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Mar. 29th, 2024 10:21 am
Spring 2 - Lynx
Lynx - Spring 2
Rejoining the Lynx household for their second spring, both Catarina and I are disappointed to find ourselves still mired in a heavily industrial environment. Knox worked hard last season to institute some quality green initiatives, but they don't seem to be paying off...
Except, hold on a second! The port seems to think about it for a moment, but then the air clears and suddenly the butterfly-filled gardens and trash-free streets reveal themselves. The last bit of leftover smog blows away, and a beautiful, clean, bright Port Promise is revealed. Knox's hard work has had results after all!
With light hearts and clear lungs, the Lynx household can return to their regular tasks. Catarina is becoming quite good at making candles to sell at their regular yard sales.
Generally it's Mary who runs these, as the best salesperson in the household. She seems to be able to sell the table out at a 300% markup on a regular basis.
Blossom remains the household fabricator, and now regularly makes furniture to sell, as well as upgrade parts.
And Knox puts those parts to good use, upgrading and repairing things around the place to make everyone more comfortable in their off-grid household.
All in all, they're a very happy household. Blossom and Mary love their quirky container house and having Knox and Catarina living with them. There's only one problem...
Catarina knows, deep in her heart, that even though it's lovely here, they can't stay forever.
"Knox, we need to face facts. I know I'm not pregnant yet, but once it happens, I won't be able to climb up and down that ladder to our room any more. And even if I could, there's no way either of us are carrying a newborn up and down it all the time. Or ever. It's dangerous."
Knox was in agreement. "I've been thinking about it too, and you're right. It's just...there's a tiny bit more I need to do here, in Port Promise, before I can leave. The environment is restored, but I need to make sure the community space is renovated and being used. Then I'll be done here."
"So we stop trying for a while?"
"Just a little while," Knox said. "I swear. We need to raise some more money anyway, we can't afford our own place yet. So let's give it a season or two, focus on earning as much as possible and finish cleaning up the port, and then we'll move back to Brindleton Bay to have our family."
Catarina was sad to put having a baby on hold, but what Knox was saying was fair. "Deal."
Not only was it fair, he was right about the money. A new house would be expensive - they didn't have enough in savings to afford it yet. So she started throwing herself into her performance at work, those early morning shifts out on the ocean growing more intense than ever.
Knox had also let Mary and Blossom know their plans, and while they had loved having everyone together, they were understanding of the fact that it would be difficult to raise a baby in the container home. They resolved to help Knox and Catarina save up for their new home.
So the yard sales continued apace. The rest of the family contributed anything they found while out and about, and Mary spun it into triple it's value with her smooth sales pitches and welcoming neighbourly demeanour.
She also took up juice fizzing, now that the machine had finally been repaired by Knox. Strawberries and lemons from the garden quickly became her favourites - the mushroom fizz pretty much flopped, unsurprisingly!
Catarina's fishing was useful outside of work too, because the fish could be taken home for free meals, or sold to other Sims for extra cash. Bob bought some fresh trout off her in Oasis Springs.
Then joined her for a while, as a keen fisherman himself. The two were friends by this point, making for the second strongest crossover between the Townie households after Lilith and Johnny.
When the fish were running well Catarina would sometimes even stay overnight in the park, rising early the next morning to get going again.
Then fishing all day before enjoying some of the spoils in the quiet of the desert. Finally, she headed home with cash in her pocket, fish in her cooler, and in dire need of a shower.
Back home, as promised, Knox was thinking hard about the local community space, and how he could tidy it up and get it used for something by the community of Port Promise.
Despite the port itself getting a tidy up, the warehouse space was still messy and unutilised. He wanted to change that.
It took a bit of research but Knox eventually came up with a plan he was happy with. He decided to see if Blossom would help him enact it.
And soon enough, she did exactly that. They advertised and set it up as a space for sellers of homemade crafts, taking inspiration from the success of Mary's yard sales.
Blossom takes a look around and likes what she sees, but does suggest to Knox that they should try a maker space as well. Only people who already have the equipment they need at home can sell homemade crafts. A maker space, where the equipment could be provided for all to use, would give more people a chance to create things the whole community might benefit from.
Unfortunately, despite all the hard work and chipping in and never spending anything more than necessary, sometimes expensive things come along that can't be avoided.
Like a trip to the vet for Bartholemew when he gets fleas. Catarina, of course, can't bear the thought of anything less than ideal treatment, so a $750 bill follows, making this the most expensive flea treatment ever given.
Even more unfortunately, no matter what you're willing to spend at the vet, sometimes it isn't enough. Late in the spring Catarina's oldest cat, Josie, passes away.
Just like when she lost Doc, Catarina is devastated. Touchingly, this time, she's not the only one. Blossom and Mary both love her cats too, and mourn Josie's loss almost as much as she does.
Consequently, Catarina is not in much of a mood to celebrate Love Day when it rolls around.
"We should just skip the date and save the money," she sniffs, when Knox suggests they go out for dinner.
"Absolutely not. A little money on a nice meal won't set us back much on the new house, and we both need the distraction."
Knox's sweet gestures go a long way to cheering Catarina up.
And the meal is lovely as well. Both of them are pleased they chose to go out.
And just like that, the spring is coming to an end. Knox enjoys one last afternoon in a park, making the most of the warm spring weather before the heat of the summer.
He also decides to wish for the money to buy Catarina her new house so they can start their family. Wise? Unwise? It's hard to say.
And so they finish the season still living with Blossom and Mary in the off-grid container home, but with some progress made towards their savings goal and a revitalised community space bustling with people just down the road.
