A Tout Sweet Safari

 The region Novale on Creanovale grid has four glorious seasons, just like the real world it represents, the wildly beautiful Eastern Canadian countryside. It is the home of an extraordinary couple, very talented both in scripting and building, Dabici Straulino and Kelso Uxlay.

Spring comes relatively late to Canada, there's still snow in April, but of course when the sun does finally break through, then it's go time in the garden, and everything changes. Dramatic scenery on every hand has proved to be a great inspiration to Dabici who lays our the region, full of charming details like this garden-in-a-bottle. Kelso's speciality is, of course, scripting, and the many rides that animate the sim are signs of his skill.

This seasonal build will soon give way to the Summer Novale build, so don't delay if you want to visit! HG Address is as always, at the end of the post.

We arrived at the big tent in the corner of the region, which offers excellent resources to find your way around the build if you're a newcomer. Here's Mal Burns in his trademark stetson (no, not a turban, Forest, we all want to see a photo of whatever it is you see on Mal's head)

We all took a seat and got some background about how the sim goes through four big changes each year as it's dressed for the season. This arrival point has at the moment lots of spring and Easter-related items like the chocolate egg, and animals...

After some welcoming comments we stepped outside and took a ride on a dandelion seed around the sim. This is such a beautiful ride, dipping through the valleys of the sim, it's a much loved rite of spring for anyone who knows this grid. Here's Ange Menges flying high above the landscape.

The ride brought us all to a quiet vale, with houses on the hillside.

Dings Digital: it worked perfectly

Forest Azure: yes, love rides!

Francisco Koolhoven: that was awesome!

Symphony Vive: Super  cute. lovely  place

Dabici Straulino: The valley here is called the Valley of Ancient Easter. The concept began as I was using images of old easter chocolate mold to create chocolat characters for Easter.  The little houses around were then installed to become conservatories of the ancient mold, I invite you to visit some of these houses... essentially I was using a little app called Archipelis to create 3D ancient metal mold.

To get up to the little houses, there are nifty ladders you swarm up - a great piece of scripting. Each house is original and as cute as can be, with lots of Easter items in the gardens. Make sur eyou look indoors!

In the valley bottom there's a stream with its own weather happening, and a great place to sit and meditate on the changing weather patterns... here's Ange meditating on a lily leaf, together with another amphibian...

The charm of this sim is the way it's so easy to visit by different modes of transport. Here's Savage Taurus enjoying the second ride, a leaf pulled by a yellow butterfly. Absolutely dreamy. The stages of the journey around the region by these various flying modes is really well organized so you see lots of details as you go by and get to enjoy the fields, the farms, and the woods and rocky inlets as you flit by at the perfect height from the ground to be able to really take in what you're flying over.

This journey took us to the main attraction for the Spring season, the maple syrup installation. Here, Dabici and Kelso had organized a series of pictures and explanations that illustrate and explain just how Maple Syrup is collected from the trees, and all the uses it's put to. Comfy tree stumps provided the perfect perching point for us all to enjoy the explanations.

The correct french term for Maple Syrup is sirop d’érable, but in Quebec, they generally just call it sucre. It's a natural product, with a whole world of traditions, techniques, legends and recipes connected to its production and consumption.

Kelso Uxlay: Welcome to Novale’s Maple Bush and Sugar Shack. We are living in Quebec province where Spring can’t be conceived without the Sugaring Season.  All of the world maple syrup comes from Eastern Canada and North-Eastern USA.  See orange area on N-A Map. In 2020, Canada contributed to 75% of the World’s production of pure maple syrup.  The majority, about 90 % of it, comes from Quebec.

Lily Willow: whispers: ..may i have sugar maple tree please ?   :-)

Kelso Uxlay: The season for sugar occurs during the thaw period in late winter and early spring and last between 4 to 8 weeks.  Maple sugaring season activities usually peaks during the two first weeks of April. Location and specific weather conditions during the thaw period were and are still critical in determining the beginning and the length of the sugaring season.

Maia.Antarra: canadian maple syrup yum...  I should have brought a sweater

Kelso Uxlay: Before winter, trees in cold climates, store starch in their trunks and roots.  In late winter-early spring the starch is converted to sugar and rise in sap. The most critical condition to favor the rise of  sap and its sugar content is the temperature alternating between freezing nights and thawing days.  

Kelso Uxlay: The rising of maple sap is a complex phenomenon linked to temperature and pressure within the maple trees. During the freezing nights, the wood cells of trunks and branches contract, creating a vacuum which will favor the rise of sap to fill the voids. During the day,  when the temperature is above zero Celsius, the warming expands the wood, exerting a pressure on the sap and pushing it downward, often through the notches made to harvest the maple sap.

CyberGlo CyberStar: how much sap can you get from a tree? like a cup a day?

Kelso Uxlay: Maple trees begin to be tapped at 30-40 years old. Depending on trunk diameter, 1 to 3 tapping holes are bored.

Lily Willow: ..wow....  this is like school..  ( makes note on iPhone )

Kelso Uxlay: An average maple tree gives between 30-60 liters of sap per season which is less than 10% of its total sap. 20 to 50 liters of sap will be needed to produce 1 liter of maple syrup, depending on the sugar concentration of the sap,The sugar in maple sap consists of 90% sucrose – the 10 % remaining is fructose and glucose.

Our tour ended inside the shack where there was plenty to eat and to see! Turns out, the syrup can be used as a traditional ingredient or condiment on a bunch of Canadian dishes...

Maia Antarra: I read that maple syrup has antimicrobial properties unlike regular sugar

Kelso Uxlay: Ham, bacon, sausages and pork rinds lacked with maple syrup;    Oreilles de crisse (deep-fried salted fatback)  Baked Beans, Scrambled eggs, French Toast, Pancakes, Waffles all served with Maple Syrup, Maple sugar Pies, cookies, taffy, and candies « Grand-Father in Maple Syrup ».

The informative build is made even more charming with NPCs and animesh here and there, as well as lots of interactive things to sit on, and it is of course a photographer's paradise. Of course before we knew it our tour was over.

Francisco Koolhoven: Thank you Dabici

Lily Willow: thank you for the teaching  :-))

Symphony Vive: this  is  so  immersive .  I  love this  place, amazing details.  Thank you for  the  excellent  tour.

Star Ravenhurst: Thank you for showing us around your lovely region and the lesson on Maple Syrup!

CyberGlo CyberStar: this was very well done

Dings Digital: I grab a bite to eat :) ...this a great place to return. fun rides, a lot to sea, and a lot to eat.

HG Address: hg.creanovale.ca:8052:NOVALE