Chapter Text
2010 late August- Lena meets Sam while bar hopping.
2011 June- Lena graduates and buys the building and becomes Sam's partner in all things. (Lily 17 mo, Ruby 8 yrs, 4 mo.)
2013- Kara creates Ka-Chow to celebrate LA's food. Alex and Lucy meet and become instant friends.
2016
Summer- Maria and Carol retire from the Air Force.
Fall- Lucy and Lois start talking again. Lucy finds out about Uncle Marty and the farm.
Holiday season- Lucy goes to see Marty and comes home to talk to Alex about the insane idea.
2017
January
EARLY- Alex tells Kara what they're doing. Kara thinks they're nuts, but she gets more and more intrigued.
This whole month is prep. The condo is put up for sale for their starter cash. Alex and Lucy ruthlessly get rid of 95% of their city trappings from furniture and clothing to Alex's Nissan Leaf and her precious Ducati.
February
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5- was supposed to be the move date, but there are delays. Cue the stress!
6- tempers are frayed, but they're finally ready to head out in the morning.
7- Team Lanvers makes the move. This includes stopping in Cottage Grove to pick up the yurt. Lucy has a second-hand flat trailer behind her truck that contains her and Alex's motorcycles and several random objects/crates not affected by the weather. It was deliberately left half empty to take the yurt.
They get into town after dark and stay in town, packing every room in the tiny 4-bedroom motel. The icy temps worry them, making them realize the hiking-quality cold weather gear they bought is probably inadequate. They are going to need real winter work clothes and while no one is happy with the additional expenses, what can they do?
8- After a very dicey slog getting the truck and trailer to the barn, they shake off the drive and unload the necessaries while Lucy pays a visit to Marty, who gives her the tractor and free rein to go through the other buildings on his lot, providing the team with a lot of helpful tools, gear and a small tractor.
While Lucy clears a couple feet of snow down to dead grass, the others sort piles of crap delivered before their arrival. Tarps go down and the tent goes up before the tractor hauls stacks of plywood from an earlier delivery at the barn.
Nia joins them and is introduced by Lucy.
The delivery of an honest-to-god outhouse is nearly a disaster in the icy conditions, but the driver manages.
The team gets down only about a third of the plywood flooring and passes out around a hot woodstove. It's a fairly chilly, miserable night.
9- the temperatures are up a little bit, but the sky is lead. With the dread of the weather turning, the team rushes to get the tent really buttoned up and ready for habitation.
Some locals stop by to welcome them, startling the new kids. They bring food and help get the yurt supplies piled up behind the barn. They also bring generators, as the electricity to the barn is a bit sketchy, particularly for such intense use. A call is put in for a pro to come out and go over the main line as well as the wiring in the building. (schedules on the 13th.)
Even as they haul in the last load of plywood in, snow begins to fall. Lucy backs the trailer right into the tent and they unload everything to finish getting set up.
That night, they rent a motel room in town to rotate through showers.
(They'll get 3 feet of snow over 2 days.)
10- Lucy is gone most of the day down mountain to get some shopping done. The rest of them alternate working at the barn and clustering around the wood stove to thaw out.
Thankfully, the electrician gets in and sets about checking over the barn. The news isn't great, but he does slave in a useable box to the mainline that the tent can use. He'll be back on Monday to really get to work on the barn. With proper light and a couple more heaters, the city kids are much happier. They even set up the tv and sundry to watch a movie and play video games.
Lucy returns with firewood, warmer clothes, a stack of blankets/quilts from a second store and about a dozen cloth painters tarps to hang for privacy. There's also a bunch of groceries so they can actually cook like almost normal people.
11- a bright, sunny, cold-ass day. Sara and Ava arrive with a rental pickup and towing Brainy's trailer. It's no easy task, but the gang spent the morning plowing and sanding the gravel road in to make things easier. With a coordinated effort, the trailer is backed into the central aisle of the barn for protection from the elements.
They get in after lunch as they made a couple of needed stops for the team, which includes an impressive mess of construction equipment like wood and wire. Most importantly is the full load of firewood filling the pickup.
THE TRUCK- 2015 Chevy 3500, Crew Cab, Flatbed, Dual Rear Wheel, 6.6L Duramax Diesel engine, Automatic Transmission, 4 Wheel Drive, LTZ trim, Clean Title, 205k miles, AT, 4x4, LTZ, CM 8.5' Flatbed
This is also the first wave of Carhartt!
Somehow, Ava knows how to rough in electrical and has set up a diagram for the barn. After a few modifications, they get into ripping out every scrap of the old stuff, which is easier with everything exposed the way it is
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12- It's all hands on deck for the barn wiring, much laughter and horsing around to keep their spirits up in the cold. The work goes well into the night. Before they all bed down, Ava goes over the wiring details one more time to ensure they can do the rest on their own.
13- Alex and Nia gone much of the day in delivering Sara and Ava to the train station after visiting the DMV and getting proper winter clothes for Nia.
The electrician returns. Between his inspection and helping them out, he's there half the day, costing the team a small fortune. But the safety and reliability is worth it and Brainy can use his trailer now. There is a second box added to the back of the shop with the intent of running main out to the yurt.
14- Valentine's Day.
A frustrated and ranting Lucy sits with Kara and Brainy and they end up buying Kara's little shed-house. They realize that they will need several living quarters and it expands to what will become Nia's house. It will take 2-3 weeks for the shed kits to arrive. The deck is planned to enclose the two structures.
Clearing a big circle behind the barn, the team gets to work on the yurt finally. Much of the deck framework goes up on its footings.
