - just wanted the pic of her exiting the building, tour of the science center. The fruit harvested this time is okay, but the soil sample shows that it's not a good idea to grow edible plants of any kind on the lot. Thus no more garden. With the okay from the science center the fruit & veg is sold, bills to be paid 'n all. Then an even harder choice is made, as mom's walking past the consignment shop. She sells their books, they really need the money for the bills. On her way home she spots a dumpster with some stuff sticking out, and investigates further. Once home she shows off her finds, a lump of ore which is sold, and a chair. They now own a chair. I decided to make it a rule that furniture, and finds not being sold could only be unpacked from family inventory once they're back on the home lot. Dad needs a break, so mom takes a turn staying home, and dad goes off to explore some dumpsters in a different part of town. He brings home another dining chair, an easy chair, a rug, and a battery operated stereo with some decent batteries in it. He also found some stuff that they couldn't use, corded table lamps, and a microwave oven which got sold to the consignment shop. Exhausted mom pays the bills and orders a surprise for dad even though the money would have been better spent elsewhere. I don't think I got any pictures of the action, but every morning when dad walks past her after they get up, she does the hopeless romantic "I'm so in love" motion. This ends day 5, as after this everyone was tucked into bed for the night. Day 6 starts the same as all the ones before it. Mom's perfection trait means she can't leave the bed unmade. Dad, however has no problems with leaving the bed unmade. The routine gets a small shake up, mom stays downstairs and feeds everyone, while dad makes the up and down trips. While long life batteries can be expensive, it's worth it to help improve on everyone's moods. Mom wanders off to pick a black eyed susan growing in the back yard. The flower adds a lovely touch, and dad paints while mom teaches tot's to talk. Yes it would have been better for dad to help, but he's put in so many childcare hours that he really did deserve the break. Day 6 is spent on a rotation between tot's, painting, and assorted chores. Along with the parents taking breaks for their own needs. As everyone is getting tucked in for the night dad pops a wish to go to the library. Day 7 starts with the usual routines, dad still wants to go to the library though. Mom agrees to stay in with 3 of the tots if dad takes one with him. Dad and tot spend time on talking skills, not sure the other library patron was comfortable with the frank talk of death, and left the room. Dad, just couldn't get comfortable at the library even though it was his idea to go there, it was to crowded for him. (Loner trait) Back home they finish the talking lesson. After a bit it's moms turn to go out. Ideally she would have stayed home, but their going to need money before the day is out. The old cribs only fetch so much on consignment. Mom dumpster dives until she gets sick, which means it's time to go home. Sells off anything they can't use. Gets some new batteries for the battery operated tv set, and heads home with the rest of her finds. This trip added a towel rack, the last of the boards needed to finish patching the roof, a dining room table, a frisbee, and a little extra cash. The exhausted parents hope that they'll be able to get proper big kid beds in time for the quads birthday. Day 8 starts out cold, grey and rainy. Mom is surprised to see that dad spent their precious little cash on a few items that will only get one day of use. She does have to admit that it does help the day go smoother. Dad braves the fall storm and heads off to do more dumpster diving. He's hoping to hit all 7 dumpsters in that part of town. As dad dumpster dives mom tries to keep up with 4 bundles of energetic toddlers. Despite the need to stay awake, the exhaustion of the last weeks grueling schedule catches up to her, so a kid friendly program is put on and she takes a nap. Exhausted dad comes home sooner than anticipated. He got some wall boards, a door, a kitchen hand towel with rack, and a coffee table. A review of the available funds is grim, they can only afford the cheapest of the big beds for the quads. It is still better than nothing or sleeping bags on the floor. With one tot left to teach to talk mom desperately races against the clock, while dad naps. Mom lost the race against the clock, Fletcher is the only one without all of his tot skills completed. After everyone finishes transitioning they grab some food from the cupboard, tend to needs - breaking the toilet in the process, and then head up to bed where their exhausted parents are already sleeping. The toddler toys and potties are sold and as a birthday gift a play table is acquired. Along with some cheap folding chairs. Day 9 mom and dad get up before they really want to. Moms fixing salad for breakfast, the wood burning stove intimidates her. Meanwhile dad unclogs the toilet and mops up the bathroom. Eventually the quads come down for breakfast and then run out the door for school. They run right past the mail carrier, delivering more bills and a note about the junk piles. They have to go, regardless of whether the forge is up and running or not. City codes 'n all. They spent their first day of school making new friends. After a quick clean up, mom and dad spend the day pursing their arts. I strongly suspect the perfectionist trait is why mom is so good with the glass blowing station. Mom takes pictures of the two items she created, and quickly realizes that the cost of film will be a problem if she takes pictures of everything she makes. After school two go straight to the library and do their homework, one signs up for scouting and drops off permission slips to city hall before going to the library, and one comes home with a friend who stays for dinner. Dad's artwork still isn't considered valuable, poor guy is getting no breaks from any quarter when it comes to skills, so it gets hung on the walls to decorate the home. While the quads trundle up to sleep dad fixes the busted sink, and mom mops the floor. Day 10 mom and dad finally get 5 minutes to themselves and a short chance to just talk. It was a good talk, not long enough to repair everything, but they're a small step closer to being friends again. As per the day before, the quads eat and dash, the day is spent on any late homework and talking to friends. Dad stays in and paints, while mom makes more glass blown objects. They decide to keep the kitchen tool jar. She also makes some jewelry which fetches a nice bit of income. Enough to get some wall panels and a basic shower for the workshop. Mom finally attempts to cook on the wood stove, burnt mac and cheese it is for dinner. She's going to have to learn how to cook with wood or stick to only cold meals, despite the cold weather and the chill in the damp house. All but one quad had a stay after school for better grades opportunity. The 4th quad did have an opportunity but it was a make friend opportunity which rarely work out, as the target sim suddenly becomes very unavailable until the opportunity expires. Dad, whom as I mentioned is not catching any breaks, is very grateful that his wife had installed a simple shower in the workshop, after he nearly killed himself trying to invent some toys for the kids. Exhausted he grabs a bite, unclogs the toilet, and then cleans it while mom supervises meal time, homework, and quite play time before bed. Day 11 Leftovers for breakfast, then playtime before school. The quads have a field trip to the mausoleum today. For the brief bit of school time they do have they will be either working on late homework or working hard to