The Flying Twybil fucked around with this message at 22:14 on Jan 13, 2020

Today was technically the first day of Spring, though its been warm enough for the last 3 days to call it part of the season. Once I finally got to sleep, I slept surprisingly well. There's something about this old bed that's extremely comforting.

Anyways, I woke up at 5:20 and got dressed in the kitchen. Pete was up before me, and didn't seem to understand when I told him closing his eyes wouldn't be enough.



We fixed some breakfast together and he seemed to know more about cooking than I thought. He made these odd, dumpling type things out of pancake batter.



Though I was a bit reluctant at first, they were pretty good. It's not Mom's cooking, for sure, but I couldn't complain. He was as enthusastic as ever.

Just a bit after that, we heard an odd sound from outside. Pete said it was a bird, but it sounded a whole lot more like a cat to me.



It turns out I was right, given it was a gray cat probably just a bit older than a kitten. I had no idea where it had come from, though I figured it might've run away from someone in the town.

A collection of his old tools was still left, many of them with wrought iron bases and steel blades. I know this because he never stopped bragging about them and complaining about the quality of the factory produced tools of the modern day. The odd one out was the maul, it probably being made within the last 5 years by my father's hands, compared to the others which were passed down by my grandfather. The maul was capped with metal so it could smash stones as well as stakes.

There were quite a few brushes in here, some rather used up, bringing back the faint memories of the old lady who used to make these back on the mainland. The milker was new-ish, and it didn't look like it was used much. I don't think my father needed it much, and I don't think I would either. As much as my father was against me being very active, he never had a problem with me taking care of animals. I still remembered how to milk a cow by hand, it wasn't that complicated and it was one of the last things I got to do before I left to the city.

Once Pete took sight of the tools, his eyes widened as if he was opening a present.

I grabbed a brush, two buckets, a milk canister, and some udder salve. Stopping by the house, I cleaned out both of the buckets and brought some warm water in one of them. My mother showed me how to do all this, I'd watched her countless times, and I hoped I was doing it the same as she did back then.




Brushing Bess's coat off was pretty easy, she seemed like a pretty neat cow. She liked hearing that, I think. With that out of the way, it was time for me to get to milking.

Mom's old milking stool was still in here, though we never had a stanchion like you'd see on some farms. Our cows were usually docile enough to be fine with it.



The process isn't really that bad, it just takes a while. First you wash off their udder from any contaminants to protect the milk, and then you use some salve so you don't chafe them. It's an uncomfortable process as is, so it's best to minimize as much discomfort as possible. It's preferable to give them a bit of something to chew on while you do this.

After that you start milking them, starting on one half and changing to the other side once they're done. It's usually best to milk a little bit out of each first before actually putting any in a bucket, that way you can make sure its all clean.

When it comes to actually milking, you don't pull on the teat, you just gently squeeze it out, actually. It's kind of like making a fist, but you start with just the index finger and go down one at a time.



Once you've got it all, you pour it into a milk canister, then you pasturize it. Or not, either way. I'm actually used to having it raw, but you'll probably get sick if you're not already used to it.

_{Okay, I'll admit I studied up on this in a reference book last night. But I remembered most of it, honest!}

Bess gave only some milk- there wasn't that much there, but stress from moving can have that effect sometimes. At least, I think Mom said something about that sometimes.



After that, I gave her some feed for the day. I didn't imagine the pastures are in too great of shape anymore.



Unfortunately, I was right in regard to that. There was some greenery in here, but most of it was shrubs and weeds that she probably wouldn't touch. Winter wasn't kind to this pasture it seemed.


The horse pasture was also in rough shape...


Same went for the chicken field...


And the sheep pasture, too. It looks like I'll have my work cut out for me over the next few months.


It was about 10 AM after I finished checking all of those, so I went and inspected the building next to the storehouse. I didn't remember it being there, so I went inside.




Inside, I found to be more of a fancy fence than a building. There was also my father's best shovel inside, so I suppose he was planning on digging something.

Not sure about what to do with this just yet, I decided to head to the town and around the island to check on everything and to see what changed.

The view from this cliffside is only different now in that the half of West Isle on the mainland is a bit larger now. Now that I think about it, calling the mainland town West Isle still is really odd, though I know it has to do with the island's strange history.



The mountains look as calm as ever. They go pretty far up, but I didn't really have the time to look there for today.



Then there's the forest. It's a lot more grown up than I remember it, but it's been over a decade. I only went in as far as what we used to call the "grassland". I had a couple of reasons for this visit, actually.




And I was right to believe they'd still be there. Back when I was little, there used to be the best berries you could find here. They call them "mock strawberries", and I've eaten those before too, but I'd argue these are different.

They're really sweet, I swear! The other kids in town and I ate them all the time, though I would agree they taste a bit like watermelon.