15- The get the SIPs floor down and cut to round before weather forces them to tarp it and spend a few hours getting the encircling deck plotted out.
16- in a break in the weather, the team busts out the yurt in a just a couple hours.
The whole team agrees to take a couple days easy to catch their breath. This gives them a chance to finally go into town and start meeting some locals.
18- Lucy is off somewhere and calls in to Brainy of all people. Confused, he goes to Alex with the message to use some of the fence panels are ready to be put up and to have a couple of the stalls with easy access outdoors ready. needless to say, the gang is nervous.
Lucy arrives home towing a beat-up stock trailer and a mess of hay and stock panels. The team reinforce and extend the pen beside the barn before unloading the trailer of its small herd of… alpaca. And their cranky guard llama. The llama is aggressive and grosses them all out with being spitty, but Alex manages to get a hand on her collar and stare her down.
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20 THRU MARCH 2- A veterinarian with camelid knowledge from the valley visits to tend to the herd. It's pricy but has to be done. The gang fine-tunes their temporary living situations, gets the barn as cleaned up as possible and kits out the yurt.
March
'The Revenge Of: A Work Montage. Week 1'
1- the concrete footings poured for the radio tower.
2- The shed kits arrive. The gang is shocked when a second truck and more pallets show up. Lucy is hugely entertained by their reactions to the saloon reproduction that will act as a small office.
With the yurt complete out except for a few finishing details, the gang turns to starting the Village.
(Until the weather warms and they can get septic fields in, the gang seals up the hall between Nia and Kara, putting rough doors on either end. On the back is installed yet another porta potty. A small space heater keeps the spaces from being frigid and they later leave the clear polycarbonate roof over the hall.)
4- construction supplies arrive, the truck and forklift chewing up the wet ground and weakened road.
7- One month at the farm!
Most of the month- The shed kits are built, the giant deck put up, foundations poured, etc. The team also pretty much finalizes what they will be building and where once the snow is gone and the ground dries a bit.
At the end, Kara breaks down after an emotionally taxing shopping trip with Lucy.
(Add in a mention of getting some sort of internet & cell service in)
April
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2- Lucy calls while on an errand and orders Alex to grab the truck and get the trailer and meet her nearby. Alex suspects delayed April Fool's shenanigans, but goes anyway. Lucy sends Brainy GPS coordinates to get her there. Turns out a local farm has been repossessed and Lucy negotiated a deal. For the full price of the larger tractor than theirs, she and hers get free rein to ransack the property for supplies.
2 THRU 18- Mostly in the rain and a couple light, late snows, they spend nearly every waking moment at the other farm.
(This is one of those times when there isn't a ton of footage due to all hands on deck under a time crunch.)
15- Of course, the pre-ordered chicks show up in the middle of the chaos. A desperate dig through the salvage finds a heat lamp and feeder/waterers and a cardboard box will do for a brooder while the baker's dozen fluffs are tiny. The town store has food for them, luckily.
16- Lucy and then Alex start getting the sniffles, but push through clearly not feeling well to get every scrap of material they can.
17- Maggie shows up to visit. She misses them. Alex is happy to see her and annoyed for her and Lucy being stupid, so she volunteers Maggie for some filthy, backbreaking task.
18- they finish at the other farm and their fearless leaders collapse into serious colds. They are grouchy grumps and everyone else pitches in to sort out the insane amount of stuff they have now. Though it does force them to warm up to the noisy chicks that keep them company.
25 THRU 27- 'The Coop de Grace' During a few unseasonably warm days, the greenhouse-coop goes up, as Alex and Lucy feel much better. The promise of birds and green growing things cheers everyone, particularly Kara.
Seeds are started for a makeshift garden around all the other things they have to do.
27- 'No barn is complete without one!' (night) Alex manages to trap a pretty barn cat that's been skulking around.
28- Alex has suspected it's a pregnant female; turns out she's right. The cat is semi-feral and is a bit of a hassle, but the gang gets her to a vet and picks up the supplies to build a huge cage. They close in a narrow double stall opposite of the alpaca and a smaller area through a little door on the outside of the barn. Down the line, it will double for large fowl like turkeys.
29- the cat is still shy, but the kibble has been gotten into.
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30- Work begins on the bathhouse/kitchen wing of the clubhouse. The exterior walls and roof are SIPs panels and go up fast.
May
3- Kara's bee order arrives. It's two nucs and all the gear she'll need. It will days before she's of any real use to anyone.
The team lays the concrete foundation for Lucy's kit house, scheduled to arrive in a week. The foundation for the office extension, and the saloon is also poured. Then it's back to the bath house.
7- the base work on the bathhouse is done and the tent is broken down, scrubbed, and moved over to the village to be set up with the bathhouse.
8- one of the full baths is functional for the team.
9- Lucy's container house kit arrives and is one of their easier builds!
10- with a recommendation from the vet, a shearer comes to the farm to get the herd naked. It's a long, filthy day. Alex uses the tractor to dig a trench to pile the horrible fleeces into where they can mulch naturally.
11- 'Roads, grass, kittens and chicks!' As things dry out, the team switches their attention to getting the main road repaired and reinforced for larger vehicles. Alex spends the day tilling and seeding the patchy pasture with orchard grass and a little alfalfa.
12- The barn cat gives birth to six kittens.
14- The basic roadwork done, the team dismantles the yurt and moves it to the village.
15- finishing up with the yurt.
16- 'Poultry and Puns.' a contractor comes in to dig and lay septic fields where Lucy and Maggie watch them like hawks. The sisters take the half-grown chicks out to the coop to live permanently. The saloon-shed build begins.
