Worth the Wait

 "Surely he'll be here soon. I'll just check my email..."

"Hmmm... no answer."

"...."

"Mmmm....Worth the wait!"

The Nerenzo patio chair has lots of animations to pass the time. It's available in two versions: adult which has 208 bento animations, and cuddle which has 67. The chair comes with plants, candy, candles, and rose petals-- everything you need to set the mood. The table also rezzes props including champagne and strawberries. Plus there's a texture menu that lets you customize all the furniture colors. The land impact is low and the quality is high, so check it out at the Home, Garden & Breedables Expo:

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Hope%205/50/72/24

Lovely Finds

I recently changed houses in Bellisseria which prompted me to rethink my decorating choices.  This time I was ready to display some newer items. Not too long ago, I played Concept's Charm gacha and got a sofa, plants, and lamp with a tropical bird theme. I loved the design but didn't really have anything that went with them. It's time to head over to the Home, Garden & Breedables Expo!

There I found some lovely framed prints from Moonley, Inc., that were not only perfect, they were a hunt prize as well! Each print in the Vintage Bird set has a land impact of 2 and is resizable using a menu. Then I found an inlay coffee table at Wythburn that rezzes decor objects, including a nest of eggs. The stain glass inlay had just the right colors, and it's a hunt prize too! Here's a photo of the finished grouping:

I had a similar problem upstairs. Starting  with a cabinet from Birdy's Forest Kitchen that has a leafy pattern on top, I added a few items from .random.Matter's Herbology set. At the Expo, Moonley Inc. also had some vintage fern prints, which completed the area beautifully. Here's a photo:

Check out the Expo to find the perfect unifying object for your decor. Proceeds from many of the objects benefit the American Cancer Society.

Moonley Inc. is here: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Hope%205/106/103/23

Wythburn is here: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Hope%205/6/111/23

Vroooom!

I love vintage sports cars in real life, so I jumped at the chance to try one out as a blogger for the Home, Garden and Breedables Expo in Second Life. This gorgeous roadster is made by SA-1, inspired by the Triumph TR3. The real life car was built between 1955 and 1962 and still looks like a classic. Here's the second life version:

The car is one of the best I've driven in Second Life, and it has a lot of nice features. First of all, the land impact is only 22, which is perfect to keep it rezzed in my driveway. Four colors are included along with body textures of all four so you can mod them. Plus it comes with a template texture so you can make your own paint scheme. Here's another of the included colors:

It's great to take to the beach. It drives on all terrains very well. I took it down the sidewalk, over a grassy hill, and even into the sea and it never faltered. It climbed right out. To drive, you attach a HUD, click the car to activate the HUD, get in, start the engine on the HUD and off you go in first gear. You move with arrow keys, and change gears by paging up and down. The lower gears are slow enough for cruising without going out of control. The higher gears are really fast. And if shifting is too much trouble, you can go into automatic transmission by clicking the gear icon on the HUD. The engine makes a nice sound which varies with shifting. Here's a photo of the HUD. It even has GPS!

The doors, hood, and trunk open, or maybe i should say bonnet and boot. :) SA-1 also makes a free gas pump so you can fill it up. That's optional, it runs fine without it, but is a nice option for Roleplay. 

The car has some delightful detail. Here's a photo of the dashboard:

If you zoom in you can see that it even has Lucas electrics, just like the real thing. Lucas is affectionately called 'the prince of darkness' but I hear the electrical system is more reliable in SL. It also has knock off wire wheels. It's very satisfying in real life to hit the ears with a brass hammer when you're frustrated after getting a flat. It's nice to see such attention to detail on the virtual version.

You can find this and other fine automobiles from SA-1 at the Home, Garden & Breedables Expo:

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Hope%205/92/57/23

I'll close with a photo of one of SA-1's other cars, a Cobra 427. One of its options is a Christmas paint job with included tree. The engine growls beautifully and you can play the radio.

Centaur Parade

Every year Jinx holds a centaur parade. It includes big centaurs, light ones, dinkies and petites. When I arrived, all of these were present, but there were no dragotaurs. I quickly changed and took my place on the ridge.

Centaurs got there early and soon filled the Heliodor sim.

More dragotaurs arrived including one who could breathe fire. And he did, surprising a couple of centaurs.

The parade started and wound through three sims: Heliodor, Elemaria, and Spirit Valley of Kuruk. The way was laggy but fun, and most of us rested in the clearing when we finally reached Kuruk.

