Changing Seasons. Spring IV, part 1

Spring IV, part 1 This is it. Me, in my own place. I’ve moved out. Marcus and Annette have the tractor and two new workers, so they’ll be fine. And if they need an extra hand, I can always give them some time. But for now, I’ll be here – me, my bike (and a free old wonky one) and my dreams. This, believe it or not, is the site of my true dreams. I know it looks like nothing at the moment. But once upon a time it looked like this. And my dream is to restore it to the happy home my grandparents, Albert and Victoria, once knew. And, like Albert, I want to find the love of my life to share it with. But for now, I have this, which is the original barn. It’s stood the test of time better than the house. Lachlan and Marianna gave me their old stove and sink, and I’ve run a tap to the sink. They’ve actually got a proper cooker and kitchen and so on now! I think I need to clear out all this old straw though before I light it. I don’t want to burn my new home down…And Lachlan says I should put some metal plating where the stove flue goes through the wall of the barn, so that’s another priority. There’s a pile of old stuff I can dig through near their house. And I’ve got a bed upstairs. I picked it up – and the bedding – super-cheap at an auction, and Marcus lent me their truck to get it here. Okay, I know what you’re thinking. Why, after working for Marcus and Annette for so long, am I starting with so little? Well…all my savings got used up, paying all the legal fees on this place. And the rest was Clara’s fault. I mean, Marcus and Annette were all set to help me out with offers of this, that and the other. But I kind of wanted to do this on my own, if that makes sense? I want to be the one who brings my family farm back to life again. And then Clara said I’d be dumb not to accept their offer of help… Well, I just saw red. She acts like she knows all about life, all about finding and following your dreams. Like she’s the only one with any common sense round here. Miss Pragmatic, that’s her. She’s got no romance in her soul – and she’s far too bossy. I’m going to do this on my own, with no help from others. I’ll pay my own way, be independent. My family don’t think I can make a go of this either, but I’ll prove them wrong too. And look – here’s a plant that’s survived all these years of neglect. That’s a start. And look what I’ve found here, underneath the straw I’ve been moving. An ancient box of seeds. It’s a sign! I’ll plant these as well, and see what germinates. I mean, there’s no way they’ll all grow, but it feels like a gift from Albert and Victoria to me. I cleared a good patch of ground before I opened the seed packets, but there were only four seeds in all of them that looked like they might grow. I had been hoping for more…Still, I’ll plant these and see what comes up. This one remaining potato plant is actually pretty foul quality, but maybe if I fertilise it, I can improve it a bit. I think this could be a longer task than I was hoping for though. At least I know all the good fishing spots thanks to Annette and Marcus. And I’ve caught a few on the evening rise. Time to head home and cook one of them – I’m starving. And the rest are going to be fertiliser. Back to the old fish-bucket days again! I must admit though, I do miss my smart little bunkhouse. I wonder how the new workers are getting on there. And maybe washing this bedding might be a good idea too. And if I cleaned up a bit, I could put my things out too. Make it a bit more home-like. Chris Blake at your service! The blond guy is my brother, Caleb. And we’re Marcus and Annette’s new team. Us and the tractor! For the next couple of years, anyway – this is definitely only temporary, before we head to our aunt’s winery. And this is our first day off since we arrived (no, Marcus isn’t some kind of slave-driver, but there was a lot to do. Annette’s not up to doing all she once did), so we’re exploring the neighbourhood.
“I love the trust round here. Just leaving some paper out for people to write down what they’ve bought.” “I love that Marcus is so excited about this being the second shop open in this street. If you don’t count the laundromat, as he said. Well, half open. He did say Minnie said it wasn't finished yet. Let’s go over the round and check out the first one.” Minnie’s store was packed. Well, packed for somewhere round here.
Clara nodded to us as she headed out of the door. “Can’t stop to chat, alas! I have an urgent appointment with a maths lesson, and it’s over on the far side!”
But the other young woman in the shop wasn’t in such a rush.
“Hi. I’m Marianna McGowan, and this is my brood. And you must be Caleb or Chris.”
"I'm Chris," I said to her. “And I’m Caleb. Really pleased to meet you,” Caleb said, but I could tell he was a bit taken aback by the size of Marianna’s brood. Three children, all obviously the same age! And we’d heard that Patience and Euan had had triplets too. Was there something in the water round here? “It’s real nice to meet you. I’m Minnie Wagner, but I’m guessing you’ve worked that out already for yourself. Anything you want and you can’t see, just let me know and I’ll see if I can get it in for you. I tend to just stock what I know folks need, but what with you and your brother being new round here, I might not have just what suits you…
Yes, the shop over the road is mine as well. The DIY shop used to be next door, but this building was in better shape, so I’ve moved it. The cement mixer? That’s for hire rather than for sale! My Susie’s Dan – his boss was getting a new one, so he sold that one real cheap to Dan, and the steam stripper too. I figure folks round here will likely find a use for them. Dan’s checked them over and they’re safe enough to use…”
“Chocolate,” I said, when I could get a word in. “If you could stock some chocolate?”
Behind me, I heard Marianna groan.
“Well now, just let me know what your favourites are and I’ll be real happy to get some in for you…”
