Two Long-Awaited New Pals

We are such huge suckers for other people's discarded 5/6 horses on Horse Isle 2. ^_^

After Lily found Wintergreen in the auctions in early March, we mutually agreed not to adopt any more horses until at least April. So much for that...

On Thursday, the first day of spring, I spotted a 5/6 pinto Tennessee Walking Horse with an awesome personality in the H.S. In all of our time on HI2, we have never seen such a great Tennessee Walker there. Like I could ever resist him!

Like Bethany's 5/6 Missouri Fox Trotter, Quasar, this Walker is the minimum height for his breed. He's technically a pony at 14.1 hands, and his small size may partly explain why he's changed hands so many times. Our avatar, PepsiSummer, is his 8th owner since he was first captured in February of 2011. 

As you can see, he came with the name "Arya." Nah, too feminine. None of his other former names seemed right for him either. They include "theMasterpiece," "theShot," "Brit," "Shot Heard Round the World," "Commodore," "Shot,""Candy's Rose," "Nutmeg," and "Picture This." What an odd combination of snooty, girly, and war-themed names he's had! I think it's high time for something more middle-ground. Since I found him on March 20, the spring equinox, he will henceforth be known as Equinox.

It amuses me that a horse as brave as Equinox can be assigned the Wall-Flower personality. Apparently, he's a bit like Harry Potter: brave in life-or-death situations but not nearly so confident when it comes to things like girls and social events. XD

Here is his avatar. =) You can't tell he's a red roan rather than a palomino because of his pinto spots. Oh well! He's handsome anyway.

Equinox meets his first wild with Pepsi aboard

The first time I took Equinox for a spin somewhere besides our ranch isle, we visited the Tiger Isles. Even though this steel gray Criollo mare looks impressive walking on water like that, she ended up only having 3/6 stats. XD

I, Lily, am the one who found the second horse. My excuse: it's a Salernitano, and I've wanted one ever since we started playing the game. Here she is!

<3 <3 <3

Unlike Equinox, this mare had only one owner before PepsiSummer. She was captured by her former owner last July, so she's not nearly as old either. Beautiful, tall, two stat points away from being 6/6, cool personality... She has so much going for her. Do you see now why I couldn't pass her up?

Of course it would have to be one of those days where the "special event" was an increased horse adoption fee from $20,000 to $30,000. (Maybe that's why she was there long enough for me to spot her... or maybe I just got super lucky.) She was worth every dollar! I'm still deciding on a name, but I know for sure that the name she came with, Smoosh, will not be it! I think she should have something more dignified than that.

Here is her avatar compared to Ophelia's. The two mares are definitely different enough that we won't confuse them in screenshots.

Ophelia
(Wow, this is an old screenshot!)

my Salernitano

When Felicity let me take over after she and Equinox were done for the day, the Sal and I found 2 big pirate treasures just a few strides apart: a 20k and a 18k. What a good way to start to our partnership! 

Well, what can I say? It's impossible to predict when the right horses will come along, and it would be silly to pass them by just because the timing isn't ideal. Sometimes a girl just has to throw her plans out the window and carpe equo. 

AG's New Clothes - Spring 2014

Hello, everyone. In this post, my sisters and I will take turns introducing AG's new spring/summer outfits and telling you what we think of them. Enjoy!

Double-Bow Dress: $30

This is my clear favorite of all of the new outfits... though this isn't saying much, since I am not even tempted by any of the rest of them. This robin's egg blue color would look great on any doll, especially those with blue eyes like me (and this random brunette ;^)). I would've preferred not to have the ruching on the top of the dress. It looks like it may gap a bit up there, and this would annoy me big time if I was the one wearing it. Overall, the dress strikes me as more simple than most of AG's dresses. I would've liked to see a a bit of pattern, sparkle, or variation in color, but at least there's shine in the ribbon and headband to make it more interesting. 

Pretty Pink Dress: $28

Sorry, but this one gets a thumbs down from me. I'm not a fan of the drop waist style for starters - it makes the doll look like she has an abnormally long torso. It almost looks like the doll tried to put on a tutu that was too small for her and ended up stretching out the top part. And come on... LOVE? Blinged out crown and rose? *Sighs* I suppose this number will be popular with the younger AG crowd, but no way would I ever put it on.