22- the saloon-shed complete and some of the supplies stashed inside.
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23- as the spring melt has died down a bit, the team turns to the derelict bridge. No one has even been to the back half of the property. The deck is old and rotten, but the team is lucky to find large concrete blocks were used as foundations and haven't shifted with time. With the help of some neighbors and a portable mill, trees are felled for material, and the old deck starts to come out.
Another neighbor with an excavator arrives to span the stream with large logs. Fresh boards make a nice, thick deck and no one bothers to trim the edges. As evening closes in, the whole crew celebrates on the stable surface of their accomplishment.
24- (the ostrich have returned from wherever they winter over.)
Very early, Alex drags Brainy along to go explore the old tree farm. Eventually she cuts him loose to take the UTV back, but has him leave her with a GoPro to film with. This is when she hears the ostrich booming in the near-distance and finds the eggs. When she returns to the others, she shows the egg and gets the whole story about them from Lucy.
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25- behind the scenes, the team is busy with farm stuff and doing research on what the hell to do about the birds.
'Hunting amidst the Christmas trees.' They spy on the nest and begin filming 'The Bird Witch Project'. That night, Sara and Ava arrive to spend the holiday weekend with their pals. After some beer and goofing off, they head out in the dark to 'hunt'. The male bellowing scares them back to the clubhouse.
26- 'A Comedy Of Errors', is the gang coming up with wild ideas to trap the birds. Alex and Brainy go spy on them, giving chase with the UTV and finding the hole in the fence. It goes to voiceover as Alex narrates getting permission from their fellow landowners to set up a trap on their property temporarily to catch the birds. They hide cattle panels in the tall grass around the hole in the fence to make a pen once stood up and hooked together. Then they go away, leaving behind a few cheap cameras behind to keep an eye out for their quarry. This and regular chores eats up the whole day.
27- 'Worse Than a Wet T-shirt Contest: not entirely family-friendly.' Maggie joins the party. The whole video is mostly them just sitting around a grilled lunch shooting the shit about tats and piercings and backstory.
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28- After doing some research, Alex has some success with the technique of 'grab the head and put a sock on it'. Gets 3 females, but the male manages to kick her on the upper thigh hard enough to drop her. Immediately, the gang gets the male in the stock trailer and Lucy goes full bossy. She grabs Kara and Sara after the gang gets Alex in the back of the truck. They drop the trailer at the barn and head downhill for the hospital. She's on bed rest for a week, two if she doesn't behave herself. Kara calls the folks then cousin Carol. Lucy insists that she trades housing with Alex so that she doesn't have to negotiate the yurt's stairs. It will be a permanent move.
29- Memorial Day. Kara does a tense recap of the day before for the camera but instantly rushes off when Lucy calls her to see Alex. Leaving the sisters be, the others work on a larger paddock for the birds.
Kara recruits Ava to help her run electrical to a spot behind the village for an RV hookup.
Ava has to head home, but Sara agrees to stay for an extra week to help out.
30- A Carhartt rep contacts Winn about being a sponsor and he has the guy call up to the farm.
31- 'Let's Get This Garden Started! Also we got our first Sponsor!'
Kara is excited to tell the camera about their new sponsor. They go about their day, someone checking in frequently with Alex, who is still dopey on painkillers. The team gets started on the overdue garden until Maria, Carol and Monica show up with a rental RV to live in, trailer full of ultralight equipment in tow. Kara finally gets to meet Maria and Monica face to face. Carol and Kara provide some backstory for the gang and the camera. Monica agrees to help Kara with some needed signs for the farm.
June
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1- 'Here comes June! 1-5'
4th day since Alex's injury. Chewie and Goose have spent plenty of time with her.
The eggs have been in the fridge for 8 days, so they gang gets Alex set up to clean them out. Only one is too rank to deal with. The gang gets Carol and Maria up to speed on farm life. Kara and Monica make the sign and get the first sealant coat.
2- The sign is done and the first sealant coat on. Maria and Carol take over the less banged up warehouse for their ultralight craft. It will take several days to reassemble.
3- Kara finds evidence that a predator is getting bolder in trying to get to the chickens.
It takes half a day to get the signs in place and secured.
That evening, Kara is up late trying to reinforce the chicken's safety. Lucy sneaks into her house and shuts her alarm off.
4- In the middle of the night, there's an unexpected downpour. Shouting back and forth, Alex and Lucy bring up trading homes for good.
The rain has nearly wiped out the garden and there are washouts everywhere.
One week since Alex's injury. If she keeps her butt mostly in the wheelchair, the gang allows Alex to take a road trip with Lucy to drop Sara off at the Salem train station then off to see what plants they can find to replace what was lost.
5- the gang gets the new plants into the garden.
Due to the predation attempts and plans for additional animals to add to the farm, Alex is researching farm dogs.
6- ' A hot time in the small town tonight! A special video for June 6'. The Rambeaus take a day off and miss the fun.
To counter the summer heat, Nia sneaks off and brings back the stock tank for the gang to cool off in. And pick up the mail, which consists of 5 boxes of Carhartt swag, and 4 large Amazon boxes that contain a brew kit and sundries, as well as the dinosaur stuffy and a fancy egg basket.
Alex tucks it over that very first egg like the dinosaur is protecting it. Later, both will have a permanent home in her workshop. (She'll also halve the shell and add a small dinosaur 'hatching')
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8- 'Catnip' (This is the infamous video with her playing kissyface with the 3.5 week old kittens.) The Rambeaus are off on a family day.
Alex is off to the doctor again, where she is cleared for minimal walking.
