Tag Archives: 3d Trees

Rescued

“Some old-fashioned things like fresh air and sunshine are hard to beat.”

My great-niece recently rescued a couple horses from a kill pen, the third generation of horse rescuers in my family. Kill pen horses are usually sold for pet food because they are considered problematic, untrainable, vicious and dangerous. They usually require a level of training most people just will not invest. In time, though, they can learn to trust and be trusted. If you want to see the evidence, see my great-grand niece cleaning this rescued horse’s hooves just two weeks into training…and the foundations for a fourth generation of rescuers begins. It was thinking about them, the work they are doing, and that two other nieces are doing, that I thought I might take this month’s house from Barnesworth for Collabor88 and set up a farm. I tinted it, one of the things I love about Barnesworth homes.

Continue reading

There is strong shadow where there is much light.

“There is strong shadow where there is much light.”

Erratic released a sexy-as-all-hell lingerie set for Collabor88 this round. The set is called Eden. Like all Erratic designs, it is made exclusively for the Maitreya body. It comes with petite bows that are strategically placed to call all sorts of attention to all the right places. It has been released in a Secret Garden full of colors with an extra three bonus colors (monochrome, pistachio and rouge) in the fat pack. There are several pieces in the set, including stocking appliers for both Maitreya and Slink feet, the mesh pieces include a bra, basque and suspenders, suspenders, knickers and a thong, so you can choose the panty style you prefer.

“There is strong shadow where there is much light.”

Here are several home and garden pieces from this month’s Arcade and Collabor88. The house itself is a dovecote from Scarlet Creative, cleaned up and converted to a lovely little house, the loft is a delightful bedroom. The Ivy Ampersand is also found at Collabor88, a romantic planter from floorplan. The chandeliers, perfume bottles, picture frames and chaise long can be found at The Arcade from Aria, Ariskea and Zerkalo. The tub is an older item from Flowey.  The pillows on the window seat behind the tub are from Tarte, also at the Arcade.

Continue reading

Let It Snow…

Tis the SeasonThe Cascades are expecting 20 to 40 inches of snow in the next few days. That is the best kind of snow. In the winter, I am all for letting it snow…elsewhere. But, Second Snow does not get cold, does not cause car accidents and does not make the stairs slippery, so I am happy to see it snowing in Second Life®. It was light fluffy snow, the kind that falls when the weather warms up so you can wear something like this lovely cardigan from Emery and not freeze.
Tis the Season

Decorating the tree in the back yard and making a few snowmen made for a fun afternoon. For you snowmen manufacturers, there’s an entire kit of materials and end products from Sway’s at The Arcade and What Next also makes a lovely, well-dressed snowman which you can find at The Arcade, too.
Tis the Season

I really love this cardigan which comes in five options at Collabor88 this month. The lovely long, casual hairstyle is also at Collabor88 from Exile. It is called Cozy Winter Night, but as you can see, you can also wear it on a chilly winter day.
Continue reading

At home with the macabre

“We make up horrors to help us cope with the real ones.”

Barnesworth Tabor Cottage, Vespertine upcycled fence town/autumn; 8f8 Storyteller’s Burrow Reader’s Pier, Botanical Aspen Trees, Half-Deer Deadwood Trees, Skye’s Enchanted Woods, 3d Trees Spruce 01, Pixel Mode Fall Harvest Barn

I do not decorate my home for Halloween and only add a bouquet of colored glass bulbs and a gold tabletop Christmas tree for Christmas. My apartment is small and I don’t waste my limited storage space storing decorations. My second life, though, seems to have infinite storage space so I love to decorate there. Also, it’s much less work to pack up and move and also less expensive. Here,then is my home for fall inspired in part by the macabre aesthetic of Tim Burton. I began by tinting my Tabor Cottage from Barnesworth to saturated dark colors instead of the natural stucco that it was originally. There’s a barn in the background with a few animals and a dock on the water.

“We make up horrors to help us cope with the real ones.”

