Abandoned - Cottage Grove - Story 42

[Abandoned]

Intro


  This is the 42nd story in the Smallville series and tells the tale of a large group of settlers who became the 15th expedition to leave that town.  The time is year 48 SVT.  The group left Smallville and went south to the Outskirts of Smallville (story 25) and from there traveled west and then north.


Map #   800572110      Small,    Plain,   No Snow,  disasters Off,  Start Settlers 10


Note.  Start Settlers is a special start condition made for this story.  It has 10 families, a barn, a special school, wheat, peach, and plum seeds.  This start condition was made to get this map and story off to a faster start and thus hasten the release of the new Kid Settlers mod now being tested.  The mod itself does not include any start conditions, only standard vanilla starts.


Mods enabled and load order:


Starting and Map Changing Mods:  Call of Nature Soundtrack, Banished UI Maps, Labor Window, RK Minimized Status, CC light Rain, New Terrain (Cygnus54), NewFloraEdit, Jinxie Natural Decorations, New Trees, StartSettlers

Tweak Mods:   Better Fields, Bigger Wheelbarrows, Increased CC, Longer Living Orchards, 1:1 Alternative, Rock Respawn, Rural Citizens (Jinxie + 1), Tiny Smoke, Woodcutter +3

Major or Must Have Mods:   An Empty Square, Smallville (sign), Storage Crates v1,  Jinxie Bitty Rabbit Hutch, Kid Abandoned Places v1.1, Kid Ghost Flowers, Kid GrowHuntFish v1.2 (testing new update), Kid Old Town, Kid Settlers (testing new mod), Kid Tiny, Kid Westward Ho Wagons, Kid Workplace v2, NMT3 Pond

Supporting Mods:    Jinxie Festival Park, Kid Deco Plants, Kid Washing Mod, Red Creamery Cows, Specialized Stockpile.



 Welcome to Cottage Grove, weary traveler.  You must be weary after wandering around in those mountains for so long before finding your way here.  You and your family are not the first travelers to become lost in those mountains west of Smallville.  The 9th expedition that went northwest looking for gems founded North Mining Town after being lost, and the 11th expedition passed through here and continued west to settle Meadowbrook.  They too had been lost in those mountains. The path they took out of the mountains is now flooded after another snowy winter followed by a very warm and rainy early spring.   We found the Smallville sign they erected after finally finding their way out.

  We were the 15th expedition and we traveled from Smallville south to Outskirts to circle around the mountains to the west.  They were building covered wagons in Outskirts for a second wagon train expedition.  It would be heading south soon.  The first wagon train headed west 3 years earlier.  The wagon master in Outskirts said he could spare 2 men and 2 wagons to see us safely to our destination. They would return long before the next wagon train was ready to leave.  We gladly took him up on his offer.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 1


  We traveled west from Outskirts to a Rest Stop where the 1st wagon train must have camped.  From there we headed north along the small stream.  There were 31 of us, 20 adults and 11 children, 1 cow, 2 sheep, and a crate of chickens.  The chickens and supplies rode in the small wagon and we took turns riding in the larger wagon with the children.  Those not riding walked with the cow and sheep.  A few men went ahead to make sure the trail was clear enough for the wagons to pass.  We passed through several birch groves and when we came to a large clearing by the river we decided to settle.  We planned to build cottages so we named our new settlement Cottage Grove.

  The first thing we built was a large barn so we could unload the wagons.  We had tools, coats, and lots of potatoes we brought from Smallville.  We also had wheat seeds and peach and plum seedlings, and gathered wild seeds along the way.  The stockpile was filling up, we had a lot of building to do.  We would need 10 cottages for our families and those houses would need firewood.  The animals needed a shed.  We had a lot of work to do.

[kid1293]

Nice start!

[Abandoned]

  Thank you.  The free-to-build deco pieces are wonderful for setting the scene and storytelling.

[kid1293]

Will remember for the future.

[Abandoned]

I will remind you 

[Jinxiewinxie]

Yay! So hyped for this!

Are the covered wagons deco pieces?

