What a cute and cozy Christmas cabin @puzzlezaddict !
Mr Addy glanced over while I looking at it and mentioned liking the way it looks. This smaller build looks quite spacious which is a feat in itself, lol
I just typed a comment in for you, @puzzlezaddict and then hit save draft and it vanished. Hmmm...
Love that cabin: it's so cozy and festive, and makes me want to go there.
Intrigued by your user name: Jigsaw puzzles? Cryptic crossword? Number puzzles? Word puzzles? Or just the permanent puzzle of How To Get Everything Done And Still Have Simming Time As Well?
@SamelaRita It's about logic puzzles, mostly, although a crossword will do in a pinch. I also enjoy things that are not puzzles in the strictest sense but involve figuring out how to do something in the most convenient or efficient way, for example games that involve stealth and careful planning to take out the bad guys. Or getting my sims and their kids out the door on time in the morning. Jigsaw puzzles are for when I'm forced to spend extended time with family in a somewhat remote area with no wifi.
As for how to get stuff done and still have time for simming, I used to know how to do that. I think I forgot around three years ago, not sure why. Of course, it doesn't help when CASt somehow pukes glitter all over my carefully designed wood floor when I'm not looking and refuses to clean it up. I took that as a sign to quit for the night.
This site has been eating my text recently too, mostly PMs but one comment vanished too. I'd like to blame Origin, if only I can figure out how.
Thanks for asking about puzzles @SamelaRita because I was also curious and kept meaning to ask @puzzlezaddict
I love sudoku and during lockdown came across a youtube channel, Cracking the Cryptic, where two fellows from the UK solve them. They have other videos as well (for example: streaming sessions of Baba is You, Return of the Obra Dinn, The Witness).
I have done crosswords but it's more for me to learn new words & their meanings (I will use a dictionary and/or look things up) than anything else. I like hidden pictures or spot the difference but don't bother with timed ones because it's more a matter of solving it than worrying about how fast I am.
Love jigsaw puzzles but rarely get to do them. My daughter uses them as a stress reliever so our one table always has an ongoing project and she has a hard time sharing them even when we plan to work together. I get growled at for grabbing a piece to place, lol ... it's okay, I know she needs to downtime more than me & I always know what to get her as part of her gift "pile".
First of all thank you all ever so much for your lovely comments on my gifts for Charlottekn 🤗🌸 .
This Gift Exchange has managed to spur on everyone to produce some extremely creative builds again
@ADWilson I know you've got thrown in the deep end but you have managed to create an absolutely gorgeous home with Seaben Circle in a very short time. Ce Ce le Ben, Cody and Sparky are sims everyone will love to add to their games
@SamelaRita you are most certainly the empress of Renovacies!! You always come up with fantastic background stories for your households and builds and this one is no exception. Love it
@GraceyManor 99 Landgraab Lane looks a very cozy home for the lovely Douglas Family. Fab choice of colours for the wonderful interior!
Yours and Addy's twin ideas about firefighters and their Dalmatians made me giggle ... you both been watching too many episodes of Paw Patrol
@Charlottekn love the history you've included for Stardew Farm your beautiful New England farmhouse build. The Sharpe family looks a fun household to play especially having such an industrious ghost. Snowflake Day Park is a fabulous community lot that I will definitely steal for my alpine world
@LMC6255 Lunar Lakes Dream House and Amy & Meteor Moonbeam are a perfect gift for Puddinroy ... although I think I may have a great spot to place this fab futuristic home earmarked as well .
I am usually not that keen on berry sims but I love Amy and Meteor and their background story!
@BreeMiles your builds are always absolutely fabulous! Bradford Home turned out to be a gorgeous gift for LMC6255 and all of us! Love the choice of colours inside and out to make this a very cozy holiday home
@MiaSkywalker Wow!!! Gracey Manor Antebellum is such an impressive build and definitely a labour of love. I'm really looking forward to exploring in game to check out the awesome details
@puzzlezaddict The Christmas Cabin looks a fabulous and very cozy build!! I know I will have lots of fun checking it out in game. Kudos to you for getting to grips with CFE
@Hidehi "Empress of Removacies". Hmm - I quite like that title I think I'll claim it - and the respect that my husband will have to show to me as an Empress as well
@Hidehi "Empress of Removacies". Hmm - I quite like that title I think I'll claim it - and the respect that my husband will have to show to me as an Empress as well
Storybrook General Stores has been built as the name suggests in Storybrook County too. I've tried to fit it in with the existing neighbourhood but I hope it will look okay wherever you may find a place for it.
This community lot is very loosely based on Marshfield Hills General Store in Massachusetts and offers gifts from toys to smellies, nectar or last minute flowers for your anniversary. Shop till you drop and then pop into the Coffee Shop next door for your coffee & cake and a friendly chat.
The art room upstairs has plenty of space to practice various crafts and a conference room is available for hire.
Built at 34 Gold Finch Drive, Storybrook County.
Storybrook General Stores has been built as the name suggests in Storybrook County too. I've tried to fit it in with the existing neighbourhood but I hope it will look okay wherever you may find a place for it.
This community lot is very loosely based on Marshfield Hills General Store in Massachusetts and offers gifts from toys to smellies, nectar or last minute flowers for your anniversary. Shop till you drop and then pop into the Coffee Shop next door for your coffee & cake and a friendly chat.
The art room upstairs has plenty of space to practice various crafts and a conference room is available for hire.
Built at 34 Gold Finch Drive, Storybrook County.
