@FrancescaFiori 100% should have recognized it? I'd have settled for 45%. Truly. I think in broad strokes I've got the proportion and the roof. What always bothers me is the wall texture. It's got the vampire bricks because I like the definition of the corners, but sometimes the smooth flat stone from Spa Day is a better approximation of the stone of such a house. I dunno. Both have pros and cons.
You had me singing along to Shirley Bassey. Which is all I remember from Moonraker. So Vaux is in that. I'm intrigued. My problem with the house is that I'm only building the two main floors. In the real house the kitchen with Mrs Patmore is no doubt downstairs. Gah. I shouldn't start on Downton. It went downhill after the main story arc with Matthew and whats-her-face was complete. The cast was too big. It became a parody of itself. So the question is where to put the kitchen.
I did build it with the dome at the back. I don't think that's appeared yet in a picture. I haven't slavishly stuck to the original house, and the dome is now gone. There's no point in a clumsy digital house. It has to look neat and balanced. It's it's own thing now. I like the simplicity of the terrace.
@Shewolf13 It
was a very low-effort pun. I hope your spring cold is warming up.
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Chapter XI
We rejoin Scarlett in the amorous Clutches of Wolfie Munch. Ya know. It's just hard to resist! It was going to be Gavin, but that's a dreary name we cannot have fun with. And he's so clean-cut and sensible. Wolfie - who is in no way surprised at the turn of events this evening - needs more Help in not being a moody teen. We'll perk 'im up like Vlad. Well, no. No one can be as great as Yoga Vlad.
Elsewhere (oh, yes, this is very much the Chapter of Lurve), J Huntington Three is out on the town again.
Cassy is sweet, but she
ain't got that figure. As offensively sexist as it is, J would possibly love it. Does Bella have ribs removed? It's too narrow.
After the Goth house, one of the Bjergsens. Time was running out for J. This was his last hurrah.
And then the one I can't quite remember. Maybe Summer?
You might notice roses in each corner of the hedge, though they're not in bloom yet. They might give a flirty mood. I'm not sure any more, but they're there. If nothing else, they'll give an environment boost. Sometimes the person you're the bush with* is actually rather upset with you, for various reasons, and it's helpful to keep that angry moodlet buried under happy ones!
*to be clear, this is not encouraged... there's not much room in a bush
J's parting gift is a crummy chocolate cake. Oh the things he's learned from Bake Off!
It's their birthday. Pink-haired Alexis goes first. I hadn't really planned who would go first and who would get what man. I invited Johnny, and he came. But Gavin could not be invited to the lot. This is a problem. Here I am ready to have the green girls get Romanced and move out because we want to get to Scarlett's kids - she's been a YA for a week. Doing things other than woohoo. Which seems unproductive in a eugenics experiment.
So Johnny. You were added to the group - and it's nice to meet you by the way - for a reason. Do you wanna know what the reason is?
We can see the cog turning in the active Mind of Mr Zest. This is his "say what?" moment.
Ah. The Strawberry Problem.
Keen enthusiasts of Deductive Sleuthing will have figured out what's just happened. And you're totally right. The only strawberry bush we have is spliced, and it isn't ready to be harvested. (I'll get the hang of Simming one day, but today. Is. Not. That. Day.) So mild problem with planning. Alexis thought watering might help. Plants seem to like it, but has anyone ever asked -- like really, truly
asked? Maybe not. Because plants. Mind blown.
Resident gardening sim Persephone - she's not Greek, she's a sim - had a total of 6 strawberries to give to The Cause. We'll see if that has any effect. We can't pick and choose the best time if there is such a thing to eat them because the household is now full again, and Alexis has gotta go.
Also maybe not how he saw the evening playing out.
"You'll soon get used to her looks", said [me],
"And a very nice girl you'll find her!
She could very well pass for forty-three,
In the dusk with a light behind her!"
(Before anyone asks, that's
Trial By Jury.)
So that's one down, one to go. But where was Gavin? We went to Cacti Casa.
Nothing doing. No Gavin about. Trying to invite him to the lot didn't work. But what I really need from him right now was Prompt Woohoo. Alexis was already pregnant, and we don't want Ros falling too far behind. If I can't invite him to the sauna on my home lot... maybe I can invite him to a spa lot. (Belgium has the best Spa. - The one fan of motor racing out there will appreciate that.)
We've got Persephone, Rosalind (in need of a man... but not J or Mitchell), and Scarlett -- because Scarlett is the only one who actually knows Gavin and went on that disappointing date... Oh! I know where Gavin is! I know why we can't get hold of him!
Persephone makes the call.
And this is Cornelius' first trip to the jungle.
Scarlett wasn't part of the holiday group because she has to jump about in a short skirt later that day, and can't stay long. And I didn't think we'd need her. I fully expected to find Gavin wafting about. As a Wand'ring Minstrel, aye. In the jungle. I figured he hasn't left since the not-bear night.
We even loaded up the bar, but no Gavin was to be found. Things were getting rather desperate for Rosalind, but if we forget about her (it's not hard) and move on to more interesting people, we did find Katrina Whitman at the bar! And decided to migrate back to the rented villa with her in tow.
Gasp! I hadn't seen them before. I didn't expect this! There's Jax, Dexter, and Maurice.
More good news. I tried as a last resort to invite Scarlett to join the holiday so she could invite Gavin and see what happens. And here he is. Meeting Rosalind.
And then, the two blue kids aged up while they were there.
Cornelius - who does have max parenting skill after all - becomes all fatherly to Dexter, and Scarlett in the spa robe warns... um... one of the others... about the Perils and Virtues of Being Blue. You may remark how uncanny it is that I am acquainted with the name of her speech, but no, it's quite expected. I made it up.
More of the Whitman kids. Sadly no girls. Girls are better. Men are a pain. (I say that merely as a strategic point,
not and as a general rule too.)
The blue young gentleman seems to be paralyzed with fear after Scarlett's speech.
Ros and Gavin. Yes. Well. This is her equivalent of sexy. We'll go with that.
There seems to be an overpopulation of men, young and old, in this chapter who aren't quite sure what they've got in to.
Of course, while the family are in the jungle, the message pops up about a Romance Festival. And we're all about the romance just at the moment.
I've never had a quick Vegas-style sims wedding, so this is new for me too. I even had (I was in a very emotional mood at the time, apparently) Cornelius and Persephone renew their vows. Aw.
Then it was the turn of Ros and Gavin. Hey! She bought the t-shirt. Which, I think because she's pregnant, caused some minor issues like her legs turning invisible. Hence the close ups.
Success. What drama. We found Gavin. Both twins are sorted out, although the gender of their children is sadly being left to chance. But that was my own poor planning. If necessary, we'll get a street rescue moved in to Windmilles, and then move her on to a male descendant. But a female nooboo is much easier to manager. Here's hoping.
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Next time: Scarlett, Wolfie, Cornelius, (dog) Wolfie, Zippo, mini-English setters, Ahilac, piano...