I found about four bunches of them growing there wildly, so I picked a decent few and went on my way.



The village was my main goal for the day. I supposed a public ferry would be there, given as we always had one as a child, but I also wanted to see if any of my old friends were still around.

West Isle village looks surprisingly unchanged. I couldn't see much in the darkness, but the only changes in the town is the few repairs on a couple of the buildings.

I didn't see anyone around at first, but then I saw good old Elder Graham standing in his flower garden. He always really liked cultivating the native flowers, especially the scarlet rosmallow hibiscus.

_{I did have to ask him to remind me of the name. I've never been good at plant names.}

Such an odd guy. It was about midday, so I decided to head on back to see how Pete was doing. On the way back to the farm, I met another new face.




She was about maybe two or three years younger than me and easily a foot shorter. She had a lot of freckles all across her face, making apparent that she didn't wear any makeup.

Back in the city, they would say she didn't really need any- she was plenty pretty as is. I never usually bothered with the stuff personally, mostly because it was such a hassle.

And with that she took off running before I could say goodbye. She definitely has a lot of energy, but I just hope that she doesn't go poking around my private business anymore.

At least someone likes my hair color.



After hearing Bigbee's statements, I had an idea I wanted to try. I went back to the little building where I found the shovel and started digging.




Sure enough, there was warm water here! It was surprisingly easy work so I did some more work on it and called it there.

It was about midday, so I went to check on Pete's progress. I figured those big arms of his would make a steel plow look bad.

I'm not so sure anymore.

I needed space for crops today, so I didn't have much of a choice aside from doing it myself.




I cleared out some land. That was easy enough by hand.




Then I started tilling out some space...



And kept tilling. I found what seemed like some valuable rocks or old pieces of metal every once in a while. I picked them up, assuming they'd be worth at least something.



I got hungry so I went and grabbed a bit of lunch from the house, not sticking around very long. I don't think croissants are supposed to be lunch, but I tried to not think about it too hard because my headache came back.



I got enough cleared to plant some stuff. That's all I needed, and it took me less than an hour. With that out of the way, I ran back to town to try and catch the ferry to the mainland. There I met with the new ferryman who wasn't there this morning.

While I was here, I met a guy telling me that morning fairs are held at the docks on Tuesdays and Saturdays, prior to 9 AM. That's far out of Kirk's schedule, so it looks like I won't get to see what these are about.

I suppose I'll have to find some way across on my own time.



The sun was starting to get a bit low by the time I got to the mainland, so I needed to hurry and get what I came here for first. The Farmer's Union was my first stop.

Music: Mainland Stores




It's a surprisingly fancy building now. The local bank was merged into here at some point it seems.



Among the various things they had in store, they had a "sprinkler" costing 50,000 G. I don't know what sort of magic it's supposed to be, but I'll probably never afford that.

They also had a scarecrow, but that was almost all of my savings, so I opted not to.


They were also selling grass seeds... although I don't know if their price made me a bit reluctant or what, because I only bought two bags. I didn't need pasture grass too quickly anyways.



Aside from that, they also sold some medicines and other supplies I didn't have any reason to buy just yet.

Who ever heard of selling seeds in a mall?




It was bigger than I thought, though surprisingly empty. I don't really know why they needed this big of a building for it, since it's mostly a local storefront from what I can see.

Near the entrance was an old man sitting at a table.

I've never seen him around before, or at least, I don't remember him. I forgot to ask his name, unfortunately.

It seems like the left half of this room was a diner, and I was drawn in at the sight of a familiar face holding onto a cat.

It was funny at the time. You had to be there to understand.

...Actually, why was that funny again?

Eh, I'll remember it at some point. I think I was still a bit giddy from having most of that headache lifted.



Before I got to work planting, I took a brief moment to watch the sunset from the cliffside. I needed a brief rest and I figure it couldn't hurt.



It was nice to see again, kind of like an old friend. I'd sneak out as a child to watch it all the time, and the sunset view here was much better than the sunrise on the other coast.

When I got to the field and planted the first bag of potatoes, I realized I didn't entirely remember how my dad did it. So I needed to till some more...



It looked right once planted, so I did that some more.



...And more.



Eventually, I found a golden colored berry plant I hadn't noticed before. Now these I really remembered being delicious so I couldn't help myself.



I don't regret it either! That thing tasted really good, even if was a bit gritty, enough to give me a real big boost in energy.





I eventually got it all, though! By the end I was completely wore out, though it felt good. I probably wouldn't have done it without that strange berry.

I resolved to get the grass planted tomorrow, I didn't need it as much as I would the crops.



All that put me in such a good mood finally that I even gave one of those mock strawberries to Pete. In retrospect, I kinda can't hold earlier today against him, I guess.

