Ameretti - 1 Gallows Way - Round 6
Having got further in this challenge than any I've ever attempted previously, I wanted to ensure the experience remained fresh and frankly, challenging. With this in mind, I decided to incorporate a mini challenge, which each household will participate in, determined by the roll of a die. I have also decided to reintroduce all teens and older sims at the beginning of each round. It is easy to lose track of LTW's and Aspirations, so I hope it will be of use to not just any readers, but me too! If the individual sim has reached their original LTW, I shall just record achieved - there is no reward or impetus to pursue a second LTW - that sim is free to enjoy life to the fullest without the pressure of skill building or reaching wants to stay happy. For me, the whole point is to get the sim into platinum - after all it's not like I use the aspiration points for anything other than the odd batch of Smart Milk! Anyhow, I digress.The challenge for this round is :-
1 - Join the Garden Club.
2 - All teens and elder to get into the zone for a hobby. I'm not sure if this is possible, but I'm willing to give it a go!
3 - Take a family vacation.
4 - Get a pet. If no one in the household wants one, a small animal, or an aquarium will suffice. But once bought, it must remain stocked.
5 - All age transitions of household members to be accompanied by a proper party - with invited guests. A cake just isn't good enough!
6 - Buy or start a home business. If there isn't much cash available, sell time on a home pond for example - the key is to improvise!
Now on with the update :-
Blanche Ameretti (nee Denton) - Family - LTW Have 6 Grandchildren
Oliver Ameretti - Knowledge - LTW Achieved
Blanche hardly recognised the property as the same one she'd moved into when she married her college sweetheart Oliver. Her work in the greenhouse was producing succulent vegetables, her fruit trees were bug free, and her lawn was green and lush. She'd certainly been gifted with 'green fingers', and no mistake. Maybe it was finally time to join the Garden Club. No, she decided, she'd call them once the baby was born. She really didn't have the energy at the moment.
Blanche could not believe Oliver couldn't hear her screaming. Either he'd become suddenly deaf, or he was feigning ignorance of her predicament. Either way he just sauntered past the study and climbed in the carpool for another day at the hospital. 'Just Great' thinks Blanche; off he goes to tend to the sick and wounded of Deathly Hallows, whilst I'm standing here in agony. How ironic, married to the best surgeon in town, and left to fend for herself!
At least it wasn't a difficult birth, although the arrival of twins took Blanche by surprise a little. At her last scan, there'd been no mention of two babies. Blanche was beginning to wonder just how efficient and properly trained the staff was at the hospital. Maybe she needed to have a word with Oliver and find out just what kind of staff he was employing. She named her daughter Heather, and her son Donovan.
The question was answered sooner than expected when Oliver brought home Demi Love that very evening. A failed policewoman, Demi was the very cop who'd been beaten by Oliver's enemy Amin Bear during a robbery. The incident still haunted Oliver, as he explained to Demi with bitterness.
"That man cost my family a small fortune. It was hard to lose the benchpress and couch, but it was harder to realise how vulnerable we were at the time. I'll never forgive him. And believe me I'll never forget it. Amin Bear hasn't even begun to suffer."
Whilst Oliver went upstairs to see his new family, Demi remained chatting with Blanche.
"I handed my notice in when they demoted me back to traffic cop. I'm working as an administrator at the hospital now, and it's a lot better paid, and much more satisfying. And working with Ollie is such a laugh, we get on like a house on fire."
Blanche had never heard her husband referred to as 'a laugh', and thought the woman rather strange, and a little simple to boot. Oliver, a laugh! Never!
Oliver had the following day off work, and despite Blanche asking him not to, called up the Garden Club. "The vegetable plants are at their best. If we leave it much longer we may lose our chance", he tells her.
"But Oliver, you should have let me ring!"
"Well it's too late now, Joe Graham's already arrived," he tells her matter of factly.
And so begins the first feud to come between them.
Yes, thought Blanche, it is well-groomed and tended. I should know, I'm the one with the bad back from all the bending up and down tending it.
