Changing Seasons, Spring IV, part 3

Spring IV, part 3 And this is one of my other ways of earning a bit of money. Artie’s paying me to help with Old Pete’s schooling. He says he’s just not up to the jumping any more – and not too happy about the thought of falling off on the flat either. But it’s starting to rain, so we’ll head back. I left Artie hunting out a crash cap for me, and he’s right: once we start going over the bigger jumps I should be wearing one. I brushed Old Pete, made sure he had food and water and said goodnight to him. He’s a nice horse (and okay, I feel a bit like a knight on a quest when I’m looking after him. When I’m riding him, I’m totally focussed on that alone. But here in the stable, I can dream a bit). “Well, I haveter say, we did a real good job paintin’ this room. Now we’re fixin’ up your front room, right?”
Artie nodded at his friend. “I’ve put that advert out for a rider for Old Pete. And I’ve said there’s accommodation included. So I’d better get this place spruced up.”
“True! Ain’t no-one goin’ to want to live among your fine collection of cobwebs!” “Well, I can see we’re ready to get paintin’. We goin’ for your favourite accent colour again? I can only see white paint here.”
“I thought I’d pick my accent colour from your decorating gear this time! So I’m going with blue. Minnie’s dropping it off on her way past later on. But we’ve plenty to paint white. You want to start on the ceiling or the walls?” Look – crash cap! And some jodhs too – Artie hunted them out for me. Old Pete’s got a good turn of speed. Lots of stamina. With a lighter rider, I reckon he’d do okay on the circuit. He’s definitely a stayer – I’m having to work at slowing him down, cooling him off. Some horses just love to run. Funny to think that this was a smaller version of the racing that’s still going on in Newborough. Artie and Old Tench were telling me stories about those days: they seem to have an endless fund of them. I checked out that big statue before Old Pete and I headed back – I’d never looked at it close up before. Someone had polished up the brass plate at the bottom so you could read it – bet it was Artie.
“Charles Woodside,” it read. “This statue was erected in grateful memory of the Englishman who did so much to advance the prosperity of this town with his love of horses and the generous investment of both his money and his time.”
Artie had said that the racing had brought money in once. I couldn’t see Old Pete singlehandedly (or singlehoofed-ly) reviving it though. Oh well – time to head back and see what Artie and Old Pete had done in the way of painting. I brushed Old Pete down, checked his hooves and then headed inside to get changed and eat. Wow – they’d really made a difference to this place. Not finished yet, not by a long chalk, but it was looking way better. “You just timed that right,” Artie said. “Grilled cheese okay for you? I’m not really that good at fancy cooking…”
It sounded great to me, and I said so, and told them how good the front room was looking now, which pleased them both. We talked about how Old Pete was shaping (well) and about Artie’s advert and the places he’d put it.
“Papers and all. People buy racing papers: it isn’t all on-line stuff. Even put it in a British paper too, as there was a special offer going for that.” Old Tench mentioned Maddie and I told them how kind she’d been to me, taken an interest in me, and a little bit about how brave I thought she was. Old Tench nodded and smiled – and looked at Artie in a kind of pointed way, as if they’d been disagreeing about something, so I sang her praises a bit more, told how she’d said she’d regretted some of the things she’d said and done when she was young… Sometimes I think that Clara is the only person who understands that I Do Not Like Being Pregnant! That it’s hard! And I’m fed up with other people humouring me and doing the “There, there, it’s just poor little pregnant Annette throwing a wobbler again.” At least Clara’s rude back to me if I’m rude to her, like we’re equals, and she treats me as normal the rest of the time.
And she wants me. I know Mary does as well, but it’s a bit one-sided at the moment. Clara wants me in her life. And today she wants to show me her house, and she’s borrowed the truck from Marcus so I don’t have to cycle there. “Plus, I want to move my stuff from the church. The scaffolding for the tower is going up soon now, and that will get dust everywhere, even before the work starts! And my bed and bedding and so on are nice and clean at the moment.” Clara’s a good driver. I never feel nervous when I’m with her – and neither does Marcus. Chris and Caleb both say the same, and that they’d be really happy to teach her how to drive the tractor. Which means she could earn more than just a baby-sitting salary, and that would be no bad thing. We can’t over-pay her – the last thing we need to be doing is submitting dodgy accounts! But if she’s using the tractor, we could legitimately pay her a fair bit more. “It looks great,” I said, and it did. “I love the colours you’ve chosen. That blue is very you.”