bring up their grades. Dad works on making the toilet self cleaning, while mom decides what to do with her day. Mom heads off to dumpster dive. Dad makes a $100 donation to simlish as a second language. Tub and toilet get a fresh coat of ceramic paint. One more upper wall panel gets sanded, a fresh coat of stain & varnish, along with new plaster. Lastly to appease the historic society a compromise is reached and instead of the nice white painted metal and wooden post mailbox, it is redone with a wood veneer and a simple wood post. Mom sold off enough found lamps to get a cheap sink and toilet for upstairs, along with wall boards and a door. One pre-existing wall was moved with care, it made their room smaller, but it also made it easier for everyone to access the new bathroom. She also brought home another dining chair and several rugs. Dinner and homework before bedtime, the 3 posters from the field trip are hung with care, as everyone tucks in for the night. I should probably quickly note that the festival lot didn't get placed, haven't decided if I want to place one or not. I'm using an old saved copy of Twinbrook that doesn't have all of the extra lots from all the post ambitions ep's in it. Outside of a needed edit of the library the town is pretty much as ea created it when ambitions was released. Mom is up to skill 6 or 7 for glass blowing, and I'm noticing that some items (even if normal quality) fetch more (braided bracelet = 500) than others (wall divider = 200) so I will probably dig around the net for a price list per item, to see which she needs to focus on to help boost their income up. Post Script: Well that's interesting, plenty of write ups and what item to what level, one guide with what can/can't be sold with the crafty seller items from Midnight hollow, but nary a price guide to proceeds from sales. So far the lowest Marianna has sold a glass item for is $10 with $500 as the highest.
After a slight login mishap which left me, temporarily, unable to log into weebly, I'm back with pictures & notes. Deleting cookies, fixes site glitches, much the way that deleting caches cuts down on glitches. I'm picking up from the end of the 1st Sunday and running through to the end of the first Wednesday. So about 3.5 sim days. Also, if you didn't catch it in the first post, it might stand out in this one; as much as I'm enjoying this family & renovation there's no real attachment or voice for/from them. Mom returned home and planted a few common plants. Currently undecided if she will continue to garden or not after the first winter. Then it's time for nightly tot care, diapers, bottles, and then off to bed. After a dinner of salad, mom went upstairs to sleep and dad finally got some him time. Glass blowing doesn't seem to be his thing, and he ended up with a shattered glass moodlet. He fared better with the work bench, but oh my look at the time. Off to bed you go, the tot's will be up before you know it. While they are miffed with each other, they will still share the bed so that's a mini blessing, as it's undecided if they'll patch things up or go separate ways. Morning is a reverse of the night before, with an extra step of potty training. currently the only place to eat is the, eww, bathroom. Mail, aka bills, arrived which allows for the fiction of a letter from city hall or an hoa(I despise those entities, why pay good money to be told how you can have your yard & home, all hoa's near us are biege-boring-bland & homogenized slices of bleh). Since the original story for the lot "Once home to a blacksmith, his family and a fire breathing dragon, aka his mother-in-law, Inglestone Forge was abandoned over a century ago." places the property as a potentially historic site it feels appropriate to add some constraints that tie in with sites that are registered as historic sites. Lastly to me knights and dragons belong to medieval time periods, so I'm placing the origins of the structure as close to 1400s or there's about, since middle ages spans 500 ad to 1500 ad by modern time keeping standards. So the fictional letter goes something along the lines of the city has noted new owners on the property; they have the choice of razing everything to the ground and conducting ground contamination tests before building a new more "modern" home that fits better into the "nice" (aka rich) neighborhood that sprung up over the centuries; Or they can keep the forge going, refurbish the existing buildings to bring them up to code and get it listed as a historic site, thereby preserving the original structure and saving themselves from city & hoa fines. Naturally there's also a concerned note from a neighbor about the safety of the children on the lot. Both of these factors give the general push of direction for the renovation, and a why for not just selling off the glass blowing station & inventors bench. Day 2, mom gets a turn at the glass blowing station while dad's in the house with the quad's. Clearly mom has much better luck with the glass blowing station. It wasn't much but it helped a small bit. As you can see the ivy was cleared from the back door, and it is now usable. The cleared ivy was made into a "broom" to help "uncover" stone buried under years of dirt & debris. While mom was in the forge, dad stayed on top of helping everyone learn skills. Day 2 also saw mom return to the community garden, but this time the veggies were taken to the store and she was paid a small stipend for harvesting. This allowed the first set of bills to be paid. Morning of day 3, time to rinse & repeat tot care steps. No rain on day 3 so mom needs to tend her small garden. While dad helps the quad's finish learning how to use the potty chair. Once mom finished tending the plants she goes in to teach the tot's, while dad gets another turn in the forge. Despite skill level 2 he still fails at glass blowing. He does however successfully invent a drinking bird. To appease the city all junk piles have moved to beside the forge. Tot skills are coming along. It's getting late, time for dinner and then bed for all. Mom & dad get exactly 2 minutes to enjoy the peace and quite of morning before the first of the quad's awakens and they have to start the change diaper, carry down stairs, feed on floor x4 routine. Yes two of the quad's are slightly slower on learning their skills than the others. Mom tends to the garden, while dad helps with more potty training. More ivy gets cleared from the structure. While there are some positive benefits to having ivy grow on exterior walls, some ivy's will burrow their roots into any nook they can find and can cause the demise of walls. Neither mom (level 1 garden skill) or dad (zero garden skill) know the difference between English or Boston ivy, plus they need a good look at the walls to check for structural damage, so all ivy goes, at least for now. More bricks and stones are unearthed and the wall gets partially rebuilt. The remaining ivy is cleared from inside, and the last of the interior debris is cleared from the floor. Skills are getting there. Clogged toilets are never fun. A very tired mom accidentally breaks the vase she was working on. Dad and the quad's are tired too. As everyone settles in for the night it start's to hail outside. It turns out that ivy woven just right is strong enough to hold up the stone slabs, and make makeshift stair rails. The interior is now sort of tot proof. For a centuries old, roughly 1400 to 1500 time period historical restore, they won't get to keep those stair railings. For now though that's what matched with funds. It also means I will need to calculate 25xper item cleaned up in casT. Which means I'm going to have to count floor and wall tiles at some point. With medieval Europe as my inspiration source, clearly my work for the McGowans is cut out.
