The New Pool & the New Pool Boy

Ever since we decided on Project -15, there has only been one thing we have lacked on Southern Charm and that was a good pool and a hot tub. Well, yesterday my Tomais and I installed a new pool in place of one of the small lakes on the sim.

My dearest brother Dej was the first one to try it out, so I have designated him to be the new pool boy. Privileges must come with some obligations and cleaning the pool and hot tub in SecondLife isn't really that demanding, now is it?

A Looooooooooong Weekend

I was supposed to work half the day tomorrow, but I have taken the day off, Friday is a holiday and then there is the weekend, so now I get f-o-u-r whole wonderful days off from work! WooT!!!

And boy do I need it!

Since my last visit with my sweet Hungarian doctor a month ago I am under instructions to reduce my normal daily dose of antidepressants from 20 mg to 10 mg. I have done that quiet successfully without any major setbacks. I do however feel unfocused, tired and in need of more sleep and I also feel an increased melancholy. Although my doctor told me that I can increase the dosage to 15 mg or 20 mg if and when I feel the need, I still want to give the lower dosage a chance to stabilize so I can get a sense of how I will feel.

I am going to use the long weekend in first life to relax, rest, sleep more and visit with mother once or twice. My laziness during these four days will break every existing record, I can promise you that!

In SecondLife I am going to kick-start the immense "Organize Your Inventory"-project. It hasn't been done before during my more than eight years here, so it is really high time to take control of it and get it in some order. Every time my well organized hubby gets a glimpse of my Inventory he cries out in shock and amazement "You have everything stored in the root folder, that is crazy!" or something to that effect...

Furthermore I am hoping that Botanical will finally release it's new products so that we can finally finish Project -15, the landscaping project in the South-East corner of the sim. It already looks wonderful and I am extremely happy with the results so far of the toils of Samuel Fallen, of Lytton & Fallen, and Tomais Ashdene and Butch Diavolo, of Southern Charm.

Once the landscaping is all done Tomais and I are going to throw a party to celebrate. You will all receive an invitation through the blog and/or personally.

The Revamped Waterfall

Spring arrived early at Southern Charm this year. There are several reasons for this. one is of course the ongoing man-made climate change, another that all the inhabitants living on the sim were sick and tired of winter and a third that we wanted to prepare the sim for the upcoming changes in the big landscaping project known as Project -15.

So in preparation for the new plants to come out so that my landscaper, the brilliant Samuel Fallen of Lytton & Fallen, can continue his work I let my in-house landscapers do some work on the waterfall.

Tomais and Butch, took on the work with great passion and seemed to enjoy the collaboration a lot. The result is absolutely stunning and the new waterfall is a small masterpiece.

Project -15: The Work Begins

On Wednesday my landscaper Samuel Fallen, of Lytton & Fallen, started work on the project. I first noticed that because I started getting offline messages about returned objects. Later on I also received a shopping list.

I was eager to log in to my SecondLife to see what had been done, so a few hours later I did just that. I am not lying when I tell you that you I almost fell out of my chair out of surprise and joy when I saw the master landscaper had been working on.

Samuel had in his very first day done accomplished everything I needed - or could have wished for - to justify my hiring of a professional landscaper.

Just look at the stairs leading up to the main entrance from the duck-pound. I hadn't even dreamed of anything like those stairs, but once I had seen them, they made p-e-r-f-e-c-t sense! I loved the rest of it too.

From now on I will put my worries aside and completely trust Samuel's instincts and professional ability to see what can be achieved and how it should be done.

We haven't yet found a perfect system for how to see to it that Samuel uses my objects so that I can work the HUD in the future. Our present system is that I buy the stuff that Samuel tells me to buy and I follow after him and replace the objects he has put out with mine. This means that Samuel has to do the same work twice, which is unfortunate and time consuming, because he then has to resize and replace my objects where he wants them to be.

Project -15: May the Works Commence!