"Really Joe, I'm not in the least suprised Oliver isn't a member of the Garden Club. Especially as he has no idea which end of a hoe to pick up", Blanche fumed inwardly.
"Grrrrr ...... you did not work hard, and you definately don't have a love of plants. I bet you couldn't tell a green bean from a green pepper!" Blanche had never been so angry, and to add insult to injury, Oliver now got a lifetime discount on seeds and compost.
Deep down she hoped he felt guilty. He knew he didn't deserve a wishing well. She hoped the truth haunted him, although he didn't appear to lose any sleep over the incident.
Blanche's anger was somewhat dissipated by the arrival of the twins birthday. Donovan grew up looking somewhat like a Denton. He seemed to have inherited her genes, and his Father's ultra mean personality. Scorpio's with 1 in nice and 10 in neat were starting to take over the neighbourhood, thought Blanche sadly.
With any luck maybe her daughter would inherit her Father's genes, and her personality! But no such luck. Heather had an identical personality to both her brother and Father. She did look like a Sims though, and had the cutest funky dreads.
The twins were a handful, and no mistake. Blanche took solace and respite in her garden. Unlike Oliver, she really did love plants, and all that nature had to offer. The peace of the great outdoors was bliss after the pandemonium her daughter could create inside, she thought.
'It's a wonder the cot stays together the way she shakes and stomps in it', thinks Blanche. Reassuring herself toddlerhood couldn't possibly last forever, she goes back to weeding her tomatoes.
Oliver seems shocked when his daughter grows up. Blanche just feels a deep sense of gratitude and a small sense of accomplishment.
Donovan is a strange looking child. And it becomes apparent he inherited the 'Peter Sims' chin, as did his Father before him. He's not happy with his hair and heads off to the mirror for a restyle. It's a miracle how quickly a sim's hair grows, thinks Blanche viewing his new look.
"So if you're my Dad's sister, that makes you my Aunt," Donovan tells Imani Sims, who has trouble taking it in. With both having only one point in nice, witness the most cheaty game of chess ever played. On a different note, Blanche is starting to resent Oliver's BFF Demi Love. The woman has started to come home with him every day after work, and always settles herself on the sofa next to him. Blanche is beginning to feel like the gooseberry, and that has to be bad. Maybe it's just her nerves on edge she thinks. After all, Korey Jitmakusol is visiting tonight with a view to enrolling the twins into his Private School. Blanche just hopes her pork chops are suitable, and that Oliver remains on his best behaviour. He still has a habit of being rude to strangers for no reason.
"I must compliment you on your garden Mrs Ameretti. Your husband must have worked very hard to manage to get a Wishing Well from the Garden Club. Joe Graham told me of he was very impressed by your husband's horticultural ability."
Blanche remained speechless!
Blanche had to assume her pork chops were delicious. Unfortunately Demi Love settled herself next to Oliver at the dinner table, and snaffled her portion. Well at least they smelt good, thinks Blanche, sniffing the air.
The Headmaster is surprised to see Imani Sims at the table. He hadn't realised the Ameretti children were related to his newest pupil.
"If you turn out to have as much intelligence as your Aunt, you'll both do very well", he tells the twins.
The next morning Blanche looks on with pride as the twins leave in their smart new uniforms.
Oliver is eager to teach the twins all there is to know about his profession. Heather looks on in horror as he pulls a filthy sponge from the chest cavity of his mechanical dummy. The lesson is very illuminating .....
..... remind me never to aspire to a medical career thinks Heather. It really does stink.
Fed up with Oliver and Demi Love spending half the night playing poker, Blanche replaces the table with a piano. Donovan is an immediate fan of the new instrument. Remind me to get a job in music when I'm older, he thinks. It rocks!
In a final act of justice, Blanche finally gets some recognition for all the hard work she put into the garden. Hanging her Nature hobby plaque on the wall proudly she thinks 'just let him try and say this is his'!