Florence Delarosa: Week 5

[Simply click the "Delarosa" label at the top of the page to find Week 4.]

Florence Delarosa still lives in the house originally assigned to her by Maxis, but although the shop is still there, it has remained closed for a long time now.

Florence's previous week was drama-ridden, and to nobody's surprise she went into aspiration failure and needed the shrink's help.
Will she fare better this week? Let's find out!

Florence is now 64 years old and still striving to become a Prestidigitator.
One of the first things she does on that Wednesday, however, has nothing to do with her career but everything to do with her garden. In spite of employing a proper gardener, there is still loads to do. [For some unknown reason, the week at this household starts on a Wednesday.

She only interrupts her trimming of the shrubs long enough to greet Gunnar Roque, whose help is immediately enlisted.

Thursday begins for Florence at the piano. She loves to play and rolls the want to do so at least once a day.
     

Clover Capp walks by and is politely greeted. For the rest of the week, Clover will keep ringing Florence daily.
     

It is Friday, and Florence has a solitary meal of chef salad.
      

She decides to invite some of her friends over, and soon the place does not feel so lonely anymore.
      

That night, she returns from work with her final promotion: She is now a Prestidigitator, has reached her lifetime want and will be on Permanent Platinum for the rest of her life. Well done, Florence! Can't blame her for not looking as happy as expected; she went through too much last week.
      

The computer breaks down on Saturday. Florence can well afford the repair service, but decides to do it herself this time.
      

Isabella Indie walks by and stays for a while when Florence invites her in.
       

The original flower beds were beyond recovery after the long winter (not to mention weeks of neglect), but Florence has always loved her garden and gives it a fresh lick of paint, so to speak, with colourful flower beds and some new decorative items.
She then rings the garden club and requests membership.
      

Soon, the evaluation team appears, and to my surprise even has a close look at the plants in the (non-operative) flower shop!
       

Florence has taken great care to trim all the hedges and shrubs before the evaluation team arrived. She really couldn't have done any more, but although membership to the garden club is granted, she does not get any reward.
    

On Sunday, she enjoys a quiet morning with the Sunday paper and the crossword.
       

Ever since having planted her new flower beds, stray dogs have become a real problem. If they don't roll in the soil and spoil the flowers...
       

...they eat them. Florence can hardly keep up with shooing them; they seem just to wait until she turns her back before abusing the flower beds again.
       

Each and every one of them!
     

On Monday, Deirdre Dreamer happens to walk by just as Florence has called the garden club again. Of course, she is not only greeted, but also asked to help with some gardening. However, it does not change the garden club head's mind; she decides it is too soon after their first evaluation visit, and advises Florence so ring again tomorrow.
       

At night, two stray dogs, one with scary eyes, gang on Florence and growl at her when she tries to defend her poor flowers.
       

She gets up on Tuesday morning just before six, determined to make this a Good Day and not to worry too much about the dogs.
      

So much for a Good Day! When she opens the connecting door between her living quarters and the shop, she finds that the hydrobot is broken and must have been splashing water around for hours.
       

She manages to turn it off and ring the repair service. When Aldric Davis walks by, she is very glad about the unexpected help.
      

Ms Zarubin told her yesterday to ring again today, and so Florence does that. This time, the evaluation team turns up again in full strength. The garden is spotless, and Florence receives 1.206 Simoleons as a reward. She does not need the money but would have loved to be the first Sim in New Maximiliania to own a Wishing Well.
       

Rick Contrary is one of her closest friends, and Florence is delighted when he comes visiting - but is this how friends should behave? When she goes to the toilet, Rick nicks the garden gnome!

The rest of Tuesday passes by without anything worth mentioning. The "catastrophes" of this week were minor in comparison to those before, and all things considered, Florence has done well. She is now 74 and could still have another full week ahead.

Will her garden ever be good enough for the garden club to reward her with a Wishing Well?
Is she going to remain on her own for the rest of her life?