[Abandoned]

Yes, the Covered Wagons are deco pieces from Kid Westward Ho Wagons, the cow and sheep are deco from Kid Abandoned Places, and the deco people are from Jinxie Festival Park    I was very pleased how these fit together for the starting scenes away from actual starting place on the map.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 2


  We gathered wild foods and carried supplies to the building sites.  We had plenty of builders.  A fishing pier was built on the west river bank along with a cottage for the fisherman's family.  A tree stump next to the barn would serve as an outdoor classroom until a school could be built.  Two children would soon reach school age.  An animal shed would house the cow, sheep, and chickens.  We were already getting milk and eggs and soon we would also have wool.  I doubted we would need warm coats, the temperature was already quite warm for early spring.  Warm or not, we would need firewood.  A wood cutter and a cottage for the wood cutter and his family were constructed next to the stockpile.

  We did not get a field cleared to plant the wheat, the seeds would keep until next spring.  We saw 2 herds of deer grazing nearby so a hunting cabin and hut for the hunter were built south of the animal shed.  A small storage shed was built next to the hut.

  To the east of the woodcutter, a forester began planting the walnut tree seedlings we brought from Smallville.  He would supply logs to the woodcutter.  A cottage was built there for the forester and his family.  It would probably be a while before the walnut grove would produce nuts, and since our diet was not too varied as of yet, we decided a herbalist was needed to maintain our health.  A cottage was built across from the herbalist for the family.

 At the end of that first year we still needed cottages for 3 families, my own included.  The animal shed was sufficient to protect the animals from the weather which remained mild, and we had no snow so far that winter.  Diapers for the 6 newborns were hung outside on the washlines to dry.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 3

  My husband is Lornelius and he is the oldest male in town so decision making for the town is pretty much up to him.  It always makes me happy that he consults with me on most things and asks "what do you think, Krissie?"  "Do you want to live in a cottage and have room for more than one child?"  "Do you want to live by the edge of the forest with a view of the wheat field, Krissie?"   The answer was yes to all those questions.  I loved the fields and the forests and our first child, Mistyn, was born in late spring of year 2, we would have room in the cottage for 2 more.  I loved that I had room for a berry patch right out our front door.  The pathway was made up of wood stepping stones and there was a beautiful herb garden and other flowers blooming.  A small hedge helped blocked the stockpile from view.  The only dark cloud over this idealic setting was our neighbors, Lamon and Karolee. 

 Lornelius and Karolee were very good friends back in Smallville.  Everyone, including myself, was surprised when he asked me to marry him and go on this expedition with him.  I'd had a crush on him for a long time so I agreed.  He was a forester back in Smallville and he found me when I was out for a walk in the forest and became lost when the clouds hid the sun.  He said he was glad in more ways than one that he found me.  Everyone in Smallville was equally surprised when Karolee up and married Lamon and joined the expedition at the last minute.  Lornelius did not ask me what I thought about having them for neighbors.

  The final house for the 10th family was a large manor house for 7 people.  Samiro and Helenor had 2 children already but wanted several more.  They would need a big house.  Their daughter was one of the first 2 students at the outdoor stump classroom, their son would be the 3rd student soon.  By the summer of year 2 Cottage Grove had 1 manor for a family of 7, 8 cottages for families of 5, and 1 hut for a family of 3.  Cottage Grove was a pretty and pleasant place to live.  It was comfortably warm in summer with light rain, but some folks thought it was a little too warm and dry.

  The river boatman that stopped by in early summer confirmed that.  Lornelius and 2 of the other men gathered on shore to talk to him.  It seemed that the northern areas and the highlands were getting extremely harsh winters with a lot of snow followed by early spring heat and rains, the reason this  mountain pass is now a river.  It is too bad that when the big lake at Lakeland overflowed its banks that it didn't restore Smallville's main river to what it once was.  Areas to the south and southwest had severe flooding some years back followed by heat and drought, they lost most of their fruit trees.  Those areas are in need of cooler linen clothing and whatever fruit they can get.  If we build a trading post he would gladly trade for those items.  He did not know if any other traders would be coming this way but he'd be back sooner or later.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 4


  We only had a few pear tree seedling we brought along from Smallville's wild pear orchard at the edge of town.  There was a small area next to the farmer's house that could be cleared.  The fruit forester said autumn was a good time to plant fruit trees, if he had more seedling he could plant and care for a larger area. The seedlings took root right away and were doing well.  My berry patch was also doing well and there were raspberries, strawberries, and blueberries, 330 berries in all by early autumn.  I was hoping the birds would not get my berries.  The farmer was having a problem with crows in the wheat field, and there were also a couple of crows in the animal shed stealing grain from the chickens.