The McGowans find themselves in Twinbrook for this renovation. As is clear, the starting conditions aren't all that great, in terms of overall atmosphere. Which is perfect when starting a renovation. A quick check of the lot in tce with debug on and there are no oddly placed bit's of anything. Now for one quick change up before unpausing and starting the in game clock on this challenge. Bye-bye weeds and large shrubs. Hello fenced in area for a family garden, cause guess who decided to use the no fridge shopping mod again. Yep this simmer. Otherwise nothing outside of the usual maintenance mods this time. The career mod offers some interesting options, but none I'm really interested in, and I have zero plans on homeschooling my sims again. Way to much time on paperwork, and not enough time to experience life. The fence plus gate equaled the exact amount so I didn't have to tce away any funds. I left dad at home to start training the tot's. I also did a round robin of the IF dolls. No toddler has a doll assigned to them, but they all have a doll to play with. As you can see dad's thinking more about his ltw than training his son. That seems about right for parenting, do one thing while thinking about something else altogether. I didn't check the fridge before sending mom off to the local community garden, a minor mistake on my part. I sent her because she has the loves the outdoors trait. Can I just say I love the detail of matching shirt & umbrella that AlphaFen added. The university bucket, which kept getting spawned into the household bin for the Rossi family - possibly career mod related, and the ITF portal got placed into the family bin. If you noticed, and ui picture mode didn't work - sigh, I mentioned I didn't check the fridge. Turns out the fridge is fully stocked & busting at the seams with base cooking ingredients. Woot! 1 of 4 now knows how to walk, and just in time. Dad's dangerously close to combusting from heat exposure. Mom is still off at the garden. The heat is getting to her a bit too, but she's not in any danger of self combusting. Back at the house Dad is now teaching one of the girls how to walk. He's staying inside where it's semi cooler and out of direct sunlight though.
This also where I left off game play for now. They are roughly half way through day 1. Writing with out adding random notes to each post was challenge for me. Which may or may not have helped me focus strictly on the story at hand. I will honestly say that sitting on the epilogue until the end since post 2 or 3 was an even bigger challenge. Without to much further ado outtakes & notes in order from prologue to epilogue. As much as I wanted Vincenzo & Magda to actually hook up, it just wasn't going to happen. I couldn't have created a more mismatched pair of sims had I tried. It was all I could do to keep them on friendly terms during their 3 sim days of time together. Yes, you can place grims door in one of the WA destination worlds. No grim won't do anything more than come out for a chat, and then start wandering around town, and just hanging out in general. So take note grims door only fully functions in your sims home world. This very lovely garden presented me with ton's of problems. However because I was using a player made world, and had aging - which shouldn't impact plants - set to long, I don't know if the problems I encountered were from the lot itself or something else. A zombie will happily stumble through arched doorways in the search of plants or brains to consume. These two shrub bits taunted me every time I launched the game. I'd run them over with the fence to make them vanish, save under a new name, run save through save cleaner after playing for the day, and boom there they were mocking me next time I opened the save. Again like the plants I don't know if it was the lot or the world I was playing. Let's talk about homework and the homeschooling mod. To reach an A and maintain it, they had to download and complete fresh assignments 2 to 3 times per day from 10 am on. If they only did the one fresh assignment provided at 10 am on the new day, they would get a pop up of not completing work and their grades would drop. This included weekends and holidays. While I liked the ability to have them home school, the amount of time spent on school work means I will most likely never use this mod again. I zoned the Municipal Airport created by AxelIngleson, lightly made over by me for picture purposes, as a big park in the hopes that it would fill up with townies. Sadly only a few of Aurora Skies townies & NPC's showed up. The other airport build I considered using was Sunset Valley International Airport created by sharonclark10. Magda had earned enough lifetime reward points to buy the young again potion. I considered using one of the sparkle pictures, but decided against it, because I wanted the question to hang of had it happened or had it been just a dream. Although in part I blew the prologue set up a tiny bit by not getting a napping picture of her. Eventually the original bath got fixtures to match the second bath, but in reds. For some reason I have almost zero pictures of Vince's room or Magda's after the final touches were added. Outside of dividing the dining room in half to create the study, and removing the faux chimney stacks, I didn't make any huge structural changes to the original building. I considered getting a bbq, but they wouldn't have gotten much use from it because of the no fridge mod. As to rugs as required under the challenge rules, almost every door has a half rug in front of it. ;)
In terms of game play with the no fridge shopping mod. I loved it, and will most likely use it again in the future. It did not impact cooking with the child's toy oven. Well was it enough? A female voice faintly whispered through the air. Yes, barely, but yes just enough was learned. A deep rich baritone reverberated back. So, back to the very beginning? The feminine voice queried. No, for those deaths can't be undone. The baritone responded. What then? The feminine voice queried yet again. A second chance. A chance to take a different path in life than the first one chosen. The baritone responded as a haze enshrouded the sleeping Magda Hey lady, the bartender's voice called from behind Magda, waking her from her sleep. It's closing time, the last flight left an hour ago. Magda apologized for delaying the bartender's night, and stretched. She felt so energized, maybe she should nap in loungers more often, but the airport security might get suspicious of her. Giving herself a shake the rest of the way awake, Magda felt as if something momentous had happened but couldn't put her finger on it. Putting her hand in her pockets she found a ticket for a flight that clearly she'd missed. She couldn't recall buying the ticket, but it was her name on it. She'd check with the airline in the morning. With a newfound feeling of confidence Magda headed out of the airport for the youth hostel that the bartender had mentioned.