Adorably, Mama B is so happy to see her that she brings the kittens out to play. Alex gives out the kitten's names.
10- 'The Biggest, Grumpiest Dog on the Farm Gets A Haircut.'
Cranky during her recovery and unhappy with the growing heat, Alex finds a pair of clippers and makes a mess of her hair trying to shorten it. Lucy starts to help, but Maria interrupts to offer her experience in maintaining Carol's hair. She fixes the mess, goes for a gradual fade that is mostly buzzcut over sides and back. Kara is halfway freaking out at the change, but Maria merely compliments the growing butchness. Which Alex ruins by whining like a child.
Jump ahead to September.
19- the spectacularly horrible bruise is still plenty ugly, but Alex is back up to speed again.
21- summer solstice. Alex's 29th birthday. Eliza, Jer and Jon visit. It's not the worst, but Eliza really doesn't get this insanity.
July
7- Mama B spayed.
August
12 (cont)
30- 'Well THAT was quite the party!' August 30- September 12. published on the 16th.
(This is mostly all the fun had at the open house. This is where Team NY sees the newer animals and infrastructure.
Lily and Ruby are disappointed they missed the open house.)
September
4- Labor Day
1-4
10- Lena heads to LA and begins watching Kara's videos. Watches 'Catnip' on the plane as her introduction to Team Lanvers.
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13- 'Makin' hay!' 13 thru 19- Published on the 23th.
In horsing around, Alex rips out the back of her favorite flannel. Shrugging it off, she slaps her muscled belly, to Lena and Sam's delight. When Lucy mocks, the chase is on. Brainy follows them to film Lucy on the ground laughing while Alex poses.
14- The gang cutting the orchard grass. Mama B's kittens are 4 months old.
15-17 (OR)- 3 days of drying.
15-16 (NY)- the first weekend of Ruby's play, that Lena misses.
17-18 (NY)- Lena and Jess red-eye home. Sam picks them up.
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18 (NY)- Rested, Lena leaves Sam to sleep and watches more videos. At one point, Sam startles her and then joins her.
(OR)- Bucking hay. Aside from the others, Lucy is fretting over money, worried they can't feed all the animals through winter and early spring.
Alex has a date.
19 (OR)- Alex's date is caught background of a shot slipping away as the team assemble. (Daphne is a regular playmate.)
Mama B's kittens are taken to the vet to be spayed and neutered. While Alex and Kara attend to that, the others build a temporary kennel for the kittens.
20 (OR)- 'So, it stated out like an ordinary week…' 20 thru 26- published two days late on the 2nd.
Kara does an abbreviated catch-up vid, even as it's clear she's in a bit of a state of shock. In the middle is footage of Alex and Lucy hacking their way to the pond to check it out. At the end of the vid, Kara tells about the donation and gets very choked up over it.
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22- 2nd weekend of Ruby's play. Sam and Lena stay in Peekskill overnight and spend the day with the girls.
23- After the matinee showing, they drive home. Once settled in, the fam starts the dinosaur playlist, getting as far as Alex showing the egg.
(OR) In setting out to finally hack their way to the pond, Alex gets chewed up by brambles and Lucy falls in the gross water.
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24- Once everyone is awake, the fam finishes the playlist. At the end of it, the girls notice they've missed a lot of more recent vids and are disappointed that they missed the open house. They get to see the new animals and infrastructure, including the Rambeau cabin. BP and Concord debut!
Lily is worried about Lucy saying they might not be able to keep all the animals due to shortages of hay.
With the daughters a bit sad that Rainbow Haven might have to give up some of their animals, Sam cheers them up with a romp around the apartment.
Ruby helps with dinner while Sam gets Lily in the bath.
Sunday dinner and the girls are off to be driven to school.
Sam and Lena snuggle with a glass of wine and wait until they hear from the girls that they made it there safely.
With that done. Lena gets back to the simmer subtext of the whole weekend.
After a brief romp on the sofa, Sam heads down to the club to check in.
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Lena relaxes in the bath and jumps Sam when she returns only an hourish later. They have a good time with each other and imaging fantasies with Alex!
25- Lena wakes late morning and leaves Sam to sleep. After cleaning up, she finds herself at her computer, remembering the worry at the farm in feeding the livestock all winter and into spring. She heads over to Patreon to make her money useful.
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Sam wakes to a wall of backstory, gets coffee and food while Lena is on a video call with the bank. They talk out the donation and banter a bit.
Around 5ish EST, Winn contact Lena via email and that leads to a Skype call and the start of plans for the visit. After that, Lena heads down to the club to tell Sam.
26- (OR) Winn calls Kara to tell her everything, sending the gang into a pleasant uproar. At end of day, Maria finds the box of kittens and their mama at the edge of the property.
(NY) Lena and Sam start making plans and alternates that they run by Winn.
27- 'As promised!' 27 thru 3- published on Oct 7th. Kara rambles on about the things they've gotten started with the money, what happened over the week and ends the vid on a montage piece of them dancing and goofing off with the promised swag for the donator. All set to Carly Rae Jepson- Call Me Maybe (Coyote Kisses Remix).
30 (NY)- Ruby and Lily are alive with excitement when they are told about the trip.
(OR) The new kittens and mama get their trip to the vet, who estimates the kittens were born around the 7th. (This will come into play with Alex pulling 'kitten therapy' on Sam.)
October
1 thru 7- Oktoberfest.
2- two days late, the donation vid goes live.
(NY) Team NY's plans are finalized.
4- vid 4 thru 10- published on Oct 14th. (Skipped over in the story)
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7- the new kittens 4 weeks old. Vid after the donation goes live.
