Change...

Whether through no fault of our own or of our own choosing, change does happen. Things that are familiar to our lives in here surprise us with the fierceness of the memories we attach to them. Today, I sold my first land in Caledon to my neighbor Mr Melnik. I enjoyed tweaking this little plot, adding things and having fun with it. Riding Flashy from it across the nation. Target practice in the backyard. Just sitting on the ground in the back talking with Puck. Tea with Eds in the carriage house. It being set afire during the great Mayfair Alien Invasion for RFL. Using it as my home when the servers were so bad I couldn't log in anywhere else. I loved this little parcel. I will still be maintaining my store in Regency and as a Messmer, we have land in Mayfair and Penzance, but I remember my great joy and excitement upon purchasing this parcel and while sorry to let it go, change happens...
There is no need for me to speak any more upon the utter pain and anger that so many of the peerage in Caledon have felt upon the losses of their openspace duchy sims. To choose to leave is one thing, but to be forced to is another. To say that our community has not been irrevocably altered by this particular change would be a lie on my part. Tonight, I attended the last event--a holiday ball--at the duchy of Loch Avie. As I twirled through the snow with Lunar, I thought once again about how you become familiar with a place, and there is a comfort in that, even in here. Your Grace, thank you for the lovely things you have done for the Caledon community and Loch Avie will be truly missed.

Grand Tour: Under the Sea in Argylle

To end tonight's stops on the Grand Tour, I went to Caledon Argylle for Lord Edward's Underwater Ball. I danced with the gentleman himself in his watertight dome, a good thing as I know of a rather large fish named Chester who makes his home in these waters...I then had the pleasure of dancing with Mr Eclectric Breitman, a rather witty conversationalist. I do love lightning bugs... The lovely mermaid Miss Tiziana Corleone......and Miss RubyRed Xue, who was in attendance at some of the other events and intrigued us as she strolled by outside the dome in a rudimentary diving helmet...

Grand Tour: Babbage Mystery & Steeltopian Gears

Miss Capalini's missing? Something about wrenches--or was that wenches? And Prussians? My next stop on the Grand Tour found Phin and me dancing at the Autumn Mystery Ball at Piermont Landing in New Babbage, where clues were given and it was up to us to figure out the mystery!Mr Jimmy Branagh, one of Babbage's urchins, came to the Ball rather nattily attired I might say...
Afterwards, I needed to make a quick stop to the Library in Caledon Victoria City. I found an intriguing mushroom and took a nibble. I must have face-planted rather quickly, as I soon awoke to Phin's calling out "Medic!" You would think I would've learned my lesson from the last time...Phin had other matters to attend to, so I continued on to the next stop in the Tour and went to Steeltopia, where we had a great time dancing among the rotating gears...

Grand Tour: A Farewell to Coughton Court

The Grand Tour has been going on since the early morning (for me), but I wasn't able to go until Gabi's "Tulips in the Snow" Ball at her Coughton Court in Caledon Carntaigh. Here she is with Baron Wulfenbach...I wore my 1891 Isabella Stewart Gardner Worth gown, which I specially created for my exhibit at the Caledon Library and will talk about at another time. I had a chance to dance with Sir JJ...
...and reminisce with my old friend, the original jager, Jagermeister Szondi--who reminded me that I was one of the very first members of the Jagerkin...
...and my wonderful Phin was able to join me, as this place is special to us as this is where we had our first dance over a year ago... It was a bittersweet evening for Gabi, as this might be the very last ball to be held here. I have had a lot of fantastic and fun memories here and with her in this place. If anything, tonight reminded me how familiar and comforting places can be here inworld as well. A hug for you Gabi, and thank you for all of the wonderful times.

A Masquerade

One of the concluding events of Steelhead's fairy tales festival was a masquerade, surrounded by the art hung in the ballroom...Here I am in front of mine and Gryffin's contributions. Congrats on a lovely festival! I am looking forward to the storytelling again soon!

Caledon Firth Anniversary Ball

Our hostess Dia, Her Grace Lady Whoopass herself, looked lovely in a medieval houppelande-inspired dress I made specifically for her in her colors... I twirled and swirled as DrBob and I danced...
An overview of the dance floor with the array of the Firth duchies' heraldic flags (and the Caledon naval flag) displayed...
And me dancing with Lunar, one of my absolute favorite dance partners, who attended as well as some of my other Steelhead neighbors...

Lancers, Huck, and a Waiting Kitty

I have completed the latest version of my Worker ensembles in "Peat"--a deep dark brown. Sir Tele asked to see it just before going to the Caledon Lancers review and Edison Ball. I found him on the top of a Loch Avie tower and we were joined by Dia, also rather smart in Lancer uniform. My, that will be quite a hop for Boanerges...I've been busy with shopkeeping, but stopped through the Edison Ball at Loch Avie. Oh dear, everyone being an interesting shade of grey really must stop...
Afterwards, I stopped through the Mark Twain-themed Steelhead Friday night party...
And Mr G. Hax and I have been bustling around the Inkyboy Gallery prepping it for the Grand Opening New Orleans "Patina" exhibit party Sunday. I tp'd back upstairs from the basement and thought it was so very cute that my kitty Nefi was sitting there waiting for me...

