Day: September 11, 2021

Note: Bella’s Lullaby has relocated, and the SLurlgiven her has been updated. Please also see Spring at Bella’s Lullaby in Second Life.

I returned to Bella’s Lullaby in September after hearing from Shawn Shakespeare that region owner Bella (BellaSwan Blackheart) has given her Homestead region a make-over. I was pleased to find that in redesigning the setting, Bella has retained much that made the region so appealing at the time of my first visit in June 2021 (see The Calm of Bellla’s Lullaby in Second Life), most noticeably the feeling of openness and sense of space, which in this iteration is undoubtedly aided by the split between land and water within the region, the latter splitting the former into three islands.

This openness allows for the largest of the three islands to be the home of a small waterfront business district that doesn’t crowd out the region in any way. It sits on a brick-built promontory that extends out over the water to provide a view to the west out over one of the smaller islands as well as being the home of the region’s landing point. All but one of the premises in this little precinct have been outfitted, giving them an added sense of presence, the one that has been left empty (the result of LI limits being reached?) doesn’t look out-of-place, thanks to the clever placement of a For Sale by Owner sign stuck in a window.

Behind the main parade of shops to the east, and at the end of the little cobbled roadway that leads around them, stand a pair of metal gates those familiar with the previous iteration of Bella’s Lullaby might recognise (one of several items carried forward to this iteration, allowing a visual sense of continuity between the two). These gates provide access to a stony path that rises to a grassy, tree-shaded trail that runs southward behind the main buildings, a friendly This Way sign marking the way, the northern end of the path being marked by an artist’s studio, guarded by a group of vociferous chickens.

A couple of places it sit can be found along the trail, whilst its southern end turns westward once more, providing access to a small cabin overlooking the southern waters, and a long headland. Here, the trees give way to a narrow meadow of wild flowers that offers more places to sit and relax, including a swing close to the water’s edge. Two small children’s windmills turn lazy sails in the breeze, while a little sail boat fashioned out of a piece of broken wood maintains remarkable calm in the face of the breakers close by.

Watched over by the tall white finger of a lighthouse and with the ghostly sounds of a piano playing, the headland is a restful place in which to spend time, A small deck extends out into the channel here, and the little motorboat sitting alongside it gave me cause to wonder if it could be used to reach the remaining two islands in the group – but no, it instead offers a further place to sit. Instead, the way to the other two islands appears to be a matter of wading / flying (as a landing point is set, an attempt to double-click TP will return you to it).

The central island offers low rise of grass topped by another reminder of the region’s past iteration: a trailer-built refuge that now sits alongside a small and quite spartan hut, the two perhaps set aside for a touch of fishing in the surrounding waters as well as for sunbathing down on the island’s cosy deck (and the cabin includes the essential requirement for fishing or lying in the sun: a cooler stocked with drinks!

The northern island rises from the water like a green dumpling, a grassy, rocky hump topped by shrubs, a weeping willow and an old chapel, apparently long deserted except for its own piano that will play when touched.

The best way to reach this northern island is via the shallows that sit between it and the north end of the main isle. It looks like a bridge might have once spanned this channel, but for some reason this seems to have been pulled up and dumped over the shrubs of the smaller island to form an overgrown route up to the chapel, watched over by a statue of a mother and her child. Or perhaps this wooden walk is all that remains of what had once been a more substantial link between the two islands; the story is yours to make.

Finished with a rich sound scape, with multiple opportunities for photography, Bella’s Lullaby remains an engaging visit,

SLurl Details

• Bella’s Lullaby (Appletor, rated: Moderate)