Eggs and Hope

This episode of SpringRain's Tiny Horses brings you Eggs and Bacon Hope! :D

With a pinch of despair and only one breedable female (or so I thought), I had planned to import some female Horse Norns I had downloaded from The Creature Repository and Helen's Bibble Directory to give my males a bit more of a chance. I found a few fabulous looking females, though some of them were not entirely Horse Norn (such as their arms or legs being a different type) and there didn't seem to be too many of them on offer.

Maybe I can upload some of mine from the saved copies I keep of them. I'd be happy to share them for those who are interested. Anway, I now have some female Horse/Chocolate Norns waiting in my hard drive which may be brought in to add new genes to the pool.

I also downloaded some male Horses from Helen's Bibble directory in case we need a bit of variety later or something similar occurs again. Happily, there were a lot more of these on offer.

Many thanks to the giving and kindness of those who decided to share theit Norns with others. Perhaps you have an idea of how tricky it can be to find Norns of one type or breed to match in with your populations of 'purebreds'. :D Whether that is that case or not, I am truly grateful.

***

Feeling bad for not including Pommes much in the previous post, I lavished more attention than usual on this girl and with a slap or two and repeating myself many times over, I finally managed to get her eating! It was a fantastic breakthrough because even though she complained constantly, her health had been dropping to around 60% at times.

Basically it involved getting her to look at the food by simply typing 'food'. This draws the Norn's attention to whatever you tell it without actually giving them directions as to what to do with things. It sounds strange but that's actually the way I teach most of my Norns to eat. Saying the name usually draws their attention to it and they then decide what to do with it, which if they are hungry is to eat 'push' the object. I have tried telling them 'push food' but that never seems to work out too well for me. Especially not with a fussy Norn like Pommes.

After I got Pommes to look at the food, I asked her 'what'. This gets them to tell you what they are doing. She kept saying 'run food' or 'run Mummy' or 'run lift'. It was 'run' everything! I don't know exactly when or where or even how she learned that behaviour. Perhaps when hanging about with other Norns and getting too crowded, or maybe from being slapped? In any case, running away from everything, including food, was not helping any. So when she told me 'run food' I told her 'no' and repeated 'food' and when she was looking at it 'push'. Repeating this process a few times over somehow got her eating again and when she finally gulped down that strawberry, she got copious amounts of tickles and 'yes'-es!!

To go on with what happened next, I shall tell you that I needn't have bothered downloading any extra females for the current herd, because much to my delight, I found that both Pommes and Wiff had finally grown up. Much later and much slower than everynorn else yet that became irrelevant as soon as I discovered that both of them are able to breed. I was also really glad to be past Pomme's fussy phase. Maybe that was the rebellious teen stage and I mistook it for eating problems. Lol.

With Pommes' dark colouring and Wiff's reddish hue, they are sure to continue the array of pretty colours in my Norns. I love pretty colours. I don't know who doesn't. XD

Thanks to Jessica at Discover Albia and Grendel Man, (who took a look at Aurn's genetics for me), I have discovered that the dark colour being modelled by Pommes here, as well as several of my other creatures, is actually linked back to Aurn, who apparently is related to (or may be one of) a Creatures 1 breed called a Night Norn. For more information please go and take a peek at Discover Albia blog around August 2012. It really is exciting stuff! (Oh, you might want to also read the rest of her Blog while you're there, just a thought =^_^=)

I have yet to prise my C1 genetics kit open as I have encountered trouble first with locating the key code or whatever it's called to unlock it, and secondly, to install the darned thing, which has well and truly had a dummy spit at me. Poo. -_-; I mean, it's not like I'll be able to understand it once I get it open but I'd at least like to poke and prod and get myself into trouble. Ah well, we'll leave that saga for another day.

Suffice to say, once these two slowpokes had finished their growth spurts, I lured them off to join the others, not wishing good opportunity to pass by. (Those are...uh...apples, sprinkled around the sea bridge. Yes...>.> Apples! Alright, they're tomatoes. There's nothing wrong with a little encouragement, is there?)