Yesterday I and my home-team met again with Samuel Fallen of Lytton & Fallen (L&F)  for further discussions and to see if we could seal a deal on the project. L&F consists of Samuel and his partner Spliff Lytton. The company provides services in interior design, landscaping and custom builds for SecondLife.

Although it is still winter on Southern Charm, the first touch of spring can be felt. It was a rather mild day yesterday so I decided to show some leg during the discussions. To be quite honest, that has been a highly successful tactic and has in hindsight landed me with more advantages than I would otherwise rightly deserve. 

So with bare legs I, my royal consort Tomais and my royal groundskeeper Butch "Bj" Diavolo-Gracemount met with Samuel at the site. We had a very good discussion in which Samuel evidenced some qualities that I appreciate very much in my fellow humans. Samuel was receptive to our thoughts and ideas but was also outspoken and straightforward in his responses in a pleasant manner. He also has a no-nonsense attitude and strives for a realistic look in his designs.

I am happy to inform you that we sealed a mutually advantageous deal yesterday and that the work on the project will now begin.

After the meeting I was totally thrilled and excited, this is going to be so much fun!

No Shoes. No Shirt. No Service.

 

Yesterday we took a break from our worries - (Well OK, my worries) - concerning Project -15 and instead inaugurated the new drive-in movie theater over by the barn. We in this case were my Tomais, Butch and I.

Although the sign says that it's "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug" that is showing now, we in fact watched "The Avengers" (because that is the only movie in my libarary so far), or most of it.

It was a bit nippy in the air still, but we had a good time listening to Butch's running commentary on what was happening on the screen, or his interpretation of it...

"Project -15" - The Before Pictures

As I have already told you, my dear readers, in my post "It's Time for A Change", I have decided on some exciting developments for Southern Charm.

Yesterday I and my advisers, my husband Tomais Ashdene and my groundskeeper Butch Diavolo, met with a professional landscaper. (Who turned out to be another old friend of mine, I really do need to make a list about what skills my friends have. More about in another post though!)

The landscaper we met with was Samuel Fallen of "Lytton & Fallen". Samuel took a look around the parcel and we discussed a few things that are important to me. He will hopefully get back to me soon with a cost estimate for the necessary works. If all goes well the work itself will hopefully start during the coming week.

Another good thing that I have decided, which came out of the discussion with Samuel, was to update all the vegetation on Southern Charm to season changing stuff from Botanical. In that way future season changes on the plants will be accomplished with a click on a HUD instead of the hassle it has been up until now.

Today I documented the project site to get some before-pictures. The new house has been temporarily placed and it's positioning may well be changed according to suggestions from Samuel.

View from the North-West

View from the South

View from the West

View from the East

View from the South-East

View from above

It's Time for A Change

Those of you who have been following my blog may already have understood that major changes aren't really my forte. Or as my stepson Guyke bluntly tells me, "You don't like changes!" 

I don't completely disagree with him, but I would hasten to add that my qualms with change are mainly on an emotional level. When I feel safe and loved I don't mind changes in other areas of my life one bit.

It's a new year and time for a new project at Southern Charm! Faithful readers may remember the last major change on the sim happened during the summer of 2013 when the old ugly house I had been living in since 2008 was torn down and a new modern house was erected in it's place.

This year I got a new house as a Christmas gift from Guyke, after he had carefully showed it to me twice beforehand. The first time I saw the villa I was adamant and told him I didn't like it at all and that I wasn't ready to go through the hassle of moving again so soon after the last rebuild. The second time I saw it I absolutely fell in love with it!

It is a classic french villa with large open spaces called Luton Manor and is made by Redgrave Houses & Homes.

My building team this time around consists of the royal consort and the royal groundskeeper, Tomais and Butch. The two have also benevolently agreed to advise me concerning decorating and other interior design niceties.

The old house has been emptied and taken into Inventory, the beautiful villa has been placed in a preliminary spot, I am awaiting advice on the definite placement from a landscaper who has been contacted, but not yet contracted. He will hopefully also be hired to help with the necessary work on the immediate surroundings of the villa.