#shasta moonglowe

[reality-refuge]

Shasta: Well. Death is inevitable and soon we will all go back to dust.

Shasta: Guess I better stop chickening out and do something about my wants and goals, huh.

[gardenwerks]

Our BACK Garden - many photos have been posted featuring the small Flower Garden on the south side of the house. This posting is for the entire BACK Garden, just an overview. 

1. The back of our house, which faces due west. Photo taken last evening from the Upper Meadow part of our neighborhood forest restoration project. That’s the Back Porch up above, beneath which is a bench seat, shade garden, and a bunch of pots. On the right up against the wall is the Flower Garden. And, in front, behind the split-rail fence that separates all our homes from the forest project, is the “Back Garden”.

2. Overall view of the Back Garden, 60′ x 10-12′ extending south to north along the west side of the lot. That’s a gravel Infiltration Trench along the inner side, which collects rainwater from the roof and allows it to soak into the groundwater table. The CONCEPT of the Back Garden was developed by both of us, working together for a change, just as we did with the Japanesque Front Garden. The idea was to create a garden that related to the meadow beyond the fence, but that could also house  a number of larger plants we brought from our former home in Bothell, WA. So it starts at one end with a riparian zone, spreads into a prairie, that interblends with Mediterranean plants, and ends in an alpine zone.

UPPER - the “Alpine” features a smaller-growing Baker’s Colorado blue spruce (Picea pungens ‘Bakeri’), a light green Mountain hemlock (Tsuga mertensiana), and an upright-trained ‘Thorson’s Weeping’ Western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla cultivar). There are also shrubs: colorful-foliaged summer heathers (mainly Calluna vulgaris ‘Firefly’), a rockrose, several smaller growing forms of mahonia, a Himalayan blueberry, a Crandall currant (fragrant, yellow-flowered hybrid of the Intermountain West native Ribes odorata), HUGE bushy hybrid penstemon - Garnet and Firebird, and underneath the hemlocks - the tall ground-cover Big Sur manzanita (form of Arctostaphylos edmundsii).

UPPER MIDDLE - the “Mediterranean” features magenta-flowered Sunset rockroses (Cistus x pulverulentus), various English and French lavenders, a mass of chrome yellow Moonshine yarrow, and a mass of variegated purple moor grass (Molina caerulea ‘Variegata’) interplanted with various crocosmias.

MIDDLE - the “Prairie” - this is the largest part of the garden, melding into the Mediterranean garden on the north. This features double curving bands of Rudbeckia fulgida ‘Early Bird Gold’ and Becky Shasta Daisy, clumps of standard purple moor grass, white yarrow, purple Verbena bonariensis, Russian sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia), a whale-shaped mass of variegated Northern hairgrass (Deschampsia caespitosa), blending into a mass of billowing Arkansas blustar (Amsonia hubrechtii). And...at the juncture with the Mediterranean garden is a “weeping” Deodar cedar, probably Snow Sprite, planted in a mound of rocks with penstemon, sedums, and sempervivums. 

Interesting story here - this was originally an upright “tree”, planted on the hill above our Bothell house. One summer the top was whacked off during routine blackberry and Scotch broom control. But one horizontal branch was left. So, in 2018, I dug it up and brought it with us, intending it to be an interesting “bonsai” in the garden. Well, the plant had other ideas. In 2019, the horizontal branch started to rise skyward - that’s right - during the summer of 2019, we watched as it went from horizontal to diagonal 45 degree angle. By 2020, that horizontal branch cranked itself to a 90 degree angle and had become a tree trunk, pointing directly up. SHOCKED! 

SOUTH END - the “Riparian Zone” - shown partially in the Overall and view of the prairie. This features a blue hydrangea, grown from a shoot off a hydrangea in our very first garden in Atlanta in 1995, an big bushy Amber Flower Carpet rose, a volunteer native pink-flowering currant (the BIG bush - Ribes sanguineum), a pair of evergreen, upright, willowy, multi-stem Sweetbay magnolias - (Magnolia virginiana Jim Wilson MOONGLOW), a native evergreen huckleberry (Vaccinium ovatum), and an assortment of perennials, including: Jupiter’s Beard (Centranthus ruber), Baptisia, foxgloves, various different crocosmias, Salvia nemerosa, and Geum x Tangerine.

Well that’s the Intro folks - I will feature each of the plants over the next couple of years. Cheers on this 245th anniversary of the independence of the USA, as it became known.

[reality-refuge]

Lavinia: ...you did NOT just do that RIGHT in front of me. Right in front of our wedding setup that hasn't been dismantled yet!

Shasta: No, Livi, it's not like that, I...I was just thinking of you?

Lavinia: ...you can't expect me to believe that. Right? Right?

Lavinia: I do not want to see your face for the rest of the night.

[reality-refuge]

Lavinia: Bold of you to show up now.