Have fun and Happy Simming ... and please come back tomorrow for your final gift
Yay! I love little shops for my town! I think this would fit into a lot of towns (and I replace so many lots in EA towns when/if I play them). Thank you, this is so cute!
@Hidehi This is gorgeous! And like Charlottekn, I'm going to use it as a replacement lot in an EA town as well. I love it!
@ADWilson Thanks for the crown! I'll show him Hidehi's comment and then your reply when he's finished for the day ( he's doing M.Sc. vivas today: he might be ready for a little light relief!).
@LMC6255 I love your really imaginative take on Lunar Lakes (haven't played on that in ages!). That house looks perfect for the place and the occupants fit in so well too.
@BreeMiles Bradford home looks gorgeous from the outside and I love the interiors too. Can I move in..?
@Mia Skywalker That place is Amazing!!! And sounds like it's perfect for GraceyManor too...
@seaben The house is such a creative design, especially how it feels airy on the inside without being overbearing on the outside, and the landscaping is so pretty and interesting to look at. It feels like exactly where a family of fairies would make a home for themselves.
@ADWilson Your house has everything without being overwhelming, which is impressive. I like how so much of the design is understated without being plain, detailed enough to catch the attention but not overly flashy. And I'd never thought of building a children's playhouse, but I'm totally stealing that idea. The sims are adorable too, and Cody seems like the kind of guy who would absolutely *accidentally* unzip his jacket just a little farther than was necessary while out walking the dog. I'm sure the neighbors don't mind the view though.
@SamelaRita That house is lovely, and tempting enough to draw sims all the way in before they notice the suspicious water stains. It sounds like a fun challenge too; I look forward to seeing how you've set it up. I'm glad you were able to participate even if you couldn't be an official buddy.
@GraceyManor The house is very cute and looks like it fits perfectly into Sunset Valley. It also suits the sims as you've described them, including the adorable pets. I know people are fawning over the Dalmations, but it's the cat that made me smile—I had a seal point as a kid, and seeing one even in a game still makes me smile.
@Charlottekn You really managed to capture the essence of an old farmhouse that's been in use for a couple hundred years. I love how grandpa's a ghost and still helping run the farm too, that he's not going to get a little thing like death get in the way of a good day's work. Hopefully the grandkids inherited some of his work ethic. The park is very cute, and it's great to have somewhere entertaining to send sims in winter.
@Hidehi The cottage is absolutely adorable and really makes me want to buy Brunch at the Old Mill, which I've never really been interested in before. I love how you set up the garden too, how it's not just for work but a pleasant place to relax. Rose is pretty and seems perfect for the house.
@LMC6255 That's a fascinating build, one that I'd never have had the creativity to create. It definitely looks like it should be in Lunar Lakes or a similar world but still feels like an inviting home. The sim and horse look like a great match, and the horse especially is beautiful despite or maybe because of its unusual coloring.
@BreeMiles The house is so elegant, and I really like how you broke up the front façade both in shape and pattern. I kind of want to take the whole thing apart just to see how you did it.
@MiaSkywalker Wow, that's incredible attention to detail in every inch of the house. You definitely captured the feel of an old grand estate as well as the layout and furnishings. And I personally think the colors work really well; I wouldn't know that you had issues with color at all.
First of all thank you all ever so much for your lovely comments on my gifts for Charlottekn 🤗🌸 .
This Gift Exchange has managed to spur on everyone to produce some extremely creative builds again
@ADWilson I know you've got thrown in the deep end but you have managed to create an absolutely gorgeous home with Seaben Circle in a very short time. Ce Ce le Ben, Cody and Sparky are sims everyone will love to add to their games
@SamelaRita you are most certainly the empress of Renovacies!! You always come up with fantastic background stories for your households and builds and this one is no exception. Love it
@GraceyManor 99 Landgraab Lane looks a very cozy home for the lovely Douglas Family. Fab choice of colours for the wonderful interior!
Yours and Addy's twin ideas about firefighters and their Dalmatians made me giggle ... you both been watching too many episodes of Paw Patrol
@Charlottekn love the history you've included for Stardew Farm your beautiful New England farmhouse build. The Sharpe family looks a fun household to play especially having such an industrious ghost. Snowflake Day Park is a fabulous community lot that I will definitely steal for my alpine world
@LMC6255 Lunar Lakes Dream House and Amy & Meteor Moonbeam are a perfect gift for Puddinroy ... although I think I may have a great spot to place this fab futuristic home earmarked as well .
I am usually not that keen on berry sims but I love Amy and Meteor and their background story!
@BreeMiles your builds are always absolutely fabulous! Bradford Home turned out to be a gorgeous gift for LMC6255 and all of us! Love the choice of colours inside and out to make this a very cozy holiday home
@MiaSkywalker Wow!!! Gracey Manor Antebellum is such an impressive build and definitely a labour of love. I'm really looking forward to exploring in game to check out the awesome details
@puzzlezaddict The Christmas Cabin looks a fabulous and very cozy build!! I know I will have lots of fun checking it out in game. Kudos to you for getting to grips with CFE
I appolgize for not joining the festivities yesterday. I unfortunately had to work.
As you may have guessed my buddy is.... @puzzlezaddict !!
I was honored to be your buddy seeing as this was (correct me if I'm wrong) your first or one of your first gift exchanges!
Built in Dragon Valley, it's a 3 bedroom + 2 bathroom home (plus a nursery that can easily converted into another bedroom or any other type of room). I tried to match the exterior style to the other homes in the world. The kids' bedrooms are all gender neutral colors so they should be a good fit for whatever family you decide to use the home for! There are a couple of nods to the lore of Dragon Valley in the home. Also, feel free to try and spot my lawn flamingo (it's a kind of like my signature and I add it to all my builds).
