Abandoned - Trilogy - part 3 - O'Leary's Farm - Story 41

[Abandoned]

Chapter 13


  It was another dreary wet spring but the crops got planted  just the same.  Our seedlings and sacks of seeds allowed us to get the Brussels Sprouts seeds and helped provide seeds and seedlings for others who needed them.   The new family that arrived from Newport agreed that many places did not have much variety in their diets because they could not get or could not afford seeds.

  The new family had 2 young children.  I was a bit disappointed that they were not older boys.  We had 2 girls who were now adults and alone.  I know what it was like seeing others together and happy while waiting for that special someone to come along.   Jack was well worth the wait and we were very happy together.  The new family brought the population of O'Leary's Farm to 51, 26 adults, and 25 students and young children to feed.  Our education rate was only 8%.

  In summer Robertie only had more Brussels Sprouts seed with him.  He would try to get some of the other seeds we wanted, he really wanted to make a trade for our squash and carrot seeds and apple seedling.  We cleared another crop field in anticipation. Our carrot and Brussels Sprouts crops did good this year.

  We hoped Antino, the general goods merchant would return with wool.  The tailor ran out and was now scavenging from Grandma's hedgerow.  We wanted to be sure to have enough apples for the children.  We did not get the wool, but Robertie returned in early winter with turnip seeds.

[Abandoned]

Mod Note:  The seed collector and potting shed in yr 13 Early Spring picture are part of the newly released update to Kid GrowHuntFish mod found here with more info and link to download:

http://worldofbanished.com/index.php?topic=2878.0

[Abandoned]

Chapter 14


  In early spring of year 14 we began clearing a 12x12 area in anticipation of getting grain seeds.  With more land being cleared for fields, we had less forest area nearby to gather branches for firewood.  Our firewood supply was low and so was our supply of coats.  The tailor would need to make some hide coats until we got more wool.  A warm spell and spring rain had the turnips and other crops sprouting and doing well.  We expected a good harvest that year. 

  In autumn Robertie brought our long-awaited wheat seeds.  He was as happy getting our seedlings and sacks of seed as we were getting the wheat seeds.  He assured us that he would take as many seeds and seedling as we could provide.  Even without the wheat crop our food supply was higher than it had ever been.  It was a good thing because we had so many children to feed.  O'Leary's Farm had 26 adults and 26 children.  Of those 26 children half were students and there was only room for one more in our tiny school. The town had 2 children about to reach school age but our Palmers, who was the first student, would be turning 11 and completing school in early winter.  One of the children started school in winter and we hoped Palmers would finish before the second child turned 7.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 15


  By spring of year 15 the wheat crop was coming up and doing well.  The mother rabbit and babies we spotted nearby did not invade the field as we had feared.   A mill and bitty shed were built in anticipation of the coming grain harvest.  We built a small shelter and provided some hay for the rabbit family.  They were quite tame and the children enjoying stopping to visit and play with them.  The school teacher even brought the class over to see the baby rabbits.  Some of the carrots intended for storage in the bitty shed went to feed the rabbits instead.

  Jack and I spoke to the school teacher when Palmers turned 11 and did not finish his schooling. Our 3 children were all in school now and Jack and I talked about going to Morningside for a visit as soon as all 3 were out of school.  The teacher said schooling was taking longer than expected because of the age differences of the children.  In early autumn Cassandy turned 7 and became a laborer because there was not room in the classroom for another student.  The town needed workers but the children needed an education in order to become better workers.

  We continued to juggle jobs that needed doing between the workers.  When the crops were harvested and the farmers could help with laborer chores, we assigned a worker to scavenge for usable materials from one of the remaining tornado ruins. Our main stockpile was short of materials and it made little sense to gather heavy items from farther away when we had some close by.  We thought that location would be a good spot for a bakery when it was cleared, but without more workers that would take a long time.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 16


  Palmers turned 12 before the new year began and he was still in school.  Another child would turn 7 soon and would miss school.  We built a new school behind Grandma's hedgerow and it was completed just in time for the new student.  A second teacher left us with no laborers at all so again work stopped in the growhouse and one worker went from cleaning shed to compost bin.  Our food supply was still very good with a nice variety.  We would not need to gather much. 