Wondering as she walked across town, had it all been a dream, or did she really have grown children off in the world someplace. In which case how could she have gone from almost elderly to freshly graduated from high school in the course of an afternoon. One thing she was certain of, dream or not, if she wanted to live a life of luxury her best option was to work for it and to not rely on marrying for money. The mini break with the few days spent lounging on the beach, had proved beneficial for all of them, and they quickly slipped back into their normal routine, with a few adjustments. Apple usually took a few minutes extra in the morning to tuck her hair up, and Vince would scan for ships, get excited and then subdued when the shipment he was looking for wasn't on board. It didn't matter how hard he was pressed, he wouldn't say. Then one day he was handed a letter by the ship's captain and Vince's eyes grew big. Magda could tell he wanted to jump up and down but instead he composed himself and went off with the captain to talk. Frustrated Magda hauled her latest purchase up the hill on her own. She had no clue what her son was up to, but if he didn't spill the beans soon she was going to yell at him. The additional solar panel meant that the oil lamps were now just decor. Between the two panels they had more than enough electricity for their home. Magda ignored the unused kennel that Vince had built. She could have told him that the raccoon's would never use it or the small bed he'd made, but she hadn't wanted to stop him from discovering his own talents. Watching his face glow from accomplishment, and not just the accomplishment of constructing a properly finished kennel, but the secondary accomplishment of numbers finally clicking for him as he saw first hand how the math he'd struggled with had real world applications had been worth the materials used. His new found skills were a mixed blessing for Magda, on the one hand sometimes it was hard to get him to stop talking about grand ideas that could never happen, which made him sound to much like his dad who was living in Lucky Palms, and other times he would surprise her with wonderful practical builds that helped improve their lives. As Magda inspected the seeds she'd found, on the gardening station Vince had made, she wondered why she'd never pushed Vincenzo for help getting the twins or herself off the island. It wasn't as if she didn't know where he was, or hadn't sent him an email informing him of the twins. Granted his reply had been a request for money for some crazy fashion idea he had, and hadn't written back after Magda polity informed him she didn't have any money. Somewhere deep down she knew that if she wanted what was best for the three of them that he couldn't be involved. When the time had been right she'd even shown the twins how to locate him on the internet, and even they had chosen to do nothing more than keep distant tabs on him after the multiple requests for money any time they tried to talk to him. As Magda harvested the late summer harvest she wondered how hard it would be to use the preserving station that Vince & Apple had insisted on ordering as a gift for her. It had been there waiting, and yet still wasn't his big surprise, for her one morning as she'd come out to tend the garden. She'd stood there reading the note they'd left on it for her and cried. She knew that when she'd left the orphanage intent on becoming a wealthy widow she'd been cold and callous. She still wanted luxury and wealth. Yet the simplest little things like the canning station or Vince cooking meals for them had her feeling like she'd won the best prize on the planet, and she couldn't understand what she'd done to deserve it. As she wandered upstairs for an afternoon nap she overheard Vince saying "Remember you pinky promised!" in a barely audible, but fierce whisper to Apple. To tired to make him tell Magda trudged up the stairs, what was her son up to, she had a sinking feeling that she'd find out soon enough. Cluck, cluck, cluck ..... Magda bolted upright in bed, her afternoon's nap had turned into an all niter, what was that noise? No birds on the island made that noise! cock-a-doodle-doo! Magda, was fully awake now, her mind was racing that sounded like .... but it couldn't be, could it?! Magda raced down the stairs and out the kitchen door. There stood Vince grinning from ear to ear feeding chickens in a chicken coop. That had not been there the night before Magda was certain of it. Unsure if she was dreaming or not, Magda decided to go tend the garden to sort her thoughts before confronting her son. Apple was inside waiting for her. "He made me Pinky swear when I stumbled on the coop being built last month or I would have told you about it." Apple blurted. At almost 17, Apple was getting close in height to Magda, which distracted her from the topic at hand, the appearance of a chicken coop with some very real chickens, and one rooster, to go with out in their yard. Reflecting back to her younger years Magda drew a deep breath, and reassured Apple that she fully understood how important pinky swears were, and that no one would be in trouble for Vince's surprise. Vince, having walked in at that moment, said he was glad he wasn't in trouble and then sheepishly admitted that he had something even bigger on the way. When Magda tried to press him for what, all he did was grin, before handing her a basket with four fresh eggs in it, and darting out the door to go fuss over his chickens. With the first bit of waffle that Magda'd had in close to 18 years she completely forgave him for keeping the chickens secret. When she learned how much trouble he'd had getting them transported and how it almost didn't go through on several occasions she understood