A couple more screenshots are below.
I hope you enjoy!! Happy Simsmas!!
Note: The only store content used is from Dragon Valley. Everything else should be from the packs you said you currently have installed.
@Kesminlix:
What a great home! (I see that lawn flamingo, hidden amongst those flowers!) This is a nice home for a small family, and Dragon Valley is my personal favorite EA world. Even though I'm not the recipient of this one, it's one I'm definitely going to use myself.
Time for me to leave feedback for builds, I was busy working
@Seaben, aww that's such a cute home for fairies!
I can see lots of lovely magic being performed there.
Would look lovely in a forest themed world! rec'd and favorited ^_^
will add to my medieval game.
@ADWilson
I love the porch on that house.
My dream is to own a house with a front porch, 2 rocking
chairs, so I can sit and sip lemonade like andy Griffith XD
Its funny we both did a fireman and dalmation LOL -waves back at twin-
Got it rec'd and favorited! will be downloading
@SamelaRita
that challenge sounds really fun! I might
try it myself, I love the house to, especially
the exterior, its so cozy and inviting.But I think
it would make for a good horror story like a house
that's haunted by an evil spirit, home looks like
a loving family home, but harbors dark secretes XD
I stole this for myself to use in the future LOL
@Charlottekn
Aww, adorable farmhouse! Reminds
me of the wizard of oz, I can picture the house
being caught in a tornado.I'm from new england
that brings back memories, I'm downloading this
for myself as well.The links to download aren't working
for me
@Hidehi
That house would make for a perfect single sim home
who wants to live out in the country! I love it will also
be downloading this one.
@LMC6255
I'm sure puddingroy is going to adore
the alien home! Everything about it screams
out of this world! I especially love the round
windows!
Leaving off here for now, I'll be downloading everyone's stuff LOL XD
@Kesminlix That house is lovely, and a really nice fit for Dragon Valley (another world I haven't played in ages, because I've been busy writing a story set somewhere else), so I think I'll be acquiring this to go just there. Kleptomaniac? Me? Noooo...
I have one more gift for you, a rather large one. But first, I want to explain something about the graveyard in the build I made for you.
Addy said that you play with large families, and don't mind large lots, up to 60x60. I took you at your word, and built on a 60x60 lot. I'm glad I did; it gave me enough room to make a rather large cemetery in the back. I had originally been planning that the graveyard in the back be filled with real ghosts and real gravestones, so I set about creating 20 ghosts, all with different death types.
It was only when I was trying to figure out how to get their gravestones out of their inventories and into the graveyard itself, that I learned, to my horror, that if I do that, I will be causing game corruption to anyone who downloads this lot. You cannot safely download a lot that has graves with actual ghosts on it; apparently it causes game corruption somehow.
You CAN save a graveyard that YOU create in one of your games to your library, and then use it in other worlds that you play with on your own computer. But you can't use someone else's. I have no idea why this is, but the Simmers who were discussing it seemed to be convinced that this is the case. They linked to someone's post who went into more details, but that post is no longer on the forums.
But that does NOT mean that I can't still gift you the ghosts as households, and then you can place them in the graveyard yourself. Or play them, if you want to. They're kind of funny; they really act out based on their deaths most of the time, especially if you have Free Will turned on. I had intended them to go in the cemetery, but since I can't, you can still play with the ghosts. The gravestones in the back are currently all deco; if you decide to make the graves with the actual ghosts, you can simply delete the deco tombstones that are already there.
So anyway, I created 20 ghost Sims for you, all with different death types from the game (yes, there ARE actually more than twenty death types in the game!), using the names on the gravestones in the crypt in the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland. The names are rather amusing, and I had fun creating ghosts of them. (I used Nraas to add the different ghost types; that's one of the reasons I needed Nraas installed in my game for making your gifts!)
I tried to come up with bios for every single one of them, and I *almost* managed to do it; I came up with bios for 17 of them. I just couldn't think of bios for the last three, although maybe you'll think of something, based on your own experiences as a ghost hunter.
While I haven't written down their favorites, traits, and lifetime wishes in this write-up, I did make them fit in with their death types and bios. The only exceptions are the three without bios; their traits match their death types as closely as I thought possible, but as I never came up with bios for them, they aren't as closely aligned.
For those not familiar, bios for a Sim can be found (and created) by going to the Sim's scrapbook, and selecting the Biography tab. (I hadn't known this until I started watching The Sims Lore videos. The things you learn about the game after all these years!)
I should probably also mention that besides these Sims all being ghosts, several of them are other Supernatural types. There's one werewolf, at least one vampire, two fairies, and several witches, I'm not exactly sure how many. No djinn; they always seem to want to revert back to the Showtime genie clothing, even if you've given them specific outfits, a game mechanic that I find irritating.
A = I. Trudy Deui (Jelly Bean death)
B = Dustin T. Dust (Dehydration, merfolk)
C = Love U. Trudy (Blunt force, aka Murphy Bed)
D = C. U. Later (Thirst, vampire)
E = Pearl E. Gates (Freezing to death)
F = Asher T. Ashes (Fire)
If you wonder why the two on the far right look so terrified, they're standing next to a vampire. They don't realize he has the Good and Vegetarian traits.
