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Post by Sevyrn on Aug 20, 2020 7:54:28 GMT -6
Over the next hour or so, Sevyrn focused on getting some weeding done. She did, however, make time to interact with her nyssafaux. She chatted and played around, let Aura-Lune dig around in appropriate spots to help clear out some of the mess, and when all was said and done and the hybrid wanted some space Sevyrn would let her hop over the fence and go chill out on her own for a while. It was never long before Sevyrn was calling her back, though, goading her towards the gardens with the instruction at hand. She'd paired it with a 'come here' motion, pulling her hand towards her while bending at the elbow. As much as Al wanted to come hang out in the garden, she wasn't quite used to being called over there, so some snacks were necessary for goading and of course plenty of smiles, sweet words and head pats when the nyssafaux did as she was supposed to.
13 Come - 3
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Post by Sevyrn on Aug 20, 2020 7:59:18 GMT -6
Eventually they finished up the weeding, and Sevyrn didn't want Al getting nosy when it came time to transplant the flowers that she had growing in front of the large, open window at the side of her shed. Undoubtably, the halfbreed would have those dug up and dead in minutes if she had the chance. It was a good time for a break, though. Al had been snacking since Sevyrn had walked outside so she wasn't worried about giving Aura anything to snack on, but she ran inside to grab herself a cup of water and something to eat. After finishing up she walked back outside, and immediately searched the yard for Aura-Lune. Unsurprisingly, the halfbreed was clawing at the fence to the garden, trying to get back in. It was a good time to see if she had learned yet. "Aura, come here." She only made the call after getting Aura-Lune's attention and paired it with the hand motion.
She shouldn't have been so shocked that Al had come over to her on the first call. Sometimes she needed to give the girl a little more credit.
14 4 - Come
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Post by Sevyrn on Aug 20, 2020 8:12:30 GMT -6
Knowing that Aura-Lune was doing rather good with the 'come' command, Sevyrn had to wonder if it was possible for her to respond to just the signal she had attached to the word. She figured it was worth giving a shot, but also figured that voiceless commands might need a bit more effort than simply calling out to her. It should hopefully help that Sevyrn had aimed to teach both ways at the same time, but worst case scenario Al would come to respond to the non-verbal cue with time. Sevyrn waited until Aura-Lune was back doing her own thing before calling to her, and once she had the nyssafaux's attention she simply did the cue in hopes of a response. When Aura simply cocked her head, Sevyrn called to her to come, and when Aura-Lune made her way over to her Sevyrn was content. Al had the basics down - the improvement could come with time.
15 (Al - 12) Come - 5
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Post by Sevyrn on Aug 20, 2020 8:50:22 GMT -6
It was time to get back to business, now. Al had done her work for the day and deserved to take a nice little break - have a nap beneath the warm summer sun, if she so desired. Letting the hybrid finally go off on her own also meant that Sevyrn finally had time to grab those flowers and start planting them behind the wire fence she had put up to keep Aura out of where the majority of the plants stayed. It would take up a decent part of the afternoon, but she might have time left over after to do some more work on the pond.... It was perfectly usable, yes, but in need of some more cleaning. She also needed to go get some more plants for it, too... and generally make it habitable. Sevyrn hoped to move her seryn, Skye, from the tank at the kennel over in to the pond at some point and it would need to be in top shape before she could do that.
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Post by Sevyrn on Aug 20, 2020 8:52:56 GMT -6
It would be easier to just bring all of the plants in to the garden area with her rather than try to move one at a time - but Sevyrn had two trays of pots and only one set of hands, so she was going to have to make two trips. That meant not one but two opportunities for Aura-Lune to slip past her and get in to places she wasn't supposed to be, so Sevyrn had to be careful when she did this as she was not going to have any extra hands to stop the hybrid from ruining the flowers and vegetables if Al felt so inclined. Luckily, the half-breed seemed happy to stay where she was... for once. Sevyrn was able to get both of the trays of small pots in to the flower bed with ease, and then after a return trip to the shed to grab her trowel and fill up a watering can, she was ready to go.
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Post by Sevyrn on Aug 20, 2020 9:38:00 GMT -6
The pattern was simple - dig the hole, carefully remove flower from pot, place flower in hole, put soil in to hole. Sevyrn had about two dozen of them to do, done up in an arrangement that she had preplanned. She'd actually spent quite some time on the set-up alone - a half-circle of raised soil lined by carefully placed bricks, two slightly-lower plots in front of that to leave a couple of the new flowers at a mid-level height, and then a row of freshly fertilized soil following the length of the half-circle where the majority of the plants would go. As she started getting to work, she really hoped that she had planned things right and would have enough space for everything. Worst case... Well, she had plenty more space in the back yard, and a front yard that could use some more touching up as well. She would figure it out one way or another.
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Post by Sevyrn on Aug 20, 2020 9:42:28 GMT -6
After some careful placement, Sevyrn had been able to fit five of the flowers in to the top layer, and she was happy with how it turned out - four lining the outer edge and one (the tallest of the bunch, situated in the middle. Seeing it in place made her wish that she had got a bush starter to place in the middle, though - leafy greens to accentuate the vibrant colors of the flowers around it. It was too late to turn back now, though - or so she told herself. It would only take a little while longer before she finished up the middle layer - two plants was pretty easy to get transplanted. That left her with... Twenty-four minus five was nineteen, minus two was... seventeen more flowers to plant in the area surrounding the set-up.
Yeah, it was time for a break. As soon as the gate opened up, Al's attention turned towards the woman in charge and she scurried over - obviously trying to sneak past the open gate. Sevurn scooped her up - much to her chagrin - and marched the little lady back to the picnic table so that she could head inside and get a drink.