Barnesworth Anubis Tabor Cottage, Verspertine upcycled fence town/autumn, Cheeky Pea Autumn Step Frame Dark, Striped Mocha Swing, Pilot Pumpkin Mice Black, Striped, Orange; Ariskea Terre Automne Branches Vase, PILOT Fall Garden Night

I added this prop fence from Vespertine because I loved the bright colors and though it did not add anything macabre to the home, I liked the colors and the idea of it. Not everything needs to be macabre.   Continue reading

The Scents of Autumn

bags full of leaves are light as balloonsFirst things first, Strawberry Singh wrote an important post about an ongoing fraud happening in SL right now. You should read it to best protect your own account. Of course, a good rule of thumb is not to execute or agree to anything from objects given to you by strangers. While it’s not true that you can never cheat an honest person, it is true that if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
bags full of leaves are light as balloons
So autumn is here. Here in Oregon, it’s raining, bringing sweet relief from the heat and let us hope, from the fires that are destroying so much habitat in the Pacific Northwest and California. Here in SL, though, there are no fires and the rain is holding off for another day. However, the state fairs are all over and all the 4Hers have their ribbons and are back in school. Fruits are being harvested and canneries are running around the clock. For me, though, lounging by the barn is a pleasant way to spend the afternoon. Schadenfreude’s black squirrel is much more industrious, picking up a small pumpkin to store away.
Continue reading

Light as balloons

bags full of leaves are light as balloons

Spades take up leaves
No better than spoons,
And bags full of leaves
Are light as balloons.

I make a great noise
Of rustling all day
Like rabbit and deer
Running away.

bags full of leaves are light as balloons

But the mountains I raise
Elude my embrace,
Flowing over my arms
And into my face.

I may load and unload
Again and again
Till I fill the whole shed,
And what have I then?

bags full of leaves are light as balloons

Next to nothing for weight,
And since they grew duller
From contact with earth,
Next to nothing for color.

Next to nothing for use.
But a crop is a crop,
And who’s to say where
The harvest shall stop?   …Robert Frost

bags full of leaves are light as balloons

Location:
03 – 8f8 – Storyteller’s Burrow – Reader’s Pier & Boat RARE @ The Arcade
Ariskea[ Terre Automne ] Fall wagon RARE @ The Arcade
Ariskea[ Terre Automne ] Fall Greetings Bench RARE @ The Arcade
Ariskea[ Terre Automne ] Pumpkin Batch @ The Arcade
+Half-Deer+ Shiba Inu – Please? (rez) @ The Arcade
Mon Cheri *MC* Last Summer Days / Wild Flowers White #4 @ The Arcade
*MC* Last Summer Days / Tree Sack #3 @ The Arcade
Mutresse-Cheeky Raccoons-Peekaboo @ The Arcade
Pixel Mode – Fall Harvest – Barn @ The Arcade
Pixel Mode – Fall Harvest – Fence Corner 2 @ The Arcade
Pixel Mode – Fall Harvest – Fence Post n Slats Mirror @ The Arcade
Pixel Mode – Fall Harvest – Bell @ The Arcade
Pixel Mode – Fall Harvest – Wagon Wheels @ The Arcade
Pixel Mode – Fall Harvest – Clucky’s Feed @ The Arcade
Pixel Mode – Fall Harvest – Barrel Display @ The Arcade
PLAAKA SmallFigTree @ The Arcade
PLAAKA GardenToolHanger @ The Arcade
PLAAKA TinMetalWateringCan @ The Arcade
Schadenfreude Autumn Bounty – Quail Guests, dad @ The Arcade
Schadenfreude Autumn Bounty – Black Squirrel Guest @ The Arcade
Sway’s [Camp out] Oil lamp . rusty @ The Arcade
1. {theosophy} Shiba Inu (Hurry Up / Red) @ The Arcade
—-
3D Trees Spruce
Botanical – T2C Aspen Tree 1, 2, 3
Botanical Hay Bales & Hay Stack
:Fanatik Architecture: CLIFF COVER Island Ramp 1024
Just Animals, Pigs, Goats and Cows
Mesh Flowers – =MF= Flower Barrel Display [F-CS]
Rix Spyker Sliding Door

Lullaby of the Rain

150320_004

I spent far too much getting this dress at The Arcade, but I console myself with knowing that the color-change HUD makes it several dresses in one. Besides, it has the prettiest color-change HUD in SL history.

Friday was the vernal equinox and it came with extras this year— a solar eclipse and a supermoon. Spring, however, came to Oregon long before the equinox. Already the daphnes and magnolias are in bloom. The air is rich with fragrance and spring’s showers paint everything a lush green. There is such an abundance of life in Oregon, all fed by the wonderful rain that if you live in Oregon, you must come to love.