They made a lovely sight hanging about together and I gave a sigh of relief for Miss Bellis, who had previously been preparing to be loved up by every male around (apart from sweet Crimson, whom, as it turns out, appears to be infertile). Not that Bellis is having a bad life, that is. She's happy as ever, playing with Sam and Fluffbum and the bouncy ball. It was so cute I just had to take a piccy. Although, she sort of looks like a sales lady in an Albian advertisement for squeaky rubber balls. "Here we have the bouncy 2000! Hours of fun for everyone! Safe for both Grendels and Norns - (teleporter not included!)"

I hadn't had to wait long before we had our first new baby on the way. I believe the father is Sam, though there have been several eggs since this so I'm trying not to get my eggs scrambled. :D

Unless my observation kit lies, Fluffbum the Grendel leads me to believe that the egg resulting from Bellis and Sam's tryst is his. Hee hee. He's going to have to don a blonde wig and a squeaky voice before I'll believe that. Still, he's a sweetie for trying. <3 He was interested in this egg for a while (trying to 'push' or 'look' egg) before moving on to find some food and a toy. Bellis sleeps on up the lift, completely unaware.

Not long after that, he found the cable car and had a great time riding it back and forth over the garden. There's nothing cuter than a happy Fluffbum. :D I think he had some honey in there too. Needless to say this Grendel loves a lot of tickles and attention. If he spots me, he follows me around till he gets a tickle.

 With the Grendel gone and her mother and father nowhere to be seen little <un-named> hatches out of her crackly cocoon with only a banana and a dolly for company. Nevertheless there's a sweet smile on her face and she utters her first words. The reason she's remaining nameless is because, like I promised earlier, I was wondering whether anyone reading this would like to have a go at picking out a name. Suggestions can be posted in the comments here or sent to my email: HoneyGlobule@hotmail.com

If you can't come up with any (or I don't like what you chose - nah, just kidding! Even if you call her something silly, that's okay. I have a Grendel named Fluffbum so if it's along similar lines I am fine with that.) then I shall choose her a fitting name.

Something bad had to happen to counteract all the happy. Is that how these things work?

A short while after exporting this girl and making a back-up copy, I now have a couple of sick Norns on my hand(s). Sam is eating okay when I distract him from his spinning dance and prompt him to eat but Crimson is spinning around in circles of woe, sneezing and coughing with items of food clutched in his sweaty paw. (Do Norns sweat? XD) When distracted, he drops them and when told to eat, he picks it up, gets interrupted by a sneeze and the ballet recommences.

Hoping that this illness won't spread does nothing to stop the spread of it and soon Bellis is also down with a cold. I am a little panicky and hover around them, trying to get them to eat. A nap or two and a few licks of honey or a carrot seemed to get them back on track but it was a scare I could have done without with so few Norns in the world. Losing Sam, Crimson and Bellis would have left me with only three Norns and a lot of sadness. Thankfully that didn't come true.

With the Norns on the mend and things calmed down once again, it was time for a double dose of goodness to overcome the triple dose of ick. Congrats to Frodo and Pommes on their very first pregnancy! I had to stare at the screen for a while to make sure it was really happening. Congratulations also to Bellis and somenorn! I can't remember who the daddy is, though I'm sure we will have it on their birth certificate when a name is chosen.

Naturally, being the first to conceive, Bellis is also first to lay her purple ellipse in the strawberry patch before quickly retreating from the thing that just caused her a ton of pain.

And Pommes falls asleep seconds after laying hers! She has a rare, pretty smile on her face and it looks like she's cuddling her tiny treasure close while she slumbers, in contrast to Bellis, who being much more experienced, may have the attitude of 'get that thing away from me'. At least, it's fun to imagine she does. Hehehe. XD

Two proud mothers with their growing eggs. I might or might not be hiding somewhere just outside the frame whispering things like 'egg' or 'look egg' into their furry little ears. :D

With a crackle and a snap, <un-named> Bellis Baby number 2 is here! She seems to have a peculiar reddish hue...

