Welcome to Hickstead, home to both Seven Oak Stables, and Blue Acre - two rival stables. Both offer opportunities for their clients to reach the highest level of excellence. Each stable differs from the other, so choose wisely and never forget, loyalty is everything... Meanwhile as the stables battle it out, there's trouble brewing at the university. Be careful, if you don't pick a side you may get caught in the cross-fire...
This is an chilled out rpg with a super friendly and relaxed atmosphere! Remember to sign up with your characters full name in all caps and don't forget to do your claims! Thank you and Welcome, we've been established since 10th March 2009 but unfortunately have had to close guest view of our boards due to multiple sites ripping off our hard work, such a shame! Come chat to us in Discord before joining if you like!.
asper had been asked by the Malloy's if he could stay after his shift to help with trimming some trees. He spent the last hour of his shift putting neon yellow ribbon on the trees that needed to be worked on. That way there was no miscommunication of what needed to be done.
He checked his watch, seeing that it was almost time for the company to arrive. Casper had doughnuts that he had bought during his afternoon break as a snack for whoever was going to show up for a nice treat. Coffee was also available if anyone wanted it.
After he double checked the trees, the sound of a truck pulling into the driveway of the Orchard. Casper headed up to the house, waving at the driver. He smiled when he realized it was Lindsay, the two of them often got along - though Casper didn't do much of the talking. "Afternoon. Thank you for coming out. Let me know if I can carry anything to the trees." He stopped walking as soon as he reached the truck, giving Lindsay room to get out - not wanting to hover too close.
Lindsay always enjoyed going out to the Malloy Orchard. Any of the farmlands in general. They were always so nice, and welcoming. Malloy’s were one of the first families that Lindsay worked with and were patient with him while he worked out the kinks of his business. It’s gotten to the point that he would knock off some pounds and they would give him free produce or whatever they thought was equal. Like a hidden agreement of sorts.
He pulled up, trailer in behind him and a few of the following trucks that would need. Lindsay was greeted by Casper. A bit of a shorter man but was a good farm hand. He read gangly but appearances weren’t everything, especially on this farm. The patriarch was older, but the guy could still handle a ram if needed.
“Nice to see you, Casper,” Lindsay greeted, giving the other man a firm shake. “No nothing yet. How about you show me where the trees are? Then we can work from there,” he added grabbing his work belt and a notepad.
e didn't have to wait long until Lindsay approached him after the truck engine turned off. "Always nice to see you too. Yes, it's just some apple trees that need a good trim before the Spring." He had them marked off with bright neon pink tape so that everyone knew what trees were being worked on.
"I have doughnuts and coffee if you'd like before we start?" He left it up to Lindsay, not minding either way. Casper had his coffee already but wouldn't say no to another cup. "How have you been? I feel like it's been awhile since we've caught up." Lindsay was someone he hadn't worked with much, but he felt that they worked well together. It tended to be random depending on who was working when the tree company arrived.
He glanced at the trees behind him, wondering to himself if more of them needed a good prune - though the Malloy's were very good at keeping on top of it and calling for help when they needed it.
“I’ll take some coffee, please. I’ll have to wait until the cider doughnuts, so when that comes around – you let Daisy know I need a whole sheet to myself,” Lindsay laughed. It was true. Daisy’s baking made all the hard work at the gym worth it. Maybe it was the sweet, farm girl façade. He didn’t know what made it all taste so good. He had plenty of baking at Parker’s but the Malloy’s fruit pies just hit different.
“Winter has been keeping us on our toes. A few fallen trees, but nothing too dangerous. Someone had a few widowmakers, and we found the culprit a few months back. Glad we did, or that person wouldn’t lost half their roof and electric line.” Lindsay was grateful for the clientele he had amassed, so much so – he found himself refusing a lot of new people. At least, as contracted personnel.
“Have y’all been keeping warm until spring? It looks like the new trees we planted last year are still good as new!” He had credited the malloys for being on top of their game for their trees. Small orchards were hard enough to maintain, but they worked long and hard to get things right.
Perfect. How do you take your coffee? You'll have to wait until the Fall if I remember right, those are a fan favorite. I swear they have their own fan club." There were rumors about them having a Facebook page, not that Daisy had it herself. Casper stepped away from the truck, glad that he was able to chat before they actually got to work. "I think we have just regular chocolate dipped doughnuts today, not that I ever say no to those." Casper's sweet tooth got the best of him. Especially when Daisy made something and brought it to work with her.