11- Oktoberfest vid- published on Oct 18th.
14- Mama B's kittens 5 months old.
18- vid- 18 thru 24 published on Oct 28th. (Note: in the story, I included the 25th in this video. It wasn't worth changing, frankly.)
Lotta clean up, nerves about the visit.
19 (NY)- Lena and Sam head out early to get the girls out of school and head for the airport. It's a red-eye flight and they're delayed nearly two hours before wheels up.
20 (F)- About 4 am they're in Portland and transferring to a smaller plane to get to Salem.
Being a day early, the rental business can't accommodate them and Sam is desperate for some sleep before considering any driving lessons. As she's a better driver than Lena, that's crucial.
Team NY gets a hotel room and Sam passes out. Lena takes the girls to putter around.
In the afternoon, Sam gets a driving lesson in a different unit.
About 6 PM, they get a call that their unit is ready. While tempted to go, it will be long dark and Sam decides to play it safe.
21 (Sat) Day 1- at 10am sharp, Team NY shows up at the rental place to get their unit and head for the farm.
They were expected the following day and take the farm team by surprise.
After introductions (Alex is notably absent), Lena slips away. Marvels a bit at seeing the farm in person, but her goal is the barn. Sure enough, she finds Alex in her workshop, dancing like a loon. When caught, she freezes, but then drags the attractive stranger into playing along.
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Lena ends up chatting with Kara and they are excitedly lost in their own world, planning the aviary and other things. Alex just chuckles and takes Sam and the girls in hand. This starts the bonding between Alex/Sam.
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At lunch, Alex notices that the whole gang, 15 at full capacity with the visitors, have outgrown the dining space in the clubhouse. This begins the farmhouse table build. While the gang gets the RV parked, Alex gets Team NY into her old warms in deference to the weather. Then it's off to the warehouses to pick out wood for the table.
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Alex and Kara move the wood to the shop and dinner prep begins. After a nice, elaborate cookout, the visitors call it a night. Alex quickly follows suit, unwilling to be teased. Awash in gay meltdown, Alex calls Sara to talk out her day, then sleeps.
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22 (Sun) Day 2- Therapy kittens are 6 weeks old.
Team NY wakes early, the others join them in the clubhouse for the morning meeting. Sam stays with Nia to cook pancakes while Alex take Lena and girls on chores. They meet the pigs and look for chicken eggs.
Done with breakfast, Sam is chilling out on the deck, when Alex approaches and insists on 'kitten therapy', dumping young Mustache on her for cuddles. Then they're off to the barn where the rest of the fam is playing with the rest of the litter. When the kittens tire, Alex gets Team NY on sanding the big table, then they build a tree swing with the scraps. A delivery of pallets interrupts the fun and then it's lunchtime.
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After lunch, the girls go to hang with Monica, Kara and Lena go back to the aviary plans and Alex takes Sam to help finish up the winter chicken accommodations. After that, Alex shoos Sam off to go take a long soak because she's going to be sore later! Alex, Lucy and Nia work on taking down the two damaged hoop houses, getting the plastic squared away when the firewood truck arrives. All hands on deck to stack the mountain of wood!
After her bath, Sam volunteers to make dinner for the crew. Lena opts to watch the gun show a bit longer before joining her. The girls join them, Maggie in tow. After they all eat, Sam also insists on cleanup, as the locals have worked so hard. Then they go back to the RV to relax for the evening.
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23 (M) Day 3- With extensive shopping lists in hand, Team NY piles into the truck with Alex to take the big trailer down the mountain to get the supplies.
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It's dark by the time they get back and spend the evening in the shop doing prep work to make the build go faster. Alex takes Ruby to the storage room to dig out the old upright piano stored there for making the unusual aquarium that has the teen intrigued. As it gets late, the group cleans up and Alex walks the fam back to their RV. A flying body hug from Lily interrupts the moms making a direct pass and Alex is left wondering what she missed.
24 (Tue) Day 4- Alex wakes sore from working out in the barn the night before. After the morning meeting, the sisters get to work on the aviary. When Lena and the girls join them, work slows down. Sam joins them, wanting to see the kittens, Lena and Lily joining her. Ruby gets a bit emo over her moms. After a bit, Sam takes the girls to go exploring while Lena hangs back to chat with Kara. Lily's screaming sends everyone into a dead run, where they find Sam has fallen out of a tree, her head bloody. Alex tends to her after Kara runs for the first aid kit. Once they get Sam to her feet, it's off to the RV, where Lena kisses Alex's cheek in thank you. Antsy, Alex decides to give the low barn stalls a good cleaning. When she's taking a break, the couple sneaks in and is fooling around in the stall nearby, driving Alex crazy. When they all finally encounter one another, first kisses are exchanged.
24 & 25
Lena starts to drag Alex back to her little house, pausing until Sam whips out her phone to text the Rambeaus about taking the girls for the night.
At last, the sexual shenanigans! :D
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25 (W) Day 5- vid 25 (actually the 26th, but who cares?) thru 31- published on Nov 4th. (Remember this day is included in the last vid.)
About 4am, the trio wake and head for the clubhouse to eat and shower, startled to find that it snowed in the night. Nia finds them and teases a bit, sending them scurrying.
Later that morning, Kara barges in because Alex overslept and there is great embarrassment all around. They are summoned to the clubhouse for a late breakfast, where there is a ridiculous apple haul waiting. Normally, they would move the pasture-mobiles, but due to the snow, they merely start rounding up instead. they move chickens and pigs for slaughter tomorrow. Once they finish, Lucy finally gets in a dig, making Alex blush.