why he'd kept his secret. He'd been afraid of looking like a money wasting looser like his dad. Magda had had a long talk with him about how he was very different from his dad. Yes sometimes some of his ideas fell apart, but his heart was always in the right place. Lastly he worked very hard on his ideas to make them come together and learned from the mistakes. She reminded him of the garden chairs in the greenhouse and asked him how many attempts to get them just right he'd made without abandoning the project altogether. Over a dozen, Vince mumbled before grinning. The remainder of that month Vince was either no where to be found, which is very hard to do on a small island, or fanatically fussing over his flock of chickens. Magda sat up in her bed, surely that wasn't ...... again! Magda walked down the stairs with a calmness she wasn't feeling. This made the second time in a little over a month she'd been woken at day break by sounds that were not a natural part of the islands wildlife. Magda delicately leaned against the corner of the greenhouse in stunned disbelief. Rubbing her eyes and pinching herself, assured her that she was awake, that that really was her son, hair no longer greased up, and yes he really was milking a cow. Overcome by motherly pride Magda quickly wiped a tear away before turning away and resolving that for once and for all she was going to stop avoiding the canning station. If Apple could earn steady royalties from a book on the garden they grew, and Vince could learn animal husbandry, they by golly and gosh she could and would learn how to use the caner. Magda was surprised how easy it was to can their produce, and before she knew it she was filling their pantry with fresh jams, preserves, and more. While she'd learned canning Vince had taught himself how to make cheese, and Apple documented everything they were doing into yet another non-fiction book. As she watched the shelves fill with each batch, the germ of an idea she'd had ever so long ago sprouted a bit more. She'd need a good pitch, but would those who she needed to pitch to be interested? That was the part of her idea that bothered her, the uncertainty of her very limited market. Despite the crisp of the fall air, Magda found herself rooted to the ground. She'd been getting ready to start supper when Apple had called down the stairs for her to go outside. Surely unicorns weren't real. Yet there was one standing in their yard, and Vince was addressing it as if he'd met it before. When the pure white horse, which Magda wasn't sure she could believe was a unicorn, nuzzled Vince's pocket for a treat, she finally shook herself out of the daze she'd fallen into. The white horse might or might not be a unicorn, but that the horses would now come into the yard meant that she should probably let Vince put the feed and water trough that he had been begging her for. Hands still slightly shaking, she changed her dinner plans from lasagna to a simple fresh loaf of bread to go with some preserves from the pantry. The wood fired bread oven had been another one of Vince's ideas, but this project they'd built together. Magda checked the oven. The second cake was raising nicely and it was almost time to pull it out. Eighteen years where had the time gone, it was hard for Magda to believe that the time had flown by so fast. In parts it felt surreal. As she pulled the second cake, allowing it to cool before decorating it, she hoped the twins would be okay with her big surprise for them. If they weren't she already had a plan B for back up, but hoped she wouldn't need to mention it. Vince had combed and slicked his hair back up for the occasion, and April had thrown on her latest outfit and left her hair down. Sold! Vince still had shock in his voice, Apple on the other hand had asked about what to pack and what to leave. Yes, sold! Magda repeated for what felt like the twentieth time. She explained again, how she had signed the title over to the institute, and that some of the scientists would live here year round while conducting their arctic research. How in exchange they would get transportation for the three of them off the island back to Aurora Skies with enough left for three plane tickets. For good measure she repeated how she'd submitted their academic records to a university match website, and that Vince had two scholarship opportunities if he wanted to either PolySci or MIT. Additionally due to his ability with animals he had an option to be a vet tech intern on a ranch in Appolosia Planes, as well as a farming community on the island of Winchester. Apple had been very pleased with her scholarship options, a range of choices in all subjects but science and physical fitness. She also had an offer to be an intern from an already famous author in the sleepy town of Midnight Hallow. When Apple asked about the return date, Magda honestly answered, that there wasn't one, unless they really wanted to come back as part of the institutes science team. Apple asked what Magda was going to do. Magda honestly answered that she wasn't 100% sure yet, but she was either going to run a resort someplace very warm and tropical, or move to Bridgeport and work there. No matter what her door would always be open to them, and that they could always reach her by email or simbook. At the airport in Aurora Skies Magda wiped tears from her face and hugged each of her children and wished them luck at university. She'd gotten them both to promise they'd do at least one full term before making up their minds on their futures. Both physically and emotionally exhausted Magda settled into a lounger while she waited for her flight. She hadn't intended to fall asleep, but sleep she did, not even waking when the intercom announced flight arrivals and departures.