Full bios:
I Trudy Deui (Jelly beans)
Isabella Trudy was a sweet girl who had always dreamed of finding true love, although sometimes she was a little confused. She received a Jelly Bean plant from a relative one holiday, along with a warning about eating its fruit.
Forgetting about the warning, one day she ate one too many of the jelly beans from it....
Dustin T. Dust (Dehydration (merfolk))
Dustin was born a merman, and as a child he had always loved fairy tales about those who lived on land. When he grew to adulthood, he followed his dream of becoming a landsman, living with normal humans on lands away from the sea.
Unfortunately, he forgot that he still needed to soak in a bath or swim in an ocean at least once a day....
Love U. Trudy (Blunt force)
Lovely Ursula was a good person, who loved gardening and cats, but was not always comfortable around other people.
She didn't learn, until it was too late, that owning a murphy bed in order to save space in your home isn't always the safest way to do things.
C. U. Later (Thirst (Vampire))
Cordelius Ulysses had always been a moody young man, a bit of a loner, yet strangely attractive to women. One night as he was on one of his solo meanderings, he encountered what appeared to be a lovely young woman, also walking alone.
After that the two would meet frequently on these nightly walks. Each time the woman was friendly, but never aggressive in her conversation. Often, she would hint about life after death or immortality. One morning he woke, not far from where he usually encountered her, having no memories of what had transpired the night before. A few nights later, he woke as a vampire.
As he had always been a vegetarian, he found that his new life as a vampire was incompatible. While he was aware of the existence of plasma fruit, he had never actually seen any, and had no idea how to obtain it. This led to his eventually wasting away, and ultimately became fatal.
Pearl E. Gates (Freezing to death)
Pearl had always loved the cold and the snow, and had loved the winter holidays. She loved to stay out in the snow, building snowmen and making snow angels, all day long.
Her love of the cold meant that she didn't always remember to dress warmly enough when going outside, and one day it caught up to her.
Asher T. Ashes (Fire)
Asher grew up in a poor family that had always struggled to make ends meet. He saw his parents struggle with multiple jobs, never quite making enough money to keep their entire family fed sufficiently. He always dreamed of running away to join the circus and become an acrobat, to escape the dreariness and misery of his childhood.
One day the circus came to town, and he followed his dream, applying to the circus for an acrobat position. Lying on his resume, he claimed to be well-versed in the art, so they tested him on one of the more advanced tricks, the fire hoop.
Not having had any actual experience, his tryout ended in disaster.
G = I.M. Ready (F, old age, good)
H = Bea Witch (F, Haunting curse, witch)
I = Hal Lusination (werewolf, Ranting about Death)
J = M. T. Tomb (f, Time anomaly)
K = Hail N. Hardy (ran out of air scuba diving)
L = Rusty Gates (drowning)
I'm sorry about the changes in I (Hal Lusination). Originally I'd intended him for Death by Being Buried Alive (Showtime, a Magician trick death), but although I know it's an available death type in Sims 3, Nraas didn't give me a way to do it. I ended up changing him to Death by Ranting, so I had to completely change what sort of Sim I made him.
And yeah, these Sims decided to completely reverse what order they were standing in when they were ghosts, as compared to when they were living. No idea why. Neither order is the order in which I created them, nor the order they appear in the family portrait panels, so go figure.
Full bios:
I.M. Ready (old age, good)
Iris Mildred led a full and happy life. Her lifetime goal was to be surrounded by her family, and when she passed on, surrounded by her children and many grandchildren, she died happy and content.
Bea Witch (F, Haunting curse)
Bea came from a long line of witches, all of whom believed their family was superior to all others. It wasn't until a particularly nasty haunting curse rebounded on Bea that she realized that there just might be another witch stronger than she.
Hal Lusination (werewolf, Ranting about Death)
An Angry Young Man, Hal was always fired up about some cause or another. Always venting to anyone he met, this proclivity drove away many who might otherwise have become his friends.
As his zeal progressed, one day he made the mistake of ranting about Death itself. Ever aware of those who spoke of him, the Grim Reaper himself showed up and, angered, made Hal pay the ultimate price for his hubris.
M. T. Tomb (f, Time anomaly)
When Margaret discovered the time portal, and learned what it could do, she was delighted. She traveled many times to the future to visit her descendants. When the Time Traveler told her about the possibility of changing the future, she was intrigued, and she set about seeing in what ways she could make those changes occur.
However, she had not been warned of the consequences of her meddling, and it was only when she began to see bits of herself disappearing and reappearing that she grew alarmed. She was unable to find the Time Traveler again in order to ask him about what she was encountering. Soon she felt herself fading from existence, and eventually she faded completely away.
Hail N. Hardy (ran out of air scuba diving)
Hail had lived his entire life in Sunset Valley, following the path directed for him by his family and parents. When Isla Paradiso was discovered, and his best friend came back from there with tales of mermaids, Hail didn’t believe his stories. Finally, after much badgering about how boring his life was going to be, Hail went with his friend on a trip to the fabled land.
When he finally met a mermaid, he fell instantly in love; unfortunately, the mermaid did not reciprocate his feelings. He taught himself to scuba dive, following her to one of her favorite spots, but in his inexperience, he stayed under for too long, and didn’t return to the surface in time to get the air he needed to breathe.
Rusty Gates (drowning)
Rusty hated the water, hated it with a passion, and would avoid swimming pools and even bathing whenever possible. He was, however, an extremely outgoing young man, and when some of his friends rented a houseboat to party in, they urged him rather strenuously to join them. Being weak-willed, and rather easily swayed by peer pressure, he eventually gave in to their urgings.
