Seylouse family: Dinner strategy

[Year count: 140]  Another household has been visited for a day, and this time there were lots of sims involved...

Do you recall son of the house, Louis Seylouse, partying at Suzi's Heaven? There he met Meliss Brugster, and they already married! Sorry to "do" such major events while nobody's watching, but I'd never reach "our time" if all those details should have attention.

Andrine and Ludvic Seylouse are pretty upset with the high rise builds in Galucca's city region. The picture shows how the view to the ocean is practically no longer there.

Meliss moved in of course, but Andrine is still lady of the house. She recently turned elderly, and eventually she will step back, leaving all the organizing to Louis and Meliss. This morning Andrine ordered a maid, just like the other families up here at Pettonta Heights did. It would be too much to expect Meliss to keep this huge house clean, like Andrine managed in the past...

Today is a very exciting day - an election is ongoing! Galucca Town Council was already chosen, and today everyone will flock to the Town Hall to vote for their candidate for Mayor - either Mr Erasmus Pearlton or Count Junato Pettonta. Andrine already voted for the Count, although Pearlton did well as a Mayor for the past 10 years. Andrine has a strategy, wanting to marry her daughter Chloe into the noble family!

There are two newspaper kiosks in Galucca, and one of them is located in the city region, on Galucca Plaza.

It's managed by Mr. Gorgan Sloth. Andrine often stops by for a talk, it's the perfect way to stay on top of all rumours, but also to find out who she should ask for charity donations.

So, it's Mr. Pearlton for another 10 years then... the Count will still serve as the councillor representing the city region.

Across the Plaza, farther up, Chloe made an errand. She wanted a part time job, and although being a clerk wasn't really that inspiring, she decided to apply to work at the bookstore next to Superior School of Galucca, where she is a student.

She ran into her brother, Louis, he had bought a few books. His wife, Meliss, plans to become a novelist, and obviously will need some inspiration. Chloe doesn't like her sister-in-law that much, but knows it's still early to judge anyone. She has met a guy that her folks might not like, too.

But now you should hurry back home, Chloe, because you are supposed to play the piano for some dinner guests!

Months ago, Andrine invited two of the Councillors for dinner tonight. Mr. Conrad Rivers (blond) with wife Louisa (blue dress), and farmer Jodriam von Salamand with wife Amila. The Rivers has a son Chloe's age, but Conrad is also brother of Countess Constance. The farmers' only son would be too young, but Amila happens to be ex-Countess Maria's niece. Andrine wants help to arrange a meeting between Chloe and Baron Gustav who just became a teenager.

Most locals of a certain class know about Andrine Seylous' charity projects. Accepting a dinner invitation will often involve donations.

They debated the political changes, there are two new councillors - from Gal district and Moon district.

Well, if Amila von Salamand would get in a word on behalf of Chloe...

You might wonder why Louis and Meliss were not joining the dinner, but they were heading for a club in the city, named Blue Energy. There were lots of drinks, and lively guests, although nobody as loud as Meliss. She is insane, artistic and easily impressed, and her laughter can get quite annoying - go figure. After a few drinks she forgets that she is a coward.

You just don't visit Blue Energy without dancing! Ragtime, jazz or swing, it doesn't matter when the energy level is as high as tonight.

Oh, late at night Ludvic Seylouse turned elderly. He has already introduced Louis to the routines at the family's paper factory down at the harbour, and now that the old man is - well, old - it might be time to switch chairs.

Next update... Moonster of Moon district :)

Pettonta Castle: The Pettonta Grail

[Year count: 138]  Up at Pettonta Castle the noble family is not as harmonic that one could wish, and you got it right - once again the problem to solve is named Maria. The ex-Countess lost status as her son, Count Junato, took over the countship, and now he reigns assisted by his lovely wife, Countess Constance. Maria broke traditions by refusing to pass on the Countess' white earrings to her daughter in law.

Baron Gustav and Lady Lincia are both kids, and Gustav is pushing teenhood already! They love playing with the chickens, and also they are as curious about their surroundings as kids should be. An old castle is such a fantastic playground. There is always some not yet discovered corner of the huge building where mysterious stuff might be going on...