A late evening helping Vincenzo with homework left them both tired, but happier for the end result. Most days Apple and Vincenzo did their homework together, but since Apples teachers had started giving her more advanced work that was becoming a habit of the past. As much as Magda would secretly wish that Vincenzo could be a genius too, he just hadn't grown into his own yet, and he struggled with the most basic of math problems. One time Magda had been tempted to say something, and the memory of her school peers calling her dummy swirled up, and she was suddenly grateful that they lived alone on an island. The smell of lightly burnt muffins woke Magda, a bookworm and a genius with numbers Apple might be but unlike her brother she managed to burn whatever she baked in the early learners oven. No matter how burnt Magda always ate at least one, and thanked Apple for cooking, except for the one time Apple had tossed the whole batch before anyone else could try them. Magda didn't always bother with getting all the way dressed when going out to tend the garden. The crops hadn't been as good this year, mind she had enough stored to get them through winter, but she knew she needed to do something different before the first cold snap. Magda tried to focus, she wasn't really sure this was her style of painting, but the commission for the requested work would pay more than just one of her usual pieces, and they really needed the more. Especially if she was going to put her plan into action. Success, it had taken a full week to put up. The twins had helped to a small degree, for all they were almost teens they weren't quite there yet, and both Apple and Magda had agreed that she was not ideal for handing panes of glass to Magda, that task had fallen to Vincenzo. Magda expanded the garden with seeds found around the island. She hoped that they would fare better than the older plants. Her dreams of more fruit varieties showed up on the canvas as she painted. While she was tempted to keep it, but she'd been hanging Apple's paintings around the house for decor, and knew that one of the ships regular crew loved pears so much that all of his children were named after the different types. Vincen .... no Vince, per his request, and Apple had both started helping Magda with the daily gardening. Their growth spurt had taken Magda by surprise, and she'd bought what ever could be spared from the scientists and ships crew for them in the way of new clothes. Vince's voice tended to wobble, and Magda reassured him that eventually his voice would steady itself, as she stomped on Apples toes for giggling. Not her finest parenting moment, but at least Apple had the grace to look abashed and had apologized. When Vince started asking if he could have one of the wild horses, Magda had been unsure of how to respond. In the end she, agreed that if he was able to befriend and tame a horse he could have one. Apple on the other hand wasn't all of that interested in the horses let alone any other animals. She had learned of a book club and using some her saved money had joined it. Apple unequivocally stated that she wanted to be an illustrated author. Vince just shrugged his shoulders, and admitted that he still didn't know what he wanted to do with his life. Magda reassured him that he had time to think on it. As much as Magda would have preferred to get Apple an easel of her own, she was saving up for a big surprise that she hoped both twins would like. After double checking that everything was as she wanted, including Apple's painting above the computer, Magda called the twins in. Vince, who was in a stage of not showing emotions, grunted an of acknowledge meant for the chess tables new location and wandered off to feed the racoon as he did every night. Apple was a little more enthusiastic, especially when she spotted a copy's of the non-fiction books she'd written on the bookcase. It had been hard work, they'd lost half of the dining room, which wasn't a huge deal anymore as it was just the three of them, but to Magda the happiness in the twin's eyes had been worth it. Even though they now had a study, the twins still tended to do their homework assignments in the bigger living room. If Magda was inside painting they would talk to her as they worked. Time marched forward for the small family and they quickly settled into familiar routines and patterns. Gardening in the morning, school work for the twins while Magda painted or hunted for gems and metals, depending on the weather a light jog outside or fitness of choice in the little gym. Apple either worked on writing or painting in her spare time, while Vince worked on befriending the wild horses. He told Magda that he wished he knew how to ride horses. Magda did the only thing she could, which was to hug him and tell him that maybe some day he'd get to learn. Magda listened to Apple talking about how many books she'd published, and contemplated the future. Somehow even with the twins becoming teens life hadn't slowed down, and time was moving much faster than Magda cared to admit. The realization that she needed to come up with a plan to give them a chance of a life beyond the island hit her hard. All to soon they would be young adults in their own rights and it would be unfair of her to expect them to stay marooned with her forever. "Mom!" Vince's voice penetrated her mind fog. Shaking herself back to the present, Magda asked Vince what he wanted. He needed money for shipping fee's he'd won something big through the charity auction, but needed some extra money because of how far away they were from any major ports. Magda sighed and said she would help, but he should also ore hunt to come up with some of the money too. When a masonry kit arrived, Magda asked if that had been what Vince was so excited about. He just shook his head and grinned, "nah this is from a different charity auction, the other's a surprise but I think you'll like it." It took a few false starts but over the course of that spring and into the summer, they dismantled the unused chimney's, resurfaced the bricks and stones, and then refinished the entire exterior of the house. The book that had arrived with the kit had also explained the dangers of ivy, and how to refinish and brighten existing stucco plaster. Apple, upon seeing the finished exterior used some of her royalties for decorative plants. When Vince expressed frustration over the delay on his surprise and Apple woke in a snarky mood, Magda decided something needed to be done, and declared a holiday from all work beside gardening. When Apple started to fuss about her grades, Magda put her foot down, and said the teachers would understand but it was past time they had a holiday, even if they couldn't leave the island. Magda was pleased when the sun cleared enough for them to enjoy the day at the beach. As Magda and Apple swam, while Vince tried to get a tan, Magda wondered why she hadn't thought to do this sooner. Sixteen years on the island and this was the first she had taken time to just hangout on the beach.