Joined a few minutes later by <un-named> Pommes Baby 1, who has a dark colouring which probably comes from Pommes and Frodo. XD

Speaking of Frodo, I had to rush to his side weilding my syringe! The observation kit findings were pretty grim and his whimpering was also ringing a warning bell. I don't care about survival of the fittest. When my cat is sick, I take it to the vet! My computer pet wasn't going to suffer either. Plus I have an attachment to him because of his name XD. There can't be a Sam left in the world without a Frodo. Not in this world anyway! :D 

 This is why I am freaking out:

Both of them at once, too. I was wasting time trying to get them to eat but there wasn't enough time to dilly dally watching the silly things cark it. So out came Mr. Needle. Sorry guys. :( I know it was painful but it kept you alive.

Meanwhile, the healthy Norns are getting clucky. Bellis canoodled with Wiff and they soon had this cute little egg! :D I didn't take pictures of every stage because it all starts looking alike after a while but here it's just about to hatch...

And out comes our first boyo! I'm wondering whether the genetics of this third generation will have any mutations yet but it's probably too early for that. So long as he's happy and healthy, that's the main thing.

Bellis also had another few foals, and I forgot to take pictures of two of them (I think it was two) but here's another of hers, which I have saved under 'Bellis Baby Something' because quite frankly, I've lost count:

She has had many eggs before reaching her elder stage, after which I have seperated her from the boys to spend peaceful quiet time with Pommes near the light house and the bee hives. I think she deserves it, plus I now have enough Norns for generation 3!

And she is not the only one to start enjoying retirement. Fluffbum finally resembles a grey dust bunny a little bit more than a crocodile. I brought him a new toy to his island to celebrate.

Just to show how much time has passed, here are the stats. Plus a pregnancy. How'd that get in there? :O (hehe. It was a surprise to me too, though a happy one).

The below picture of Pommes just goes to show that if you didn't pay attention to who was kisspopping whom, or didn't use the observation kit, you wouldn't be able to tell. Unlike in Creatures 3 and Docking Station where they get those adorable roly-poly tummies! *squee!*

Yet here is the proof in the pudding. Or...the chocolate Norn anyway. Or is that the proof OUT of the...you know what, I confuse myself sometimes... x.x

Meet Pommes second child and the last of our line of generation 3! She doesn't have a name and you have three guesses for who the father is. Wiff doesn't actually transform himself into a pair of wings and fly around Albia though it would be fair to assume that he does it when I'm not looking as I am quite certain most of this next herd are his offspring.

As stated before, none of these pint size babbies have names yet, so feel free to make suggestions for any you might like. Until next time, take care and God Bless!

May your dreams be filled with Norns tonight. In a good way.

SpringRain. <3

The Second Generation in Albia

Let's see what SprinRain has done to screw up her game now, shall we? I'm sure this is a question some of us might well be thinking.

And if you weren't thinking that - you're about to find out anyway.

First, however, I shall share these last pictures that I managed to salvage from before things went pear-shaped.

Here on the island you can see Marlika and her father Aurn soaking up some sun with my friendly Grendel, (whose name I have forgotten - bad SpringRain!). Could it be that Marlika was really stressed throughout her life to become an elder so soon? Or maybe it's that Aurn can't age. I don't really know. His son Chocolate didn't show any signs of age either.

I didn't think to check their stress levels in the science kit, though I'm fairly content to let nature take its course as long as my elderly Norns are still happy and healthy. I'm not sure there's a lot one can do to reduce the stress of some Norns. XD Apart from separating them and making sure they have peaceful time to themselves, which I already do as much as possible. This is a nice piccy to have as a memento of them. :3

Chrissie decided to join in the silver haired gals as well. She is pretty easy to tell apart with her dark colouing. Still, for a second I didn't know who it was! She enjoyed staying close to the warm fire in the kitchen and from there I couldn't get her to move. It reminded me of the way a cat or a dog likes to stretch out by the fireside. I did inject a fan CoB to cool my creatures down. Sometimes when they play with the oven CoB which comes with a fire, they get too hot very quickly.

