Castanea Landgraab: Week 7

Click here if you want to (re-)read Week 6 at this house.

The Landgraab mansion is still the original Maxis-made building, but with some alterations by me: There is the annex to the far right of the picture, with a swimming pool and jaccuzzi, and the garage to the left (or was that already there?). Also, the facade has been plastered an elegant yet cheerful yellow some years ago.

The view from the back shows how the roof of the annex serves as an addtional terrace/balcony, overlooking the nearby shore.

This used to be, as I am sure you know, the home of Malcolm Landgraab and his half-Alien twins Lilo and Lance. Shortly before the twins left for college, Malcolm got together with Castanea Capp, one of Tybalt Capp's plantchildren.
Malcolm sadly died some time ago, and Lilo and Lance did not return to their old home after college (at least not yet - I don't know if they will at some stage).

Castanea, the young widow, is left on her own, with mostly only the butler for company. The two of them have become friends, last but not least because of Castanea's generousness towards her employee, like on this Monday morning.
She is working at becoming Hall of Famer and currently holds the position of All Star.

The butler has, as usual, provided breakfast, but also as usual, Castanea has eaten it alone.

In the evening, she works at her body skill on the rooftop terrace.

On Tuesday morning, she wakes up early, hours before the Butler is due to arrive, and decides to make her own breakfast.

That gives the Butler more time to work alongside the gardener, who is always here on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

After work, Castanea asks her sister Cherry over. Cherry has married Justin Kim, as you probably remember. Nigel Newson has walked past and is asked to join the ladies for some grilled cheese.

Later, Cherry shows off her impressive skill at diving into the swimming pool.

It is Wednesday when Castanea meets and greets Fenya Hart.

It is also the day I send her to a community lot. The fridge needs stocking up, and I am not sure whether the Butler will do that, so I have Castanea drive to the grocery store.

She meets several other New Maximilianias there, among them Nathan Gavigan, Ophelia Nigmos, Jared Starchild, Tessa Ramirez and Björn Summerdream.

A townie named Peter Sims takes it upon himself to grill hotdogs for everyone. I am not sure I have observed this happening autonomously in my game before.

On Thursday, a drop in temperature means Castanea is happy to light the fire in the morning.

She returns home from work that day with a promotion to MVP.

She is happy about the promotion but knows it also adds to her responsibilities - she needs one more friend and some skills to advance further.

On Friday morning, Castanea wakes up with the symptoms of a bad cold. Thankfully, it does not stay with her for the rest of the week, but comes and goes.

She still goes to work but has a welcome rest afterwards in her cosy living room, the fire crackling away merrily in the grate, watching sports on telly.

She spots Matthew Cho outside, a townie recently moved to New Maximiliania for good, and invites him in. He heads to the jaccuzzi straight away, and it seems like Castanea is impressed with his nonchalance at entering the hot bubbly water in nothing but his birthday suit.

Early on Saturday morning, Matthew is seen leaving Castanea's bedroom.
But... it isn't what it looks like. In fact. Castanea was very tired and went to bed, when Matthew decided it was time to say good-bye to his hostess.
Still, the two of them hit it off from the start, friendship-wise, and she needs another friend for her career.

Having a new friend has made her earn her promotion to Superstar the same day!

That certainly calls for a celebration with friends and family, and soon all her siblings and their respective partners plus Matthew are invited over.

Castanea serves Christmas cookies (yes, it is that time of year) while some of her guests help themselves to drinks at the bar.

The kitchen is the meeting point for Ginger and Nigel Newson as well as Castanea's brother Clover.

Cherry is about to dive into the pool again, just like last time she was here, while others have gathered in the jaccuzzi.
It is a lively afternoon and evening, with everybody having a lot of fun.

Sunday is not off to the best start when an unkown townie kicks over the trash can for I don't know what reason. Good job the Butler is there to clean up the mess, as Castanea has to go to work again.

She ends the week talking to some of her friends on the phone.

Will she find someone to capture her heart again at some stage? Is she going to get in touch with her late husband's children, Lance and Lilo? How long before she will reach Permanent Platinum?