Some time ago the castle cook was fired by Maria. Count Junato and Countess Constance decided to hire a butler instead. From the heap of applications, they picked Ms Rachelle Winter. She had good recommendations, and seemed like a skilled person with good manners. And those might be hard to find.

She will cook, clean and give a hand with the children, and of course also help organizing the household. Ms Rachelle Winter has already moved in, although Maria never approved.

You might recall that Maria was obsessed with having the Market of Old Town. She lost her case, the Market is now festival grounds, and Maria moved her focus to the City region instead. The Pettontas has of course ownership to some of the property in this region, and is very interested in a successful development. All lots along the Plaza are now completed. From the Pettonta Family Graves they can see most of the city builds.

Maria is already 96 years old, and she knows she would need help in order to stay around much longer. That's why she contacted her new pen pal Darth of Darthtopia, who might help Maria to regain youth (well, at least adulthood LOL).

Maria has heard about the old and mysterious Pettonta Gral, which is said to be hidden underneath the castle by the first Pettontas. A copy is exhibited at the Historical Museum, and a 2nd copy is used as a fountain in front of the Town Hall. There is a chance that ownership to the original Grail would reward her with eternal life, but she is too old and physically weak searching for it. So, her plan is to trick the kids into helping her.

Baron Gustav and Lady Lincia loves playing chess, and Gustav has already maxed the logic skill.

One day Constance discovered she could paint portraits, and she convinced Maria to pose. There was no painted portrait of Maria, solo, so how could she refuse. Constance did no attempt to get the painting good, in fact she made her mother in law look a little crazy...

But now, to politics...

The map above shows how Galucca is split into 5 regions. Old Town includes Ucca Island although at the moment nobody resides out there. The red buttons show where my 5 focus households are located (1=Pettonta, 2=Seylouse, 3=Moonster, 4=Malone, 5=Fogdale.

Each region elects 1 Council member and 1 back-up member, then the 5 Council members elects the Mayor from a list of candidates - first they choose 2 candidates for the final running, then vote for one of them. Anyone with a certain success factor can go for Mayor, and if a Council member is on that list, he will be replaced by the back-up member while the election is on.

The current Mayor is Mr. Erasmus Pearlton. The 5 Council members are Count Junato Pettonta (City region), Conrad Rivers (Old town region), Camille Kragger (Moon district), Davan Sculler (Gal district), and Jodriam von Salamand (Farmland district).

A new election is coming up soon!

The Pettontas were always strongly represented in politics as well as business. Count Junato isn't very interested, though. He has been a Council member for some time, but now that a new election period is up, Maria wants her son to go for Mayor!

Junato and Constance agree that the count should not also be the Mayor, but if Maria insists...?

The first TV-sets have reached Galucca! Naturally there is one at the castle in their daily section upstairs. Constance does not like to leave the children alone with the TV, so she watch while they do. Hm, 62ya there is probably not much kiddie stuff  broadcasted, anyway...

And there are certainly other "forces" that Constance should rather worry about...

Ex-countess Maria is getting impatient, and tonight she tricked the kids outside after dark, and forced them down to the underground tunnels, to search for the Pettonta Grail! Maria told the kids that if they returned without finding the grail, she would tell a certain pen pal to turn both Gustav and Lincia into toads!

Nice granny... not!

Baron Gustav and Lady Lincia got lost in the maze of stairs and tunnels. Will they dare to face grandmother without the grail?

Malone family: A Monk at First Beach

[Year count: 137]  Let's check on the Malone family again! They reside the warm Sunny Field, located south in Gal District, by the ocean. They are the family making a living from producing flowers and other plants, and now their oldest son reached teenage!

So, Everet and Ursa Malone live a rather quiet life here. Everet enjoys it, but Ursa is a bit bored with the countryside, now that Galucca is growing rapidly. Syrup is a teen and Steven a child, and the old horse is still alive - if not exactly kicking.

Everet still goes to the Flower Market in Old Town most days, and now they got a nice car, and can easily bring plants back and for! He is pretty proud, while the old horse... well, horse power can never be matched anyway, he might think...