The Flying Twybil fucked around with this message at 19:00 on Jan 15, 2020

Rabbi Raccoon fucked around with this message at 18:18 on Jan 15, 2020

The Flying Twybil fucked around with this message at 07:02 on Jan 19, 2020

Still an odd cat, though.




Bess seems to be really docile, which is good for me. She doesn't get herself too dirty either, which makes part of my job faster at least.




She doesn't give much milk, but I suppose that's fine. My mother told me that cows occasionally need to "work into" producing large quantities of milk.

I'm a bit worried with how long it's taking me to milk her now, though. Unless I get really good at this, a whole herd of cows is going to have me in the barn from sunrise to sundown!


I brought her out to the pasture with me to see if she wanted to touch any of the existing greenery. It wouldn't be much, but any real grass in her diet would be great until I could get these fields re-established.


Actually, starting work on that was my other project for the morning. The plan was to make enough money from those potatoes to get enough grass seeds to fix these fields to then raise more cows to then-

Well, you get the point.




Once the bigger weeds were gone, I moved some rocks and took to clearing out a large stump.

It took a bit of effort, but being old and dry made it easier to get rid of than a fresh stump. I took what was salvageable and set that to the side- it'd make for decent firewood.



It really got my arms burning and me sweating this early in the year, but there was a nice cool breeze out that made it quite refreshing.




Before I knew it, it was lunchtime already. I grabbed some leftover breakfast and got back to work.






I even eventually got one of those giant rocks smashed to pieces.



I was on so much of a roll that I took out some of the smaller rocks too. It was about that time that whatever adrenaline I had going wore off and I really felt my arms.

Needing a break, I went to see how Pete's progress was. I should've known I wasn't going to catch a break today, but the benefit of doubt is a tricky thing.

So I started watering...



And watering...



And watering. By this point my arms felt like they were going to fall off, so I decided to go take a look around town before continuing any more.



Though, before I did, I stumbled on over to the cow pasture and planted those seeds I was still hauling around.

When I did get there, it was already somewhere around 3 PM. Though, I did find two people I had been looking for there...

I didn't feel like it would be a great idea to tell people how much time I spent at dance clubs and such. I was honestly kind of a different person then, though I guess most of that was peer pressure.

...Now that I think about it, why in the world did my father think me living in the city was going to be a better influence on me than out here?



After that, I made my way back to the farm. Doing all that talking almost wore me out just as much, but then I remembered that hot spring thing.

Turns out Pete wasn't kidding. I don't know who did, or even if Pete's being more helpful without me noticing, but it was finished. Rough, but more finished than I left it.




I locked the door and jumped in to see how well it would work for my present aches. I've always been skeptical of these things before, but...

My goodness did that feel good. I don't think I left until it started getting dark.



I felt so good, I decided to work on the crop fields some more. I think the first set I planted might be too close to the edge of the farm so I started a new line of plots. Pulling up the weeds were first on the list.



With most of those, it was time to clear up this rock field. I could at least get the big pieces out of the way, even if the ground would stay rocky for a long time.



There's so many rocks out there, and they're frustratingly tough to break. It'd be better if I had a pickaxe probably, but I don't think my father left one of those behind.



And then I needed to clear some more...



And more...



And more...



Then I could get started on it, though it was getting hard to see.



In the process, I found one of those golden berries again. It was enough to keep me working for a little while longer.



Not much longer, mind you. Every part of me felt like lead in a few minutes and I eventually stumbled back home, half asleep. I'd put in more work today that I think I ever have.

...I hoped I wasn't forgetting something.

I've had better days, really.

Oh, and all this happened a few days ago- I haven't gotten around to writing until just now, on the 7th.



We had croissants for breakfast, and I'm really getting tired of writing that word now. Pete makes surprisingly good breakfast pastries though.

I decided to try a different approach towards getting Pete to actually farm today. I was starting to get a bit agitated at feeling I was doing all the work.

No, there was no use talking this out to a cow. I still apologized to her profusely, but she just shrugged me off when I tried to brush her and she hardly let me get any milk from her.

I suppose that's fair, but it's a huge let down. I checked a reference manual earlier and they said she'd probably be like this for a few days. Apparently cows can get very tempermental if they're used to sleeping indoors.

Whatever it was, I never found out. She ran me to the entrance of the farm and then just gave me a confused look.

I've had better days, and I was hoping that reliving some old memories would bring some motivation back.



It was there I met a final familiar face, still with his hair in a curly, wild mass.

With my spirits lifted, I headed off to do some good today. I set it down in my mind that no matter how tired I am, I'll get the cow pasture tilled up for the next time I have more seeds.

