I have feeling a bit glum (some family illness) and so I decided to give in to temptation and have rented a small plot on the Sylvan sim. This is next to the Organica store which specialises in plants and landscape items (plus some furniture). For a while I have been dropping in to the ajoining sim which he has landscaped beautifully (of course) by Organica’s owner and which has nice plots for rental. Since I’ve already got my mainland plot that I love, this is just indulgence, but renting for a few weeks still costs less than going out for a non-virtual meal. If you want to drop by it is here http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Sylvan/157/195/21

I wanted to use mostly items I already had, so as not to add to the cost, but there are a number of goodies that are still available. Firstly my only new purchase was the Asian Tea House from Bahia Tiki. Bahia has been around for years and years, and if you haven’t visited for a while you may want to revisit since they have some very nice stuff. As you would guess, they are particularly strong on tiki and beachside houses, but their oriental section is good (a number of nice little Japanesey shops, with accessories) and their prices are (I think) reasonable. For three hundred and something linden I got the house and the copiable table/cushion/teaset that is in the interior photo. It’s also a nice location; you can just chill out on the Bahia beach and surf.

Also in this picture you can the autumn arbour from Zinnia’s. This is one of my favourite autumn things: it has vibrant plants and branches, seating inside the arbour, and it blends into the landscape well; you could use it as a feature in itself or (as here) as a gateway. The only down side is that I can’t see it in her shop at the moment, but hopefully if someone wants it she may put it out The trees are from Alirium Gardens (AG), the autumn birch and Trees of Elf. There are purple asters and trillium plants from Organica. and the japanese stone paving is from Zacca.

Above is a shot in the opposite direction, showing the between autumn and spring bench from Art Dummy which includes several good poses.

This is inside the teahouse: as I mentioned the table, cushions and (separate) tea set are included with the tea house (and can be bought separately in the furniture shop). It doesn’t come with the tatami mat. I used three items from POST, the Freestanding Tokonoma (which has beautiful sliding doors top and bottom), the Latour Antique Telephone Stand (small table) and the Delft vase. Orchids are by Zoe’s Garden and Ikebana, and you can just see the spout of the pink porcelain Sakura teapot by Harima-ya. I’m afraid the cute bunny items & books are no longer available (they were all from shops or hunts on the Drowsy sim).

Finally, outside I propped Croire’s traveler’s trunks, and fished some geta and slippers from my inventory. You can get the slippers (in several colours) free at 2g http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/SWITCH/117/47/27; they are in a basket on the front step. They are just like some slippers I have outside SL, and I have used them a lot in SL as decoration and to wear.