The flower production works as smoothly as ever, and Syrup helps a little, too, when not being busy with homeworks or sports. Everet recently got hold of a new plant, the Nicotiana, and they already grew more from seeds.

Ursa and Everet are still going along fine, but there's a little less laughter, and fewer kisses and hugs, too. Quite normal, in other words...

In the background Steven is running off... is he going to the beach (that you didn't get to see yet)? Several hours later, Steven was still gone, and Ursa started to worry, family oriented as she is.

Did you notice the caption about Mrs Andrine Seylouse asking Bono...? Bono Swims is Ursa's brother, he has been a very successful athlete for quite some time, and even the town's stadium is named after him - Bono Stadium. Now Bono will be fronting some of Mrs. Seylouse's "Sports for the poor" campaign.

Ursa walked to First Beach to look for Steven, taking a shortcut, passing the Monastery of Similius. Some days ago she saw one of the monks on the beach again, and she sat down to watch him swimming, wearing his robe. She was fascinated by the young man, and they talked just a little...

There he was again, the monk!

But we're off to check out what Syrup is up to! He is outside the Bono Stadium, testing the new roller skating rink that was built to increase physical activity amongst kids and teens.

Syrup's uncle Bono was instructing them, and hey - that's Edith Hydront, meaning Emma might be around, too...

Yes, look who's sitting at the tribune, if not Emma Hydront, still green, but not yet a teen...

But there's also another girl hanging out, Timara Onioon, daughter of the onion farmer, obviously. She laid her eyes on poor Syrup, and it doesn't seem like she will take a no for an answer. Truth is that Syrup just left childhood, and they used to hang out together at school. But now he suddenly finds it silly... looking pretty good though, the young woman...

You wonder how things are at First Beach?

Well, Ursa clearly appreciates to finally chat with the monk again. They had a good time, actually. Uhm... after dark?

Before this chapter closes, here's a couple pictures from the main area of First Beach...

There is a kiosk, outdoor seatings, as well as showers and toilets. Up the hill there is even a Diner to please starving beach guests. The beach is pretty big, and parasols and sun chairs are spread all over, facing the ocean, of course.

Oh, on the last picture, the elderly woman with a very short haircut... it's Camille Kragger from Moon District! Is she still sunbathing topless, her age? And commenting on a teen boy walking by is not good manners, Mrs Kragger... the dark hours are coming, it's time for you to drive your motorcycle home!

Moonster: The Family Secret

And... we're heading over to Moon District, the region with the strongest ties to the Seagull Cottage Bed & Breakfast story (which you can read over at Simmerville's Sims )

[Year count: 135] Since our last stop, Milton Moonster grew up! But also a neighbour died.

Starting with a quick overview showing the old Moonster house. It was meant for the previous update, so there might have been a few adjustments, but you get the idea. It's the smallest house of the district, although the family is not as poor as it might look.

I mentioned some neighbour who died; old Luphelia Moonster at Seagull Cottage passed. Milton always liked the weird woman, she used to be married to Milton's dad Detch's uncle Don. Milton always saw her as family, and she was the only one in Moon District who encouraged his painting talent. He had painted her portrait as well as the cottage. But old Luphelia never introduced him to her secrets.

He had heard of the MSW, but did not know much about it. Kids should not ask, it belonged to the adults' world. Now it was time for Milton to be told the truth!

Milton's parents, Katherine and Detch Moonster, are still adults, and Detch might be old fashioned and a bit narrow minded, but from the picture above you can clearly tell how much he still loves his wife's boobs LOL. They had just one kid, mostly because Katherine refused to have any more.

Katherine was never really enthusiastic about the MSW, she expected it to backfire on them some day. She respected it as a Moonster tradition, though, and she helped tending the secret garden.

It all started back when Galucca was still just settled. Detch's grandparents Mitch and Inga Moonster (Milton's great-grandparents) settled here as Anglers. Shortly Detch's grandmother Inga and a woman next door, Espehlia, founded the magic society MSW that should attract even more magicians to Moon District. Most households of the district still own the "Black Journal of Magica". Magic was not illegal, but still clearly unwanted by the Town Council.

