Abandoned - Shangri La - Story 67

[Abandoned]

My opinion is rice paddy is just beautiful the way it is    Rice paddies are man-made flooded area to grow rice, not a natural pond, so it should look different.  The color is beautiful, very scenic 

[Abandoned]

Chapter 23


    As I said, we need houses, there were many adult children living at home.  Our oldest son was now 14.  Another row house was built onto the others across from us and I was hoping our boy would move into it, but Rancis from the rowhouse next to it moved in with Robertie, a foreigner.  Another pit house was built down the road by the shrine and the tailor but Rancis' sister, Mckaylyn, moved into it.

  On the other side of the river we built a Takayama Brewery to make traditional Sake out of rice.  Another rice paddy was dug next to it.  Not far from there, next to the school, a kitakata house was built, it matched nicely with the kitakata market on the other side of the school.  Back on this side of the river, our son Rowlandra turned 15 and promptly moved out and into the pit house with Mckaylyn.  Our 3rd daughter, Staphanita, was born that winter.  Shortly after, Trencie the livestock merchant, returned and he had sheep with him.  Again we took our foreign townmates' advice and traded for all six sheep.  They said we would have mutton to eat and with the wool they could make warm winter woolies to wear under our kimonos.

[Glenn]

Thank you for your explanation about the rice paddy

Your right, the paddy does look good in the blog, I only thought  there may have been a way to make it look even better for everyone's enjoyment

[kid1293]

@angainor88 - sometimes the game will nullify one or more (transparent) materials and only end up with one.
I had problems, I couldn't make a fire behind glass. One is a particle system but still...

[Abandoned]

Chapter 24 


  By early spring of year 17 we had land cleared for a pasture behind the 2 rowhouses that were built across the river by the Bizen school.  Once the sheep were safely in the pasture we began building a fence like the one built around the chicken coop.  The fence would keep the sheep from straying into the forest beyond.  It took all summer to build that fence.

  Even after the harvest, our food supply was lower than it had been.  Our supply of rice was low.  We stopped work at the sake brewery and built another rice paddy.  We gathered wild foods on each side of town.  We wanted our food supply secure before we started our next building project.  We already began clearing stone, iron, and trees from the area behind our 2 earliest rice paddies.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 25


  We wanted our town to have a magnificent castle like we had back home, an Osaka castle that would serve as a town hall.  It would take a large area and a lot of logs, stone, and labor to build.  We had plenty of logs and stone after clearing the land.  We added 1 more builder to our work force.  We were still building houses and still need laborers to gather wild foods.  We all stopped by to see how the castle was progressing as we worked and did our daily chores.  The stone foundation itself was quite impressive, moreso as more work was done.  The castle was finished in early summer and was in a beautiful setting of sakura trees and rice paddies.  Once the castle was complete, we felt as if our Shangri La was also complete.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 26


  More rowhouses had been added to the row across from the school.  There was plenty of room to expand the town there with more houses and fields as they were needed.  Shangri La was truly the beautiful tranquil hideaway we hoped it would be.  We had a Japanese Shrine and Ikeda Kabuki Theatre and rice paddies to keep the old ways alive.  We had a beautiful peaceful Koi pond, Ise Shinto Shrine, a gazebo surrounded by water lilies, and a towering Kyoto pagoda.  Our farmlands were scenic as well as productive with rice, soybeans, onions, cabbage, and mulberries and tea, just like back home.  Our magnificent castle overlooked it all.  We were at home here in Shangri La.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 27

  Yes, weary traveler, in Spring of year 20 we were at home in Shangri La.  We had 26 homes for 36 families.  Our population was 131, 62 adults, 17 students, and 52 young children.  We had an education rate of 73% and were happy and healthy.  There had only been one death, in early autumn of year 18 Lavenie the farmer age 36 died in childbirth.  Ottie, her husband, was happy she was able to see the castle like the one back in our homeland completed before she died.  Only their 15 year old daughter was still at home. Many of the houses had couples of mixed heritage.  Our foreign townmates agreed it was a good thing we instilled in the children from little on that it was okay to be different, it's what makes us special.  We may look, dress, and talk different but basically we are all the same, we are all earthlings.

  Demarcel and I still had 5 of our 6 children at home.  We now had 3 grandchildren.  Rowlandra chose his own bride but made a good choice.  My marriage to Demarcel may have been arranged by our parents but we had a good life and could not be happier.  He has a special little song he always sings just to me. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ck38-HwjF5g


May you find your Shangri La too, weary traveler.


The End

[kid1293]

It is like a garden. Perfect now in springtime.

Well done

[angainor88]

I'm glad you had fun playing with the set!

It is a lovely story

[Abandoned]

   Thank you both, I was a bit concerned at first choosing a mountain map but it worked out well, the Japanese mods are easy to make a beautiful town with.  Very enjoyable mods.