Happy St Patrick's Day!

Chillin' in my new treasure chest;
no I am not a leprechaun :p

Surprise! Bet you all thought I'd died, or fallen off the edge of the world or something *g*

The fact is I was ill for so long (Nov through Feb) that I struggled to finish the Colour Challenge and then felt both a bit burned out and lost when it was over. I also discovered Minecraft, thanks to my small son (more of that to follow) and so decided to take a bit of a hiatus from SL. I couldn't afford to keep renting a parcel for my castle if I wasn't going to be here, and the whole situation was a bit depressing, so I chickened out of even letting folks know what was going on - but I figure you all probably know my little sister Rudhmellowen Laguna and could have asked her ;-)

Well, ostensibly I only logged on today to gather some details for another post - I'll be putting up three in a row! - but of course it's St Patrick's Day, and green is mandatory. I wore my Hunter Green outfit from the Colour Challenge and bought a new hat to complement the occasion. I don't have any connections with Ireland whatsoever; I don't even know anyone who is Irish, or - to my knowledge - can claim Irish descent. I just like festivals, and joining in the spirit of things. Though I find it funny, in a more ironic than amusing way, that only St Patrick's Day is big in SL. All right I wouldn't expect St George (England's patron saint) or even St David (Wales') to get much of a look-in, but there are plenty of Americans who are proud of their Scottish heritage, so why do we never hear about St Andrew's Day? (It's on Nov 30 for those who are interested.)

I then spent an enjoyable hour or so wandering around the Epic Toy Factory looking for Steam Hunt prizes in a fantastic Lost World setting; I took lots of photos and might post them up later (then that will be 4 new posts...) There are 5 prizes, very easy to find if you follow the instructions (!) and the hunt runs until March 31 so you've plenty of time. After the hunt, I was feeling very kindly disposed towards the creator and had whet my appetite for shinies, so I made a couple of extravagant purchases, one of which I am sitting in for this post. It is a lovely little treasure chest, a low prim mesh build with 7 poses, though the chest itself does not move.

Tea for two on my tropical sand bar

I had to abandon my castle, as I said, but I own a tiny parcel of First Land which I will never give up, and there I have built a floating island with a geodesic dome on it. Inside the dome is a tranquil lagoon where the waves lap gently against a little sand bar with a shady palm tree, and a shipwreck converted into a dream home for a mermaid. My new chest is very fitting for my tiny desert island, as (un)buried pirate treasure. Dragons are always digging up pirate treasure; we've a nose for it like truffle pigs. I feel very comfy nestled into a nice cool pile of coins during the tropical midday sun, with a tasty snack of petit fours and a creamy latte.

Chest from another angle, with petit fours

The fabulous, tentacular, colour changing Tako tea set is by Schadenfreude and available from the Arcade, piecemeal, as random gatcha prizes. Now I'm not sure if you know my feelings on gatchas - every time (as now) when I could write about them, I feel myself starting to rant and don't want to bore you - but I mostly avoid them on principle, and wild horses could not drag me to a gatcha event like the Arcade (which is why I'm not linking you!) It is a sore point for me that this one of my favourite creators loves gatchas and frequently makes the most adorable things for them, so that I miss out and am cross. However, my darling little sister is smitten with the things and managed to acquire enough pieces for the both of us, so that I now have the full 8 piece set of commons and 1 spare latte for a guest. It is worth noting that despite at least 16 tries on the machine, which cost her L$400, she did not receive a single rare, which goes some way to explaining why I think they are the invention of the devil. But I'm not going to rant. I will just enjoy my tea set now that I have it. Look how dainty and detailed it is! I love tentacles. I think this has been said before.

Tako tea set in close-up

Item Credits:

Outfit: As worn in Colour Challenge 39 - Hunter Green, plus Emerald Isle hat from The Mad Hattery (L$50 'til end of today only).

St. Patrick's Day Treasure Chest from the Epic Toy Factory.

Tako tea set (3 pieces shown) from Schadenfreude @ the Arcade (but will be sold in her store afterwards).

"Tropical log" seat with palm tree and dune grass from Khargo.

Sprouting coconut with wave sounds from G Field.

Sea urchin table from the Arcadia Asylum Recovery Library. (More on this in a future post.)

Venus sea-shell posing prop from N326 - I couldn't see any on sale though, and I modified this one as a static posing prop (you wear the original and sit curled up inside the shell). Mame used to send me things she was working on for help with English translations, but I lost contact when I had my son and couldn't keep up with extreme time zones any more. I was surprised to find her store still exists as her blog just stops after 2010. The building looks as though it has suffered heavy griefer attack, but that could be a deliberate reflection of the 2011 Japanese earthquake disaster (where she is from). She sells some very cute and quirky things, specialising in rugs and cushions with multiple animations that don't require you to sit on a pose ball. Rudh will remember her as the creator of our Dean and Sam quoting cacti!

More posts to follow but it's nearly midnight and I must get to bed. Hope you all had a very enjoyable day! (I should have stuck a rainbow over the chest, shouldn't I - or would that have been too cheesey?)