A/N: Well it looks like we're down to the last 8 chapters in Tina's diary. I still haven't really started working on Year 6, but I'll try to this week. I may put up my progress on my profile. By the way, the correct answer for which is better is taking care of the animals. I didn't know that at the time. Just a heads up if you want to try this. This time I actually put effort in making proper paragraphs.
Preview: Another 8 years has passed. Tina and her family are doing well."They sure grow up fast don't they?"
Disclaimer: I do not own Harvest Moon.
...A few years later...
Takakura: They sure grow up fast don't they? I wonder what it would be like to watch your grandchildren grow up. Anyway, Nathan is just like Tina. Everything from the looks to how they walk the same. Which means that they look like you too, I guess. Nathan's grown up now. It's amazing how kids get lives of their own after a while...It must be nice to watch your children grow, but I bet it's a little sad when they no longer need you. Oh, about the farm...Your daughter certainly is a hard worker. At first I thought we'd be doing well just to make ends meet, but we're doing very well. Of course, that makes me busier too...Well, I'll keep at it as long as I can.
Entry 169
Another 8 years have passed. Everything is so wonderful. Well, I think it's mostly great. I'm now 54 years old. Time seems to pass quickly. Marlin is 60! I'm married to an old man. I'm not far behind him though. And get this, Nathan is 26 years old! That's how old I was at the start of all this. Nathan is an adult. He's no longer a rebellious teen. He isn't depressed and has gone back to being a total sweet heart. No longer does he and his father fight.
Today would be a good example. Marlin and Nathan were talking in the living room. Marlin smiled as he told Nathan he knew he likes the farm, but he's still young and should try to do as many things as he still can. Nathan smiled and gently said that he knew. Then they went on with their business.
All of us, our looks haven't changed. Except Nathan is taller. He still has gloves like I do. Takakura is still working for us. Which may be hard on him. But he never complains. If he still wants to work, I'll let him. Takakura is a big help. I appreciate everyone's help. Including my dog, Danny. He chased Murrey off the farm today. We all have our roles here and we'll be busy. Nathan smiles a lot more now. That makes me very happy.
Chapter 5 A journey Entry 170 day 1 Spring
Today is a new day. It's the first day of the year. My son greeted me by wishing me a Happy New Year. He even added that he hoped this year will be as good as the last. Nathan is very cheerful.
Well, I didn't buy any seeds from Vesta to start off the year. So I had to run over and buy 50 watermelon seeds. I planted and watered a few of them. Since I have so many potatoes, I'm selling a lot of them. 15 to be exact. All future crops will probably be sold for profit. I have plenty in the fridge so there's nothing to worry about.
As usual, I went to Romana's New Years party. Celia greeted me and we both celebrated. Lumina's doing well. She played the piano again while Celia and I listened. We may be old, but we can still party! Which reminds me, Marlin says that Takakura's looking a bit old lately. And he wonders if Takakura will be okay. I think we all look a bit old. Really. But we're doing fine. I think Takakura will be alright. If he retires soon, it'll be okay since Nathan is helping more.
I caught him patrolling the food storage area. With Takakura, Marlin and Nathan patrolling that area, I don't have to worry about Murrey trying to take some of the crops I need to sell. I recently noticed the buildings on my farm are showing age. Especially the Chicken Coop. Well, the buildings have been around since before my father and Takakura came to Forget-Me-Not Valley. So, they're very old.
Well anyway, I'm really proud of Nathan. He talks about crops all the time. His skills in farming rival my own. I have to say, in a year's time, he'll be a pro.
Entry 171 day 2
It was a little boring. I just took care of my animals most of the time. Well, only until around 10:00am. Then I went fishing and caught a big fish.
When I went to Vesta's, Celia said that Nathan is all grown up now. She also that time flies by so fast. So true.
Nathan asked me what was the best thing about being a farmer was. Making friends with animals is nice, but getting to eat crops I've grown is very satisfying. So I told him the latter. Nathan seemed happy and said that it's cool that we eat fresh veggies before anyone else. Nathan talks about animals and crops more than anything else. Not that it's a problem. I like that.
Let's see... I also harvested that S tomato. I showed it to Nathan, but he wasn't really interested in it. He prefers B tomatoes. Go figure. I had Tartan analyze it and he said it was great. It's hard to believe I could run out of things to do. I cut fodder, took care of the animals, gave Nathan advice, visited Vesta and Celia, played with Danny and went fishing. But I still had hours of free time. Then I thought I could visit Lumina. But then it started to rain suddenly. It was about 5:00pm. Everything had to be set up early. So even my evening chores were already done. But I shouldn't complain. When I first started this farm, things were really hard. So I appreciate the fact that even though I have more responsibilities, I've mastered them to a point where everything is easier then when I had less to do. But still... I hope tomorrow will be more interesting.