“Minnie,” Marianna said, half despairing, half laughing. “So far you’ve only stocked it at Christmas. Our four think that chocolate only exists at Christmas! Now you’ve let the genie out of the bottle.”
Four! They had another child? Maybe an older one… “I’m really sorry about that…”
“It’s okay.” She meant it too. “I mean, they all started school this year.”
So they were all the same age! And a quick glance out of the window showed me four children playing together.
“I think they’d be working it out for themselves pretty soon anyway! What are you planning to do today? We live over on the far side as well, beyond Euan’s graveyard: if you get over that way, drop in for a coffee. And then there’s Leo’s place, our social gathering hub. If you like darts or table football…” Looking round the rest of the shops (all obviously out of the same box!) we could see why Minnie hadn’t opened the original DIY shop. It really hadn’t stood the test of time well.
“I reckon they ordered the budget version,” Caleb said, and I was inclined to agree. Most of the ceiling had already fallen in on this one, so it felt safe to go inside.
“I think this one was children’s stuff.” Not that it took much imagination to work that out – the old, rusted cot in one corner and the jigsaw carpet both suggested the same thing.
“Everything a small town needed,” Caleb said thoughtfully. “It’s kind of sad, isn’t it?” I thought about that as we walked along to the next building – which looked like it had sold kitchen stuff. With themed areas for making mock-up rooms maybe?
“Well, sort of. But here they are, bringing this town back to life again. I know we’re not going to be here for good, but while we’re here? We could really be part of this. In our non-existent spare time! What do you say, bro? Shall we go all in with this?”
Caleb’s quite serious in some ways, but I could see the smile appearing in his eyes before it ever made it onto his face. “Yes, I think this could be fun. After all, everyone needs a hobby…” “So while we’re here, where can we make the most difference? Something we can do whilst working for you, and do well, but fit it into our spare time?”
Marcus and Annette both started thinking hard.
“Not the church,” Annette said.
“No,” Marcus agreed. “That’s all-day-long work. We need a pick-it-up-and-put-it-down project.” He thought some more. “I know!” He was looking at Annette’s seedlings in the corner of the kitchen. (“They’re for the graveyard. You must check that out some time. Euan’s doing an amazing job of restoring it.”)
“Gardening stuff. For Rafe, Leo, Lucie and Amber. Not at their place, but in front of the other buildings. To make round there look less derelict when the gallery opens. Amber’s made a start, but there’s only so much she can do…”
Caleb and I exchanged glances. Gardening sounded good. We both liked being outside.
“I’ll introduce you – take you over in the truck with your bikes, and then if they’re out, we haven’t wasted too much time. I wish we had a way of communicating round here.”
That was true. No phone signal until you were halfway to Newborough did have its disadvantages. We were actually having to write letters to the parents! You got the best view of the building from over the road! It was going to be an amazing art gallery eventually. Being driven past all the other decaying buildings, I could see why Amber was so keen to at least get some gardens growing, make the place look less derelict. And after chatting to her for a while, we headed off next door. “Clearing brambles then, and taking down the fencing to start with. We can do this in odd half days until it’s finished.”
Caleb was right. We could make a difference to this town, leave something behind that had people saying, Chris and Caleb did that. Maybe they’d put up a plaque to us! I was working on my crops (small as they are), me and the fish bucket. Marcus had given me their old one, seeing as they didn’t need it any more.
“Or if you like, we can throw it out and you can salvage it, if you don’t want to accept anything from us,” Annette had said, rather snappily. But she’s pregnant again.
I looked up and suddenly realised someone else was there. It was someone I hadn’t met before, but I knew who she must be, if you get my meaning. I wasn’t going to offer to shake hands with her though. I was just too fishy! “You must be Mrs Hatter. I’m Blake Jones…”
“Oh, call me Maddie, please. This is such a small community, I don’t feel we need to be too formal, do we? I felt I just wanted to introduce myself…” She was such a nice, sympathetic lady. She had me telling her all about my dreams and hopes for the farm, about my grandparents. And she was such a good listener. And didn’t tell me I was too head-in-the-clouds at all. I told her how much I appreciated that. And mentioned how Clara had been a lot less sympathetic and understanding!
“Oh, Clara,” she said, in an amused-but-resigned tone of voice that told me she shared my opinion of her. “I think it’s the difference between city manners and country manners. Country folk are always ready to be friendly. City folk – that’s different. Growing up in…oh, what was the name of her city? I’ve clean forgotten it! Remind me.”
But I didn’t know either. “That’s going to bug me now. I must ask Marcus or Annette to remind me.” She paused.
“It’s hard, getting older,” she said confidentially. “I wouldn’t admit this to just anyone, but you’re such a considerate young man, I’m sure you’ll understand. You forget things more easily, and that’s a bit scary. And when you haven’t got lots of people round you, to remind you, help you remember…”
Poor woman. I really felt for her. I’d ask Marcus (maybe not Annette!) myself, and remind her.

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

The art gallery was made by cycloneSue at TSR. So were most of the dilapidated bits! And Sandy at ATS3 made so many of the shop and home objects that if I listed them all, we’d be off the page.