150320_002

The crazy thing about gardening in SL, I can have wisteria and magnolias at the same time as hibiscus and lavender, isn’t that amazing?

Continue reading

A Damn Fine Cup of Coffee

150315_002

Relaxing at Agent Cooper’s desk with a damn fine cup of coffee from Schadenfreude.

When my father died, my sisters called to tell me. It was not unexpected and was, in many ways, a relief for him and everyone who loved him, but that does not lessen the loss or the finality of death. They gave me the news and I sat there, quietly stunned at how much more painful it was than Thought it would be. I think I whimpered, trying not to cry. So my oldest sister said, “Go make yourself a coffee. It’s a good thing. I’ll call you back after you’ve had a coffee.” I had to laugh to myself, because coffee as comfort is so very much the legacy of my dad, a first generation Swedish American.

150315_003

Such a messy desk! some of the mess comes in a great collection of clutter from Tres Blah at The Arcade that are must have pieces to turn houses into homes.

Coffee is a ritual for Scandinavians who consume more coffee per capita than any other people in the world. Most people in the US are familiar with coffee breaks at the work place, but in a Swedish American home, there are coffee breaks every day, when we would all sit down together and enjoy a good cup of coffee with some bread and cheese or some fruit or a dessert. And by all, I mean all. Children get coffee with milk as soon as they are old enough to hold a cup without spilling it. Continue reading

Imagine If Jane Austen Got Angry

150305

This Spring session of The Arcade has one of the most exciting Arcade sets of all time. For once, it’s a good thing to get lots of commons while seeking your rare. You will need several pieces of the common wall to surround your manor house with a beautiful courtyard. Anyway, it’s just an extraordinarily complete collection with 2 houses, an outbuilding, landscaping and interior furnishing, even a well and a wooden cart. 

 

Yesterday was World Book Day. That, combined with the wonderful Primavera in Toscana set from 8f8 at The Arcade got me thinking about my favorite books of the past year.  What rose to the top was Elena Ferrante’s magnificent Neapolitan novels. Now, the novels mainly take place in a poor neighborhood in Naples, not in a rich manor home in Tuscany, but know, we Americans are supposed to think there is no difference, right?

Actually, the wall reminds me so much of the wall surrounding the Spanish military base where I was living with a Spanish family while attending my senior year in Algeciras, Spain. The one difference is that the wall in Spain had flowers on the top, trailing down the white walls. There were always two guards outside with a sign “Todo por la patria” on the wall next to the guard station. Can you imagine an American military base with a wall covered with flowers?

150305

I love the contradictions in this dress and coat from NYU. NYU specializes in minimalist design, the aesthetic beauty of a dress and coat coming from the lines and forms of the clothing, not from embellishment or patterns. The dress has this severe post-war austerity except that slit on the skirt is thoroughly modern and not the least bit austere.

John Freeman of The Australian wrote of Elena Ferrante, “Imagine if Jane Austen Got Angry.” The Neapolitan novels tell the story of two women, from their childhood to adulthood. There is a lot of anger in her novels, but also humor and love. They seem so raw and honest, as though the author cannibalized her life to tell the story, though we cannot know as Elena Ferrante is very private. Still, the narrator in this Neapolitan tetralogy is named Elena and plans to be a writer. In terms of the usual publicity authors relentlessly pursue, she said she did all she needed to do for her book, she wrote it. I love that!
Continue reading

A Valediction for Parenthood

Snapshot

 

I watched the penultimate episode of Parenthood last night. It was emotionally exhausting and I cried far harder than I probably should over fictional characters in a television series. When I watched the first episode of Parenthood six years ago, I had no idea what I was getting into. It was such a quiet show that seemed to have such humble ambitions – merely telling the story of an American family. I think there was a clue right from the start, though, that this was going to be more than a post-milennial Eight is Enough. After all, their last name is Braverman.

Snapshot

 

Braverman! That name must be something to live up to. I actually looked up the name’s origin because I was pretty sure it did not originate with some courageous Saxon stalwart holding off a Viking horde and being called a “braver man” than most and then passing that name on for generations. It turns out to be Jewish surname from the Ukraine, a form of the Yiddish word braver which means good or honest. At least that is what most of the sources say, though one source says it means distiller. Well, the Braverman family does like their spirits. The name is perfect, though, there is something good and honest about this family and their quotidian dramas.

Continue reading