Detch took Milton to the top behind their house, down there was the secret garden where Katherine spends so much time. Detch is still slightly into magic and visits the garden on full moon, but he has no hopes for Milton bringing on the tradition. Milton was not allowed to visit the garden alone, and had always respected that he should be a dedicated member in order to access that place.

Before the little chapel was built, there was a well that both Detch's grandparents and Espelia used. Esphelia lived in the house across the secret garden, seen right above Milton's head. One day soldiers threw Esphelia into that well, where she died. They did it to stop the MSW, but it actually trigged a much more solid society.

Esphelia's only child, Luphelia, was just a teen when her mum died, so she moved in with the Moonsters. Later she married to Detch's uncle Don and they moved back into Esphelia's old house where Luphelia was born. Luphelia brought on her mum's massive hate against the council and the Pettonta Castle.

Detch and Milton walked up on the Moon Mountains...

Then it was time for the real Moon District secret, the facts that only a very few locals knew about. Luphelia had to revenge the death of her mum, and one day she, with help from other members of MSW including Detch's dad Simon, made mixtures and spells to punish all descendants of the Count and the Countess...

Something went terribly wrong though, and the effects that were aimed for Pettonta Castle struck the lower Farmland District instead. We sadly know the consequences... the big catastrophe that took place 90ya.

Now that Milton is the only local descendant of the hard core MSW, he is the only one who will bring on the secret - to nobody except perhaps his own heir. Such a nice luggage, young man!

A little later Detch and Milton were back home, and Milton headed to town to buy an easel. Now that he is an adult, he should not need to ask anyone. But no, Detch will not accept that he replaces his fishing rod with an easel...

Milton left anyway and spent the evening at the Arts Academy, with Chloe Seylouse. He really fancies her, she is beautiful and witty, and he likes that she decided painting although she comes from a wealthy family focusing on more serious businesses. She is still just a teen though, and Milton being rather shy...

Home at 2 Moon Trail, Katherine and Detch had a small meal, then someone was at the door. It was late Luphelia's youngest daughter Gloria Moonster! She is Detch's cousin, but after Gloria and her sister Esmia moved to the city long ago, Detch lost contact with them.

Realizing that Gloria did not know much about her old mum's businesses, Katherine thought to herself, good luck city woman, you might need that. Soon Detch will need to tell Gloria what she needs to know. How long will it then be until MSW's real secret leaks out to everyone?
But on the other hand, if Gloria is as gifted as her mum maybe she would become a new MSW member? Maybe she could even replace Katherine tending the secret garden?

It was late. Chloe Seylouse had left the Arts Academy, and went home on her bicycle. And Milton had followed her on foot, knowing some shortcuts, running like crazy to keep up. 20 minutes ago he saw her walk inside their huge mansion up at Pettonta Heights, and he was still standing there in the street, waiting to see the lamp in her bedroom window.

Ah... in love, are we?

Fogdale family: Red as a cherry

[Year count: 134]  It's time to stop by at the Dump again, to see how one of the poor families residing the lower Farmland District are doing; The Fogdale household!

Since our last visit, Eremias' sister, Magda (with the boobs) moved out and married the Hill boy (worker family residing Maurice Creek at the upper Gal District. She wanted to find a rich town boy, but coming from this poor quarter that wasn't as easy as Magda thought...

Eremias and Tusha are doing pretty well, but they don't have enough money to buy any new stuff. Tusha wants a bicycle and Eremias wants a chicken coop, but at the moment they can afford neither.

Eremias' younger brother, Jody Fogdale, was planning to move out, but having no starter money, he can't build his own house, but would need to rent a room or get hired somewhere. So, today he asked Eremias to stay a little longer. Jody is the one working hardest with the crops, so Eremias would have been stupid turning down the request.

Tusha works at Garton Technologies, the biggest factory here in the Dump. Now that their daughter Misty became teenager, Tusha convinced her to take a few evening shifts as well. Tusha is concerned with the fate of the discoloured kids, and Misty being one of those, and see it as a good move to make them spend time amongst others, rather than staying at home avoiding reality. At the factory nobody cared about Misty's skin and kinda unfortunate looks, but then abnormal kids are pretty common in this district.

