I know it's not world peace ........

and the stupid thing isn't going to pay for itself .........but I'm having great fun building Aintree Common. Between hills and trails and planning sitting areas and forest - this is so not the way an adult should spend her time :) pfffft on that!

Canada Day!

July 1st is Canada Day! So I did a little decorating. :)

SL5B Fun!

Lag got me before I could capture the SLURL - but I did write down the name of this installation. Go to SL5B Render and check out the ChangHigh Show of Light, Life and Love. Take a few friends and have your own circus! Note that the poses aren't static - there are more but this should give you an idea. :)

SL5B - part deux

No this isn't SL5B - but I liked the image. The flowers were moving in the gentle breeze and .........never mind.

Sorry I didn't write down my locations - you'll just have to find them yourselves. :) This installation asked me to change my setting to midnight and tp up. I enjoyed being part of the build!

Another installation in the sky - they seemed to be grouped together.

I should have returned my settings to daylight. I'm sure the fact that it was dark was the reason I missed the sim boundary markers and wound up swimming underground. That would be the reason, right? Nobody would have forgotten some warnings would they? Or am I the only one who walks around and gets caught by these things?

I'll try to be more careful on the next trip.

SL5B

I have barely scratched the surface of everything that is included in the SL5B builds. You owe it to yourself, and all the people who have worked so hard, to go visit yourself. In the meantime, a few quick notes.

Crap has done a fabulous job with the Podcasters' exhibit. Makes the subject understandable and appealing. :)

Some exhibits are accessible and enjoyable - such as the Princeton Sculpture Garden. Other exhibits, not so much. :)

I would enjoy this one much more I'm sure if I understood it. The failure is in my limited knowledge - not the artist's work. Frankly the more I looked at the details in it - the less I got. :(

The Common

I realized that one of the reasons I haven't really gotten involved in landscaping the Common is that it was pretty dull from a terrain point of view. So I spent some time terraforming - it's lumpier at least. :)

This is not the Jetsons' housekeeping robot!

When Crap decided to breakdown his installation in the NIRL Garden - he really meant "break it down".

Crap setting the strategically placed charges.

Things start to come apart.

Not what you'd call a controlled implosion - no, none of that for Crap. He spreads his chaos to as wide a field as possible!

These innocent people were just wandering around on the ground. Little did they know .............. Somebody go get Rosie - this mess has to be cleaned up! :)

Hurrah for Wrath Paine!!

I got a message from a guy at SLCN asking if I wanted to advertise. We chatted and I decided to try it for a month. Was going to go with a static image til I remembered I actually know somebody with considerable machinima skills.

So when you're watching your favourite SLCN show and see this - drink a toast to Wrath. I certainly will! :)

Reality TV Confession

I do like to watch some TV - and some reality TV. Usually Canadian Idol until they vote off my favourite at which point they lose me. This year's crop seems unusually good. The best so far is a guy named Oliver Pigott - I like his brother as well. So if I disappear some evenings - it's cause I'm watching Canadian Idol - my one remaining vice.

You know you're in trouble when ..........

So I was working on the Aintree of my last post - when out of the corner of my eye I saw movement. It was this little guy paddling madly out to sea. Totally contrary to any programming, scripting, laws of nature of sl or of the metaverse!

I've been having a lot of trouble with my connection. The good news is that I finally found a techie at my ISP who agreed that my modem is fried and has shipped me a new one. The bad news is that it will be a few days before I get it.

I decided the extra-ordinary behaviour of my normally placid little duck must herald some sort of internet disaster (much like rats deserting a sinking ship). Sure enough my connection went down. So I took my dog for a walk.

The Aintree

I finally put in the reason why Aintree is called Aintree. There was a purpose behind that lump of land in the middle of the cove. So here is the "Aintree" everthing else is named after - at sunrise, in daylight and at sunset.

Need to start planting!

There's a flight of stairs on the Common now. Not much I admit. :) I need to get focused and get something done on the Open Space. That's today's project.

What would Emily Post say?

How does one offer hospitality to dragons? I mean, just putting out guest towels does not seem adequate.

Ahhhhhhh.......

There is still a lot to do - but in this light it doesn't look too bad. :)

I'm tired .........

To quote Lili von Shtupp! :) But I got a lot done today - it's just that when I look around there's so much more to do. Met a fellow blogger (Hey Meta!) and saw Go and Lunette. Reclaimed a bunch of the land on the open space from the water. A good day! :)

He brought a friend!

Two dragons? I'm going to have to make the paths wider! And Havok4 seems to have a bad effect on their av's. hmmmm

Linux and the waterfall .....

I had promised this dragon I know that I would replace the waterfall. He likes it - whew! I don't know what I'm going to do when he gets his full sized body. He won't fit!

3...2...1...shhhhhhhhhhh Launch

It's not finished - but then it never really will be finished. But it's open. Aintree Gardens on Aintree the island. I'm just starting to write the ads etc. In the meantime welcome - but consider it a work in progress. :)

At some point I'll have a party - I'll let you all know.

Issues

Have been spending some quality time on the phone with my ISP. Every time I start to make progress my connection drops again. The good news is that I'm finally getting some basic landscaping done to improve the "ambiance". :)

Close.......

I'm getting there. I'm afraid if I push and try and get it opened tonight I'll start making mistakes. Well, more mistakes than usual. :)

Hanging Baskets!

I think I finally figured out how to do hanging baskets! I'll get better - but in the meantime I'll get a few done for the soft launch.

Finish some baskets, some more flower arrangements, put everything out where it's supposed to be, finish some landscaping, price everything ........... See! I'm very close to opening. :)

The Common!

I put a piece of mainland up for sale today and it sold right away. So I used a portion of the proceeds to buy an Open Space. It rezzed while Go was visiting (she saw it rez, I didn't) so we made a quick trip over. I'll use it for forest and trails. Once I get the main island launched!

I love this place!

I'm not a fan of the narnia books - but I love a good build. Believe it or not this is just set up for a birthday party and will only be there for a week. It's worth exploring!

Speaking of Herbs

Finally got the herb garden started. I've got a lot more herbs to get done before it's anywhere near complete - but at least there's something planted now. :)

When it works!

I wasn't going to do any more plant textures until I had the island launched - but..............I had really wanted to have a lavender in the (admitedly incomplete) herb garden and I finally took a good photo. So I spent a looooooooong time in my photo editor and got what I hoped for. :) whew!

I'm sleep deprived for a number of reasons so I'm going to go and try and get some real rest. Back to building tomorrow.

Water Tank

Aintree isn't a tropical island but there is still a big concern about water. The plants require a lot to stay healthy so I decided to build a tank to capture some of the rain that arrives in the middle of the night. I'm putting in ground level channels which go through all of the planters and then through the shrubs and trees. (not my idea, got it from Alhambra)

I think it looks good. :)