When an unexpected storm struck as they were entering deep water, he had reason to wish that he had – despite his dislike of water – learned to swim when he was a child.
This had originally been "Gracey Manor Spooks", but the Exchange censored "spook" in the title and replaced it with *****. Um... really, EA? I decided to see if there's an offensive aspect of the word that I just didn't know about, and looked it up on dictionary.com.
spook
See synonyms for spook on Thesaurus.com
🎓 College Level
noun
Informal. a ghost; specter.
Slang. a ghostwriter.
Slang. an eccentric person.
verb (used with object)
to haunt; inhabit or appear in or to as a ghost or specter.
Informal. to frighten; scare.
verb (used without object)
Informal. to become frightened or scared:
The fish spooked at any disturbance in the pool
Yeah... I didn't think so. Whatever, EA.
Living
Dead
M = Claire Voince (F, Fairy, Shark attack)
N = Manny Festation (M, Mummy’s Curse)
O = Rustin Pease (M, Meteor)
P = I. Emma Spook (F, Starvation)
Q = Wee G. Bored (F, Jetpack crash, aka “Fall from Sky”)
R = Paul Tergyst (M, Watery Grave)
S = Hap A. Rition (M, Electrocution)
T = Metta Fisiks (F, Fairy, Transmutation)
Full bios:
Well, Ok, not all of them have bios.
Claire Voince (F, Fairy, Shark attack)
Despite her family’s warnings, Clare loved deep sea diving. Until the day that a shark attacked and got the better of her.
Manny Festation (M, Mummy’s Curse)
Manny had always dreamed of visiting Al Simhara, but had never believed the tales of monsters and mummies until it was too late.
Rustin Pease (M, Meteor)
Russ had always been an avid astronomer, which left him no time for such civil niceties as making friends or having any sort of family life. He named many planets and stars that he had personally discovered, and he became quite prominent in his field. He saw and noted many meteors impacting the planet, that he was later able to collect and evaluate.
Then came the day that the meteor he was noting, instead of heading off in another direction where he could go to collect it, was heading instead straight at him. No time to move; this time he felt the full power of the meteor as it struck the earth.
I. Emma Spook (F, Starvation)
Wee G. Bored (F, Jetpack crash, aka “Fall from Sky”)
Winnette Gloria – nicknamed “Wee” by her father – fell in love with the future, from the first time she visited it. She had to pick up every new gadget that she could find – from watches to hoverboards – and try them all out.
It was the hoverboard that was her final downfall; she tried out some stunts she had seen others do, and the hoverboard went out of control, ending her life prematurely.
Paul Tergyst (M, Watery Grave)
Hap A. Rition (M, Electrocution)
Hap was a clumsy fellow who always tried to fend for himself, and absolutely hated any technology. His dislike of technology eventually backfired on him, and left him as he is now.
Comments
Mr Addy glanced over while I looking at it and mentioned liking the way it looks. This smaller build looks quite spacious which is a feat in itself, lol
Sims 3 Blog: Have I Got A Story For You!
Sims 4 Blog: Addy Plays Sims 4
Love that cabin: it's so cozy and festive, and makes me want to go there.
Intrigued by your user name: Jigsaw puzzles? Cryptic crossword? Number puzzles? Word puzzles? Or just the permanent puzzle of How To Get Everything Done And Still Have Simming Time As Well?
As for how to get stuff done and still have time for simming, I used to know how to do that. I think I forgot around three years ago, not sure why. Of course, it doesn't help when CASt somehow pukes glitter all over my carefully designed wood floor when I'm not looking and refuses to clean it up. I took that as a sign to quit for the night.
This site has been eating my text recently too, mostly PMs but one comment vanished too. I'd like to blame Origin, if only I can figure out how.
I love sudoku and during lockdown came across a youtube channel, Cracking the Cryptic, where two fellows from the UK solve them. They have other videos as well (for example: streaming sessions of Baba is You, Return of the Obra Dinn, The Witness).
I have done crosswords but it's more for me to learn new words & their meanings (I will use a dictionary and/or look things up) than anything else. I like hidden pictures or spot the difference but don't bother with timed ones because it's more a matter of solving it than worrying about how fast I am.
Love jigsaw puzzles but rarely get to do them. My daughter uses them as a stress reliever so our one table always has an ongoing project and she has a hard time sharing them even when we plan to work together. I get growled at for grabbing a piece to place, lol ... it's okay, I know she needs to downtime more than me & I always know what to get her as part of her gift "pile".
Sims 3 Blog: Have I Got A Story For You!
Sims 4 Blog: Addy Plays Sims 4
First of all thank you all ever so much for your lovely comments on my gifts for Charlottekn 🤗🌸 .
This Gift Exchange has managed to spur on everyone to produce some extremely creative builds again
@ADWilson I know you've got thrown in the deep end but you have managed to create an absolutely gorgeous home with Seaben Circle in a very short time. Ce Ce le Ben, Cody and Sparky are sims everyone will love to add to their games
@SamelaRita you are most certainly the empress of Renovacies!! You always come up with fantastic background stories for your households and builds and this one is no exception. Love it
@GraceyManor 99 Landgraab Lane looks a very cozy home for the lovely Douglas Family. Fab choice of colours for the wonderful interior!