  When the crops were harvest we had 2 workers scavenging at the abandoned site in town.  We would get logs from the site so the forester could do other work until more logs were needed.  The hedgerows and nearby branches were providing enough firewood.  Palmers was still in school when he turned 13 in winter.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 17


In early spring of year 17 Jack went out on the fishing tree to do a little fishing and said that tree was no longer safe to fish from, a whole section broke off when he stepped on it.  The tree was demolished and added to the burning pile and a new bitty fishing pier was built in its place.  Jack also decided that what was left of the old fishing pier after the tornado no longer had any salvageable materials.  Three of the ruined houses around town also were beyond salvage, the debris was cleared away.  Our old houseboat was in good shape yet, Jack had been looking after it and had done a few minor repair.  A family that came by but did not stay with us wanted to trade everything they had for the houseboat but Jack was not willing to part with it.  We would need it for our trip to Morningside.

  In late summer Palmers, age 13, finally finished school.  Shedric was 11 and Dionna was 9, so our long awaited trip to Morningside was not that many years away.  O'Leary's Farm had 17 students and 6 young children.  We would soon have more educated workers.

  We were taken by surprise by a heavy snow in late autumn.  We not only lost 46% of our wheat crop but a portion of all the other crops as well.  It was a good thing the Garden Supplies shed had plenty of compost and we could resume growing potatoes in the growhouse.  Our crop loss would have little impact.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 18


  We realized that part of our crop loss the previous autumn was due to the nearby storage units being filled to capacity and farmers had farther to go to store the harvest.  We rectified the situation immediately by building a storage barn by the wheat field and mill.

  In spring 5 migrants arrived from Newport and they caused quite a stir.  The couple with a 2-year-old were expecting another child soon so a house was built for them.  Before a second house could be built for the 30-year-man and his 7-year-old daughter, he moved in with 19-year-old Gretter.  His daughter, Reillye, refused to move in with them so the second house was built close by.  To make matters worse in summer Gretter gave birth to a baby girl.

  The talk and speculation died down when Loria, the livestock merchant, arrived with 6 mountain sheep from the north.  The meat would be a little tougher than normal mutton but we did need wool for warm coats.  Since we had plenty of seeds, seedlings, and flax to trade, we took all 6 of the sheep.  A pasture was cleared for them not far from our house.  Palmers was now tailor and would begin making warm coats as soon as the sheep were sheared.

  Jack was again working as blacksmith and it was nice having father and son working so close to home.  I was working at the trading post, it was very easy work stocking it with seeds and seedlings.  Our 2 younger children, Shedric age 11 and Dionna age 9, both attended the new school behind Grandma's hedgerow.  There were 15 students in school at that time and Jack and I were looking forward to our 2 finishing their schooling so Jack and I could take a trip to Morningside to visit my sister and her family.  Yes, weary traveler, we had been planning the trip for a very long time.

  Like the new girl, Reillye, there were other adult children who wanted houses of their own.  O'Leary's had 23 families but only 15 houses.  We began building a few more houses.  I hoped that Palmers would remain home with us for a while longer.   In late winter I went to the pasture for him to check if there was any wool yet for warm coats, it was then the call rang out.  Fire!

[Abandoned]

Chapter 19

  The house that was on fire was the one that had only recently been built for the newcomer's daughter, Reillye.   She was the first to run to the nearby water pump before others came to help extinguish the flames.  Despite all the help the house was nothing more than an empty shell by the time the last flames were put out.  Rebuilding began in early spring.

  The crops were planted, and because the fields replace forest land we were a bit short of branches and firewood.  A tiny chopper was built not far from the forester.  We took some time to check some of our food production totals.  Fishing from the bitty fishing pier was a bit better than from the old fishing tree and the hunter and gatherer near the forester were also doing well.  We still had no wool for warm coats.

   By early spring of year 19 Palmer was no longer the tailor and he was no longer living at home.  As soon as he turned 15, he moved in with his school teacher who was already expecting their child.  Of course there was talk.  Their child was born in early spring, the same time that Jack and I had another son we named Cristen.  I had so been looking forward to the trip to Morningside that Jack and I were planning when all 3 children finished school.  In fact Jack and I spent a few nights on the houseboat last summer and fall.  It was so romantic just the 2 of us listening to the waves on the shore and the sound of crickets and tree toads.  Jack said we would still take the trip, there would be enough time between when Dionna finished school and Cristen started.  We would take Cristen with us.