Rejoining the Lynx household for their second spring, both Catarina and I are disappointed to find ourselves still mired in a heavily industrial environment. Knox worked hard last season to institute some quality green initiatives, but they don't seem to be paying off...
Except, hold on a second! The port seems to think about it for a moment, but then the air clears and suddenly the butterfly-filled gardens and trash-free streets reveal themselves. The last bit of leftover smog blows away, and a beautiful, clean, bright Port Promise is revealed. Knox's hard work has had results after all!
With light hearts and clear lungs, the Lynx household can return to their regular tasks. Catarina is becoming quite good at making candles to sell at their regular yard sales.
Generally it's Mary who runs these, as the best salesperson in the household. She seems to be able to sell the table out at a 300% markup on a regular basis.
Blossom remains the household fabricator, and now regularly makes furniture to sell, as well as upgrade parts.
And Knox puts those parts to good use, upgrading and repairing things around the place to make everyone more comfortable in their off-grid household.
All in all, they're a very happy household. Blossom and Mary love their quirky container house and having Knox and Catarina living with them. There's only one problem...
Catarina knows, deep in her heart, that even though it's lovely here, they can't stay forever.
"Knox, we need to face facts. I know I'm not pregnant yet, but once it happens, I won't be able to climb up and down that ladder to our room any more. And even if I could, there's no way either of us are carrying a newborn up and down it all the time. Or ever. It's dangerous."
Knox was in agreement. "I've been thinking about it too, and you're right. It's just...there's a tiny bit more I need to do here, in Port Promise, before I can leave. The environment is restored, but I need to make sure the community space is renovated and being used. Then I'll be done here."
"So we stop trying for a while?"
"Just a little while," Knox said. "I swear. We need to raise some more money anyway, we can't afford our own place yet. So let's give it a season or two, focus on earning as much as possible and finish cleaning up the port, and then we'll move back to Brindleton Bay to have our family."
Catarina was sad to put having a baby on hold, but what Knox was saying was fair. "Deal."
Not only was it fair, he was right about the money. A new house would be expensive - they didn't have enough in savings to afford it yet. So she started throwing herself into her performance at work, those early morning shifts out on the ocean growing more intense than ever.
Knox had also let Mary and Blossom know their plans, and while they had loved having everyone together, they were understanding of the fact that it would be difficult to raise a baby in the container home. They resolved to help Knox and Catarina save up for their new home.
So the yard sales continued apace. The rest of the family contributed anything they found while out and about, and Mary spun it into triple it's value with her smooth sales pitches and welcoming neighbourly demeanour.
She also took up juice fizzing, now that the machine had finally been repaired by Knox. Strawberries and lemons from the garden quickly became her favourites - the mushroom fizz pretty much flopped, unsurprisingly!
Catarina's fishing was useful outside of work too, because the fish could be taken home for free meals, or sold to other Sims for extra cash. Bob bought some fresh trout off her in Oasis Springs.
Then joined her for a while, as a keen fisherman himself. The two were friends by this point, making for the second strongest crossover between the Townie households after Lilith and Johnny.
When the fish were running well Catarina would sometimes even stay overnight in the park, rising early the next morning to get going again.
Then fishing all day before enjoying some of the spoils in the quiet of the desert. Finally, she headed home with cash in her pocket, fish in her cooler, and in dire need of a shower.
Back home, as promised, Knox was thinking hard about the local community space, and how he could tidy it up and get it used for something by the community of Port Promise.
Despite the port itself getting a tidy up, the warehouse space was still messy and unutilised. He wanted to change that.
It took a bit of research but Knox eventually came up with a plan he was happy with. He decided to see if Blossom would help him enact it.
And soon enough, she did exactly that. They advertised and set it up as a space for sellers of homemade crafts, taking inspiration from the success of Mary's yard sales.
Blossom takes a look around and likes what she sees, but does suggest to Knox that they should try a maker space as well. Only people who already have the equipment they need at home can sell homemade crafts. A maker space, where the equipment could be provided for all to use, would give more people a chance to create things the whole community might benefit from.
Unfortunately, despite all the hard work and chipping in and never spending anything more than necessary, sometimes expensive things come along that can't be avoided.
Like a trip to the vet for Bartholemew when he gets fleas. Catarina, of course, can't bear the thought of anything less than ideal treatment, so a $750 bill follows, making this the most expensive flea treatment ever given.
Even more unfortunately, no matter what you're willing to spend at the vet, sometimes it isn't enough. Late in the spring Catarina's oldest cat, Josie, passes away.
Just like when she lost Doc, Catarina is devastated. Touchingly, this time, she's not the only one. Blossom and Mary both love her cats too, and mourn Josie's loss almost as much as she does.
Consequently, Catarina is not in much of a mood to celebrate Love Day when it rolls around.
"We should just skip the date and save the money," she sniffs, when Knox suggests they go out for dinner.
"Absolutely not. A little money on a nice meal won't set us back much on the new house, and we both need the distraction."
Knox's sweet gestures go a long way to cheering Catarina up.
And the meal is lovely as well. Both of them are pleased they chose to go out.
And just like that, the spring is coming to an end. Knox enjoys one last afternoon in a park, making the most of the warm spring weather before the heat of the summer.
He also decides to wish for the money to buy Catarina her new house so they can start their family. Wise? Unwise? It's hard to say.
And so they finish the season still living with Blossom and Mary in the off-grid container home, but with some progress made towards their savings goal and a revitalised community space bustling with people just down the road.