Lunch has an overwhelming apple theme that is making Sam sulky until Lily brings her a glass of fresh juice.
The whole farm gets in on chasing down the escaped chickens for the winter. It's hilarious chaos. When the roosters are separated from their hens, Lily asks why and is gently reminded about the animals meant for meat.
The rest of the day is spent at the aviary and building winter shelters for the hordes of cats.
After dinner, Team NY has a video conference with Winn about video footage and spend a quiet night with just the 4 of them. Lena and Sam miss Alex beside them.
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26 (Thu) Day 6- pigs and chickens off to slaughter. Only Team NY is at the farm most of the day, and when Team Lanvers returns with boxes and boxes of meat, they are very quiet and subdued.
27 (F) Day 7- Monica out of school until the 2nd. The farm crew doubles down on keeping the kids entertained, even if the effort is a little forced. Lily teases her mama about the 'slumber party' and insists the trio does that again as she and Ruby are going to Monica's house.
After dinner and cleanup, Team NY heads for their respective nights. Alex almost doesn't let her ladies in, but she needs them close.
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28 (Sat) Day 8- video for 18-24 goes live. In the early morning hours, Sam and Lena get a preview to ensure it meets their need for privacy.
Alex is setting up the pig pen in the messy side of the hoop coop. Sam and Lena hug Kara in thanks for taking care of the girls when they were busy with Alex. Then they go into the coop and love on Alex a bit. The gang gets to capture a few escapees.
The piglets give the gang quite the task in getting them captured in their homes made of IBS containers. Lena stayed behind with the cats, but eventually they all cross the pastures to check in. it takes some time to catch the piglets, but once that is finally managed, they are taken off to the new enclosure Alex prepared.
While everyone cleans up, Lena takes the 3 girls to help with lunch and notices how close they've become.
After lunch Lena and the girls help with the piano, but Lily and Lena accidentally over-sand, sending the little one into a crying spiral all over Alex.
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Alex soothes Lily and Lena's stress until Sam collects them. Ruby stays put, so Alex does the same.
Ruby gets very upset that it's her school function that is making it impossible for them to stay longer. Alex hugs her and soothes her that keeping to her word to help her classmates is more important.
Late in the day, the adults are all at the campfire, the girls having gone off to sleep. They trade more backstory, enjoying one another's company. Team Lanvers realizes that they could really LIKE these newcomers and the day of their leaving grows closer…
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After a wonderful night of cuddles and companionship, Lena and Sam reluctantly go to the RV where the girls are sleeping, those big, soulful eyes watching them go.
29 (Sun) Day 9- Sam wakes early and goes outside to watch the dawn. After chilling for some time, Alex joins her and they chat a bit. They wake the fam and their day starts just has it has the entire time they've visited. Breakfast, visiting the kittens, making pumpkin treats for the animals and chores go on. Sam helps Kara clean up after the young ostrich and they raid the kitchen for food. A bit of conversation leaves Sam choked up about leaving.
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Alex takes Lena and Sam into town to visit the bar and they end up back in her bed saying a proper, soulful goodbye.
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30 (M) Day 10- Team NY leaves mid/late morning. It's an angst-fest for everyone. Rather than deal with a public plane, Lena charters a private flight. Once landed, the family heads to Peekskill. Ruby's school puts them up for dinner and an overnight.
No one even suggests heading home, not ready to deal with that quite yet.
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Alex goes through her day --and more beyond-- in a daze.
31 (Tue)- Kara lets Alex know Team NY made it home okay. Brainy offers to take her place at Monica's school event, but she promised.
While the girls don't have school, the whole family pitches in for Ruby's Halloween event.
November
1 (W)- vid 1 thru 7- published on Nov 11th.
Ruby has a half day of school, and everyone sleeps in after a restless night full of emotional turmoil. Lily has no school until Monday. Moms and Lily reluctantly go home.
2 (Thu)- Monica back to school.
[This is when Lena contacts Kane to get the shop project underway. Kane is intrigued enough to go themselves, hoping Sophie and even some of the team might enjoy a working vacation.]
3 (F)- Thor: Ragnarok premiers. Despite her Marvel thing, Alex doesn't have the heart to even make the effort to find a theater and watch.
Moms and Lily drive out to get Ruby, no matter the traffic; they just want to be together again.
4 (Sat)- Kittens 8 weeks old.
Vid for 25 thru 31- (This vid doesn't get watched by Team NY. They were busy saying goodbye and none of them have the heart to even look at YouTube. The video is a short one, Winn carefully editing out references of the visit and skirting around how sad everyone is on the 30-31st.Team NY watch eventually, aching to see when they were all happy together, and it's heartbreaking. None of the Arias-Luthor fam want to admit how they've affected, each of them lost in their own sadness. It's going to be a looooong week.)
5 (Sun)- Lily's school is kind enough to put Lena and Sam up for the night to soothe a sad Lily.
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7 (Tue)- Lily calls Alex for some comfort.
8 (W)- vid 8 thru 14- published on Nov 18th.
Lena calls Alex about the shouse. [Afterward, she calls Kane.]
9 (Thu)- Kane and their crew get loaded up and prepped for travel.
10 (F)- Bright and early, the shouse caravan is off to Oregon.
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11 (Sat)- 'Chickens and Pirates' for 1 thru 7- (implied that the chicken content was from Lily's call.) Alex does a little segment on the chicken wives that is interrupted by an approaching storm.
No one at the farm is happy, their moods low and quiet. (Maybe the vid contains some old footage to bulk it out?) Alex is nowhere to be seen. Except at the fringes, head down, expression pained, keeping busy.