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Post by Sevyrn on Aug 20, 2020 9:54:09 GMT -6
Drink done, back to work. Before walking back to the flower bed Sevyrn stopped to grab the hose so that she could fill Al's bowl up with some fresh water. Sure, the nyssafaux always had the pond... but Sevyrn had gone back there recently and the mosquitos sucked an insane amount, and she wouldn't wish that upon anyone. She really needed to clean that damn pond up and she needed to get to it soon - maybe that could be the next task that she worked on. For now Sevyrn needed to focus her attention on getting the flower bed finished, though. She still had a lot of work to be done, but at least it was the kind that she enjoyed - little mattered more to her than the beauty in the world, both real and created. By the time that she was done she was rather worn out from the summer heat, but she could honestly say that she felt like she had done a good job.
20 Al - 13
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Post by Nadia on Aug 20, 2020 18:48:02 GMT -6
You can hear the terrible creatures in the distance, somewhere to the left. Upon closer inspection, you can see them. Terrible black birds, pecking mercilessly at your precious plants! You rush in to shoo them away, but it seems you were too late - the damage was already done.
(Next 5 posts yield nothing as you chase them off)
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Post by Sevyrn on Aug 24, 2020 10:29:16 GMT -6
Black birds - and so many of them, too. Damn it, Sevyrn had really hoped to be able to just move on from the garden now that she had worn herself out but it seemed that wouldn't be the case today... She was going to have to find a scarecrow or something to keep that from ever happening again. Several of her sprouting vegetables were damaged beyond all repair and that just threw Sevyrn for a loop. She had put a lot of effort in to getting those growing and keeping Al away from them, so why oh why did they have to get ruined like that? Instead of focusing on it, which was just stressing her out and making her frustrated, Sevyrn decided to take her attention away from the garden itself and turn towards the pond. It was in much need of cleaning, and she could see her lotine Ophelia lazing about on one of the large slab rocks. 21
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Post by Sevyrn on Aug 24, 2020 10:32:37 GMT -6
"How are you today, O?" Sevyrn asked the lotine as she approached the pond, reaching a hand out towards her slowly to let the lotine sniff before she dared to get to close. The pair weren't quite bonded yet - the lotine was a newer member of her animal family, and was still getting used to be around her. Sevyrn had to be respectful of that, otherwise they would never end up bonding the way that they should. Once Ophelia's guard seemed to be lowered Sevyrn took a seat beside her on the large rock, and gave the creature a couple rubs on the top of her head. Maybe she should go grab some treats for Ophelia? She had some fish in the fridge, after all. "I'll be right back," she said to the lotine and then walked in to the house, only to return with a fish fillet ready to be eaten.
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Post by Sevyrn on Aug 24, 2020 10:35:54 GMT -6
She sat back down before offering the fillet out to the lotine, who sniffed it tentatively before retreating - likely not enjoying that the food was in someone's hand and that meant getting much too close to someone that she didn't know. Sevyrn understood that so she placed the fish down on to the flat stone. At that point Ophelia seemed much more eager to take the snack, and gulped it down rather happily. "I hope that you liked that," Sevyrn said to the lotine as she sat beside her. The sun was hot in the sky but the flat rocks that lined one side of the pond were covered by the shade of her peach tree, leaving her with dampened head, made easier by a cooling breeze. It was a peaceful moment, and Sevyrn was happy to be able to have it. The unfortunate side effect of the tree shade, though? The pond was littered with leaves.
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Post by Sevyrn on Aug 24, 2020 10:41:32 GMT -6
With a sigh, Sevyrn figured that it was probably time to actually get the work done. The pond had needed tending to for a long while now, but it was a task that she often put off as long as she could. That always csme back to bite her, though, when the job ended up being ten times harder than it would have been if she'd just done it when she it was scheduled to need cleaning. With the lotine still sitting on the rocks Sevyrn made her way over to her shed and started digging about the cluttered little room until she found her pond net. Hopefully Skye wouldn't mind the interruption - the seryrn was rather happy residing in that pond - but sometimes things just had to get done. By the time that Sevyrn had returned to the pond, Ophelia had wandered off and was basking in the sunlight by the fenced off vegetable garden.
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Post by Sevyrn on Aug 24, 2020 10:44:08 GMT -6
There were... way too many leaves in this pond. Sevyrn had been thinking poorly when she had made the decision to build it where it was, but what could she do about it now? Drain it and move it somewhere else? Where would that elsewhere be? Maybe after she'd expanded the fence line she would have more room to, but for now... everything was incredibly cramped. She had run out of space to add new things to the garden, and she'd also have to find somewhere to keep Skye in the meantime, and Ophelia wouldn't be too happy without the pond for a while. There were a lot of reasons why relocating wasn't worth the effort, yet having to clean the pond was enough to make Sevyrn question if it was good call. With Ophelia's eyes watching her, Sevyrn started the task of sweeping the fallen leaves off of the surface of the pond.
25 Ophelia - 1
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Post by Sevyrn on Aug 24, 2020 10:48:44 GMT -6
The seryn flailed beneath the surface as the waterline was broken by the net, obviously not impressed with the sudden intrusion. Sevyrn quickly knelt down and offered Skye and apology before getting back to work - things were going to be even worse once she went net-diving for debris that had settled on to the bottom. With each sweep of the net Sevyrn shook the leaf debris out on to the ground, and then it was time for another sweep. The bulk of the mess came off in just a few swipes, but she was going to need a few more in order to be happy with the project. As she worked on it, Ophelia got curious about what was going on - it was her first time seeing the pond cleaned. The lotine waited close by as Sevyrn worked, fascinated by the water droplets that dripped off the net as she moved it out of the way to shake it off.
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