OMG!!!! PONIES!!!!!!!

As I said, the Eyre Manor is gone, now replaced with a Carriage House--you can follow this "SLURL" and go there, or just Teleport to the Caledon Telehub and look to the South East.

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Caledon%20Eyre/48%20/183/23/



If you've been wondering what I've been up to, well, it's been horse breeding, really. I thought it a simple matter of slapping a head and a new pose on my centaur avatars. Ha. Ha ha ha. Ha.

Well.....after a few more weeks work than I thought it might be, the horsies were finally ready. I cannot claim to have done this alone. Professor Avalanche, Mrs. Carricre Wind and Sir Zenmondo all have my endless thanks for holding my hand, writing the rider anims, and pushing me (usually gently) in the direction I needed to go with my scripting (er, is it a bad thing to send 40 llSay calls when one would do? I just wanted to make sure!)

But, I will remain immodest--they are truly beautiful, I think, and do everything a horsie ought (well, unlike a competing SL horse, not that. Some take realism too far). They are the only English Saddle (and sidesaddle) horses in Second Life to my knowledge and the leg movements are based on late 19th century stop motion photography of horses. They blink, have a few different whinnies, different leg gaits and sounds for walking and galloping, kick up dust when they run, have flexible manes and tails, blink their eyes, and nicker when the nose is touched.

And I think they are rather cute :) Yes, the head is a sculptie. Here is a rogues' gallery:






And don't forget Peggy, my Pegasus, whose wings fold up on the ground and flap in the air :)





I also threw together a Stanhope Carriage, which was a two person gig of the Regency through Victorian periods. Light and nimble, it was just the sort of thing one can imagine a dashing Henry Tilney of Northanger Abbey riding about in (the Jane Austen Centre says it is undoubtedly what Mr Thorpe drove, but why should the villians have all the fun?)


(illustration courtesy of the Jane Austen Centre)



Since the above picture, I have added reins (I was not quite sure how to work them for different avatar sizes, but decided on the expedient, if not completely realistic measure, of having them tied off to the rail).

Oh, and Demo Horsies are available, just look for the tied up Roan Mare and touch her post. The demos are not precisely handsome (um, bright red with the La Bicyclette logo on their rump :P), but they demonstrate the riding characteristics, and I think are fun enough.

Lord, that was all shameless business, was it not? But, though I do like selling my horses, really, what I truly want is a place for people to gather in Eyre. In the day, carriage houses were places that travellers and locals alike of both sexes would gather for an evening meal, or perhaps just a quick pint over a happy game of cards.


I have a non-gambling card deck that plays Hearts, Spades, and the ever popular 52 card pickup, a lovely bar borrowed from Mr Sputnik's Etheric Travel Cabinet, and tables, chairs and haybales for all to lounge about on.

The south wall leads to a great courtyard that straddles Dr Whittlesea's property and mine. In actuallity, a real carriage house was harldy just the pub and barn, but a full inn surrounding a carriage courtyard. Our combined builds simulate that, and not incidentally give us a lovely central area for future exhibitions and dances :) Again, it is really about trying to create a community centre.

So, please DO come by (she said, trying to not sound too awfully desperate :)). I sahll be there quite a bit this week, and would love to see every one of you! I promise to turn the salesgirl mode off, too :P