Craythorne Hall

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Craythorne Hall

Craythorne Hall, located in Phenix Isle is home to Clan Cavill in Scotland 1787. These nine photos were taken on a recent visit after I saw a January 18th post that the public was welcome to visit the rooms in the main building and the dowager lodge. The Marquess Craythorne hopes to open the homes again soon for a dinner and a ball. When I checked “search” inworld, there’s a group one can join that would likely send notices of events. The SLurl isn’t listed there; it seems you can get onto the grounds but the doors are either opened or they’re shut and locked.There are a huge amount of rooms; I didn’t count them. There’s period art everywhere, in the rooms and hallways, lots of art. I thoroughly enjoyed looking at the wallpaper, molding, tapestries, chandeliers and furnishings.I have no idea who makes all this stuff or where it can be found. I checked several items to see if some of the creators have shops.There were many items I’ve never seen before. I especially like the wallpaper in the room pictured above. I want to take the photo above and play in fotosketcher to see how it would look as a painting. This home really delighted my imagination. I’ve saved the Slurl to Craythorne Hall for last because this place isn’t always open to the public. When you notice that it is, I recommend a visit.

 

Frog’s Garden and Cafe

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Frog's Garden and Cafe

My visit to Frog’s Garden and Cafe in Bonaire52 was a pleasant interlude in my week. It isn’t a large build and part of it’s a garden center. There are some interesting hangout places surrounding the store. The reason for my visit was a photo by the owner of an outdoor bathing area. And the area in the above photo, which could easily have been missed, was the reason I decided to share this.  There’s still snow on the ground while the garden stuff on offer is mostly spring plants. It reminded my human of the last, wet heavy snow of the season in areas she’s lived before moving to the high desert. That bright, crisp moment of transition when spring flowers are beginning to assert themselves once again.

In the above photo, I’m standing on the deck of a treehouse and below is a shot of the interior.The first photo is of a second floor balcony view in an old, abandoned house. It can’t be seen well from the outside and I only discovered it by going inside and climbing the stairs; I found it enchanting. There are several paths with views. The building on the right is the cafe.And here’s a shot of the inside of the cafe. The pool can best be reached by walking through the cafe and out through the blue curtains pictured.The garden center has some furniture, rugs, skyboxes and other items besides landscaping. There’s a lucky letterboard as well.Here’s a view of the hot spring pool in back of the cafe although the steam doesn’t show up well in the photo. There are plenty of fresh clean towels and drinks.

In the invitation that accompanied the photo, the owner stated there’s no nudity allowed. It’s a moderate rated sim.

 

 

 

The Harlem Cafe with the Apollo Open Mic Night

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Harlem Cafe, music, Sansara

The Harlem Cafe is located in Tenney on the continent of Sansara. It’s always winter there but the cafe is about 653 meters up so you can’t really tell. The land was claimed in 2007. From the description: “Live Music Venue Open Mic Jazz Pop Blues Country Classic Rock for SL Artists and Fans!”

The audio on my SL laptop isn’t working so I wasn’t looking for a music club. This cafe happens to be near my winter cabin in Eaton and I was going for a walk in the snow through abandoned land, ever cautious of security orbs and the private property. There’s nothing at ground level so I did a search when I saw the SLurl. I don’t recall ever reading about the cafe.

It isn’t a huge place but looks appropriate for it’s purpose. It would be the great company and music that’s the draw. If you wanted to go for a walk you could hop off the balcony and fall to the snowlands below.

It was night time when I took the photos. There’s an informative notecard about how to perform at The Harlem Cafe:

“1. TP to the Harlem Cafe􀀁

2. Schedule an event in the Second Life Music Artists Calendar, make sure there is no clash

3. Pick up the Harlem Cafe stream information on the wall

4. Send a notice to Second Life Music group before the event

5. Plug in the Harlem Cafe stream which is always on, then have a great show!

The Harlem Cafe is provided by the Charitable Hearts, SL’s largest charity group, so please give a shout during the show and ask audience to kindly support their favourite charities. (Relay for Life, St. Jude’s Children Hospital, Oxfam, the Humane Society and the Virtual Angel )”

 

 

 

 

 

RMK Gothic 2

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RMK Gothic

Here are six more photos of RMK Gothic which appears to be gone. My first visit was last month and I’m appreciative that I got to see it. I liked the architecture, the interiors and the landscaping. Some of the buildings were fine and others were decayed. It was worth looking in every nook and cranny.There was attention to detail and lots of care and imagination went into the place.Then there were surprise areas like the one above.These figures in the castle cellar were really spooky. I had to lighten the exposure for this photo to be seen although it looked really great to be there in the dark.And this is the outside of the castle.  It was a photo similar to this on Flickr that prompted me to go last month. I’m glad I did.

*Edit* There’s a comment to my part one post yesterday from Zee with the info that the sim has indeed been sold off. There’s now a mini RMK Gothic which is open to the public and she’s provided the SLurl. I’m looking forward to visiting soon.