"Wait, someone vandalized someone else's windows? Where was this? In town?" He spent his breakfast time reading the local paper, enjoying the quiet time to himself. If it was big enough to be on the paper, he would have read about it. "Glad to hear your crew fixed it though. Nothing worse than a hole in the roof." Especially in the Winter, though Hickstead had seemingly mild ones compared to North Carolina. "Honestly, this isn't cold for me. Though I do have to layer up. What about you though? Or are you used to the weather now?" Casper had at least three layers on on the current day - though he often kept himself moving to keep warm.
"Yes! We all do our best to keep them happy. I mean, obviously it's a bit too early for flowers or leaves though I'm sure they'll come. I've marked the ones that need to be looked at with a neon yellow ribbon." It would make the morning more efficient, though if Lindsay noticed something else with other trees - he'd certainly assist how he could.
“If you have some cream, I can fix that up to my liking,” he offered. “Well, I’ll take whatever sweet treats you have in stock. I can’t say no.” Lindsay was usually quite good about what he ate. His figure was maintained by his work, as well as his diet. Holiday time was when he really let himself go and have fun. When he did have sweets, he opted for sugar-free and high in protein.
He furrowed his eyebrows for a moment. “Not window breakers, Casper. Widowmakers. Which are branches that have broken off but are barely held in place by other branches. We call them widow makers because they’re extremely dangerous and can kill you.” Lindsay had come across a lot of them recently, which meant there was a lot of work to do on some of these properties. Thankfully, a lot of the people were willing to go. Especially those who lived in a controlled forest – where trees had to be cut down to help maintain a healthy ecosystem.
“Excellent. We can look after the coffee is in hand. I’m not expecting a lot of work, since I know y’all are very on top of things.”
e nodded, quickly heading inside. Casper brought out a Styrofoam cup with creamer and two cinnamon buns. He headed back out, not wanting to keep Lindsay waiting. "I managed to find some cinnamon buns and some creamer." There were always treats to be had - someone was always busy baking. This time it was from his mother - swearing it was her turn to bake for the crowd.
"Oh. Still dangerous. How long do they take for you to fix anyway?" Phewf, he knew he wasn't crazy - something like a robbery would be an event that would stick in his mind after reading the paper. "And how many people does it take?" Cutting trees was something he was sure he only hypothetically knew about. There was more too it than just using a saw. He held out the cup of creamer to Lindsay, waiting until he had a hand free before he offered him the cinnamon bun.
Casper took a sip of his own coffee, thankful for the fact it warmed him up a bit. "We do try our best, though there are somethings we need the expert for. Speaking of which, any new employees lately?" Whenever he was in charge of meeting one of Lindsay or his employees - it was usually Lindsay himself that came for the appointment.
Lindsay took the creamer and poured some into the coffee that was offered to him. Goddamn, it would be a dangerous thing if he ever worked in a place like this. The food and the people always drew him in. After making sure his coffee was to his liking, and the cinnamon bun in hand – Lindsay thought briefly on the questions posed to him. “No one new yet, for full-time. But I have a few people that are interning under me which makes things fun. To help with college stuff.”
He never thought he would be getting so interested in the last few years that he decided to open the idea. But life was always full of surprises. After dipping the last bit of the cinnamon bun in his coffee and wiping his hands – Lindsay smiled. “How would you like to proceed for today? Front to back? Back to front? Are there some trees you want to look at first?”
fter another sip of coffee, Casper was finally awake enough to get started on the work that needed to be done. There seemed to always be a snack available for when they had their break, making it hard to want to go back after great snack options. "Anyone promising yet or are you still in the checking out phase?" With his parents having their own businesses back home, he had heard the logistics of hiring employees and making sure they were a right fit.
He took a bite of his cinnamon bun, it tasted like it was basically fresh out of the oven. "Let's start with the back and move to the front. There are a few trees that I think may need to be trimmed back. And one or two that might have frost damage from what I can see." Casper began walking towards the back of the Orchard, enjoying being outside so early in the year. "Did you have a good Christmas at least? We are almost there, the first tree I'd like you to look at is up ahead to the left." The holiday had almost been a month ago, but Casper hadn't seen Lindsay until today.
The man turned slightly left and stopped in front of a tree close to the back that he had marked with neon pink tape. "If you look at one of the thicker branches, I think this one has frost damage. Do you think it's bad enough for someone to come and cut the branch off? Or will it heal itself"
