The week we tried to fit a big family into one picture

…and here we are again

…after another week filled with work, too little time, and quite a few lovely family moments.

I probably never really mentioned it, but over time we have developed a little tradition of going to Omerta Island on Sundays to attend Holy Mass. A large part of our family are Christians, and for the past few weeks we have been attending the service every Sunday. For once, the time difference actually works in our favour: 9 am SLT is 6 pm for us. So there is no need to get up at some ungodly hour, and it fits perfectly into our usual Sunday routine in RL. Last week, we took our two daughters, Villie and Liv, with us for the first time. It was their first visit to a church, so naturally they were quite excited. My sister Ava joined us, and together we enjoyed the beautifully arranged service, while each of us had some quiet time with our Lord in our own way.

St. Michael’s Church, the Mass on Omerta Island, and really the entire place have been created with so much love that it is a pleasure to return every week and take this half hour away from the rush of everyday life. It was especially exciting for Liv, and she was remarkably quiet considering she normally cannot sit still for five minutes.

Villie, I think, was a little bored. But perhaps that is simply part of being four years old.

We ended the evening with Mike’s brother Arthur and his wife Lottie, and Ava stayed for dinner as well. Mewriel had made the most delicious pumpkin soup, and even the children enthusiastically emptied their bowls.

This week I also finished the participation gift for the Lanikaverse Photo Contest and sent it out to everyone who took part. The theme, as you may remember, was the early 19th century, and I think the little table and chair I created for it would have fitted rather nicely into that period.

The chair comes with five poses, including one for doing cross-stitch. I had made the needle and thread myself in Blender, so I was appropriately euphoric when AVSitter actually put them exactly where they were supposed to go and my avatar lady started stitching away.

On Thursday I came home from work unusually on time and found large parts of my beloved family gathered on and around our play rug, completely absorbed in whatever they were doing. That rug seems to have its own gravitational pull. Sooner or later, everyone ends up there.

Mewriel was reading aloud, with Liv listening to her with almost reverent attention.

Villie was preparing something highly exclusive in her little kitchen, and Henry was happily playing with Aunt Lottie.

I simply crouched down beside Villie and started peeking into her pots.

She graciously allowed me to do so without appearing too terribly disturbed by my presence.

I love these little, almost accidental moments around the house.

Speaking of the house: time for another part of my little room tour! Our home, before and after. This time: the salon on the ground floor. Directly to the left of the front door, opposite our work/read/lounge-around area and the coat storage, is a small, almost square room. At first I considered turning it into a study, but eventually decided against it. Instead, it became a little salon with a fireplace, cigar cabinet, minibar and bookcase, as well as a small romantic dining spot for two. Yes, we occasionally have romantic moments for which the family dining table simply feels a little too prosaic. So every now and then we can have dinner together, just the two of us, in this little salon where, quite deliberately, there is not a single piece of children’s furniture. Our children are of course welcome in there at any time. We simply feel that, having already occupied approximately 99 percent of the house with stuffed animals, play rugs and assorted other belongings, they can spare us this tiny bit of privacy. The salon is also perfect for a private conversation or a cup of tea with a dear friend.

In one of my recent posts about our holiday, I wrote about Serene Woods 2026. The owner of the region told me that they now have a Halloween area as well, and it is already open. So if you fancy visiting somewhere beautiful that hasn’t yet been dragged through every single destination guide, go and have a look. We will be visiting soon too, and there will be a blog post about it.

Landmark: https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Hologram/5/144/2001

Yesterday was an exciting day.

Inspired by our autumn sisters photoshoot a few days ago, I really wanted some new family pictures with Mike’s side of the family, especially since I am planning to redo the picture wall by the fireplace.

So we took pictures. For almost an entire day.

There were eight avatars altogether: Mike, his sister Sayokii, his brother Arthur and Arthur’s wife Lottie, our three children, and yours truly.

I had a fairly clear idea of the aesthetic I wanted, which made styling everyone quite an undertaking. The challenge was to make all of us look as though we belonged in the same picture without making us look as though we had all been dressed by the same stylist.

We took the photos very close to where the pictures with my sisters were taken a few days earlier, simply to give the two sets a little connection. Besides, the autumn woods in Cats Hollow are absolutely gorgeous, and we had a lot of fun.

Well. Perhaps everyone except Henry. At first he was curious. Then he got bored. Eventually he became thoroughly annoyed, and all things considered, photoshoots apparently do not rank very highly on his list of preferred family activities.