Sadly, those are the only two pics I had of my previous generation, the former one being of Dawn's final egg that never got to hatch. I made a log of it. This is why:

01.08.12

I had to start a new world again…multiple times. D: Did I tell you before that I’m stubborn? Well, thinking you can get away with things is a whole different story to actually getting away with them. I just HAD to go and use the Super Speech toy to try and teach all my new Norns in one go didn't I? Even though I was previously forewarned about its one tiny glitch.

Stupid idea, SpringRain. What happened, you ask? 

I imported all the new foals into my current world after exporting all the elders and adults to give me a bit of space. I then started teaching them, hoping I would avoid the dreaded 'Speech Toy Error'. If only I was quick enough like with my gen. 1 Norns, it would have no chance to freeze on me.

I've never been all that lucky with games of chance though. The game decided to auto-save just when my Nornlet, Crimson, pushes the speech toy... Nooooo!

Everything froze and the error message re; ‘Small Furry Creatures has stopped working…’ popped up on the screen. The world was unable to be restored, leaving me with a blank white page that had nothing in it, or when I finally did get it to work, a very scrambled looking Pommes. She looked like a couple of postage stamps that had been through a very fine shredder and were moving around (somehow).  And the elders whom I had exported were also lost, as well as Dawn’s last egg. Needless to say, I was hitting myself over the head with a baseball bat…metaphorically, that is.

I admit that when starting the new world again I did attempt to use the speech toy AGAIN…with very much the same results while teaching my second Norn to be imported (Crimson. I import them in order of who was born first to who was born last). Some people have to learn some things the hard way... I must be one of them. XP

Despite my stubborn streak, or maybe because of it, we are now back to normal (after I created new worlds multiple times to see how many CoBs I could use in the world at once without one of them crashing the game. This was for a change, not more foolishness on my part but a precautionary measure with SweetHeart the Norn as my helper.) The donut vendor caused it to crash one time when I had finally imported everyone and thought we were safe, but after a couple more restarts and the switch to using the NON German version of the Encyclopedia Nornica, we are all fine and dandy!  Hooray!

Everynorn from the second generation has been growing up as they should, with some interesting pics to show and things to tell. So without further ado, here they are:

As the first to be hatched in the previous Albia, I imported Pommes first into the clean new world and taught her all of her words. She took a particular interest in the strained carrots and followed me around everywhere seeking out tickles. Once she was eating well and had headed right into the garden on her merry way, it was time to bring in the second fellow.

Yes, fellow. From here on out, all the other Norns are going to be males. That was the last female you are going to see for a while. =^_^= (Apart from Bellis, whom I will bring in later. She's older than all these little spring foals though, so I'll wait 'till they are around the same age as her before leading her in).

This is our next charming creature. He looks like an adult since he popped out like this from his egg, beard and all! But he is a baby in the body of a grown-up so I needed to teach him just like all my other pint sized cuties. His Santa Norn features hopefully won't be a problem as I've installed the '97 version of them now. I'm not sure if I'll let him have any offspring but that's an issue best left until a later time and place.

Crimson whizzed through his words using the Encyclopedia Nornica and he must have developed a taste for learning because he then travelled up the lift to play with the computer. After emptying the honey pot, he travelled back down and discovered a CoB which I have quite a fondness for...tasty pink lemonade! It always makes me thirsty watching my Norns drink this. I wish I had one of these machines.

The next two I have to show off might make you laugh. With my idea to name a few Norns after things or characters that I like, we ended up with a very fitting pair. I imported them and taught them together with relatively few problems, although I did have to seperate them for a while to teach them what food was and how to eat it. If you haven't guessed by now, can't remember, didn't read the previous blog post or simply don't care - this is Sam and Frodo; quite the adorable pair! :D Would it surprise you if they end up being the best of friends?