Happy Birthday Outfit: $24

I like the style of this outfit, and the shoes are adorable. It would be kind of fun to have a special outfit each of us wore on our birthdays. But, it wouldn't be all that practical for Lily's October birthday (maybe with a sweater and tights?), and Felicity isn't a big fan of the pink. It's probably not worth buying it since both the skirt ("Happy Birthday" is in the pattern) and shirt could only be worn 4 days of the year... 

Heart Tank and Brief Set: $12

Heart underwear? XD Why did I get stuck critiquing this? Not my style, but as far as heart patterns go, this one is definitely more socially acceptable than the stereotypical cartoon underwear pattern (big red hearts on a white background). I suppose in multiple doll households, it could double as a swimming suit. The tank might also look nice when it's layered with a sweater or something.

Pink Tank and Brief Set: $12

Eh, if I had to choose, I'd go for the heart undies before these. I'm not a fan of the gathering in the middle of the top. I'll be frank: we dolls don't have boobs, and let's not try to suggest we do, please. The heart detail is pretty, though, and these do look comfy for sleeping in on a hot summer night.

Rainy Day Set: $58

Aw, how cute! Matching raincoat, rain boots, and a little umbrella. It would only be a costume for my sisters and me, though, since we never actually go outside in the rain. (Even with rain gear, the risk of us accidentally getting wet would be too high for Mom to allow it.) I'd like the rain boots better if they had polka dots too instead of those silly white bows. 

Floral Swim Outfit: $30

Ooh, a swimming suit that comes with a cover-up! This is another outfit that would only be a costume for us, since we can't go swimming. I think the ruffle at along the top of the suit looks a bit awkward, but otherwise I like it, especially the colorful floral pattern. The cover-up and flip-flops look comfy, but I'd have chosen a color besides pink to please all of us less girly dolls. (When the suit also has yellow, orange, lime, and aqua flowers, why must these be pink?)

Swim Gear: $32

This stuff is all so cute! With these, girls can pretend their dolls are on aquatic adventures: perhaps snorkeling in a coral reef or swimming with dolphins. Mom's beyond that kind of playing now, though, so we'd only ever actually use the towel and the bag. :^)

Tennis Outfit: $38

No, Winter, we're not buying this just so you can have the tennis ball. I don't play tennis, but if I did this outfit would be acceptable. I've always thought it was a bit odd that female tennis players still wear short little skirts (or are they skorts?) like this, though. Why not switch to shorts?

Julie's Dance Set: $64

I'm sure this outfit was groovy in the 70's, but to me it doesn't have that timeless appeal that some of AG's historical outfits do. I'd be afraid to sit down in that dress! And wow, talk about a loud pattern! That disco ball would be fun to dance under. We have a human-size one installed in the basement already, though, so we're covered should we ever decide to have a "Groovy Disco Dance Night" of our own. =)

Kaya's Jingle Dress of Today: $64

Sure, why not offer Kaya dolls a modern, colorful Native American dress? Good idea, AG. If it wasn't so awkward to sit astride a horse while wearing a dress and if it wasn't so expensive, I'd consider getting it as a Halloween costume (Talia, my Appaloosa, would be part of my costume). Of course, if it had been up to me, I'd have chosen aqua or yellow to be the primary color of the dress rather than pink. 

Kit's Candy-Making Set: $64

I bet lots of girls would love to get this set for Easter, though it is quite pricey. The"chocolate bunnies" are very cute, and they really do fit in the silver mold. I like everything about Kit's outfit except for that strip of fabric down the front of the dress that interrupts the ruffles. I assume it was a fashionable style in the 30's, but to me it just looks odd. It also seems rather odd that Kit's family would be able to afford such a fancy-looking dress for Kit in the midst of the Great Depression.

Rebecca's School Play Set: $64

The color scheme of this costume is a refreshing change of pace from all the pink we've seen today, and I think the wings are pretty cool. I like the pattern on the shiny fabric of the dress. The style of the dress isn't my favorite, but it works great as the body of a butterfly.

Wintergreen

I will never hear the end of this from Bethany, but...

I, Lily, the one who's always urging my sisters to resist collecting every nice HI2 horse they come across, bought a pony in the auctions. An olive dun Highland stallion, to be more specific. 