An Interesting Evening of Dancing and More...

I attended a "Victorian Ball" in the full Activ8 sim as part of an author's book promotion. Being Caledonian, it is always interesting to see others' views as to what constitutes "Victorian". Some Caledonians and Babbagers were present and we had a rather amusing time. Here I am dancing with Lord Otenth... Doc Mason and I could not stop laughing at the comments going on around us...such as one woman's assessment of her friend's cleavage. And the Victorian dress prizes were a staggering 20K - 50K! If I knew I would've definitely worn something different! You can read the doctor's rather tongue-in-cheek coverage of the Ball HERE...
Sir Zen was able to acquire a ticket for me to a sold-out performance of the ZeroG Skydancers. If you have never been to one, I cannot quite describe the experience except for the word "amazing" so if you hear about tickets being available for another, GO...
I ended my evening sitting on my dock talking to Gryffin about all sorts of things...mostly art, relationships, and life. It's always nice to have good friends to talk to in here, isn't it?

Caledon-Winterfell Ball

Tonight was the Winterfell-Caledon Ball celebrating the joining of our two nations. I heard it had crashed the sim at its original Winterfell location, so it was relocated to Cape Wrath...My escort for the evening was Prof. Messmer and thanks to RL and computer problems I arrived at the end of the 8th dance. Look at all the lovely gray people!
At least I had finished making my dress and I was happy with it. We indeed made the most of it and I enjoyed dancing with him...
Afterwards I put on a warm coat and we went skating in our finery at Steelhead...

Pre-Thanksgiving Ball

I arrived a bit late to the Pre-Thanksgiving Ball at Loch Avie hosted by Her Grace Loch Avie and the Baroness Bardhaven due to being at the Steelhead Military Ball earlier. I did get there in time for the last three dances of the evening! First, I danced with Mr Hax, who looked so dashing in his Lancers uniform!I then danced with my neighbor and tiny partner-in-crime Lord Heron, who I am always glad to see out at these sort of events...
And finally, with the handsome Professor Messmer...
Whom I went to the Guvnah's Mansion afterwards to look at the plans for Morgaine with, as he will be building Cape Messmer/Messmer Rocket Labs there! The Guvnah himself appeared while we were there, concerned that the duchy of Middlesea went down...
He teleported us with him to Caledon On Sea to watch the Lindens at work trying to restore it. We were also joined by Mr Hax, Miss Callisto and Cap'n Trenton and had a very good time talking with the Guvnah. Middlesea issues aside, it was quite a treat to be able to chat with him for such a long time like that!

House of the Rose Ball...

Tonight was a lovely ball thrown in Loch Avie by Her Grace, Eva Bellambi, in honor of its naming: "Taigh Ròis" (Gaelic for "House of the Rose"). I battled lag and crashing (twice, dash it!), but had a wonderful time dancing the night away with a lineup of quite handsome gentlemen!Mr. Writer, with whom I danced many times including a "replacement" dance, excitedly talking about travel, exploring Caledon and well...writing...
The always gracious and fun Jarl Otenth Padenborn, wearing his Orkney tartan...
The charming, handsome Sir Hotspur, who looked very dashing in his Lancers uniform. Edwina, get your smelling salts ready...
And Mr. Smashcan, who has just returned from a visit to Caledon's namesake country...
Thank you for the wonderful dances gentlemen! I had a lovely time chatting with you all!

...And Then the Tartans!

After the formal part of the ball, the rave began and the winner of the "Tartan for a Day" auction item got to have their chance to dance with Duchesses and the famous Tartans. Miss Burton, dancing as "Eugene" (complete with fishnet stockings), had no problem getting into formation...Of course, I--and many others--somehow "lost" the majority of their clothing. At one point, I was dancing with Mr. Goodliffe, who was a kilted satyr. How naughty he was! I created a special waistcoat for Her Grace Eva Bellambi--a cropped, more provocative version of the O Caledon perfect for her Tartan dancing. I also created new, special open-front waistcoats for the Tartans, which you can see here on Mr. Margulis and Sir Zen. Oh...my...
Ohhh...so very dreamy and hot...I am fanning myself and it has nothing to do with the weather....

Dancing the Night Away

Mr. Mako Magellan's grand opening of his menswear shop in Victoria City was today. I stopped by to show my support...and dance a "little". Here I am with Marcell Anatine who looked splendid in this Magellan ensemble. Very "Master and Commander..."Later on that evening, I headed over to the investiture ball for the court of Carntaigh...
I ended up with a full dance card tonight (thank my lucky stars given the notorious ratio here), and twirled about with gents such as Sir Zen, who looked very "fannnnnncy" in his court dress and the sword he was knighted with...
...and Jarl Padenborn, who is quite a wonderful conversationalist.
I stopped through Regency for a moment to find a group on my neighbors Mr. Knight and Miss Greenspan's roof--being flung across the sim in a homemade catapult. I had to excuse myself early as I was preparing to leave for the country, but I must try it sometime!