Entry 172 day 3
Today was nice. Even though I couldn't haggle with Van. While I was working, I saw Celia walk up to the forest. I ran over to say hi really quick. I also saw Muffy and Galen. They're doing well.
I did some quick fishing and made sure I spent time with both my family and animals. Danny was really happy. He kept following me so I could play with him more. We're not making much money right now, but I'm sure things will pick up soon. My chickens didn't lay eggs today. So that sort of puts a damper on things. Oh well, Nathan keeps saying that he wonders if there will always be a place for him on this farm. Of course there will be. I hope he understands how much I value his help.
Oh, Marlin was by the hybrid trees today. The trees are still a long way from growing up, but Marlin is happy. He always says that hybrid fruit sells for a lot of money and that Vesta doesn't handle those. Tartan did a good job. But it'll be a few years before those two trees bare fruit. It's something to look forward to.
Entry 173 day 4
I finished my work way too early. But it was nice since Nathan was out in the field with me. He was watching me take care of the animals.
I decided to go to the forest with my free time to visit Nik, Nak and Flak. It's fun talking with those elves. They say that I'm nice and we're friends. After visiting them, I went to the Villa and visited Romana. But I couldn't find Lumina. After that I went back to my farm and went in Takakura's house to talk with Tartan.
By the end of the day I caught some fish. I had Stan with me so I could ride my horse back home. But he constantly fell asleep. I had to wait for him to wake up before riding home. It was kind of funny.
At night, I wanted to talk with Nathan. But he wasn't in the house. Which was odd since it was getting late. I decided to go look for him. I stayed on the border of my farm and looked out in the direction of Vesta's farm. It took a while, but I finally spotted him. But he came from the opposite direction. Where did he go? I normally don't worry so much, but that was in the direction of the Inn, the bar, and the Villa. I don't care about him going to the Inner Inn or Romana's villa. But I do care if he were to go to the Blue Bar. Yes, I know he's old enough to drink. But that doesn't mean I want him to. I hope he didn't go there. I'm his mother, I can't help but worry.
Entry 174 day 5
Nathan asked me about farming again. We both agree that it's fun to make friends with animals as well as grow crops. Oh, I must say what I read in Nathan's diary. I'll quote him exactly. "Recently I'm beginning to think Mom is truly awesome. I was born and raised on this farm, so farm work comes naturally to me. But Mom left her previous life and began running a farm here. It must have been hard work. Harder than I can imagine." That's what his diary said.
That's my boy. Nathan is right about starting a farm here being hard work. Doing all that work with only Takakura as help was very difficult. But now I have Nathan and Marlin. Things are a thousand times easier with all my boys. Anyway, I'm getting off topic. I'm supposed to say what happened today.
I didn't do much for a while. But I eventually started to get hungry. So I decided to catch a bunch of fish. After I did that, it was almost time to put the animals back in the barn for the night. I started getting the barn ready, putting fodder in the bins etc. and Marlin walked in. He said he was cleaning up after the animals. Even though he can't take care of them, it's really great he does this for me.
A little later... I had already put the animals up and was in the house. I set to work on my dinner. I used a fish to make Sashimi. That filled me up nicely. Then I got to watch my favorite show. Detective Wait-en-see. Marlin came over and seemed to notice the food I made for myself. He said he'd been thinking lately that I seen just like a real Sous chef. And that I know so many great recipes.
After that complement, I just had to make him something. I made him some Fruit Punch using three fruits. I almost messed it up when I was going to add a Strawberry. But I stopped myself and put in a peach instead. Marlin gladly took it and I'm happy. Heh heh... His little complements make me love him even more every day.
Entry 175 day 6
This morning, I was a little surprised at what I heard on TV. Apparently, eating raw Colombo fish is bad. The man on tv continued to say that it has a terrible taste and will sap your energy. On top of that, it may make you throw up. Wow. I catch Colombo fish all the time. I could have easily eaten a raw one just to give me an energy boost. I'm glad I heard that report. Hm... Maybe that's why Colombo fish don't sell for much.
Anyway, I went over to Vesta's as usual and spoke to her and Celia. But to my surprise, Nathan walked up to Vesta's farm and went in her storage space. He was looking at all the stored up seeds. I spoke to him and he asked me more about farming. I left soon after answering him.
Then I went fishing. I could see Vesta, Celia and Nathan from across the river while I fished. They were all looking at the crops over there. It was a nice sight to see the three of them together. We're all one big happy family.
