It's not all that long ago since we've last been here; in fact, I think it was August of this year. If you remember, this is the house where part of the Monty family lives.
Or, rather, used to live. During the last week here, all family members perished in the flames when a rug in front of the fire place caught fire.
No, not all: Beatrice Monty is the only one left. What is she going to do now?
First things first - she sweeps the piles of ashes left from the fire.
The death of her twin brother Benedick, her 3-bolt-man Buck Grunt and his half-Alien son Graham affects her deeply.
She thinks of her dead loved ones all the time.
But she still goes to work on that Monday, and when her flash sports car drops her off in the afternoon, Castanea Landgraab is with her. She has recently lost her husband (Malcolm Landgraab) in a fire, too, and therefore can relate very well to how poor Beatrice is feeling.
Her cousins Mercutio and Romeo Monty are invited over. Romeo is accompanied by his daughter Marla, and Mercutio by his wife Sharla Ottomas.
Marla thinks it is awfully nice of Aunty Beatrice to make Santa cookies.
She and her Dad sit down to be the first to taste the cookies, and make Beatrice have a plate as well, although the poor woman isn't really in the mood for eating.
Later, the cousins and Beatrice's colleague even manage to talk her into a game of "Don't wake the Llama".
eanwhile, sisters-in-law Sharla and Lilith Ottomas (nee Pleasant, she married David Ottomas) eat the rest of the cookies and reminisce about their respective wedding parties.
Nearly unnoticed by everyone, Beatrice grows up into an Elder rather late at night (not at 6.00 pm, as she should have). Her outfit matches the room very well :-)
But this is the end of her stay at the big house alone - she is now eligible to move to the Senior Residence, and that is exactly what she is going to do.
When Beatrice arrives at the Senior Residence, it is Saturday there, and summer.
She moves into her rooms and puts up the photographs of herself and her brother. The only other personal items she has brought are a quilt, which goes on the wall opposite the photos, and some of her own pottery she made during her university years, such as the tea set.
The two ladies already in residence, Carla Reamon-Weir and Juliette Davis (nee Capp) are looking forward to a new face at the poker table. They are now 73 and 74.
But before she thinks of playing poker, Beatrice works on her charisma. She needs 3 skill points for her next promotion.
The Senior Residence by daylight. My offer is still standing - if you want me to send you the package file (furnished or unfurnished, no CC), email me at destinyauthor@googlemail.com.
The garden is a mess, which explains the skunk's visit. This time, it looks as if he has brought along a friend :-)
Carla surprises me by collecting old newspapers from the yard.
She surprises me even more when she decides to serve omelettes for breakfast. She and Juliette are on Permanent Platinum, and therefore I do not control them apart from making sure they greet other New Maimilianians as they walk by, and other rare occasions.
When Beatrice - who still has not met the other ladies properly - comes back from work, colleague Roxie Sharpe is with her.
When I last checked her relationships, Tybalt Capp was a 3-bolt-attraction. She rolls the want to invite someone over (not Tybalt specifically), and this is how she greets him - even though they have only just become friends during a recent phone call.
To my disappointment, she now has only 2 bolts for him.
On Sunday morning, Carla decides to give her personal bathroom a good scrub.
Later, I find her looking at the picture of Jennifer Burb, who was one of Carla's best friends and lived at the Senior Residence until her death the previous week.
Beatrice invites her cousins Romeo and Mercutio with their families over.
"So, watching telly is all you old folks do here?" Sharla inquires of Carla.
"Yeah... when we're not playing poker," Carla replies somewhat curtly and moves over to the table, where she and Juliette enjoy a game with Romeo Monty and David Ottomas.
On Monday morning, Carla cleans up the dirty dishes from yesterday's visit.
Beatrice is accompanied by colleague Justin Kim today.
She is the only Sim I fully control here, and so it falls on her to clean up when none of the others has done it on their own accord.
She still has time to go jogging with her younger colleague, though.