Shasta: I literally didn't hear you! What am I supposed to do, be psychic?

Lavinia: No, but you are supposed to be better than this, by this point, for kids you wanted...I think we can agree this isn't working.

Shasta: You're right. I don't think it is.

Margo: Nice to be home from school! Sure hope our parents' relationship didn't blow up while we were gone :)

[reality-refuge]

Lavinia: SHASTA! It's TIME!

Shasta: did I just hear something? must've been the wind.

Nope, just the sound of MY GAME THINKING IT'S FUNNY

[reality-refuge]

Lavinia: What are you doing.

Shasta: ...going to bed?

Lavinia: Nope. Couch.

Shasta: What? Babe, I cannot sleep on the couch, it's so uncomfortable -

Lavinia: I think that's a fine consequence for not giving your wife the one thing she's wanted for months and instead fulfilling your own wants first.

Shasta: I told you, I didn't want to overcharge! And I will be sleeping in our bed tonight!

Lavinia: FINE! *stomps out*

Lacy: ...sure sounds fine.

[reality-refuge]

Since the dorms were too "basic" for Lavinia, she used some of Mom's money to buy a townhouse for her...and Shasta, of course.

Lavinia: I feel like I have to tell you that uhhhh...I have already gotten myself cursed lol

Shasta: oh babe, classic newbie move. We'll get you fixed up soon!

[reality-refuge]

Shasta: So, what's been happening this week?

Matilda: I taught myself a spell!

Marcus: WHAT? Teach me!

Lavinia: Yeah, because she's been practicing in the street. Can't believe you're condoning this, Shasta.

Matilda, whispering: She's just bitter 'cause she can't do better.

Lavinia: What was that, young lady?

Matilda: Nothing, Mom.

Lavinia: Consider yourself grounded for that sass.

Matilda: Oh yeah, real original. Ground me right before prom so I have to make a big song and dance about sneaking out like we're in some teen movie. Good one.

Shasta: ...I'm just gonna- *leaves*

[reality-refuge]

Happy Birthday, Shasta!

Matilda: Sorry we couldn't have it at the restaurant, Dad.

Shasta: That's okay! At least they let us take this chocolate cake home.

Marcus: ...the what cake?

[reality-refuge]

Marcus: Hey, Father Winter, sir! Can we get some presents?

Father Winter: Ugh, aren't you kids too old to believe in that crap? Grow up.

Marcus: Geez, who put fireworks in his chimney?

Matilda: Idk I think it was Margo threatening to shove the tree up his ass, personally.

Margo: Aw, but who wouldn't want that? It's a festive, sparkly bu-

Shasta: OOOOOKAY, dinnertime!

[reality-refuge]

Winterfest with Dad means Magic Realm time, with magical belated birthday presents!

[reality-refuge]

Shasta: ...and she was getting on the kids last night for literally being kids and being scared of a monster under their bed. I wasn't even awake before she started shouting and screaming!

Electra: So you've tried to talk to her and it's not working? Seems suspish, little brother.

Shasta: What do you mean?

Electra: I mean, you might need to look into more than a rescue baby to solve your problems.

Shasta: Huh. Yeah, you might have a point.

[reality-refuge]

Among the things Shasta wanted to do was compete in a Finchwick Fair, so he packed up the kids and a dragonfruit to spend...several hours not doing much.

At least Matilda made a friend.

[reality-refuge]

Shasta: When casting spells, you have to pay attention to your energy...your energy is what makes spells possible, but it can also be what kills you.

Shasta: ...kids?

[reality-refuge]

So, they got to it, and...I don't know why I expected anything else out of this save.

More info below the cut bc this was such a conundrum for me to sort out

Hi! Welcome to below the cut!

So, something I have been trying to do with this save is follow the whims/wants of my sims (with mixed success). So when Shasta rolled the "try for baby" want, despite him and Lavinia being adults and having kids already, I wanted to try.

The issue? Upon aging up the two perceived each other as unattractive, and wouldn't autonomously initiate romance interactions. Alongside Lavinia's personality and their shared history, I had hesitations.

So, I had them argue about their parenting, assuming that whichever side "won" would therefore decide the outcome. We got a "no win scenario."

Then, Lavinia wanted to apologize after their argument. I let her, Shasta accepted. I decided to let them risky woohoo and see what would happen - if she got pregnant, then that was that. If she didn't, that was that.

So, yeah! We have an additional Moonglowe on the way!

[reality-refuge]

Lavinia: Hey, so, I was thinking...

Lavinia: I want to try and make this work. And if having a bigger family is what it takes, I'm okay with that. I'm just...I'm not willing to lose what we have. Not now. I hope not ever.

Shasta: Wait, really? You're serious?

Shasta: I thought...well, I was ready to just. Never speak of it again.

Shasta: But if you're content, then so am I!