“It does look good, doesn’t it? I wanted to show it to someone else who’d get why I’m so pleased.” “And this is my bedroom. And it’s the first time I’ve put up wallpaper that needed such careful matching! But I did okay, didn’t I?”
“You did,” I agreed. “Definitely. I can’t spot the joins from here.”
Clara whole-heartedly happy: I don’t often see that.
“Come and see the kitchen next, and then I’ve got something else to show you.” “So the cooker’s going to go here – thank you both so much for saying you’d give me that – and when it’s in, then Lachlan says he’ll make me some more bench to fill the gap perfectly.” “And Patience and Euan gave me the table and chairs, and Amber and Lucie say they’ve got a housewarming present for me, and so have Rafe and Leo…My own home, Annette! I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy!” And she hugged me. Carefully, out of consideration for the bump.
And then the old practical Clara was back. “Right. There’s something I want to show you now. Something – I hope – for you. We’ll walk: it’s only just round the corner.” “Over the winter, Marianna and I went to take a good look at that bakery round the corner here. And it looked dreadful from outside…” “…and even worse inside! But it got us both thinking – about needing somewhere to meet up that wasn’t outside Minnie’s store, though that’s been really nice. Just us women if we wanted. Somewhere that felt a bit special. So we got Lachlan on board too, and even the children helped out with the brushing and the sweeping. Sort of helped, anyway! And Frank helped with the electrics, and Lucie and Amber hunted round their other buildings and found some bits – anyway, come and look.” Well, outside looked better, but inside still looked pretty grim. Not as bad, but not anything even remotely approaching special.
“No, it’s upstairs you need to see.” “The chair with the cushion on it is for you,” Marianna said from where she was sitting. “In case you’re getting backache.” She began to pour the tea as I sat down, slightly bewildered.
“You,” Clara said firmly, “need someone to talk to. Properly. About how you really feel about being pregnant. And I haven’t done this pregnancy thing, but Marianna has…”
“Someone female to talk to,” Marianna said, equally firmly. “Nothing against Marcus – or Lachlan – but it isn’t their bodies all this is happening to.”
Could I really tell them both how I actually felt?
“It’s okay to find this hard,” Marianna said calmly.
“Really?”
“Really. Tell us all about it. There’s plenty more tea, the toilets downstairs work and I brought some toilet paper with me and put it in there. You don’t have to feel guilty because you’re not feeling happy.”
How did she know? I opened my mouth and it all came spilling out… “…and then I feel guilty because Mary was full term and I didn’t have all the worry you had. That must have been awful.”
Marianna had her looking-back-into-the-past face on.
“That was one fierce battle, day after day, to try and hold onto them. And I felt guilty when they were so prem. And Patience feels guilty round me – a bit – because she’s carried three with ease…It’s just one big merry-go-round of guilt and shame. Until we admit that all our stories are different and that’s okay. Being pregnant doesn’t agree with you and you don’t enjoy it. And it’s hard work building another human being out of nothing except yourself. It’s okay to find it hard.”
It’s okay to find it hard. The words began to sink in. It’s okay to find it hard. Clara poured the fresh pot of tea. I was going to need that toilet again very soon! But I did feel so much better for pouring my frustration out to them both. Even when they both said I should have told them ages ago just how bad I was really feeling.
“We don’t have mothers here, any of us new mothers,” Marianna went on. “You and I, we don’t have mothers at all, and Patience’s mother didn’t want to know her after she married Euan instead of the guy they’d got lined up for her. And there’s no older women here, no Mrs Old Tench to take an interest in us. But we have got each other. We can’t do life on our own, all independent and needing no-one. We have to trust our friends will do their best to catch us when we fall.” I got the feeling she was talking to Clara as well as me.