There he was, waiting to be bid on, and nobody wanted him but the computer-generated foreign bidder. He was a cool shade of dun called olive grullo, he had 5/6 positive stats, and his personality was one of the best out there, "affectionate." Not only that, but he had a long history dating back several years. Only eight minutes to go and he would disappear to the foreign isles, never to return. I rode Cider over to the BBB in the library to check out what the Highland's avatar would look like. It was cute. It would have to be cute. It was like a magnet drew me back to the livery. Two minutes to go, and still no bids from real players. I placed a low bid on him and rode away before any of my sisters could look over my shoulder and see what I was doing.

The message that I'd won the auction for him came through, and I'll admit I was pleased. I told myself I should save myself the embarrassment of having to admit I'd gone all soft and gooey about pixel ponies: I should surrender him to the humane society before I got any more attached. 

Instead, I looked up names and tried out different colored tack on him. *Sighs* He's staying. Bring on the smug grins. 

Well, here he is. My 8th HI2 equine, Wintergreen. *pats the pony sheepishly* 

$5500 well spent.

He wouldn't have any white leg markings even if his breed allowed them. XD 

Chocolate legs and mint green halter. He's making me hungry. =P

Braving the Flower Maze

Ah, the flower maze. Cheerful and benign-looking compared to the dark, twisting tunnels of the mountain isles, perhaps, but don't let that lull you into a false sense of security. As we've mentioned before, Shady and Julie got hopelessly lost inside it one fateful day when they were trying to reach a wild through the western entrance. We were beginning to think we'd have to *shudder* ask somebody to help us get out. 

Since then, we've largely avoided the maze, only venturing in when a quest required it. Until today...

We have just started doing the Plains Isle-based quests, and the first on our list was to get a teddy bear from the Flower Isle lighthouse keeper. I picked up the teddy bear and then proceeded to ride Brio around the perimeter of the maze to look for pirate treasures and anything harvestable. I didn't find any pirate treasures, but I did find him:

So close, yet so far

Try as I might to squeeze us close enough to catch the wild pony, he remained just out of reach. I am convinced he was taunting us, probably double-dog-daring Brio to come and get him.

We accepted his challenge. This time, things would be different. This time, we were not taking any chances. This time, one very smug pony would be ours.

I looked up a map of the maze on EsrohLegends.com and studied it with furrowed brow. I then rode Brio to the eastern maze entrance and headed in. As I rode, I carefully left a trail of magnifying glass search circles behind me (sort of like breadcrumbs) so that we could easily retrace our steps. 

We're coming for you, pony!

It wasn't easy to find our way to the pony, but thanks to the detailed map (it includes everything, right down to the ores and mushrooms), we eventually succeeded. 

Found you!

What a lot of work for one pony! But so worth it. XD Here he is:

How fitting: his personality is Wall-Flower

Decent stats and a great personality. Not bad at all. I plan to surrender him to the humane society to give other players a nice long chance to adopt him. 

After all that, it was a cakewalk to follow the circle trail back out to freedom. Ha! Take that, flower maze!

Morab Deja Vu

Back on February 8, I visited Harbor Isle and found Umber, a beautiful 6/6 Morab mare. That was lucky enough in itself. 

3 Saturdays later, I rode out to Harbor Isle again - this time aboard Esker instead of Kestrel. Again, one lone wild was roaming the western side of the isle. It just happened to be another Morab mare! What are the odds?

Camera shy. XD

And now for her close ups:

Only 0.4% of wild Morabs have her coat color!

Not the most agile, this one

I could hardly believe it when I saw that she had 5/6 stats and a great personality too! That -21 in agility drags her down to +34 overall, which isn't exactly spectacular. But... so... pretty! If I didn't already have my Umber, I'd have had a really hard time saying no.

Julie was watching me play HI2 this morning, so I offered the mare to her. She jumped at the chance, as I thought she would (the mare looks like a more saturated version of her beloved Fortunado). I'm glad that the mare will be staying on our ranch - in my opinion, her appearance and personality more than make up for that one unimpressive agility stat.

Here's one more look at her avatar:

Hmm, I wonder what Julie will decide to name her?