♫
♪


: Where the road runs down by the butternut grove~ ♫



: -To old Bill Skinner's stream~ ♪



: -Do tell at the noonday bell~ ♪



: -It's time for a summertime dream! ♫



: In a lunch pail town in a one horse way~ ♫



: -You can live like a king and queen~ ♪



: -Let's steal away in the noonday sun~ ♪



: -It's time for a summertime dream! ♪



: Hmm hm hm hmm hm hmm~ ♪



And till it I did. I found 3 more of those strange berries alongside quite a couple of pretty rocks and old pieces of things possibly worth some change.

I also sung some old songs I hadn't heard in years. It's been a while since I listened to some folk music like I used to- they don't really have that in dance clubs, unfortunately.

I checked in on Bess on my way to bed and she was still in a bad mood. Looks like I've got to deal with this for a few days.



It was dark by the time I got back to the house, and Bird was already waiting for me. I didn't see too much of her during the day- she was off doing whatever and so was I.

I woke up today to the sound of rain. It wasn't anything heavy, just really constant. I waited around for an hour or two with hope that the rain would clear, but it didn't.

I fed Bess, but she didn't take well to a brush and she started getting really rowdy before I'd really done much milking, so I just let her be for now. Hopefully her attitude would clear up soon.

Truth be told, I was already partially drenched just carrying the supplies over for the day, but it really wasn't that bad. The idea of just doing nothing for the day made me restless and I've mentioned before that I'm as stubborn as Dad was.



I'm possibly even more stubborn than he was. I didn't even stop for breakfast.



I remember thinking:



"I'm not going to let rain stop me. Nothing's going to stop me from reviving Dad's farm!"



"Nothing!"



"-Not even something as small as rain or the cold! I'm fine!"



Music: None

And...I just kept going, I think. I think I remember getting really tired, I... It goes a bit blank from there.

But I swear I heard a voice far away. I don't know who it was, I don't even remember it clearly, but...

: ... You really need to take better care of yourself.
: ... Know when to fold 'em, kid. You can only trip and fall so many times before you...
: ... You're really not as strong as you think. I'm sorry, but that's just how it is.
: B-but-
: No buts. We shouldn't meet again until along time from now...
: I-I...w-wait-!

...They sounded really angry with me. The next thing I remember is:

The dream and all the stuff after it happened yesterday actually. Well, er, on the 5th. It's the 6th now.

I think I slept most of the day away, which I think slept away most of whatever fever I had, but I still feel awful. I don't really know what happened, but I'd sure like to not feel this way anymore.



It's raining again, by the way. Noticing that made me think about the song, which I suppose means I'm feeling better.

I've spent most of the day writing all this into the diary, because I think I've learned my lesson about working in cold rain.



I took care of Bess as much as she'd allow, but she was extra cranky today. I'm honestly quite sure that Pete didn't go near her at all, but I gave her a lot of fodder on the 4th and today.

It's still really bad though. I'll just have to make sure it never happens again, which means I'll never let myself get sick again!



Oh, I tried calling Mom today, but the rain seems to have caused some problems at the operator's side. They can't get any calls out today.

Oh, I might not have mentioned that! This place still has operators, which is really neat, though I suppose a bit inconvenient. Living on an island has it's downsides.

I'd head to the mainland, but I'm sure Kirk doesn't sail on days like these.

Nothing else for me to do than write in this or watch as Pete attempts to teach Bird to do tricks.

I woke up this morning feeling mostly better though something in my chest still hurt. I'm not sure what, but I rightly figured I could power through the day as long as I took it a bit easy on myself.

We had some sort of rice cake thing for breakfast. Pete found it in his recipe book and wanted to try it. He had to improvise on a few details, but it wasn't too bad.

_{As a note to myself: Make sure to grab some more food supplies in the mainland tomorrow! Most've what we've brought has run out.}

For some fun, I went and collected some more berries. It was a nice walk at least, even if I walked into a few spiderwebs. That's the risk of walking in the woods, though.

After that, I figured I'd keep taking it easy and go to visit the town to talk with folks.

Back on the farm, I watered what was possible. Thinking about it now, I'd probably need to do some more planning on how I'm going to be planting.



There was another whole section of fields to work on, which I'd have to get to at some point.



On the other hand, the cow pasture was starting to regrow, though I'd definitely need some more seeds.



...Although, the other fields were still in rough shape.




After taking it easy for the rest of the day, I found myself on the cliffside while watching that familiar sunset again.

This was a rough week, but it was only my first here. I could still turn this all around easily, and I don't think I'm going to forget the hard lessons I've already had.



I'll get it right next week, for sure.

The Flying Twybil fucked around with this message at 16:53 on Jan 19, 2020

The Flying Twybil fucked around with this message at 17:55 on Jan 19, 2020

The Flying Twybil fucked around with this message at 18:06 on Jan 19, 2020