Autumn has arrived at La Vie en Rose in Second Life, bringing a fresh wave of colour to the familiar landscape. While the layout of the sky garden remains much the same, the grasses now shimmer gold and the trees blaze with rich reds and oranges. It’s a seasonal renewal by Beautiful Requiem and Rose Ulrik that transforms the atmosphere, offering a perfect excuse to return and wander once more.
I’ve written about La Vie en Rose before, when its peaceful tropical setting first opened to visitors. The ground level, with its large lake, beach, rental houses and abundant bird life, remains unchanged. However, up above , the seasons have changed on the sky platform known as ‘the garden’, where a fresh burst of autumn has arrived.
The trees and grasses add vinrant colours to the garden
A Seasonal Renewal
The renewal was once again created by Beautiful Requiem (BeautifulDisaster Requiem) and Rose Ulrik (Rose Siabonne), and while the basic configeration of the platform is much as before, with the ponds, rocks, and houses still in place, the mood has changed entirely with the turn of the seasons.
Poppies add contrasting colour, here and there in the field
Autumn Colours Across the Platform
To the east, grasses now sweep across the land in shades of yellow, punctuated with little dots of red poppies. The western side, where the houses sit, is ablaze with trees in vivid autumn colours. A few new details, birds here and there, subtle changes in planting, but the real transformation lies in the trees and grasses.
It is a striking renewal: familiar, yet freshly alive in autumn tones, amd a visit is highly recommended.
Some of the birds have been added during the autumnal relandscaping.
If you’d like to see more places like this, follow my blog,Exploring Second Life, where I share both the grand builds and the smaller “quick stops” that make the grid so rewarding.
Hi-Cafe has reopened in Second Life! The much-loved café by designer Hico Spicy has returned in a new Heterocera location along Route 3. With glowing autumn colours, seasonal treats, and its familiar cats, the café once again offers a cosy, welcoming stop for visitors.
I last blogged about Hi-Cafe back in December 2024, when it was decorated for Christmas and full of festive cheer, serving gingerbread loaf, macarons, and other seasonal fare. Outside, snow covered the ground.
Since then, the café closed for a while and has now been rebuilt on a new site. Would I enjoy it as much as the old place? Well, I went to see.
Hi Cafe, viewed from Route 3
A Hi-Café Beside Route 3
The new Hi-Cafe sits adjacent to Route 3 on the mainland continent of Heterocera. Almost directly across the road lies the entrance to the Mount Campion National Forest, a popular destination for hiking, horse riding, and exploring—including Mount Campion itself, the highest peak on mainland.
A picture of Hi-Cafe taken from the air – September 2025
While Route 3 and the café entrance are in the Highflyer region, most of Hi-Cafe lies across the border in Sprawler. Region crossings can be tricky, but Hico Spicy’s landscaping makes the transition barely noticeable, and she has thoughtfully placed warning signs at the boundary.
Warning – Sim Crossing
First Impressions
Stepping from the road, the café stands within a paved courtyard. Trees blaze with fiery autumnal colours, leaves scatter across the stones, and flower beds planted with cosmos add splashes of brightness.
Unlike the previous site, there are no outside tables and chairs—winter is coming, after all—but two wrought iron benches curve around trees in the courtyard, offering pleasant places to sit, read, or enjoy the autumn sunshine.
Sitting outside at Hi-Cafe
Inside the Hi-Café Second Life
Inside, Hi-Cafe is a light, airy, and welcoming space. Thoughtful touches are everywhere: potted plants, bookshelves, record sleeves, and posters.
What makes Hi-Cafe stand out among Second Life’s many cafés is the attention to detail. The food isn’t just generic décor—it’s carefully chosen and often changed. Currently, visitors can enjoy apple pie, pumpkin pie, pumpkin roll cake, and harvest crème donuts.
The rear wall is almost entirely glass, flooding the café with natural light and offering excellent views of the courtyard with its fountain, flower beds, trees, and statues.