That looks fun, Roland from the science crew hollered from the ships deck and before Magda knew it several scientists had joined them for their day on the beach. As Magda was drying off from her swim she overheard an elderly scientist comment on how this was such a nice midway point between Aurora Skies and their research station in the Arctic North, that it was to bad they didn't stop more often. A germ of an idea began to form in Magda's mind, just a little idea, something for her to think on further, but planted it was. Magda cooked their breakfast, and contemplated the future. Apple and Vincenzo were already showing the tell tale signs of nearing their teen years. At least that's what matched to their behavior patterns and the sudden unexplained mood shifts according to the website on parenting, that Magda would slip onto once in awhile after the twins were in bed for the night. Magda tried to talk to Apple about what to expect as a young woman, and the changes she might go through. Apple grunted a few times before stabbing her pencil into the paper and responding, muther! I need to get this finished. Magda, took a deep breath and firmly told Apple that she loved her, and then cleared her dishes clearly her sweet giggling toddler was long gone. Magda found herself missing the wrap of chubby arms around her neck with the sticky kiss on the cheek, as the twins would beg for more outside time. With a firm set to the shoulders Magda reminded herself that time only moved forward, never backwards, and that there were no second chances in life. The snap and crackle followed by a choice word, Vincenzo really needed to spend less time around the ships crew when they stopped by because he hadn't learned that word from her, pulled Magda's focus away from the canvas she was working on. She told him to watch his language, and that he'd have to share computer time with Apple. To which he'd replied watch it do what? Apple, without looking up from her blocks project for math, quickly snapped that he'd best not mess up her computer, she was in the middle of an important interview for her mid term assignment. Magda frowned to herself, were all preteens like this? The parenting site had an online forum, but with the limited access to the internet, Magda hadn't joined. She also hadn't joined because the one time she'd considered it, she'd skimmed through first, and the number of parents fighting over what was the best way to parent scared her. Especially the mothers who put down other parents for different choices. It reminded her to much of the clicks in high school, and she had had enough of that. Magda told the twins it was time for fitness, and they could either do their practices inside or go take a jog around the island with her. She mentally crossed her fingers and was rewarded when they both chimed that they didn't want to jog outside in the drizzling rain. She watched for a few minutes to assure herself that they wouldn't restart the fight and was once again amazed how graceful Apple could be, given she was a complete klutz and managed to trip over air at least six times a day . Whereas Vincenzo who never tripped over air, struggled to learn the simplest of the dance movements. The cost of turning the fourth upstairs big room into a home studio had been worth it, Magda thought to herself as she paced herself in a slow steady jog. In reality it only took maybe 15 to 20 minutes to jog from one end of the island to the other on the path that circled the house, but she had learned that if she paced herself just right it could take an hour. Which she used to her advantage every time the twins started to get to her with their bickering. Although sometimes they would join her, but by the end of the hour the results were always the same, the twins had mellowed or resolved whatever they'd been fighting over, and Magda had regained her sense of calm and no longer what to yell at them. Tending the garden was the other way that Magda would manage to get time to herself. She loved her children with a fierceness she hadn't realized she'd had, but she also needed time to just herself from time to time. Magda had to dismantle the second computer to fix the one that had still been working, which broke seconds after Apple hit send on her end of term exams. When Vincenzo started to grumble about needing to submit his, Magda sent them both off to go fishing, and promised him that she'd submit the file packet as soon as the computer was fixed. Grumbling as they went, both children left Magda alone to fight with the needed repairs. Magda stared at her latest painting, it had been specifically commissioned by one of the scientist's as a reminder of their time with the institute. Magda had tried to ask the name once and had been told firmly it was better if she didn't know, even as isolated as she was. Magda stared at the newly assembled bench and mock bookcase. She hoped the twins would like them, it was the best she was able to come up with for their birthday requests. A library, and something not made of wood to sit on. She had just a few more years before they officially became teens, and she was trying to do her best to make sure they had what they needed, like vaccines and warm clothes which the scientists had happily helped her with. Along with things they wanted, such as a few video games, just not the airport one, and fun books to read. With the march of time had also come more changes to their home, as Magda had realized that putting nice furniture into dingy surroundings wasn't go to make things more welcoming. That instead she needed to focus on learning how to clean and redo the walls, and while she had contemplated redoing the ceiling she realized the exposed beams were in excellent shape and just needed the occasional light sanding and dab of oil for maintenance. That Vincenzo had developed a taste for charities and charity auctions she didn't mind so much, as most of the time he was learning from the experience in one way or another. With the bonus that he felt less like a looser when he made donations. Magda always did her best to reassure him that while Apple had a natural affinity for book work, and grasped certain concepts with ease, that book smarts weren't the be all end all of the world. Which was sometimes a hard concept to get across as some of the scientists had nick named Apple their good luck genius. Author's note: This chapter is unofficially dedicated to simmer babay_j, Marj, whom we lost about a month ago. If you were lucky and fortunate enough to be counted by her as a friend, then you'll understand how special she was. How she always enjoyed a good read. Shared her own adventures cooking in the kitchen, time spent with her family, and especially her grandchildren. As a simmer she channeled much of her creativity and joy for life into recolors that she shared with the exchange and the rest of us simmers. She also always had a kind word and lot's of encouragement whether you were sharing your day to day, a new build, or a story. She is greatly missed. An exhausted Magda joined her children at the table, wondering for the fifth time why she'd let Vincenzo get the ice cream from the ships mess officer. They had no electricity, let alone a working refrigerator in which to store it. As they ate their dinner Magda realized it was more than past time to take Apple and Vincenzo around the island. Especially to the abandoned mine to look for ores and stones. Magda explained to Apple and Vincenzo where they would be going, and that while they were permitted to dig through the large pile of scrap that they would need to be very careful, as some of the pieces were rusty and had very sharp edges. That night they all slept restlessly. Apple dreamed of getting a new bed, while Vincenzo dreamed of getting more ice cream. If Magda dreamed, she didn't remember recall