Yours and Addy's twin ideas about firefighters and their Dalmatians made me giggle ... you both been watching too many episodes of Paw Patrol
@Charlottekn love the history you've included for Stardew Farm your beautiful New England farmhouse build. The Sharpe family looks a fun household to play especially having such an industrious ghost. Snowflake Day Park is a fabulous community lot that I will definitely steal for my alpine world
@LMC6255 Lunar Lakes Dream House and Amy & Meteor Moonbeam are a perfect gift for Puddinroy ... although I think I may have a great spot to place this fab futuristic home earmarked as well
I am usually not that keen on berry sims but I love Amy and Meteor and their background story!
@BreeMiles your builds are always absolutely fabulous! Bradford Home turned out to be a gorgeous gift for LMC6255 and all of us! Love the choice of colours inside and out to make this a very cozy holiday home
@MiaSkywalker Wow!!! Gracey Manor Antebellum is such an impressive build and definitely a labour of love. I'm really looking forward to exploring in game to check out the awesome details
@puzzlezaddict The Christmas Cabin looks a fabulous and very cozy build!! I know I will have lots of fun checking it out in game. Kudos to you for getting to grips with CFE
I like it too so feel free to use this
Sims 3 Blog: Have I Got A Story For You!
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Hi @Charlottekn , ready to unwrap Gift No 3?
Storybrook General Stores has been built as the name suggests in Storybrook County too. I've tried to fit it in with the existing neighbourhood but I hope it will look okay wherever you may find a place for it.
This community lot is very loosely based on Marshfield Hills General Store in Massachusetts and offers gifts from toys to smellies, nectar or last minute flowers for your anniversary. Shop till you drop and then pop into the Coffee Shop next door for your coffee & cake and a friendly chat.
The art room upstairs has plenty of space to practice various crafts and a conference room is available for hire.
Built at 34 Gold Finch Drive, Storybrook County.
Have fun and Happy Simming ... and please come back tomorrow for your final gift
@SamelaRita and @ADWilson 🤣😂🤣😂🤣 I hope your husbands definitely treat you both with the respect you deserve!!! 🤗
Yay! I love little shops for my town! I think this would fit into a lot of towns (and I replace so many lots in EA towns when/if I play them). Thank you, this is so cute!
@ADWilson Thanks for the crown! I'll show him Hidehi's comment and then your reply when he's finished for the day ( he's doing M.Sc. vivas today: he might be ready for a little light relief!).
Great idea, beautifully built! Like the others, I like the idea of replacing EA lots with this.
Sims 3 Blog: Have I Got A Story For You!
Sims 4 Blog: Addy Plays Sims 4
Thank you very much @Charlottekn , I am so glad you like your gift and that you can make use of it somewhere in your game
Yes yes pack your bags and bring your friends
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Thank you kindly m'dear
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Thank you kindly sweetie!
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As you may have guessed my buddy is.... @puzzlezaddict !!
I was honored to be your buddy seeing as this was (correct me if I'm wrong) your first or one of your first gift exchanges!
Here's your gift!
Welcome to Dragon's Roost!
Built in Dragon Valley, it's a 3 bedroom + 2 bathroom home (plus a nursery that can easily converted into another bedroom or any other type of room). I tried to match the exterior style to the other homes in the world. The kids' bedrooms are all gender neutral colors so they should be a good fit for whatever family you decide to use the home for! There are a couple of nods to the lore of Dragon Valley in the home. Also, feel free to try and spot my lawn flamingo (it's a kind of like my signature and I add it to all my builds).
A couple more screenshots are below.
I hope you enjoy!! Happy Simsmas!!
Note: The only store content used is from Dragon Valley. Everything else should be from the packs you said you currently have installed.
This family home is perfect for Dragon Valley! Plenty of things for kiddos to do outside and plenty of space inside in case of inclement weather.
Sims 3 Blog: Have I Got A Story For You!
Sims 4 Blog: Addy Plays Sims 4
What a great home! (I see that lawn flamingo, hidden amongst those flowers!) This is a nice home for a small family, and Dragon Valley is my personal favorite EA world. Even though I'm not the recipient of this one, it's one I'm definitely going to use myself.
The only kind of garden I can grow is a virtual one.
Dragons - must haz dragons!
@Seaben, aww that's such a cute home for fairies!
I can see lots of lovely magic being performed there.
Would look lovely in a forest themed world! rec'd and favorited ^_^
will add to my medieval game.
@ADWilson
I love the porch on that house.
My dream is to own a house with a front porch, 2 rocking
chairs, so I can sit and sip lemonade like andy Griffith XD
Its funny we both did a fireman and dalmation LOL -waves back at twin-
Got it rec'd and favorited! will be downloading
@SamelaRita
that challenge sounds really fun! I might
try it myself, I love the house to, especially
the exterior, its so cozy and inviting.But I think
it would make for a good horror story like a house
that's haunted by an evil spirit, home looks like
a loving family home, but harbors dark secretes XD
I stole this for myself to use in the future LOL
@Charlottekn
Aww, adorable farmhouse! Reminds
me of the wizard of oz, I can picture the house
being caught in a tornado.I'm from new england
that brings back memories, I'm downloading this
for myself as well.The links to download aren't working
for me
@Hidehi
That house would make for a perfect single sim home
who wants to live out in the country! I love it will also
be downloading this one.
@LMC6255
I'm sure puddingroy is going to adore
the alien home! Everything about it screams
out of this world! I especially love the round
windows!
Leaving off here for now, I'll be downloading everyone's stuff LOL XD
https://graceymanorsims3.tumblr.com/
I have one more gift for you, a rather large one. But first, I want to explain something about the graveyard in the build I made for you.