A Not Unusual Tale ~ RMK Gothic 1

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RMK Gothic

These are six photos from my splendid visit to RMK Gothic last month. I love this Victorian hotel! It was a photo on Flickr that prompted me to make my first visit. I recall this build got a lot of coverage when it first opened but I wasn’t drawn to going to see it myself. Maybe it was because I’d heard it was a shopping area but when I finally went, the merchandise was unobtrusive to the awesomeness of the build. There are areas with different looks and ambiance and I made a couple of visits to make sure I didn’t miss anything.I went in the wee hours of the morning on a night I couldn’t sleep and the people there spoke different languages than I do. I happily wandered around snapping pictures.Last week when I started thinking about this blog post, I tried to go back and kept getting “no valid parcel”. Sometimes that changes a few days later but in this case it kept happening. It’s no longer listed in search. There is still a group for “RMK Gothic Sim” so I checked out the owner of that. The blog hasn’t been posted to since November. There’s still a marketplace store but the main store in the creator’s picks…..”no valid parcel”.Now I have some good memories and pictures I like. If I hadn’t gone, I’d not know what I would have missed. Who knows what will happen with this.Anyway, there are so many photos I like that I’m posting more tomorrow even though this sim appears to be gone.

 

Springtime and Alice

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Seni Seviyorum

I like to see the seasonal changes at Seni Seviyorum and have four photos here of my recent couple of visits. The last time I blogged this place, the sim was under renovation again by the time I got my pictures posted. The theme this time is Alice in Wonderland and it’s either going to get another renovation soon or that descriptive word wasn’t removed from the last time. You will need to fall down a rabbit hole and drink a potion before you can enter. It’s quite lovely. When I went back to check the landmark earlier this afternoon, the sky was looking kind of stormy instead of the blue skies in these photos. (I noticed it was raining and storming in New Toulouse this afternoon too.)Asalia House is usually part of this build but I noticed it tucked away behind some large boulders. It’s still winter there. The tip jar was near the greenhouse so I didn’t feel I was intruding but I didn’t go into the house. Anyway, there’s a castle facade and other Alice props. I’m not into those huge colorful mushrooms that one sees in Second Life and don’t have shots of those.I happened to be wearing a black and white outfit and got distracted with posing with a large black hat that can be sat on and also with these birds.

 

 

 

Playing at LEA 10

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art, LEA, virtual photography, Whiskey Monday

These are five of the photos I’ve taken at LEA 10. Round Eight of Linden Endowment for the Arts includes Nothing Endures But Change by Whiskey Monday at LEA 10. This is a work in progress, with changing sets in which the public is welcome to take photos. There’s a 15 minute auto-return for props. It’s asked that any photos posted include credits to the sim or project. They can be submitted to the Nothing Endures But Change Flickr group.So far my experiences have been great participating in this. It doesn’t take a huge time commitment, other photographers have been gracious when we’ve been on the sim at the same time and I like looking at what others have done interpreting the same sets.I’m not quite sure how this project will evolve. I know there’s a plan; all I’ve needed to know is that I’ve felt welcome. The SLurl will likely land you underwater or on an odd part of the sim since things keep changing. These pictures show some of the various temporary builds. There’s a group that can be joined for info. What works for me is to just check the place out every couple of days or so.Regular readers of this blog know that I don’t like to fuss with changing clothes often but I’ve done so with this project. The scale is flexible regarding participation and I’d like to encourage you to stop by, play and share what you do.

LEA 10 

Nothing Endures But Change Flickr Group

Umbral Photography

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Umbral Photography

It’s still winter. I’ve visited Umbral Photography a couple of times. I thought I took a set of photos the first time but can’t find them. It was a great reason to go back.

From the land description: “A place created for photography, including seasonal landscapes, lakes, full house, animated bridges, free permits to rez your own poses.”

The house was decorated for Christmas when I was there. This location is where I shot the photo for my New Years Day post.The light is spectacular and was different on the occasions I was there.I don’t spend a lot of time on my photos. One of the things I rely on is being able to fly, which isn’t allowed here. There are some beautiful views that I didn’t feel I could do justice to.

Umbral Photography is on Hydra Isles and is Adult rated. There’s a Bd/Sm Club in one of the corners, in a large building. The front doors were open so I’m not sure if it’s private or not. The public is welcome to enjoy the sim.While I was there I saw high fashion photography taking place and I tried to stay out of their way. Aside from all the creativity involved in that it must take patience, something this avatar doesn’t have for that sort of thing.

I experienced less lag here than most places but everyone’s machines are different. It was still winter here when I last checked on Sunday evening.

 

Something Different

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Brooklands, Kitely

I’ve been exploring opensim and using the hypergates. It works often enough that I’m still doing it although it’s beyond me how to explain it. These are some pictures of a work in progress on Kitely. I was there several weeks ago and didn’t get a landmark or take notes; now I don’t recognize it on the list. I did nothing to these photos and want to show them anyway.

The place had some of the most beautiful light I’ve ever seen.  That orange color on the walls was glowing lightThe architecture and textures were gorgeous. I’ve been efficient when visiting because of a system where some accounts have to pay when they have visitors. This would be an awesome place to live. Other sims I really like are Vespers by Dot Matrix, Aquaetas by Danko Whitfield, a couple of Asian sims and Far Away by Miguel Rotunno.I just checked again while looking at some spelling and see that it’s Brooklands by Mat Mahogany. People are free to wander.I really want to see how this turns out.  This was near the landing area. Seeing this makes me want to learn to build. 

 

Lost Town

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Lost Town

Here’s some of my photos from a weekend visit to Lost Town. It’s built by Zordy B Zipdash and Co at Square pegs in round holes, Kashmir. It’s a place for photography and they’re having a Design A Postcard contest.  There are a few reasonable rules and information near the landing.What I loved most about the build is getting to see two copies of a POST house, side by side.It’s the interiors I like best here.A great place to rest. There’s a 30 minute autoreturn for props.One of the interiors.

There are also some run down areas indicating the town is indeed lost.Most of the buildings can be entered. I like seeing what other photographers have shot at this location.