Bookshelves at Hi-Cafe- Notice the catsMouthwatering Fare freshly backed at Hi-Cafe
Cats and Quiet Details
As in past incarnations, cats abound, lounging casually as though the café were their home (and perhaps it is).
Themes echo cleverly throughout: cat statues on the bookshelves, and in the courtyard, two doves perching on the fountain mirror the embracing statues nearby. These small touches give Hi-Cafe its unique charm.
Two white does mirror the statues in the background. – photo Hico Spicy
Sounds, Light, and Atmosphere
Outside, the constant but gentle sound of the fountain adds to the relaxing mood. A radio stream is available (Acid Jazz), though I preferred the quiet.
The shared lighting (EEP) setting suits the build beautifully, though experimenting with Midnight can highlight the café lights in a striking way. Generously, Hico Spicy has created a custom EEP environment setting for Hi-Cafe, free to collect near the fountain—beside a visitors’ book for comments.
Leave your comments in the Visitors book and collect the free EEP
Photographer-Friendly
Photographers are welcome here. Group members (free to join) may rez props for up to 60 minutes, making the café a great setting for creative shoots.
A small tip jar sits on the counter—if you enjoy your visit and can spare a few Lindens, I’m sure they’d be appreciated.
Two of the many cats at Hi-Cafe
A Must-Visit Destination
Whether you’re seeking a cosy escape alone or with friends, a beautifully decorated café as a photo backdrop, or simply a moment of seasonal magic, Hi-Cafe is once again one of Second Life’s most inviting spots.
The Blackthorne Book Cafe Second LifeLa Fee Verte – Second Life
If you’d like to see more places like this, follow my blog,Exploring Second Life, where I share both the grand builds and the smaller “quick stops” that make the grid so rewarding.
The whimsically shaped houses at Critterflop Hallowpop, Second life
Less than two weeks ago, Alpha Auer (Elif Ayiter in real life) took down her much-loved Quirklewick build. Today she welcomes us back with something new and wonderfully whimsical: Critterflop Hallowpop.
Alpha explained that visitors had suggested she try her hand at a Halloween-themed build. But she never wanted to create a scary sim. Instead, as she confided, she wanted “a virtual respite from the real horrors that are all around us. So, this is going to be a joyous, funny sort of Halloween sim—no scary stuff far and wide, just friendly raccoons, mischievous cats, grumpy crows and even cute bats.”
Two feline residents of Critterflop Hallowpop
Critterflop Hallowpop – What to Expect
From the moment you arrive, Critterflop Hallowpop sets the tone with a sepia-brown autumn world of conifer-like trees, meandering paths, and crooked houses with roofs shaped like witches’ hats. Some even perch on legs!
The inhabitants are equally curious: raccoons (some patissiers who amusingly sit on their own pastries, others flying about on broomsticks), cats, insect-like creatures, rag dolls in festive dress, and a few very friendly witches. There is even a bustling little market where you can pick up souvenirs of the build.
This is a light-hearted, picture-perfect Halloween village, lovingly crafted entirely from Alpha Auer’s own mesh creations.
Another whimsical house in the village
Tips for Visitors
Alpha provides two helpful notecards when you arrive. Here are the essentials:
Graphics settings: Set LOD to 4 (highest) so the many small mesh objects rez correctly. Enable shadows from sun/moon, but projectors are not needed.
Performance: No need to enable PBR reflections—set coverage to “none” to save lag.
Draw distance: At least 100m, more if possible.
Lighting: Please use the shared environment light—it’s integral to the atmosphere.
For those looking to host a Halloween party:
The sim is a homestead with a max capacity of 25, so try to keep gatherings to under 20 people.
You’ll need to rez your own dance balls, pose balls, and provide music. Alpha suggests a shared Spotify or YouTube playlist so your group can enjoy music together without disturbing other visitors.
Auto-return is set to 120 minutes.
Freebie poseballs are available for newcomers.
And don’t forget—tips are always welcome to help cover the cost of building such a detailed mesh environment.