Then it was time to go, and dragotaurs took flight.

Centaurs and Dragotaurs can be found at Jinx, now at Fantasy Faire
My outfit is Ramaya from Go! (gacha prizes)
My makeup is Fire Fox from [Gauze]

Never Give Up

“Never give up, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn.”

Harriet Beecher Stowe

Credits:

Items now at Fantasy Faire are linked

Vesta Gown - [QE] Designs

Rana jewelry set -  !Lyrical B!zarre Templates!

Tonatiuh Crown - Bliensen + MaiTai

Alessia Hair - EMO-tions

Noldor Ears - Swallow

Minoan Priestess Pose (and snakes) - Unslutty and Undead

Setting:

Spring of the Faire - Harshlands

Renaissance Pavilion - Designs by Chant Lyric

A Horse of a Different Color

You may have noticed that I blog about horses a lot. I really like the Water Horse brand. It can be endlessly modified and adapted. Teegle horses are nice too, and I love to watch the animesh versions frolicking in the pasture. Lately I've been riding RealHorse from Elite Equestrian. They have different horses for different riding styles. For example, there's an Arabian that comes in a sidesaddle edition, a dressage edition, one that's equipped for jousting, and a hunter. They are inexpensive comparatively, and you just add one and go, without looking for a saddle or a tail. They generally come with a hud to change color and one for gestures. Each hud comes with 6 coats and they can be tinted. More editions and styles keep coming. Among the latest are the fantasy horses which were introduced at Fantasy Faire this year.

If fishes were horses, mermaids could ride, and now they do. This is the Kelpy. It's a gacha prize and does not change color, but you have a chance of a number of colors each time you play. These horses are animated and shimmer and glow in various windlights.

The Mini Pixie is also now at Fantasy Faire. It is a fae pony sized for petite and toddler avatars. It has wings that move when you walk or fly, and also comes with a texture hud and gesture hud. It looks like this:

Here's another view:

The Pixie horse is also available for standard size avatars. There are also some beautiful Unicorns, but I can't buy everything, sadly.

And here's a look at my mermaid costume:

Credits not in text:

Horses from Elite Equestrian

Photos taken in Melusina's Depths and Queensgarden at Fantasy Faire

Mermaid

Now at Fantasy Faire:

Chrysalis Crown in Glacial is from Ambix

Hair is Belle in Fantasy Gradient from !!Firelight!!

Skin is Atharia in Fumiko from Petrichor/Plastik

Not at FF:

Mermaid outfit is Ligie from Gaeline

Noldor ears from Swallow

Underarm fins from Aii

Oh Oh it's Magic makeup from Shiny Stuffs

Pixie

Not at FF

Yabu Petite3 avatar

Dress is Lemanja from Bare Rose

Hair is Monique in Seafoam from Wasabi Pills

A New Library

"What is this on the table?" asked the little centaur.

"It's a model of our new library," the professor answered. "Look closely," she added, pointing with her staff. "The top and sides open so you can look in." She touched the top and sides to demonstrate and they opened slowly.

"Ooooh!" squealed the child.

The little centaur peered inside. "It's certainly a marvel," she murmured.

"That it is," the professor agreed. "Look how detailed it is, and it only has a land impact of 10!"

"After it's built, can I have the model to use as a dollhouse for Centaur Barbie?"

"That depends on how well you do this term"

"I'd better start working on my conjugations!"

The professor smiled.

Credits:

Links are to stores that are now at Fantasy Faire

The Prairie Library is a historic miniature made by Little, Big Designs.
Medieval Room Backdrop is by The Olde Attic

The Little Centaur is wearing Jinx's CenTEENYtaur and Arabian Nights Set with Tiny Inc's Dinkietaur avatar

Her top and necklace and bracelets are from Layali by Designs by Isaura 

Her hair is Little from Magika

The Professor is wearing Jinx's Cen-Lightaur andArabian Nights Set

Flag tail is from Cinnamon

Twilight Rain centaur skin is from Lunistice

Her skin is Eir in Amethyst from Ab Fab

Her Lavai Horns and Tsubome Staff are from Petrichor (formerly Plastik)

Her top and bracelets are from Devious Mind (gacha prizes)

Jewelry is from The Looking Glass (gacha prizes)

Hair is Andrew from Astrology