The amazing bakery was a lovely gift to me from LMC6254, made for the SummerFest gift exchange – and for this town! - and can be found here
https://www.thesims3.com/assetDetail.html?assetId=9394968
An Old Jockey’s Nightmare is here:
https://www.thesims3.com/assetDetail.html?assetId=9394756
and that was by LMC6254 as well, for the same gift exchange.
So were Artie and Old Pete
https://www.thesims3.com/assetDetail.html?assetId=9394755
I’ve altered the buildings very slightly, to fit in with the town – the telegraph poles are by Cyclone Sue at TSR.
The milk, the kettle, the decorating stuff, and lots of other small details are by Sandy at ATS3.

Changing Seasons. Spring IV, part 2

Spring IV, part 2 Well, my plants are slowly growing, and I’m doing the best I can with them. I’m not sure how good the crops will be though – I’m not even sure what I’m growing, as the packets were so old, worn and mouldy that only these few seeds had survived right in the centre. But I’ll see how I get on. When I’ve finished out here, I think I need to clean up a bit inside as well. And then head to the laundromat and get that bedding washed. I could make this look a bit better, couldn’t I? Okay, the floor’s clean, but maybe I don’t need the cobwebs… And if I went and found some more of that corrugated iron, I could patch up the holes in the walls. It is a bit draughty. Let’s clean up first. There! Cobwebs gone. Do you like my DIY bedside table? Lachlan put me on to that –said that Frank had taken a couple for himself and Honey to use. And my precious photo album is up here as well. Reminding me of what I hope to achieve… I’ve put that string of cards back up as well – it cheers the place up a bit. Laundromat next, I think, and then I’ll go and look for something to block those gaps. Maddie was there, waiting for her washing to finish, when I arrived with my smelly bedding and dirty clothes. And the laundromat was different again! I hadn’t been for ages – Marcus or Annette used to take my stuff down with their, as they were driving down anyway. Though now that they’ve got one baby and another on the way, Marcus is talking about buying their own washing machine. And drier, for the wet days or the multiple-clothes-change days. Posters. A sink (well, everyone had been saying how useful that would be for a while), a hot drink maker and a little fridge.
“Would you like a drink while you wait?” I asked Maddie, heading over to see what was what. “Why thank you. That would be really kind of you. I’m afraid I’m not really up to date with gadgets like that. Do tell me how your crops are coming on. And have you started to rebuild your grandparents’ farmhouse yet?”
It was so nice to have someone actually listening to me. I made us both a drink and we sat and chatted while the washing swirled around in the machines. There was something sad and valiant about her as she talked of losing the love of her life, when she’d met him so late on. And how she hoped to end her days peacefully here. I really felt for her. If I could help her, I would. That would be a noble quest, bringing some happiness into someone’s life. “Do you need a hand?”
“No, it’s only a salad. But if you could lay the table…”
Honey sounded tired. She sounded tired a lot more these days.
“Full-on day at school?” Frank asked.
“We were out in the garden for a lot of it,” she said, her voice warming into happiness. “Twenty minutes just looking at worms! What they looked like, what they did, how they moved…I love teaching like this, with time instead of a timetable.” Frank went into the other room to get the plates. This room didn’t look any better than it had when they’d arrived – how long ago now? More than six months. Every time they had a bit of money to buy paint with, it seemed to get swallowed up in one of Maddie’s soft, clinging demands. And Honey didn’t want to say no to a dying woman. “Surprise!” he said to Honey as she mixed up the salad ingredients. “Look at the table.”
He’d been working this week, over in Newborough, and been paid. And spotted the – admittedly very small – surprise in a shop over there. “Table mats!” Honey said, sitting down in surprise and delight, and smiling her amazing smile at him.
“I thought you’d like the colour.”
“I do, I do. You’ve only laid for two.”
“I thought we’d eat early tonight. I’m starving, and Maddie will still be having her rest.”
“Sounds good to me,” Honey said. “Her portion will keep no problem.”
“And then we’re going to go out together,” Frank whispered. “Up to Leo’s place. We haven’t been out together for weeks and weeks…” “Hop on behind me and hold on tight!” Frank kissed Honey and she giggled like a schoolgirl sneaking out with her boyfriend when she should have been doing her homework. “Goal!” Honey said, slamming a goal home as Frank leapt, too late, to his own defence. “One game all. Want a decider?” “One more then.” He held the ball out, ready to drop it, watching Honey with her hands ready to try and beat him again. It had been a good evening. He’d beaten Blake at darts (and listened to how much Blake admired Maddie) and then Old Tench had beaten him at darts. And asked after Maddie too, and passed on his regards to her. They were the last two to leave (must remember to turn out the lights, Frank thought).