Tusha would like to join the politics, especially now that the Stadium is debated, but she knows there's no opportunities there for her, so now she aims for becoming the next factory workers spokes person instead.

Jody dreams of becoming a novelist. A few days every week he brings some paper sheets and a few pens to Ellie's Library. The library is pretty old already, located just east of the Town Hall. Jody started a sci-fi novel, inspired by all the cars that have filled town lately. But then a woman started to talk to the library's director, pretty loudly, and Cody just couldn't concentrate. He knew who she was, Camille Kragger from Moon district. It sounded like if someone who died had left behind a few books...

Across town, near the City region, Misty was at Constant Hope Hospital. She was waiting for the annual check, together with Albertin Smith, also from the Dump. She likes him, but knowing he will soon grow up while she just left childhood, well...

There are currently 4 locals working at the hospital. Elderly Alphonso Brugster is a specialist (soon to retire), Countess Constance Pettonta works a few days every week as a general doctor, and Cornelia Brottington (wife of the photographer) is a nurse, and is also serving the reception desk.

Misty had been to these checks many times, and knew the routine. They would take a few tests of her skin, listen for weird sounds from her chest and back, asking all the same stupid questions that she answered hundreds of times already.

Doctor Brugster was a nice old man, but it would be tons more interesting if he asked her how she felt about looking so different. He could have asked if any adults called her bad names, or if the school bus driver joked about her looks. But no, he only followed the old medical tracks.

I gotta tell you a little about what the doctors have found concerning the abnormalities. They think it is just a skin disease, and they think it was caused by the catastrophe 90ya. They still have no clue to what caused the reaction though, and doctors don't believe in magic, so...

After both had their tests, Misty and Albertin walked down to the Old Market, that recently burned down, but now reopened as a festival park. The council suggested a new fancy name, but most locals still called it Old Town Market, or just Old Market. A corner is still offering farming products, though.

When Misty and Albertin arrived, other guests stared at them. To the right are the two nosy kids of Ludmilla Barksdale.

Ludmilla herself was busy conversing with Mrs Andrine Seylouse, and Misty could hear the blond woman suggest to ignore the two! Btw, Ludmilla Barksdale is the one owning Chez Ludmilla, the tiny restaurant in front of Church of Similius.

Misty got a chance to test the horseshoe thing (I had it for so long, but this is actually the first time I tested it, lol).

They could of course not afford buying hot dogs or burgers, but there was an eating contest coming up, and hey - that's a smart way to ease the hunger, right? (Never tested this before either, I basically dislike playing with food, but as my sims were hungry it didn't feel as wasted - LOL )

Finally, the Old Town Marked seen from the Town Hall. Together with the tiny park it forms a nice little line down to the harbour and the sea. Art Academy is to the left, Heiserclump Bakery and the church to the right. After taking the picture, I noticed what must be an UFO being parked down there! Now I wonder where that alien was hiding, as I totally missed it all?

All for now, next stop will be the Moonster family of the mysterious Moon District!

Bonus: Heisserclump Bakery

[Year count: 132]  Oups, I forgot to mention that Suzi Baruba's son finally moved in with her in Gaucca. He is one of the two bartenders at Suzi's Heaven, and I forgot to mention it, so here's a picture - hello Tonny Baruba, I think you might inherit your mom's jolly place!

I'll be out of town for a week again, so I'll just share a few pictures that are not really from any of the 5 households I'm supposed to focus on. In the past I told you about the Heisserclump family running a bakery. Well, their descendants still run the bakery, and you were never invited inside.

So, enjoy Heisserclump Bakery!

The one serving the cash register is Richarda (Garton) Heisserclump. She is daughter of late Ellen P. Garton, who was daughter of the honorable Maurice Pettonta, who was son of the first settlers 200ya, Count Gustavo and Countess Eleonora :-)

The baker man is of course Hendrion Heisserclump. Not really sure if he is 3rd generation bakery owner or what.

Have a super day!