After fishing, I saw Lumina walking up and we talked a little. It was funny, because I was just thinking about going to the villa to see her. I knew I would have Sashimi tonight since I'm so good at fishing. Oh, and when I spoke to Tartan, he greeted me with a "Hey there-hi there-ho there." That's something I never heard that two- headed plant say before. Or anyone else for that matter. Interesting. Well, I've almost have 40,000G. I hope to hit that mark tomorrow. And I'll have the rest of the year to hit my goal of 50,000G.
Entry 176 day 7
I saw Lumina about to take the road out of town so I rushed to say hi. I also visited Nina's grave. It's been a while since I did that.
Well, I have 40,000G now. But I just remembered I have to buy new seeds from my sis-in-law soon. So I tried to catch enough fish to sell to Van tomorrow. I'll hopefully still have 40,000 after I buy seeds.
I saw Celia walking up to Romana's. I think she still has a thing for the flowers by the villa. As I spoke with her, I noticed her gray hairs. Yep, we're getting old. But she somehow still looks younger than me. At yet, we're the same age.
Oh, when Marlin and I were in Nathan's room, he said that the room will always be a child's room to him. But that's only natural. Yeah, Nathan's all grown up. It's hard to believe. He and Marlin were patrolling the food storage together earlier. They get along perfectly. I'm glad.
Let's see... what else happened? Oh right. All of my chickens gave me golden eggs. That should make a great profit tomorrow. Along with my sheep, Cody, whose most likely going to give me Golden Wool tomorrow. Speaking of Cody, he wasn't in the barn when I rung the bell for the animals to go inside. So I rung it again and he went in. That was peculiar.
One more thing happened. That I must make sure I put in here. I was talking with my son. Nathan said something really funny to me. He said he wished he wished he had a cute little sister. All I can do is laugh when I think of that. It's a little late in the game. I'm 54 for crying out loud! Ha ha ha.
Entry 177 day 8
I made some good money. But I ended up using a lot of it. I sold a lot of fish to Van and haggled for a better price on Golden Wool. But then I decided to start buying some seeds. I went to Vesta and bought 20 Turnip seeds. I'll buy some Melon seeds tomorrow or the day after. I also had to order chicken feed. I'm almost out. So Takakura will go and get some tomorrow. I left the money for it as usual.
I had some Fish Stew for dinner. That was good. I'm having a hard time finding Romeo to bring him back in the house every night. I can whistle for Danny and Stan, but Romeo the cat doesn't come to whistle calls. He usually follows me home when I do find him. But it's still a bother. If he keeps doing that, I'll have to bring him inside much earlier. Anyway, the grass is growing much taller. I may have to cut down a lot of fodder soon. My free time will probably be gone soon.
The crops are almost ready for harvest. Spring is almost over. Which means that I'll have a lot of work to do. At least I don't have any fodder problems. I doubt I'll ever run out.
Entry 178 day 9
I bought 60 Melon seeds from Celia today. I forgot how many tilled plots if soil I have so that may have been too much. Those seeds cost me 3,000G. I'm below the 40,000 again. But it's okay. All those Watermelons I have growing will fetch a nice price. I harvested one of them today. I really hope the rest will be ready tomorrow. And two of my fruit trees should give me fruit soon. That'll help me get back the money I lost too. It'll all be okay.
Only a couple of plots of grass were ready to be cut. If all of it grows up high tomorrow, I'll be in trouble. Harvesting Watermelons, Cutting fodder and planting seeds is a bit much. I just hope that I'll be wrong about the fodder being ready to be cut. Either way, I'll be too busy to fish or have free time.
Nathan occasionally asks me about farming. It's nice that my little man wants to keep learning from me. Near the end of the day, I had my animals go into the barn as usual. Then it suddenly started raining. Talk about good timing.
Entry 179 day 10
Oh boy, it was raining good. But I wasn't complaining. Because of that, Nathan didn't have to water the crops. I harvested 48 out of 50 Watermelons. Things seemed to be going well. The rain meant I could plant seeds later without worry. But it stopped soon after I thought that.
The grass wasn't ready to be cut, so I used that time to see Celia and Vesta. Then I went to Romana's villa. Lumina was playing the piano. Her playing was fantastic. I wish I could think of a better word. The song she played was smooth and uplifting. All worries were swept away while listening to it.
After that, I hurried back to my farm and started planting the Turnip and Melon seeds. I think I started at 2:00pm. I had to cut down the wilting Watermelon plants before I could begin. I planted for many hours. It was almost 7:00pm. I kept wishing it would rain so that I wouldn't have to spend another five hours to water them all. But it would be too good to be true since that has happened before. Or so I thought. It started raining again! I was very happy and finished planting before rushing to let my animals in the barn.
Tonight, I had Yam soup for dinner. I was so tired and hungry from all that work. That soup really did the trick! I'm energized! Except a little sleepy. Time for bed. Tomorrow's the first day of Summer. I wonder how things will go.
