My Stardew Journey // week 16

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Winter 22-28

I can’t believe winter’s practically over. Actually, I can’t believe this YEAR is practically over. Have I seriously been living on this farm for a year now? Gosh, time has really gone fast…

The highlight of this week was the Feast of the Winter Star. That was always my favorite holiday as a kid, and it was wonderful this year, too. I had a tree set up in my house by the first day of the month.

The festival itself was simple, but fun. There were a ton of tables set up in the downtown area, surrounding this absolutely gigantic Winter Star tree. It was decorated splendidly, with enough lights to just about light the whole town.

Gus was right, too— there was enough food to stuff you for days. And it was delicious!

I ended up sitting with Shane and a few others for the meal. Shane’s just kinda “meh” on the holiday, but even he was smiling through most of it. Although, I think a lot of that came from watching Jas as she played in the snow with Vincent. As gruff as he is, I know he’s a real softie, especially for her.

As part of the event, there’s a big gift exchange among the whole town. It was like a secret santa sort of thing. Everyone was exchanging their gifts at different times in the event. My “secret friend” was Emily, which worked out kind of perfectly!

I caught her pretty early on, and I have her the gift. I had found an absolutely gorgeous amethyst in the mines, which is her favorite stone. I cleaned it up really nicely, and I even made a little stand for it. Emily loved it!

If I could’ve, I would’ve gotten gifts for the whole town. They’ve all been such good friends to me this past year. Maybe by next year I’ll be able to do something special…

My secret gift-giver was a surprise, too— it was George! I don’t know George all that well, but I was happy with the gift he got me. It was a purple mushroom— a really nice one, in fact. George was a little gruff when he handed it over, and I made sure he knew I really appreciated it. I think I caught a little smile on his face when he turned to leave.

That was the middle of the week, and honestly, I didn’t really do much else throughout the week. I’m just waiting for spring, to be honest.

I did fish up this really weird egg the other day. I couldn’t identify it, and it looked pretty old. Out of curiosity, I placed it in the incubator inside my coop. I don’t know for sure what will hatch from it, or if it will even hatch at all, but I’ll make sure to document the result.

On another note, I found a purpose for that skull key I’d found. The other locked-up arcade game in the saloon had a keyhole that was a perfect fit. This game is Junimo Cart, and I love it! It’s pretty hard, but I’ve gotten the hang of it MUCH easier than Journey of the Prairie King.

In fact, after several days of constant grinding, I actually managed to reach the end of the game! And, apparently after beating it I’d entered some sort of drawing or sweepstakes or something, because in the mail the very next day I received my own cabinet!

So now it’s time to master endless mode…

Now, I’m just taking a break from doing a little tidying up. There’s a lot I need to get ready for with the coming year, and it’s really wearing me out. I’m also snacking on some homemade cookies. The other day, Evelyn taught me her recipe, and boy am I glad she did.

This cookie recipe is life-changing. Truly.

Anyway… gosh. End of the year. This is… just crazy, looking back on everything. I can’t believe all the things I’ve seen and accomplished over all this time. The people I’ve formed relationships with. The skills I’ve learned.

I couldn’t be more excited about the new year. What more will life in this little valley bring? I can’t wait to find out.

There are so many things I want to do this year. I have a good feeling about what’s to come.

g off for one last time this year, and wishing the best for the year to come,

~Maddie

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