Me neither. =^w^=

Last but not least, we have Wiff! He has the interesting reddish hue similar to Marlika, though it probably makes sense because they do share the same mother (Dawn). I just love watching a new baby crawling around the world. They're so cute and stumbly! Hehehe. Oh yeah - see that thing next to the P.L. vendor? That's the fan I mentioned earlier that keeps my Norns nice and cool.

Frodo and Sam do seem to be friends but they don't stay together all the time. Frodo went exploring as all young Norns like to after they are free from their lessons. Eventually he met up with Pommes back in the garden...but he didn't seem all that happy. Poor Pommes. Lol. 

If your'e sneezing from all the Norn fur then a scaly hide will be somewhat refreshing. Meet my gorgeous Grendel who I will never forget the name of, ever, due it's sheer memorabilty.

This is...

...Oh, sorry...it seems he's sending me a message! Looks like we won't be revealing his name till a bit later. He's the mysterious type. (Hehe, not really...)

Frodo admiring the wildlife. I have a couple of butterflies that brighten up the world and make for sweet moments like this. <3 My Norns try to catch them when they notice them, except they can never reach them. It would probably be bad if they could. If Norns are akin to two year old humans...well, I'm sure I know how that's going to end up. XD

Crimson meanwhile, has gone as far as the island before coming back to the apple tree (the Grendel Treehouse) to crunch on some of the sweet fruits. He really likes to explore. It wasn't until I saw him here against the sort of dark background that I realised he has Horse/Chocolate Norn arms. They are dark because Chrissie and Aurn have dark coats.

He looked a bit bored and lonely so I brought in the bouncy ball and we played for a while. I secretly inspected those arms wondering how I had missed them before.

I then floated off to spend some time playing with Sam, who is also a big sweetie. He was reaching up to try to get the Hand and it was a good pic opportunity. You can really see his Mother's Banana Norn legs clearly here. They don't look bad with his other features though, and add a bit of interest to his appearance. Plus, he makes it easy to tell him apart from the other Norns.

 

Whoa, Crimson must have reindeer somewhere in him because he certainly gallops around Albia. :D He's got an illness from exploring here and there though. Sadly, not fast enough to escape the nasty antigen 0. :( But we have plenty of bananas to feed him so he's making a nice recovery. I was thinking about this as I took this screenshot: is there a way give your Norns in C1 a little vaccine or something by injecting them or exposing them to a tiny amount of each antigen? Do Norns' immune systems overcome things faster if they caught it once already? Just something I pondered about. Maybe someone has already made this kind of CoB. Only, I have just a handful of Norns here and were they all to get sick at one time, my goal of reaching a higher generation with them would be ended.

Crimson is not the only creature at the lookout for long. He's soon joined by Frodo who has a lovely time annoying the pet fish, eating bananas and playing with his Norn doll. Just look at that happy face! >w< I kept Crimson up the top floor until he was well again.

Crimson of course, chose to head off on his merry way (ho ho ho! XD) and completely bypass Frodo and his dolly. Yet this dark chocolate cutie wasn't alone for long either because...he was met up with Sam, who had decided to join in the other adventurous young males and wander about Albia. These two were sooo cute together with lots of nuzzling and tickles and barely a slap. <3

Where has Wiff got to in all of this? He's travelled over to the island to meet with - yes, you got it right there in front of your eyes - my Grendel's name is Fluffbum. :D Don't you love him? Apparently it's time for his nap.

Wiff and Fluffbum spent some time together playing with their choo choo train and nomming strawberries and the occasional gift of pink lemonade. (Is pink lemonade strawberry flavoured as well?) Before they were joined by an inquisitive chocolate Norn whose name starts with F. I'm so pleased at how much love my Norns have to share with one another. It's all 'push Norn' and 'Pull Norn' with no 'hit Norn' or 'Run Norn'

Then again they are still young and there's only ONE female. This cuddly snuggly stuff might change later.