“That was lovely. Thank you,” Honey said, wrapping her arms around him. “It was so nice to be somewhere else.” Somewhere pleasant, Frank thought, as they went to bed. He really ought to do something about this room. Honey deserved better than this. See this potato on the ground next to me? Well, it’s my first crop from my own farm. Only trouble is, I won’t be making any money from it – the only way I can describe its quality is foul. So I’ll plant it, fertilize it, see if I can improve it at all. And then if I do the same to the parent plant? Surely things will get better… There! That’s it planted. There’s some fish in the fish bucket, so I’ll feed it. And I better clear some more weeds as well. I don’t want this poor plant to have to compete with them. I’ve got a week’s work with Marcus – they’re doing a big spring planting session – so I sneaked a quick look at my old bunkhouse: Chris said that was fine. I must admit, it does look better than my current place by a long way. I see Marcus or Annette bought an extra chair for them. This place is really looking impressive now. Thriving – I think that’s the word for it. Some of what I’m going to earn this week is going on paint for sure. I can at least paint the barn and make it look a bit better, inside and out. It’s really nice to be eating in this sunshine yellow kitchen again. Caleb and Chris are good company too. Marcus opened a bottle of wine for us to share.
“After all, you’ve all helped make it, so to speak.”
Annette wasn’t too happy about not being able to have any. “I helped as well!”
She’s definitely both looking and sounding pregnant: I remember last time. Chris and Caleb seem to take it all in their stride though – apparently they’ve got older sisters and they’ve been through this before. “Is there something in the water round here?” Chris asked, with a deadpan face, in between mouthfuls of Annette’s spaghetti bolognaise.
“I mean, there’s been so many multiple births…”
Marcus looked distinctly alarmed at the thought! And then calmed down again, as he realised Chris was teasing them both.
“Marianna conceived her four back in Harbour Bay. Patience conceived her first three in Woodville – and okay, she conceived her next three here, but she’s clearly a multiple ovulator. We made our first child here, in Two Lakes, and she’s a singleton. It’s not the water here!” This bedding does look and smell a lot better. I think I’ll buy some paint for the bed frame as well as for the walls. After all, Clara’s always painting things, so how hard can it be? Chris got really interested in where everyone had come from, and how we’d all ended up in Two Lakes, and asked about Clara, but Marcus didn’t know, couldn’t remember…
Which is a shame: I’d been hoping to be able to tell Maddie, jog her memory for her, because I know that not being able to remember is bothering her. And she doesn’t want to ask Clara again, because it just sounds as though she wasn’t listening first time through, and that’s not kind. Well, I’ve patched up downstairs at least, and Chris and Caleb say they’ll give me a hand with upstairs when they’ve got some time. I’ve bought the paint, so I can brighten everywhere up a bit. And Marcus says they’ll need me big time as an extra hand once they start pressing, what with Annette too pregnant to help and then two small children in the house.
“This one’s going to be the last,” he said. And Annette was even more emphatic about that! It’s quite nice though, having all these children coming along. I said that to Maddie, when I bumped into her in the library.
“Yes,” she said, with one of her sad, brave smiles. “It was always a great sorrow to me that I had no children of my own. But dear Frank and Honey go a long way towards filling that gap…” When she’d gone, I picked up Amber’s follow-up to The Scarlet Hawk, The Emerald Star. Justin still hadn’t regained his throne, but the scroll he and the Knight of the Scarlet Hawk had restored to the monastery told them how to find the missing jewel from his rightful crown, the Emerald Star. But it wasn’t just about finding it. It was also about being able to wield its powers – and only a truly noble knight could do that.
I’ve always loved the idea of being a noble knight on a quest, ever since I was a small boy in a too-big, too-empty house. Protecting and helping the weak, like Maddie. Or standing up for those who were being threatened by people stronger than themselves…

Blake and his house were made by Jessabeans. Link here for Blake
https://www.thesims3.com/assetDetail.html?assetId=9352926
and here for the house
https://www.thesims3.com/assetDetail.html?assetId=9352888
which I tweaked slightly to fit in with the landscape and the story.

Caleb and Chris were made by Suzses, for BreeMiles for the Homebound Holiday Gift Exchange 2020 Link here: https://www.thesims3.com/assetDetail.html?assetId=9432116

Frank, Honey, Maddie and house were made for me by Hidehi as a lovely gift.
I’ve tweaked them slightly to fit the scenery of Two Lakes, so if you’re going to play them, they won’t look quite like this. I’ve tweaked Maddie’s personality too…
Link here for the house:
https://www.thesims3.com/assetDetail.html?assetId=9351879
And for the family:
https://www.thesims3.com/assetDetail.html?assetId=9351878

The kitchen and bunkhouse oddments are by Sandy at ATS3