what the dreams were. She did recall fretting about Apple and Vincenzo's education as she drifted off to sleep. There was so much they would need to learn, and she wasn't sure how much she would be able to teach them. Magda choose to take Apple and Vincenzo the long way around to the mine. Unsure of why she didn't want them to realize that it was just a few short feet away from the house right away, Magda paused and stared at their home. It was a little odd, almost funny, the once dead trees had re-blossomed with life over the last few years, but the fruit trees in the garden had gone dormant and stopped growing after their first winter. Taking in one last look at the windows yet to be fixed she was a little sad that she'd have to kill more of the ivy when she got around to repairing those windows. When they arrived at the mine Vincenzo made straight for the outhouse, while Apple stopped to pick some flowers. Magda smiled and promised Apple that they would find something to put the flowers in once home. They were pretty, but given they had no trade value Magda had always ignored them. Magda then turned her attention to collecting rocks, those and animal specimens were what would bring in the money, along with her paintings. Both children had spotted the small ponds and the fish swimming in them and asked Magda if the fish were edible. Magda admitted she didn't know and hadn't considered fishing before. She promised to ask next time the ship came. She however didn't mention to them that she hadn't known how to cook before arriving on the island. A few days later the ship had come by, and as Magda traded the raw ores and stones she once again wondered about leaving the island. The captain just shook his head and pointed out it would be cheaper to install soar panels and computers for long distance education than the several hundred thousand that would be needed for boarding schools on top of the 50,000 per person each direction of travel. As Magda's face fell the captain reassured her that the supplies needed for solar power had come a long way over the last few decades, and that even with the constant fog the island endured she would be able to get enough light to run some simple basic electrical items. As the captain rummaged for the appropriate catalog Magda mentioned the twins question about fishing, and blushed as she explained that she'd never fished before let alone knew how to cook fish. With a kindly smile the captain replied that he could help Magda with information on fish and fishing for free, and turned to pull another book off of the shelf and three fishing poles off of the wall. Armed with three poles and two slim books Magda made her way back to the house. The twins were so excited to see the poles that they requested a trip to the pond right away. In addition to gardening, fishing became a part of their daily routine regardless of what the weather was doing. It took the trio awhile but eventually they got the hang of baiting their hooks so the worms wouldn't fall off. Magda both looked forward to and dreaded the day one of them actually caught anything. She hoped and prayed that the first catch would be one of the tiny fish mentioned in the book that didn't require special preparation and could be cooked nearly whole after removing the intestines. Magda stared at the results of her hard work. The solar panels had been surprisingly simple to assemble and install, running the cable to the house had also been relatively easy. The hardest part had been getting the pavers back as if they'd never been disturbed. The new windows had been a quick and easy installation, as she'd had a small bit of experience with them already and knew to not worry about trying to saving the ivy. She also knew that with time it would grow back if she let it. The twins had been excited to fire up the new computers. Magda shivered a little as a feminine recording played as the twins watched a demo - how to file, the voice and the beeps were familiar, but she couldn't put her finger on what it was reminding her of. She shook herself and sent the twins off to play while she assembled the rest of the new furniture that had arrived. Magda smiled as she surveyed the new beds, as well as the new windows in her room. Vincenzo had requested a red bed spread similar to hers, while Apple had requested a green bed spread. Magda continued to paint a little everyday while the twins worked on their studies. They would take a mid day break for their lunch as well as to fish. When the twins requested a video game for flying planes Magda declined the request, and instead encouraged them to go fishing or try to find small animals. Magda couldn't explain to herself or the twins why the game bothered her, but it did, the beeping and busy airport noises haunted her and made it hard for her to stay relaxed and in the now with her children. She found herself repainting Edgar's study on multiple occasions. To regain her sense of calm Magda found herself back out in the garden. It became their routine that if the twins were doing school work, or having free time on the computer she made herself as scarce as possible. Sometimes she'd be in the garden, other days she'd go down the hill to the mine and scrounge fore ore and rocks. Eventually she collected enough to get all new cabinets and a stove that would work with the solar system they had. She also got a book with instruction on how to install an arch door and turned the pantry into a small hall way to the kitchen. She had also purchased and installed more plumbing fixtures into the upstairs, so that they now had two full bathrooms to share between the three of them. Magda had also purchased pipe insulation a few years earlier, so she no longer had to worry about the pipes freezing and bursting as had happened during her first winter. As the twins finished their afternoon assignments in the dining room Magda put the finishing touches on her latest painting just as a few early flakes drifted down from the sky.
Perhaps it was because she was older now, but it felt like the seasons and years were rushing by. Some days when she looked at how quickly the twins were growing she felt like everything was fuzzy, as if in a dream. Whenever she felt like that she would shake herself and tell herself to snap out of it. She would then recount and review every milestone they'd achieved together from their first steps to her successfully catching, cleaning, and cooking her first trout. The twins had learned that on the mainland children took buses to school, and got to attend after school activities such as scouting or ballet classes. Magda reviewed the scouting activities and pointed out that they already did those activities every day. When she pushed the twins on the topic of ballet they hedged and hawed. Magda decided that perhaps it might be a good idea to invest in a ballet bar and a few other exercise related items, instead of some of the other items she had been considering. When Vincenzo spotted a charity auction on stair risers and running cloth Magda allowed him to bid the hundred he'd earned from his small animal finds. They were all surprised when the science ship swung by with the materials on board. The three of them spent an afternoon working carefully on the stairs, and were well rewarded when the stairs no longer squeaked or groaned as they went up and down them. As Magda surveyed their home, she contemplated living a lifestyle of the rich and famous. She then laughed at herself, sure her paintings were selling for much more now than when she had first started painting, but outside of the ships crew and the scientists there was no one to schmooze with in order to become a famous celebrity. With a firm set to her light frame she decided that simply living in the lap of luxury would do. |
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