Addy said that you play with large families, and don't mind large lots, up to 60x60. I took you at your word, and built on a 60x60 lot. I'm glad I did; it gave me enough room to make a rather large cemetery in the back. I had originally been planning that the graveyard in the back be filled with real ghosts and real gravestones, so I set about creating 20 ghosts, all with different death types.
It was only when I was trying to figure out how to get their gravestones out of their inventories and into the graveyard itself, that I learned, to my horror, that if I do that, I will be causing game corruption to anyone who downloads this lot. You cannot safely download a lot that has graves with actual ghosts on it; apparently it causes game corruption somehow.
You CAN save a graveyard that YOU create in one of your games to your library, and then use it in other worlds that you play with on your own computer. But you can't use someone else's. I have no idea why this is, but the Simmers who were discussing it seemed to be convinced that this is the case. They linked to someone's post who went into more details, but that post is no longer on the forums.
But that does NOT mean that I can't still gift you the ghosts as households, and then you can place them in the graveyard yourself. Or play them, if you want to. They're kind of funny; they really act out based on their deaths most of the time, especially if you have Free Will turned on. I had intended them to go in the cemetery, but since I can't, you can still play with the ghosts. The gravestones in the back are currently all deco; if you decide to make the graves with the actual ghosts, you can simply delete the deco tombstones that are already there.
So anyway, I created 20 ghost Sims for you, all with different death types from the game (yes, there ARE actually more than twenty death types in the game!), using the names on the gravestones in the crypt in the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland. The names are rather amusing, and I had fun creating ghosts of them. (I used Nraas to add the different ghost types; that's one of the reasons I needed Nraas installed in my game for making your gifts!)
I tried to come up with bios for every single one of them, and I *almost* managed to do it; I came up with bios for 17 of them. I just couldn't think of bios for the last three, although maybe you'll think of something, based on your own experiences as a ghost hunter.
While I haven't written down their favorites, traits, and lifetime wishes in this write-up, I did make them fit in with their death types and bios. The only exceptions are the three without bios; their traits match their death types as closely as I thought possible, but as I never came up with bios for them, they aren't as closely aligned.
For those not familiar, bios for a Sim can be found (and created) by going to the Sim's scrapbook, and selecting the Biography tab. (I hadn't known this until I started watching The Sims Lore videos. The things you learn about the game after all these years!)
I should probably also mention that besides these Sims all being ghosts, several of them are other Supernatural types. There's one werewolf, at least one vampire, two fairies, and several witches, I'm not exactly sure how many. No djinn; they always seem to want to revert back to the Showtime genie clothing, even if you've given them specific outfits, a game mechanic that I find irritating.
So here they are, in three households:
Gracey Manor Ghosts, a six ghost household:
Dead
A = I. Trudy Deui (Jelly Bean death)
B = Dustin T. Dust (Dehydration, merfolk)
C = Love U. Trudy (Blunt force, aka Murphy Bed)
D = C. U. Later (Thirst, vampire)
E = Pearl E. Gates (Freezing to death)
F = Asher T. Ashes (Fire)
If you wonder why the two on the far right look so terrified, they're standing next to a vampire. They don't realize he has the Good and Vegetarian traits.
Full bios:
Isabella Trudy was a sweet girl who had always dreamed of finding true love, although sometimes she was a little confused. She received a Jelly Bean plant from a relative one holiday, along with a warning about eating its fruit.
Forgetting about the warning, one day she ate one too many of the jelly beans from it....
Dustin T. Dust (Dehydration (merfolk))
Dustin was born a merman, and as a child he had always loved fairy tales about those who lived on land. When he grew to adulthood, he followed his dream of becoming a landsman, living with normal humans on lands away from the sea.
Unfortunately, he forgot that he still needed to soak in a bath or swim in an ocean at least once a day....
Love U. Trudy (Blunt force)
Lovely Ursula was a good person, who loved gardening and cats, but was not always comfortable around other people.
She didn't learn, until it was too late, that owning a murphy bed in order to save space in your home isn't always the safest way to do things.
C. U. Later (Thirst (Vampire))
Cordelius Ulysses had always been a moody young man, a bit of a loner, yet strangely attractive to women. One night as he was on one of his solo meanderings, he encountered what appeared to be a lovely young woman, also walking alone.
After that the two would meet frequently on these nightly walks. Each time the woman was friendly, but never aggressive in her conversation. Often, she would hint about life after death or immortality. One morning he woke, not far from where he usually encountered her, having no memories of what had transpired the night before. A few nights later, he woke as a vampire.
As he had always been a vegetarian, he found that his new life as a vampire was incompatible. While he was aware of the existence of plasma fruit, he had never actually seen any, and had no idea how to obtain it. This led to his eventually wasting away, and ultimately became fatal.
Pearl E. Gates (Freezing to death)
Pearl had always loved the cold and the snow, and had loved the winter holidays. She loved to stay out in the snow, building snowmen and making snow angels, all day long.
Her love of the cold meant that she didn't always remember to dress warmly enough when going outside, and one day it caught up to her.
Asher T. Ashes (Fire)
Asher grew up in a poor family that had always struggled to make ends meet. He saw his parents struggle with multiple jobs, never quite making enough money to keep their entire family fed sufficiently. He always dreamed of running away to join the circus and become an acrobat, to escape the dreariness and misery of his childhood.
One day the circus came to town, and he followed his dream, applying to the circus for an acrobat position. Lying on his resume, he claimed to be well-versed in the art, so they tested him on one of the more advanced tricks, the fire hoop.
Not having had any actual experience, his tryout ended in disaster.
