Thanksgiving celebrated in Austenasia for the first time

Food for the Thanksgiving meal at New Richmond Town Hall.

The holiday of Thanksgiving was yesterday celebrated in Austenasia for the first time.

The North American holiday is a day of giving thanks for the harvest and for the preceding year.

This Thanksgiving – which in the USA falls on the fourth Thursday of November – is the first during which the Empire has had populated areas of land in North America, namely New Richmond, Shineshore, and Terentia.

A celebratory meal was held in New Richmond Town Hall, attended by New Richmond’s Representative, Lord Joseph Kennedy, and members of his family. Similar dinners took place in the other houses in New Richmond, the Empire’s largest Town.

 

Cool Barbie “minisodes” planned

Cool Barbie VIII saw the house being defended from alien invasion.

Three mini-episodes or “minisodes” of Cool Barbie will be published over the course of next year.

Each minisode will be under three minutes long, and focus on an individual character dealing with the aftermath of September’s Cool Barbie VIII.

The  minisodes are planned to be released in January, May, and November, and will focus on Moonita, Xeaphon, and Colin respectively.

Cool Barbie is a sci-fi fantasy series about a community of living toys protected by a human family, and its interactions with various aliens and villains.

These mini-episodes will fit in between Cool Barbie VIII and IX, the latter of which is intended to be released in December next year to coincide with the tenth anniversary of the franchise.

UPDATE 31 MARCH 2015 11:59 – The release dates for the final two minisodes have been brought forward by ATP. Xeaphon’s minisode will be published on 25 April, and Colin’s on 1 September.

Imperial Residence hot water system improved

A now empty cupboard in the Imperial Kitchen which previously housed a hot water tank.

Work on the hot water system in the Imperial Residence has been ongoing over the past week.

The taps in the Imperial Residence stopped producing hot water last Saturday. Initially a broken valve was suspected, but further investigation revealed that the boiler was broken.

The old boiler in the Imperial Kitchen has been removed and a new one installed in the loft of the house. Several central heating and hot water pipes have also been replaced or repaired, with wall panelling having been taken down around the building to gain access to them.

With the boiler now in the loft, a new chimney has been installed in the roof of the Imperial Residence to provide a flue for the new boiler.

The upgraded central heating and hot water systems of the Imperial Residence are now both far more efficient in terms of expense and far quicker in heating. The Treasury contributed to the cost of the repairs.

Adjoining house joins Terentia

The new borders of Terentia after yesterday’s expansion.

The Crown Dependency of Terentia has expanded to include the house the garden of which it had previously consisted of.

Terentia, founded on 16 November 2013, is bordered by the U.S. state of Massachusetts, and is governed by its founder Legate Sir Jacob Lewis, KCA.

Terentia had previously been comprised of Lewis’ garden, but by request of his family their house was yesterday annexed to the Crown Dependency by an Act of Parliament.

This new expansion has added five people and roughly 16,300 square feet to Austenasia’s population and territory, as well as making Lewis himself – who since May has been a non-residential subject of the Empire – an Austenasian resident.