  The crops were doing well that year, but for the 3rd year in a row we had an early snow and lost crops.  We added another farmer to the wheat field to try to save what we could, it was Palmers who took the job.  Next year both farmers would plant and harvest the wheat.  We cleared another field next to the wheat field for the cabbage seeds that we traded for in autumn.  Jack was again making tools and I was making warm coats with the first of our own wool.  It was nice working close to home with Jack again and caring for the new baby.  By the end of the year, Shedric turned 14, finished school, and was working at the trading post.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 20


At the end of year 19 scavengers had removed 63% of the usable resources from the ruined house.  We decided to finish clearing away the rubble so the bakery could be built there. The scavengers could move on to the abandoned place next to the hospital.

  In early spring the crops were again being planted.  The farmer working the new field was planting cabbage.  Despite the wheat that was lost last autumn the mill produced a fair amount of flour.  We would have bread from the new bitty bakery soon.

  In early summer we assigned a cleric to work in the church.  Our overall happiness was a bit down mainly because Kings, who lost his wife so many years ago, and his daughter were still so unhappy.  Hopefully the counseling of a cleric would help them.  We planned to build a pub early next year, maybe a little fun and socializing would help.

Harvesting began in late summer and was nearly finished in Autumn, no lost wheat this year.  Robertie brought enough potato seed so a field was being cleared to plant them next spring.  The growhouse would grow beans instead of potatoes.  Robertie said Smallville could use more potato seed also, most expeditions left Smallville with potatoes.  More towns were getting seed and seedling now thanks to O'Leary's Farm.

[brads3]

i wonder if the disasters on affects happiness more too. those bannies sure did drop down far. i see you are still using the lilac and flowers mod. another old but very good mod.

[Abandoned]

This is the man and daughter who lost the wife/mother earlier on and became unhappy.  I am just surprised that overall happiness is not lower because of these 2 when my population is not that big.  And next year overall happiness is 5 stars so I am thinking individual happiness like these 2 do not have that much affect on overall happiness. 

I do like the old New Trees mod for spring.  @brads3 you were the one who told me where to find those lilacs  I have been using them every spring since then.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 21


  The year began as every other, with the planting of crops and digging out seedlings and gathering seeds.  The pub was completed and some of the wheat crop would be made into ale.

  In early summer Dionna turned 13 and finished school.  That meant that Jack and I could at last take a trip back to Morningside and Sunrise Mountain Mines to visit the old friends and family we left behind.  Palmers said he and his wife would be happy to look after Cristan while we were gone but our baby was only 2 years old and we would take him with us. 

  We spent the night before leaving on the houseboat so when the river was high with the morning tide we could cross over to the small stream that would take us to Morningside.  The gentle rocking of the houseboat lured Cristan off to sleep early and Jack and I stood on deck remembering leaving here all those years ago after the tornado.  Jack said Grandma and Grandpa O'Leary would be so proud of what we accomplished here.  Chestnut and apple tree seedlings from her favorite hedgerow were being delivered all over the world.  Seeds from the carrots, turnips, squash, cabbage, potatoes, and wheat fields were being sacked and traded everywhere the river boats went.  The small family farm settlement now had 66 happy and healthy citizens, 45 adults, 11 students, and 10 children with many more on the way.

  As we watch the sun setting Jack and I again laughed together over how he spent half the night so long ago catching Grandma's chickens and getting that cow on board to surprise me.  We remembered that parting in Morningside and agreed now that it was love at first sight.  It took a while but he finally came for me and neither of us doubted for a minute that we were meant to be together and we would be happy until the end of time. 


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DegVjPeZ1w

 
So, weary traveler, it was nice talking with you over morning coffee while waiting for the tide to come in.  The whole town has turned out at the crack of dawn to wave us off. It is almost time to go, so this story must come to The End  

[kid1293]

Thanks for the story! It is sad to go 

(well, I can read it again)

[Abandoned]

A few stories I was glad to finish, but others like this one it is sad to come to the end.    But you've given me another one to look forward to doing next, thank you @kid1293 

[Jinxiewinxie]

Jillian and Jack's story is so sweet, gives me the warm and fuzzies =) Hopefully you'll share a glimpse of them here and there in your future stories!