Changing Seasons. Spring V, part 3

Spring V, part 3 “Julie’s found an outlet for your beeswax – I knew she would, she’s got such a network of people she knows! He’s the guy who does the wooden boxes, so he’ll use your beeswax in his polish: gives a nice pedigree to the boxes. He wants to know what you’re calling it, and do you have any artwork for a label, or a logo or anything like that? And maybe he’ll be able to sell it too, which would bring you in a bit more money; it all depends if he had time to make extra polish and put it in little pots and so on…”
“Minnie, do thank Julie for me. Would she like a pot of honey as well?”
“She’d love that. She’s real fond of honey. Have you thought about what you’re going to do with your place? I mean, you could do tours like Marcus and Chas and so on, but you’ll need something for people to look at. A ‘visitor experience’. Have you thought of planting wild flowers, give it a kind of meadow/cottage look?” “Lucie could probably help you with that,” Rafe chimed in. “She might well have some good ideas for the outside of your barn – you’ve seen what she’s done on the outside of the art gallery.”
“That would be great. Thanks, Rafe.”
I’m learning – fast – from Miss Kirk’s advice and my own mistakes. Other people’s ideas are worth listening to. I swear brute force is the only thing this irrigation system understands. I seem to remember Marcus saying something very similar about theirs… Which means I’d better hand-water as well. I wonder if Lucie will come up with a make-over for the barn? She came and did some sketches – and reminisced about her scenery-painting days in high school, and went away muttering about cottages and beehives and so on. And I’ll go and see what Minnie’s got in the way of flower seeds. Minnie’s got plans for this street. She’s talking trees next, between the shops. And she’s got designs on the old DIY store next, though she thinks that’s going to have to be a total re-build. Souvenirs, I hear, bang opposite the gas station, so nice and obvious to visitors. There’s a proper gardening section in this new DIY store now – I might buy some veg seeds as well as some flower ones. Not to grow commercially – not this time! – but just enough to feed myself. My bee meadow is looking better. And Lucie’s had some amazing ideas for the outside of the house. I can’t afford them quite yet, but I’m working on it. Soon…And the honey’s selling nicely and Julie’s contact in Newborough is taking all my beeswax. And in between, I can work for Marcus for extra cash. Though I’ve got less time now, and I’ll have even less when I start my new pasture. There! Like it? That’s the beginning of Lucie’s transformation idea – we make this place look like a lovely cottage, with a cottage garden and bees – very idyllic. I’ve also thought of a name for my honey. I was thinking of Victoria and Albert Honey after my grandparents, but Amber pointed out that there was a museum in London that might object. Albert’s Honey sounded too old fashioned. Victoria’s Honey doesn’t really go with my hairy legs… So I’m going with their surname. Smallcott Honey. And actually, one of the roots of that name is ‘small cottage’, so it’ll go with the general look. And I’m changing my name too. I think Blake Smallcott is going to be a lot happier than Blake Jones ever was. Six toddlers did feel just like full time teaching! God job I had all that practice, Patience thought, as she cuddled Faith close. To their total surprise, Faith’s hair was definitely reddish, unlike Barnabas’s dark curls or her older sisters. Justin had turned out as dark-haired as Barnabas – and as noisy and determined too! Mercy, on the other hand, looked very like her sister, from what Patience could tell. There wasn’t a lot of hair there yet! The house had come a long way from when they moved in, three and a half years ago. Some of that progress, it was true, had been fuelled by the urgent need for space to accommodate three more children! Hope and Joy were playing happily with the dolls’ house she’d made for them, thanks to Minnie who’d given her the cardboard boxes. They’d definitely be ready for school soon – and it would be good for Barnabas to be out of the house! And mixing with older boys too. He was beginning to think that he ruled everything, though she’d noticed Hope and Joy working together to keep him in check more than once. The play room – with the baby gate – had proved to be a life-saver. It meant that the younger three didn’t spoil the games of the older three – and the older three didn’t tread on the younger three. It was fine having all six of them playing together when both she and Euan could be there too, but when it was just one of them and six children this made all the difference.
They didn’t have much money – again! – but there were plenty of hand-me-downs for the younger ones. It was quite nice seeing the outfits getting worn again actually. Meal times definitely had a school dinner feel about them! But eating early in the evening worked for the children, suited Euan – and Patience was determined that they would sit down together once a day at least. “Nabus, be tidy,” Hope said from Patience’s left. And judging from the look on Barnabas’s face – and the position of his hand – he had been contemplating mischief. He still wasn’t averse to the odd food fight.
But we’re doing okay, Patience thought. I enjoy the children, we both do, food fights notwithstanding. The older three would be four at the beginning of October, and would start school then, which would give Honey nine children to teach. And there was a girl who looked so much happier than she had done a few months back! I’m really glad Maddie’s gone, Patience thought. She was sucking all the life and joy out of Honey, and it’s nice to see it coming back again. They could actually both be in the workshop together! This was amazing, Lachlan thought. He must remember to tell Euan that things did change eventually. The children were playing safely and happily inside and he was here with the woman he loved so much, doing something he loved and watching her do something she loved too. Finally – finally – they had reached a safe and secure harbour. “That looks good, Mason. Tell me about it.”
“It’s a Wuggle,” Mason said. “It lives on the planet Potreb and eats pink candy floss. Harper asked me to paint it for her.” Harper left off playing with her building blocks and came over to tell Lachlan more about the Wuggle.
“You see, Wuggles are very important to the eek – eek – e-kology of their planet. Their pooh really helps the plants grow well. But no-one knows that and they don’t like the Wuggles because they are big and noisy.”
How had he managed to produce a child who could think up such a sophisticated story? Harper was ‘Five and three quarters now!’ as all four of them said at one time or another, but she could already make up stories. “Tell me more about the Wuggles. What do they like doing when they’re not eating pink candy floss?”
“They like to have parties. That’s why they’re so noisy. And the others say that they frighten the birds away and stop them singing and so they want the Wuggles to go away.” “I’ve nearly finished painting my Wuggle,” Mason said as they sat down to eat. “Can I have a bit more time after tea, please? I know just what I need to do next.”
“You can,” Marianna said, recognising his feelings. “A little bit of extra time. How was school today?” “Brilliant,” Taylor said, as Lachlan put some food onto her plate for her. “And tomorrow, we’re going to do dance stuff. Miss Glaze – no, Mrs Enstein – says we’ll do it in the afternoon in the dance studio and us four can just come back straight here instead of going back to school. Dance is fun, but it’s also good for your body, it helps make it strong and move well and if you want to be an astronaut you need a strong body…”
Astronaut, huh, thought Lachlan. Well, that was a new one on him! “I like the Wuggle, don’t you? How did we produce such amazing children? Must be your creative genes coming out in them all.” “Yours too, darling, yours too,” Marianna said. “This has been a joint effort. I couldn’t have done it without you. And they wouldn’t be who they are today without you.” “Really?" He had thought so earlier today, but he wanted to know what Marianna thought as well.
“Really truly," she said, smiling at him warmly. "Look at us. We’re a happy, thriving family, Lachlan. We’ve battled through the worst and won the battle. And we’re both creating again! Come and have a quick look at my stained glass design for the church windows before we go to bed.”


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.

Marianna, Lachlan and the children and the Old Forge are by AlphaFen (now known as AlphaFFrog) and can be found here:
https://www.thesims3.com/assetDetail.html?assetId=9310543

The plates, jug, cutlery, toaster, kettle and other kitchen touches are by Sandy at ATS3. So's the gardening stuff in the store. And the cardboard dolls' house.