Are You Ready to Raffle?

On Tuesday, I received a goodbye letter from Monique in the mail. Not to sound harsh, but I’m glad to see her go. 😛

My little Jeff, I can't stand for anyone to see me cry... You must know, that's the only reason I left without saying goodbye. Even now, the tears are... I can't bear it! Farewell! -Yours, Monique

I later met her replacement, Astrid the kangaroo. She previously lived here back in 2012, and I currently have her in my City Folk town as well.

Astrid: Oh, my! Have we met before, my pet? I'm almost positive the answer is no.

She offered to sell me a pear for 1,730 bells, and I declined the offer. She got mad, saying that I’ll never find a single pear around here.

Astrid: You'll never find a single pear around here. I'm going to enjoy eating every delicious one I have!

The funny part is that I literally had a single pear already in my pockets! Tom gave it to me moments earlier. 😆

I visited Baabara, and I tried to help myself to some tea. (In other words, I was messing with her tea set.) 😆 She got mad at me, and she even accused me of pushing her. But I was innocent, honest!

Baabara: Stop it! Stop it! STOP IT! Just keep away from me!

Yesterday, Puck was wondering if I had forgotten his name! (I didn’t.) But he re-introduced himself, and explained that sometimes he forgets his own name. 😛

Puck: Yup, I'm Puck. Listen, this is embarrassing, but I was freaking out... I often forget my own name.

Sydney surprised me by begging me to take her to another town. She really wants to move out of Forest that bad? Sorry, but I’ve sworn off train travel (at least from Forest). With my luck, it’d be Hank that left. I don’t want to go through that again.

Sydney: So, would you please take me to another villager, okey-dokey? Please?

I played again today (February 29th) to see if the game made any mention of Leap Day (or Leap Year in general). I apparently haven’t played on Leap Day since I started this blog, and I didn’t remember if I played on Leap Day 2004 or 2008… but sadly, I saw no mention of the occasion today.

Candi asked me if I’d give her a new catchphrase, and I told her no. So then she forced me to do it! If she’s going to be like that, then she’s not getting a pleasant catchphrase. 😆 So I told her to say “push me.”

Candi: ...That's kinda cool! I'll take that, push me!

And then I did push her. 😉

Nookington’s wasn’t open yet, but the sign on the door said “Are you ready to raffle?” It made me think of the “Let’s get ready to rumble!” guy, Michael Buffer. 😆

Sign on Nookington's door: Are you ready to raffle? It all starts at 10:00 a.m.

Later on, I checked back to see what the raffle prizes were (out of curiosity). I didn’t even have any raffle tickets to redeem.

Tom Nook's raffle prizes for February 2024.

Wendell was in town, but I didn’t have any fish to give him. I guess he’ll starve. 🤷

Wendell: Nuh-NOOOOOOO! World...spinning... Fainting spell...imminent...

That’s all I have for now, but I’ll see you next time. 🙂

Animated GIF of the Tom Nook clock in Nookington's.

Banned From Fishing

Today, I played for the first time since New Year’s Eve, and I found a goodbye letter from Twiggy in the mail. Unfortunately, Monique is still in town.

Jeff! I awoke the other day with wanderlust, so I just up and left. Wild, huh? On the road, destination unknown! Anyway, thanks for dealing with my craziness! Cheery-bye! -Twiggy

I also received two fossils back in the mail. Interestingly, they were both trilobites.

Candi told me it would be terrible if the temperature gets so cold that the river freezes over. I told her I wouldn’t mind, since it would be cool if we could walk across the river. But Candi got mad at me for “not caring about the fishies,” and she banned me from fishing! 😆

Candi: All right, Jeff, if you don't care what happens to the fishies, then you're not allowed to fish anymore!
You are aware that fishing is bad for them too, right?

Not only that, but she’s not allowing me to even go near the river. 😆

Candi: You can't ever go near the river again, in my ears!

In Acre B-5, Puck has a new neighbor. It’s Leigh, the native American chicken.

Leigh: Good evening! You seem kinda lost to me... Do you live in this town, cutie?

She previously lived in Forest back in 2012.

I later spotted an igloo near the river.

Standing by an igloo near the river.