Gracey Manor Specters, a six ghost household:
Dead
G = I.M. Ready (F, old age, good)
H = Bea Witch (F, Haunting curse, witch)
I = Hal Lusination (werewolf, Ranting about Death)
J = M. T. Tomb (f, Time anomaly)
K = Hail N. Hardy (ran out of air scuba diving)
L = Rusty Gates (drowning)
I'm sorry about the changes in I (Hal Lusination). Originally I'd intended him for Death by Being Buried Alive (Showtime, a Magician trick death), but although I know it's an available death type in Sims 3, Nraas didn't give me a way to do it. I ended up changing him to Death by Ranting, so I had to completely change what sort of Sim I made him.
And yeah, these Sims decided to completely reverse what order they were standing in when they were ghosts, as compared to when they were living. No idea why. Neither order is the order in which I created them, nor the order they appear in the family portrait panels, so go figure.
Full bios:
Iris Mildred led a full and happy life. Her lifetime goal was to be surrounded by her family, and when she passed on, surrounded by her children and many grandchildren, she died happy and content.
Bea Witch (F, Haunting curse)
Bea came from a long line of witches, all of whom believed their family was superior to all others. It wasn't until a particularly nasty haunting curse rebounded on Bea that she realized that there just might be another witch stronger than she.
Hal Lusination (werewolf, Ranting about Death)
An Angry Young Man, Hal was always fired up about some cause or another. Always venting to anyone he met, this proclivity drove away many who might otherwise have become his friends.
As his zeal progressed, one day he made the mistake of ranting about Death itself. Ever aware of those who spoke of him, the Grim Reaper himself showed up and, angered, made Hal pay the ultimate price for his hubris.
M. T. Tomb (f, Time anomaly)
When Margaret discovered the time portal, and learned what it could do, she was delighted. She traveled many times to the future to visit her descendants. When the Time Traveler told her about the possibility of changing the future, she was intrigued, and she set about seeing in what ways she could make those changes occur.
However, she had not been warned of the consequences of her meddling, and it was only when she began to see bits of herself disappearing and reappearing that she grew alarmed. She was unable to find the Time Traveler again in order to ask him about what she was encountering. Soon she felt herself fading from existence, and eventually she faded completely away.
Hail N. Hardy (ran out of air scuba diving)
Hail had lived his entire life in Sunset Valley, following the path directed for him by his family and parents. When Isla Paradiso was discovered, and his best friend came back from there with tales of mermaids, Hail didn’t believe his stories. Finally, after much badgering about how boring his life was going to be, Hail went with his friend on a trip to the fabled land.
When he finally met a mermaid, he fell instantly in love; unfortunately, the mermaid did not reciprocate his feelings. He taught himself to scuba dive, following her to one of her favorite spots, but in his inexperience, he stayed under for too long, and didn’t return to the surface in time to get the air he needed to breathe.
Rusty Gates (drowning)
Rusty hated the water, hated it with a passion, and would avoid swimming pools and even bathing whenever possible. He was, however, an extremely outgoing young man, and when some of his friends rented a houseboat to party in, they urged him rather strenuously to join them. Being weak-willed, and rather easily swayed by peer pressure, he eventually gave in to their urgings.
When an unexpected storm struck as they were entering deep water, he had reason to wish that he had – despite his dislike of water – learned to swim when he was a child.
Gracey Manor Phantoms, an eight ghost household:
Yeah... I didn't think so. Whatever, EA.
Living
Dead
M = Claire Voince (F, Fairy, Shark attack)
N = Manny Festation (M, Mummy’s Curse)
O = Rustin Pease (M, Meteor)
P = I. Emma Spook (F, Starvation)
Q = Wee G. Bored (F, Jetpack crash, aka “Fall from Sky”)
R = Paul Tergyst (M, Watery Grave)
S = Hap A. Rition (M, Electrocution)
T = Metta Fisiks (F, Fairy, Transmutation)
Full bios:
Well, Ok, not all of them have bios.
Despite her family’s warnings, Clare loved deep sea diving. Until the day that a shark attacked and got the better of her.
Manny Festation (M, Mummy’s Curse)
Manny had always dreamed of visiting Al Simhara, but had never believed the tales of monsters and mummies until it was too late.
Rustin Pease (M, Meteor)
Russ had always been an avid astronomer, which left him no time for such civil niceties as making friends or having any sort of family life. He named many planets and stars that he had personally discovered, and he became quite prominent in his field. He saw and noted many meteors impacting the planet, that he was later able to collect and evaluate.
Then came the day that the meteor he was noting, instead of heading off in another direction where he could go to collect it, was heading instead straight at him. No time to move; this time he felt the full power of the meteor as it struck the earth.
I. Emma Spook (F, Starvation)
Wee G. Bored (F, Jetpack crash, aka “Fall from Sky”)
Winnette Gloria – nicknamed “Wee” by her father – fell in love with the future, from the first time she visited it. She had to pick up every new gadget that she could find – from watches to hoverboards – and try them all out.
It was the hoverboard that was her final downfall; she tried out some stunts she had seen others do, and the hoverboard went out of control, ending her life prematurely.
Paul Tergyst (M, Watery Grave)
Hap A. Rition (M, Electrocution)
Hap was a clumsy fellow who always tried to fend for himself, and absolutely hated any technology. His dislike of technology eventually backfired on him, and left him as he is now.
Metta Fisiks (F, Fairy, Transmutation)
The only kind of garden I can grow is a virtual one.
Dragons - must haz dragons!