Siofra is pronounced SHE-fra, but I am more commonly known as "Sheaf". "Home" is the Carillon compound at 734, 6084 - between LoTR and OE megas (west side of the Nile)
As a relative newcomer to the lands (mid-May, 2004), it's a challenge to learn as much as possible in the short time before the retelling, but I've been diving into it all headfirst!
I am an EQ/SWG refugee who came over for a a friend's wedding and never left. You're going to have a hard time getting rid of me now, folks. ;)
Fenrissa: Init Arch, Init Body (acro: windmill), Init Art
I was hooked on gardening the first time I obtained seeds and bulbs from a UWorship. In fact, I think I paid for my account at about the 6-hour mark, specifically so I could get flowers and seeds!
While the science of flower breeding often makes my eyes cross, I enjoy creating beauty, and "dabbling" at crossbreeding. Far too much work has gone into crossbreeding attempts for me to be able to break much new ground before the retelling, but the most important thing is ... I'm having fun! My love of gardening has also made me a lot of new friends, and caused some interesting trades.
On June 17, 2004, I married (again) my RL husband in a lovely ceremony in Old Egypt. While Grimoire is not around in Egypt much, and is pretty quiet when he is, know that this man is the foundation that keeps this redhead grounded and stable (or as stable as I will ever be!) Don't let his quietness fool you, though -- he's a total brat! ;D
I adore growing things, and RL allergies prevent me from doing gardening anymore. (I used to be an award-winning gardener back when I was a teenager.) This love of growing things pays off well here in game, it seems, since over 80% of the Egyptian population seems to actively dislike gardening. It's made for some interesting trades, that's for sure!
While I expect it's not a record, by the end of my first week, I'd probably grown about 15K in veggies ... and that was BEFORE I learned the ritual of plant growth. (I did my Nileside Cafe run on day 3 of being in the game, by growing 2000 leeks). While some of those went to my oft-lamented first sheep (we lost sheep to pox 3 times in my first week here before the new pox strain settled down), most of it went into trades for flower bulbs and fertilizer. I actually expected, at that time, that I'd never be able to pull off a formal garden, so was just getting the bulbs to decorate the camp, and eventually work on some crossbreeding.
Thanks to some trades, and gifts from a wonderful guildmate who did crossbreeding on the German server (Alya), I have some NE to work with before I go poke at a toxin kitchen to learn how to make more. While I didn't get access to the color variety that I wanted for a breeding base due to trades that fell through and promised bulbs that never appeared, I've managed to have a lot of fun creating a bit of whimsical variety, not only for my formal garden, but more importantly, around our guild area. It's also starting to become a tradition that I gift our newer members in the guild with a bulb or two for around their tent, if they express an interest. Now, if only I could find a spot to host the images...
With all the stellar gardeners out there, I doubt I will pass the Test of the Formal Garden before the end of the telling, but I feel much better, being able to say that I built/designed it during this telling.
Now, what's this about fertilizer? I started with 2 bulbs, then 4 then 12, then 20, due to trades, gifts and a beer party prize, but I wanted so much more. Thankfully, I like to fish to unwind, as does Raya, and my poor tent was soon filled with hundreds of catfish, perch and tilapia. Before I got access to some sticky sun tinctures (trades and gifts), I was using about 500 normal fertilizer ... per feeding. This included not only flowers at the Carillon compound, but also flowers at the R&D wine table that I wanted bulbs of. At 20 fertilizer per plant, that's a lot of flowers! .. or so I thought.
That was only the tip of the iceberg. I've just cut off fertilization to a couple dozen blooms that have given me multiple bulbs, and am now feeding just the crossbreeds from others, and my own ... using about 400 sticky sun (8 per flower) per feeding. With my insomnia, that's many feedings a day, and there are paths worn from the conservatory hill, to the sheep pen, to my tent, to Raya's tent, to the Carillon welcome banners, to the Nile (for one lone lily Psychodelica is letting me bud).
I think I'd go slightly mad from it all if not for the help I'm getting. Alya, gem that she is, can often be found AFK in my conservatory during odd hours, and the flowers mysteriously seem to get fed when I'm not looking. A bit more fertilizer seems to appear in the flower chest now and then, than I can account for via myself and Raya. When Raya has a bit of spare time, she can be found near a kettle, cooking up more food for the flowers.