Ta da! Wiff is joined by Crimson some time later after Frodo had wandered off again. Crimson had left Frodo with Sam (again) back at the lighthouse/lookout area where the 'bang!' (cannon) resides. I love asking them to push that thing. Some of them love it and others go running away in the opposite direction. Hmm...is that actually a scary toy?

Fluffbum then deserts Wiff to join Sam eventually, honest with his intentions of being friends too!

Unfortunately, Frodo and Sam don't seem to notice him stright away, so he grabs a banana for comfort and comes to chat with me a while. <3 Hehe. Our conversation mostly consists of 'push food' and 'yes' or 'push toy' and 'yes' but that seems to be enough to bring a big happy smile to his goofy green face.

A couple of hours spent on the island soon sees Crimson travelling again (like the *mushi master...always travelling...) *This is off an anime and manga series which I also love called Mushi-Shi. ...Google is your friend! ^w^

Aw cripes! The sickness fairy must be flying around sprinkling antigens everywhere today. Come on Frodo, you can beat it!

  

Sam grew up into a super handsome boy. I thought he might look strange with the legs when he got older but that is very much...not so. He has a pretty honey hue from Arri's Banana legs that I guess I won't mind having shared around generation 3. Frodo wasn't far off aging up to an adult either (remember their Mums' competition? XD) and soon caught up to his slightly older friend.

Anyway, Wiff gets itchy paws and ends up joining my boys at the lighthouse, where he gets welcomed nuzzles from Frodo, who has grown up into a handsome adult. His dark colouring is a really pretty contrast next to Wiff's red fur.

Yet Sam has me worried. He's somehow caught an illness and so I try to isolate him from the others and feed him honey. A nice sleep is just what the doctor ordered to help kick that anti in the gen! XD

Aurgh...now Crimson is sick again. Antigen 0 makes it's comeback. Never fear though, SpringRain is here. (Or maybe that IS reason to fear. :<)

Ahaha! Fluffbum! He never fails to make me laugh. He's like a little kid and so easy to please. I think he's running around with the right crowd of Norns too. They've never been mean to him and play with him just like everynorn else. He's like a big overgrown puppy. Here, we witness Fluffbum's discovery of the shower.

Frodo taking a nap under the gentle humming of the honeybees. ArchDragon did ask me about the Safe Bees and Hives CoB. I want to point out where it can be found for download because it is really useful and stops the bees from stinging your Norns. Unfortunately, it was one I downloaded quite a while ago and had saved on my hard drive. I am not sure where I got this. It may have come in one of Cyberlife's packs. I also have one that is an upgrade that makes the hives give honey when they are pushed by a Norn. 

Everyone has been growing up nicely. After his snooze, Frodo is met by Sam and Crimson, who now doesn't look out of place in his adult form amongst the others.

Though, I feel kinda guilty for forgetting all about Pommes! I haven't taken many pictures of her growing up because she has grown up to be a terribly fussy creature who won't eat most of the time and always has a frowny face. I haven't found too many chances to get nice pics of her.

However things are considerably cheery over at the beehives when Bellis is imported into the world and quickly joins the couple of males and Fluffbum. It's a party and everyone's invited. That's kinda how it looks anyway. I thought this was the perfect time to introduce Bellis and let her have some fun.

 Don't they make a happy bunch? Hopefully I can hear some kisspops and the patter of little paws in the days to come. <3

With two females however, we only have potentially one as a breeder, as it looks as though Pommes may not only not age up to adult since she is still a teenager right now and appears to be infertile as well, but I'm also not sure how many prospective daddies we have. Wiff is still at teen stage too, although he's good at taking care of himself by eating and playing.

So, unless Bellis hopes to be everyNorn's favourite...maybe I should bring in some Norns with the genetics kit. But we will see.

Until next time. May your supply of eggs stay within proportions.

SpringRain.

=^.^=