Halloween Scarecrows with pumpkins
A Different Kind of Halloween
If you’re weary of monsters, gore, and jump scares, Critterflop Hallowpop is a delightful alternative. Here you’ll find humour, charm, and endless photo opportunities. It’s a build that invites you to wander, mingle with the oddball residents, and perhaps even host a cozy Halloween gathering.
This is one you really need to experience for yourself.
If you would like to see more places like this, follow my blog, Exploring Second Life. I’ll keep sharing both the grand regions and some smaller “quick stops” that make the grid such fun to explore.
I decided to return to Cica Ghost’s current build, A-Maze-Ing, because after seeing more pictures on Flickr, I realised there was still much I hadn’t shown the first time around. Cica’s worlds are like that; they reward return visits, always offering another small detail or whimsical surprise. You can read about my first visit here
Cica’s Cat
One thing I missed the first time was Cica’s cat. Not always present in every build, but often appearing in one form or another, her feline friend feels like a recurring character. This time I made sure to catch it
I also wanted to look more closely at the wall art scattered throughout the maze. Forget Banksy; these playful, cartoonish drawings aren’t rebellious so much as lighthearted and funny. They’re simple, but not amateurish, and they made me smile as I passed.
Wall art at A-Maze-Ing by Cica Ghost – Second LifeWall art at A-Maze-Ing by Cica Ghostwall art at A-Maze-Ing – Second Life
Sleeping Monster
Another detail: inside one of the little houses I found a sleeping monster. My photo doesn’t show it, but in-world you can see its chest rise and fall as it breathes. A tiny touch, but absolutely adorable.
The sleeping monster – Absolutely adorable
Textures and Atmosphere
The whole build has a kind of cartoonishness, but not in a crude sense, more like a deliberately stylised storybook world. The wheeled wooden animal rides, for example, hold up beautifully even zoomed in with ultra graphics. The overall light is soft and hazy and sepia tinted.
A wide view of A-Mazing showing the Sepia tinted sky
Rides and Interactions
I didn’t ride the wooden animals on my first visit, except to test out the small rides designed for Dinkies, so I made a point of testing them this time. Each one has its own whimsical pose:
On the duck, you sit cross-legged.
On the giraffe, you lie on your stomach, knees bent, feet in the air.
On the horse, you recline on your back, arms folded behind your head.
On the elephant, you sit upright, feet on either side of its head.
There are also plenty of seats, benches, pods in the trees, and places tucked inside houses. Each has several poses, some playful, like doing a handstand on the back of a bench
Riding the wooden duck at A-Maze-Ing – Second LifeDoing a handstand at A-Maze-Ing – The things bloggers have to do!
A Visit Worth Making
The maze itself, the bottle-shaped houses, the ladders and rides , I wrote about those in my first post, which you can find here. This follow-up is really about the little details that give A-Maze-Ing its character.
The build is open for a week or two more, so I encourage you to visit before it’s gone. While I was there, I ran into a group of role-play campers and their leader, having a wonderful time running through the maze. It was the perfect reminder: Cica’s worlds aren’t just about looking; they’re about playing, laughing, and discovering together.
A rideable wooden giraffe on wheels, at Cica Ghost’s new build ‘A-Maze-Ing’.
A new build by Cica Ghost opened on Monday, 11th August:A-Maze-Ing. As usual, it’s accompanied by a thoughtful quote:
“At some point we all look up and realize we are lost in a maze.” – John Green
Before you explore, I recommend turning on the shared environment: World → Environment → Use Shared Environment. Here, the light matters; the sepia tones, soft shadows, and muted skies are part of the experience
The maze at A-Maze-ing
First Impressions
This is quite different from Cica’s previous build Among the Hills. The sky is a brown sepia, scattered with drifting clouds. Below, an island-sized maze stretches out, its walls of red brick and grey plaster intersecting at perfect right angles. The floor beneath your feet is brick too, patterned in circles like an old patio.