A quiet weekend with Team NY as they try to act like nothing is wrong.
13 (M)- Veterans' Day observed. Monica has no school and hangs out with Alex.
Late in the day and with no warning, Kate's posse shows up to build the steel structure they dragged all the way from New Jersey.
Andrea shows up at the club to bother Sam about the Oregon project.
14 (Tue)- Alex up early to collect donuts for everyone at the farm. Then the meeting and construction prep begins.
Shouse- tree felling and grading.
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15 (W)- vid 15 thru 21- published on Nov 25th.
Moms get a phonecall from one of Lily's teachers gently asking if everything is okay at home. Lily has been unusually quiet and the teacher is concerned. It takes every ounce of Lena's willpower to not cry over the phone.
16 (Thur)- Shouse- concrete work starts.
18 (Sat)- vid for 8 thru 14- (Skipped over.)
Ruby shocks her moms by staying at school for the weekend. Sam is feeling like she's having a mental breakdown.
20 (M)- Shouse- concrete work complete.
21 (Tue)- Shouse- structure work begins
22 (W)- vid 22 thru 28- published on Dec 2nd.
Ruby gets into a fight at school. Lena and Sam head out immediately as they were going to spend the next day with the Luthors anyway. They pick up Lily on the way.
They're not mad at Ruby, instead just hugging her close while she tries not to cry.
Team NY head up to the Luthor country manor.
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23 (Thu)- special vid this is a special livestream for Thanksgiving.
Team NY spends the day with the Luthors.
The girls scarper off to call Alex, joined first by Lena then Sam. After a nap, the moms finally broach the subject of their lover and all the jumbled feelings about her and the farm. The girls add in they feel the same and Team NY finally admits they want to really look at maybe moving. Sam wisely points out that they all need to really think about what moving would mean for them.
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24 (F)- Team NY makes their apologies to the Luthor extended family and heads home. They make a few favorite stops and Lily comments that she feels like a tourist.
Lena comments that the whole weekend is like this.
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27 (M)- Shouse- Structural frame complete, roof started.
Lena and Sam keep the girls home an extra day so that they can call Alex as a family. It's an emotional day.
Alex gets temperamental at Lucy when she asks what might happen if the NYers came back for good. Shortly thereafter, there is a construction accident where Alex barely manages to save Brin's life. In the process wrenches her knee. When Team NY calls with the good news, Alex is out of it from painkillers and doesn't comprehend the full extent of what coming there for Xmas really means. The adorable idiot…
28 (Tue)- Alex is sore, but happy, and ends up in the mechanic's trailer, fixing equipment. Kelly joins her with a hug and a thank you for saving Brin.
The girls back to school while Sam and Lena get things underway. This includes contacting schools in Oregon and Washington and calling Lex about his helicopter.
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29 (W)- vid 29 thru 5- published on Dec 9th.
The gang it woken in the wee hours of morning with an attack that shreds the hoop house plastic and lets loose all the piglets. Kara manages to coax back 4 of them while the others reinforce the plastic around the chickens. By end of day, they have six back.
30 (Thu)- The cats come back in the night but are killed by the donkeys and dogs. The team clean up the mess and get back to their regular work.
December
Weekends are busy with the girls getting packed up.
1 (F)- the farm wakes in the dark of early morning to smoke and news of fires in the valley below. Nia gets everyone mobilized to creating long overdue firebreaks.
The storage yard that has been holding Alex's shop kit calls and wants to get the thing delivered before the fire damages it.
Flocks of birds arrive seeking safer grounds.
4 (M)- Shouse- Roof complete and walls started.
5 (Tues)- The call comes in for the Milking Devon herd. Alex and Kara get to work building them a shelter from their stash of supplies.
6 (W)- vid 6 thru 12- published on Dec 16th.
8 (F)- During a quick morning meeting, the cattle arrive.
On the heels of the cattle, Andrea arrives with a semi-truck full of stuff to kit out the shouse. The trailer is directed into the huge shop bay and is unloaded even as the walls are being completed around them.
By late morning, Nia calls it, telling everyone to take the rest of the day off. Alex falls asleep in the bath with BP watching over her.
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9 (Sat)- Team Lanvers takes a well-earned day off. Barring regular chores of course. Alex also cleans her house up.
Shouse- Walls and wiring done. 2nd floor living spaces started.
10 (Sun)- In better spirits, the teams get back to work.
The day closes out with heavy rain clearing out the last of the fires and smoke.
At end of day, Team Lanvers agree that they've done what they can for the firebreaks.
At dinner, everyone is there.
The build crew generously agreed to forego their day off to get the living space fast-tracked so that Andrea can get to work. Kane asks Alex about her friend with electrical experience.
Alex notes that Andrea still looks overwhelmed and takes her in hand. The two of them and Kara prep Alex's little house for a guest, while she goes to live in her shop. Though she has a sister's night with Kara and they both end up falling asleep, side by side.
HEAVY RAIN EVENING AND ALL NIGHT.
Meanwhile in New York…
It's a family evening where Lena has dragged the girls away from preparing their things so that they can all spend some quality time before it's time to head back to school.
Lily asks what is going on with Alex, shocking her moms, but everyone gets reassured all around.
Jess joins them with good news about the helicopter.
11 (M)- Lena spends her morning brooding, is later joined by Sam.
While Sam showers, Lena calls and asks Russel if he'll come along on the trip.
At breakfast, Andrea agrees to pay some of the locals to help out with the non-construction stuff.
Alex and the others on and off, spend the day packing up her shop and starting to get it moved over.
THE RAIN RETURNS.