On Tuesday, Juliette cleans the shower she has been using most (although it is not part of her own rooms).
So far, Beatrice has had very little to do with her new house mates. When I make her get a leftover platter of omelettes from the fridge, I am of course hoping that the other ladies will join her - they are certainly hungry enough, but they prefer staying put at the poker table, and Beatrice eats alone.
She finally manages to maximize her charisma skill. But she has the rest of the time I am going to play this lot off, and therefore won't be reaching her LTW of becoming Hall of Famer until I come here again.
After she has put the thinking cap aside, I leave her to her own devices for a little while. She finds the portraits of some of the former residents here. "Such a nice-looking man, this Jason Larson... It's a shame I never got to meet him," she thinks.
On Wednesday, Beatrice rolls the wish to meet someone new. The Paper Boy happens to be the first person she comes across, and she tips him generously.
With all the move-ins, some of the residents still working plus several inheritances, this has become the wealthiest household I have ever had in my game with over 3 Million Simoleons!
I am a little bored and so decide to finally send someone to the beautiful community lot Twoyys4me has built and kindly sent me a while ago: St. Simius of Pleasantview.
It is the first time i enter the lot. Beatrice meets her old friend Jill Indie there (didn't they go to uni together?). David Ottomas is there, too, and Cherry Capp is dancing... not on the dance floor.
I am saving the rest of the lot for another occasion to show you :-)
Thursday is the seventh day I have been playing Beatrice. She starts it off by inviting her house mates to a round of jogging.
[Later, I have her do some badly needed gardening.
Her week ends with Ramir Patel walking by.
How long until Beatrice, now 60 years old, will reach her LTW? Is she going to fall in love again? Will she soon be on her own here, what with Juliette and Carla being already 80 and 79 years old?
Martina Martin has graduated in Arts and is now ready to pursue her lifetime want of becoming Celebrity Chef.
Maybe you remember that her father, Jacob Martin (son of Andrew Martin and a teenager when the game begins) recently died at the age of 68, in a lightning-induced fire. (In case you can't remember or simply want to re-read that chapter, it is here.) Since Martina did not feel like moving back into the house that is so full of painful memories for her, she chose to live somewhere else in New Maximiliania:
As you can see, this is one of the lots that have graphics glitches; one of the two tiny cottages sits right on the road instead of on the grass. I decide to move Martina out and give her this neat little house instead:
Sorry - don't know what happened there, I meant to show you a proper view of the house. But what's that on the grass in the far corner?
Fish swimming on dry land! Another graphics bug, it seems. But this time, it does not affect playing in the house, and so I let Martina stay here.
She has 13.782 Simoleons left when she buys the house. After decorating and furnishing it, there are 3.333 Simoleons left - I know, sounds funny, but that is exactly what happened, without me planning it, of course!
Oh, by the way, here is Martina. At college, she and one of the Picaso brothers autonomously fell in love with each other. We'll see whether she will roll any wants for him when spring comes round; right now, all she wants is to find a job.
But there is none available in the Culinary career.
The welcome committee has arrived: It's Desdemona Capp and her husband Isaiah, formerly Gavigan, and Frances J. Worthington, the man with the woman's name.
It is nearly 1.00 pm now, and Martina is very hungry. I direct her to make Chili con carne for herself and her guests.
Oh dear, that didn't quite go as planned! Of course there is no fire alarm installed...
...and soon, the welcome committee finds themselves receiving a VERY warm welcome themselves!
Honestly, I did not expect this chapter to be so short- it must be the shortest ever on this entire New Maximiliania blog. Poor Martina dies before her first day back in New Maximiliania is over.
Sorry! Now there is no-one left in the neighbourhood by the name Martin. I wonder what whoever will move here next will find - piles of ashes and an urn, no doubt, but will the flames still be raging? The fire was still burning when the game paused itself at the moment of Martina's death. And I suppose the members of the welcome committee will all need showers next time I'll see them at their own homes.