Maple was inside, and she was regretting not bringing enough food to last a while…even though her pot of chowder could probably feed 100 bear cubs. 😛

Maple: I guess I'll have to go home when I start getting hungry. I wish I'd brought more food, honey.

Back outside, I ran into Baabara (lucky me). She was talking about going on a picnic with her boyfriend, and she wanted to bring french fries and black tea. I told her that was a bad combination (just to mess with her), and she said I just couldn’t appreciate fine french fries. 😆

Baabara: Unless...wait a sec! Jeff, maybe you just can't appreciate fine french fries!

Monique was over by the wishing well, complaining about the cold weather. I hope she gets so sick of it that she moves out soon. 😉

Monique: I can't stand another day of this cold weather! It's downright dreadful...

But I took advantage of that same winter weather by building my first snowman of the season (and the year). He was a poetic little fellow, too.

Snowman: From chilly sky to earth... From freezing flakes to ball... Formless, friendless, frozen... Until you heard my call!

I resisted the urge to kill him. So, he lives! ⛄

When I mailed away some unidentified fossils at the post office, that forced the mail out. Pete’s new deliveries included a letter from the snowman! Yes, already! He sent me a snowman wall, which I promptly sold for 8,888 bells. That’s a nice chunk of change, especially in this game! I’m glad I let the snowman live. 😉

See you in February! Never Stop Crossing!

New Year, Old Monique

Tonight is New Year’s Eve, and there’s a big celebration at the lake. But before heading over that way, I made sure to check my mail. I found a goodbye letter from Tiara, and I’m okay with that. 😛

Dearest Jeff! During my entire move, I was sure I was forgetting something. You know what it was? I forgot to say adieu to you. I hope this letter will ease your devastation... All the best! -Tiara

At the northwestern part of the lake, I found Puck standing by the pier. He told me that his 2023 was…hungry. 😋

Puck: What kind of year was it for you, Jeff? This whole year, I was just kind of hungry.

At the countdown board, I found Hank, Tortimer, and Baabara. Baabara tried to apologize for being rude over the past year.

Baabara: You know, I've been thinking lately...and I may have said some things in the past year that sounded a little rude.

But our beef goes way back, much longer than the past year. Apology not accepted. 😛

While I’m on the topic of snooty villagers I have a long history with, I ran into another one. It’s Monique the cat, who just moved (back) in. Monique, Olivia, and Yuka formed the trifecta of rudeness that annoyed me so much in the early days of Forest.

Monique: Oh, my! Have we met before, pfffffft? I'm almost positive the answer is no.

Even though I’ve softened on Olivia over the years, I still strongly dislike Monique and Yuka (especially Yuka). This is Monique’s third stint in Forest (at least). She lived here in 2011 too, in addition to the early days of Forest. The good news is that she probably won’t stick around long.

Anyway, I returned to the lake to watch the countdown. Baabara was the first villager who talked to me in 2024, and that can’t be a good sign. 😛

Baabara: HAPPY NEW YEAR!  Hurray!

Tortimer, as confused as ever, wished me a “Happy Mayor.”

Tortimer: 3... 2... 1... Happy Mayor!

And Puck wished me a “Happy New Deer,” before correcting himself. Can’t we all get on the same page as to what this holiday is called? It’s really not that difficult. 😆

Puck: Happy New Deer!

I stood on the pier for a bit and enjoyed the reflection of the fireworks in the lake. I know you can’t look up at the sky in this game, but I wish we could at least see the fireworks in the river and ocean too!

Enjoying the fireworks on New Year's Eve.

I looked around a bit to see if Wisp was in town (since it was after midnight), but I couldn’t find him anywhere. I know there have been a number of times I’ve seen him in the first hours of a new year, so I was a bit disappointed.

One other note: I recently made a new Harvest Festival Guide, so check that out if you’re interested. In the process of making it, I switched to my Aja Blu town to get a cornucopia from Tortimer. (He only gives it to you once, and I apparently never saved my original one in Forest.) But while I was in Aja Blu, Marcy reminded me that she hadn’t seen me in 85 weeks. Oops. 😆

Marcy: 85 weeks ago... Yup. 85 whole weeks...

I don’t play in my other towns regularly, as you can probably tell. 😛

Anyway, I hope you had a fun night…and I hope you have a great 2024! Never Stop Crossing! 🙂