Right before the rough in is finished, the interior decorating pallets are lifted though the open space between shop and the living room before the wall is closed up.
Shouse- 2nd floor living spaces are now roughed in.
12 (Tues)- Shouse- The roof above Alex's office as well as the office and downstairs studio are roughed in. Plumbing and flooring is started in the living spaces.
Brin is working on the plumbing.
13 (W)- vid 13 thru 19- published on Dec 23rd.
14 (Thu)- after helping kit out the master bedroom, Alex is feeling rattled. She searches out Brin. After they talk briefly, Brin asks for herself and family if they might be able to stay. Alex is delighted!
Shouse- Flooring complete and large furnishings mostly in place.
The freight company takes away Team NY's things.
Lena and Sam can't stand to be in the apartment and head for a hotel for the night.
15 (F)- Russel picks up Lena and Sam at the hotel and they head upstate to collect the girls and go to the Luthor estate.
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16 (Sat)- Goodbye to the extended fam and the first leg of the transcontinental flight.
At the morning meeting, Sophie drops in to ask if they can build a temporary hanger out in the old tree farm and leave their equipment there for the winter.
At end of day, Alex finds herself hanging out with Andrea over movie and conversation.
Team NY gives up making their last stop and stays in Sioux City, SD.
Shouse- Plumbing complete on house side. Final finishing begins.
[Flight info: NY to Pittsburg- 300 miles, 2 hours
Pittsburg to Indianapolis- 325 miles, 2.5 hours
Indianapolis to Iowa City- 300 miles, 2 hours
Iowa City to Sioux Falls, SD- 325 miles, 2.5 hours- OVERNIGHT STAY]
17 (Sun)-
(early) Alex tries to bring up what Christmas plans they can get going, but the sheriff stops by and asks if a federal rescue crew can borrow the old tree farm as a touchdown site for a chopper looking for lost hikers in the federal lands nearby. Or at least to warn that the chopper is in the area. That gives Lucy ideas.
Jerimiah and Eliza fly into Salem.
As evening is falling, a huge fuck-all chopper roars overhead and scares the humans and livestock half to death.
The bull busts his fence, but thankfully gets his horns trapped in the wires. Between calming him and repairs, is hours of work.
Bad weather locks Team NY down in Boise, their last stop. No one is happy about it.
[Flight info: Sioux Falls to Rapid City, SD- 325 miles, 2.5 hours- Mt Rushmore 23 miles SW
Rapid City to Jackson, WY- 410 miles, 3 hours- in the Rockies
Jackson to Boise- 350 miles, 2.5 hours- a shallow arc to the south through the mountains- OVERNIGHT DUE TO WEATHER.]
An exhausted Alex finally crashes a bit late this night.
18 (M)- The full week of relentless rain turns to sleet to driving snow. But temps hover just above freezing, so it all stays just a muddy mess. (at least it shoos off the last of the geese.)
Kara heads out early to pick the folks up and hit Costco.
Alex tries to call the fam, but no one is answering as we know the network is down in their area.
[At some point in here, Lucy and Brin sneak off to set up the landing zone out in the old tree farm]
Maggie, Sara and Ava are finally freed up from work obligations and arrive at the farm. Alex wastes a couple hours showing them around.
Hay truck arrives. Right in the middle of unloading, Kara comes back with the Danvers folks.
The brutal trip is finally coming to an end and, as evening closes in, the weather abruptly clears to herald the NYers finally coming home.
(mid-evening) the blissful reunion!
[Flight info: Boise to HOME- 360 miles, 2.5 hours- desolate outback to the Cascades]
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After the initial reunion, there are hugs all around the friends. Everyone piles back into the vehicles to be ferried back to the village. They swing through the shome briefly to drop the luggage off, but skip the tour. After a quick visit to Lily's beloved chickens, it's off to dinner. With everyone in one place, the clubhouse is stupidly overcrowded. Alex sees the 'welcome home' sign and finally clues in. And she promptly melts down and is reassured by her new family.
Dinner is a welcome distraction, but eventually emotional and physical exhaustion sends the little family off for a good nights sleep.
Downstairs house side is completely unfinished. Just the entry stairs and the corner with the mechanicals.
Kittens 14 weeks.
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19 (Tues)- The attic above the shop closed in.
Lena wakes to Alex and Ruby talking quietly. Then the new family can explore the shome's living areas. The construction team's working on the shop's attic makes the building tremble a bit.
(breakfast) Sam has taken over cooking and has an awkward but sweet meeting with Eliza. She is rescued by Lily and Alex dragging Eliza with them to hunt for eggs.
The construction crew asks if they can leave their equipment at the farm for the winter. That leads to the Olsens worrying about where they'll live and Alex gives them her unbuilt shop.
(Day into evening) Lena hangs out in the shouse, making purchases for trying new hobbies. Kara brings her some houseplants and joins her for a bit. Lena calls the freight company to find their household things are locked down from weather.
(evening) Alex and Lucy talk over late day chores then join Lena for hot cocoa. Lena drafts Lucy into helping her buy a pair of Subarus. As they walk to the clubhouse for dinner, Alex asks if Team NY will take on the four kittens.
Behind The Scenes
The enormous shelter is hurriedly ordered.
Carol and Monica head out with the chopper and the two borrowed pilots for a few days training down in Salem. Monica will stay with the shome family. (This gives Ruby and Lily a chance to talk to her about the new school and Monica can talk to her moms about that later)
Kane takes their big truck and the trailer the loader had been on to go get the equipment shelter.
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(night) A bunch of the friends are sitting around shooting the shit.
[Maria, Carol and Kane are missing, out on their errands.]