Here and there, steep little hillocks rise almost vertically. Many have a single tree at the top; others are bare, and a few hold bottle-shaped houses. At the very centre, on a raised area, stand more bottle-shaped houses, mostly brick, some with partial plaster coverings, looking like something from a dream.
I think the houses look like bottles – do you agree?
Exploring the Maze
Your arrival point is on the east of the island, where four large wooden animals wait: a giraffe, an elephant, a horse, and a duck, all with wheels and ready to ride. In true Cica style, there’s also a second, smaller set so Dinkies can join in the fun.
A second set of rideable animals is available for Dinkies
At one end of the island, a small shop sells some of Cica’s whimsical “monsters,” including the wheeled animals.
There is a small shop if you want to buy a souvenir
This time, there are no towering creatures like in some of her earlier builds, but I spotted a few snails and a strange rabbit-like being. And yes, their eyes move, as always.
I think this is a rabbit – Iooks like one
Colours, Details, and Surprises
True to form, there are also trees and flowers, all in sepia or white, matching the sky and stonework
There are always new flowers with each build by Cica – I like these.
The only real splashes of colour come from a few painted red sections of wall and charming line drawings of cats and other animals.
There were cats painted on the wall so I joined them with my grumpy Magurami cat
The quiet charm of this build is in its details. the interplay of light, texture, and geometry, and the unexpected little discoveries around each corner.
A cute snail, naturally with moving eyes
Supporting Cica’s Art
In these tightened times, when money is scarce, I know it’s a lot to ask, but if you enjoy Cica’s work, consider leaving a contribution at one of the tip jars or perhaps buying a monster as a souvenir. Your support helps her continue to build these playful and imaginative spaces for us all to enjoy.
A flowering tree
A-Maze-Ingis exactly what the name promises: a playful labyrinth, an atmospheric landscape, and another reminder of how Cica Ghost can turn the simplest shapes into something magical.
Alice in Wonderland tea party outside Fairytale Cottage, Second Life.
Much as I love exploring complete regions in Second Life, beautifully landscaped and full of detail, sometimes I just don’t have the time to spend an hour or more wandering. On those days I look for something smaller, yet still interesting enough to satisfy my virtual wanderlust.
I’ve decided to start a little series for these shorter visits; I will call these posts something like SL Quickies, Quick Stops, Teleport Treasures, or maybe even Nano Nooks. Perhaps readers could let me know which name they prefer best? I have already started the series and my first SL Quickie was The Absolutely Fake Museum of Lindens & Moles. Now let me offer you another gem.
A huge green frog at the Fairytale Cottage in Second Life
“Visitors Welcome. Cottage-core fantasy home with a unicorn and giant frog, Alice in Wonderland vibes! Nice place for a photo shoot.”
The landing point couldn’t be more perfect. You arrive face-to-face with the largest animated frog I’ve ever seen in SL. Its huge amber eyes blink slowly, as though trying to decide whether you are a friend or perhaps a tasty snack.
A unicorn and giant snail at the Fairytale Cottage, Second Life
A Fairytale Cottage with Whimsy
Turning away from the frog, a little nervously—it’s never wise to turn your back on a giant hungry frog; you find yourself at the door of a mossy, lichen-draped cottage. A small table stands outside, laden with cakes and drinks that clearly belong to the Mad Hatter’s tea party. Nearby, a unicorn waits patiently, as if ready to whisk visitors into a fairytale adventure.
A hare and Cheshire cat, outside the Fairytale Cottage, Second Life
Tiny Parcel, Packed with interest
The parcel is tiny—just 1408 sq. m.—but every corner feels thoughtfully arranged. It’s whimsical, photogenic, and full of surprises, both inside and out. Whether you’re looking for a quick stop on your travels, a spot for fantasy-themed photos, or just a smile, Fairytale Cottage delivers.
The interior of the Fairytale Cottage, Second Life
Exploring Second Life
If you would like to see more places like this, follow my blog, Exploring Second Life. I’ll keep sharing both the grand regions and these smaller “quick stops” that make the grid such fun to discover.
The interior of the Fairytale Cottage in Second Life