  We were surprised that there were already some walnuts in the walnut grove that could be collected by our laborers, it was only autumn of year 2.  Laborers would also be able to collect fruits from our tiny pear forest, or a fruit gatherer could collect fruits from one or more tiny fruit forests.  A workplace for the fruit gatherer would not take up much room.   We did have plum and peach seedling that could be planted in tiny fruit forests nearby until we would have time and workers for larger orchards.  There was a beautiful birch grove there though that I would hate to see cut down to make room for the fruit trees.  Maybe some of those trees could be saved.

  When I told Lornelius about the birch trees, he said there were many birch trees in the forest but he did not want me venturing far into the forests here, only if he were with me.  These forests were a lot bigger than the small one I got lost in back in Smallville.  I protested this, when would I get to walk in the forest, he was always so busy.  He gave in but with one condition, that I only walked alone within sight of the river so I could easily find my way back to him.
 

[Abandoned]

Chapter 5


  By winter of year 2 there had been 10 babies born in Cottage Grove and Lornelius thought it time we had a proper place to record the births.  We also had a number of storage units and stockpiles and needed a place to keep overall inventory records. Lornelius also thought we needed a place we could discuss important decisions with the other members of our town.  A Meeting Hall would fulfill all 3 needs. He was very busy and had little time to discuss things with me much less take a walk in the forest. I saw him discussing things with our neighbor, Karolee, several times, and laughing.  I wondered if he ever regretted not marrying her.  She probably never got lost in the forest.

  It was nice to have one place to keep all the town's production totals.  The fruit gatherer was busy collecting not only pears but wild foods as well and in spring of year 3 the plum seedlings we brought from Smallville were being planted nearby by another fruit forester.  The fruit gatherer would collect the plums as well as the pears.

  The crows returned to the wheat field just as the grains were beginning to ripen.  I was again concerned for my berry patch but Lornelius surprised me by building a pretty scary looking scarecrow.  Karolee stopped to admire it one day on her way to the washlines by the stockpile that we took turns using.  She and Lamon had a baby girl shortly after Lornelius and I had Mistyn.  Karolee and I had not talked much but she would always wave when we were out working in our herb and berry patches.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 6


  The river boatman had not returned yet but we had a trading post built by late summer of year 3.  So far the only large surplus we had was logs and firewood.  We had enough iron tools in stock but we built a blacksmith by the main stockpile for when we needed more.  We had no miner but if we traded for coal our smith could make steel tools instead of iron.  If we needed more iron than we had nearby, there was plenty more across the river.

  We had plenty of leather, wool, and flax on hand so a seamstress workshop was built by the main storage barn close to the source of our wool.  It was still over 70 F degrees in late summer, we could use some cooler linen clothes.  What lighter clothes we didn't need ourselves we could trade to supply those further south who did need them.  We ladies all stopped to admire the pretty patchwork quilt Karolee, our seamstress, made out of fabric scraps.  We all wanted one.  We also admired all the pretty hollyhocks blooming nearby. The fisherman's wife, Maybellar, wanted to make sure the seamstress had enough flax so she gathered some plants from the wild and transplanted them into a nice size flax patch.  I stopped by with some fresh picked berries to admire the patch on my way to the river for a walk in the beautiful autumn colors.  I don't know which I thought was prettier, the oak trees in fall or the birch trees in spring.

  Helenor, the fruit gatherer, was the first to get one of the patchwork quilts just before winter came that year.  Again it was mild with temperatures above the freezing mark and again there was no snow.

[Jinxiewinxie]

I adore that hanging quilt! Is it a deco piece or a maybe a tiny tailor or something else maybe?

[Abandoned]

The patchwork quilt is purely deco and it comes in 3 patterns.  There is a lot of eye-candy in this mod.