DearRoyal Court Courtiers

.:**: .:**:

Royal Courts of Second Life

is

Celebrating it's Fourth Anniversary this September.

That's like a Silver Anniversary in Internet Years!!

.:**: .:**: .:**:

As many will remember, to keep the site going we must pay an annual subscription to NING and the next renewal date is July 21, 2013.

The subscription model has changed and it appears that the Basic package is now the best (and cheapest)one for us to subscribe to. The cost will be $300 which is approximately L$76,500.

I have created a new category, RC Supporters 2013 that also comes with a new HeartBadge which is attached to your profile picture. Anyone that donates over L$250 will be added to this category as a "Thank You" for helping to keep this site up and running.

Donations are now being accepted inworld at the Coeur Fairgrounds . Look for the big Royal Courts sign in the south-west corner & "Pay it" to donate at the Petit Trianon. You can "Pay it" to donate.

Many thanksyour support, it really is appreciated!!

Tatiana

P.S. Please note that the old RC Supporter category will be discontinued over thenext month or so. A final "Thank you" toits 40 members

Updated March 14, 2014 with new location of donation sign.

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We're off to a great start thanks to:

Elisabeth Milneaux
Anne-Sophie d'Amblise

Thank you for getting the ball rolling, ladies! Those hearts look good on you )

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<333

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munyah~ =3

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you're not kidding when you say it's a 'big" sign.

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LOL, Aldo! I know!!

Funny thing is that people still miss it. I think they must end up facing the wrong way when they teleport

Thanks for searching it out!

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We had a really good first full fundraising day Total Collected $6,969 Total Remaining $69,531.

Many thanks to the following:

MarieLouise Harcourt
Quecay
Maria Carolina of Austria
Lady Candace Ducatillon d'Acadie
Marie-Isabelle de Tancarville
Aldo Stern
Claire-Sophie de Fiennes
Lady Bluebird of Orkney

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Found the Sighn.

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Excellent! Thank you

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Ahahaha!

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Indeed Comte ! Grazie Tatiana and Bravo! This site is such a valuable resource for many reasons.

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You are most welcome

It's wonderful to see that our community continues to thrive with so many talented & hard-working peoplewho makehistory come alive. As you say, very inspiring!

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Wonderful mid-week resultsTotal Collected $16,219 Total Remaining $60,28 (June 19/20)

Merci Beaucoup:

Baron BrendonPatrick MacRory
Comte de Vaudreuil
Mercury Gandt
Charles-Philippe de France
Marie Adlade de France

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Lots of people making the effort to "find the big sign" Total Collected $20,459 Total Remaining $56,041 (June 20/21)

Many thanks to:

Marie-Antoine de Rohan
HugoDieter
Leena Fandango
Jacon Cortes
AliKasah01
TwelfthNight
Summer Serendipity

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Almost one third of the way there!

Thanks to:

Nora Clementine Fernsby
Alexandrine-Josephine de Fiennes
Marie Thrse de Savoie

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Welcome to the RC Ning & many thanks for supporting it! (June 22)

Julia Auditore

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Here we go on week two of our fundraiser!

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Nothing to report, donation wise,for the last two days.

I'm guessing that many people are out enjoying the summer weather, leaving their avis languishing in SL. I'm hoping that when they get a RL rainy day they will take the time to donate

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Many thanks to:

Docteur Panacek

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Thank you Tatiana, for keeping the Ning going for all of us to enjoy. Cheers and hugs

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You are most welcome, Leena

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How much more to go?

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As of right now Total Collected L$30,509 Remaining L$45,991 so with 20 days to go we are nearing the half-way point.

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The lovely Contessa stopped by right before tea time while Monsieur Stern made his second trip to the big sign. Many thanks to both of you!

Contessa Elena Marina Foscari
Aldo Stern

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It's the Canada Day long weekend!!

The perfect time to donate to keep this site running!!

Sending a warm G'day eh! your way )

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Many thanks to Richard J. Callaghan (Delos Helstein) who braved the wilds of the Coeur Fairgrounds to make his donation.

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Happy Canada Day, enjoy the weekend :D

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Happy Canada Day ( French : Fte du Canada )

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how are we doing, Tatiana?

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Empress Catherine II drove by in her carriage, stopping long enough to make a donation. Merci beaucoup!

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With two weeks left before final payment is due, here are the statistics.

Linden Dollars:Total Collected $34,514 Total Remaining $41,986 converted to

US Dollars: Total Collected $139.17 Total Remaining $160.83

So far 31 people have contributed, some more than once.

If each of the 800 members who haven't yet contributed gave USD$0.20 we would easily meet our goal )

If we don't make enough for the Annual Subscription ($25 x 12=$300), we currently have enough for four months at the highermonthly rate of $30.

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Sorry but 31 contributors out of 800+ members is shameful particularly when there are far more than 31 who actively use this site for social and promotional reasons. If you can't give more support to such a worthwhile cause as this you should be embarrassed to even post here without a "heart" next to your picture. Just my two cents for what its worth.

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Lady Bluebird of Orkney was kind enough to make her second donation. Many thanks for the support, it's truly appreciated.

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There are 15 days left until the deadline, and not everyone slaps the donation board as soon as the fundraiser begins.

Yes, you said something similar this time last year, Stormy.

Since the money for this subscription comes out of my bank account, I have a different perspective and I wish that every member would indeed SLAP THE DONATION BOARD AS SOON AS THE FUNDRAISER BEGINS, especially since it takes about a week for me to convert the Linden Dollars and transfer them tothat bankaccount. It would also save me from making contingency plans, like paying on a monthly basis which will cost us 20% more over the year.

I also have a different perspectivefrom watching the pattern of donations over the last twoyears. Typically at this point in timea few additional people make contributions but the remainder (which is quitelarge)is made up by people contributing multiple times. If it wasn't for this dedicated group this site wouldn'tbe able to continue.

Last year therate of individual contributors was at5.7%.Say thatonly half the registered members are actually active and we double that, it still only gives us an individual contribution rate of11.4%.

I would love to be able to share the financial burden across a larger group and will continue to look for ways to do so.

I don't think that anyone can have much of an argument againstsharing thecost of maintaining this site more evenly.

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I think that a personal opinion is not always a criticism but only the subjective way of considering something.

Personally, I think that if we have the intention of contributing to maintain a place that we find interesting for us, no matter in which way, it is better to do it at the beginning in order to facilitate the planning of the administrator and prevent others to donate more than once. In the case of more than one account, I think that it is only a matter of dividing or multiplying our payment between them.

This is just my own opinion, not a reproach. I live very close to the payment point and I often go to check it. I find unsatisfying to see how slowly we reach the required amount.

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((Overhears Mercury talking to Summer and enjoys his melodious voice & eloquent words))

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I'd just like to add that although it's probably not doable, those with multiple alts here could and should manage to pay a little extra for them too. The amounts being asked for are next to nothing so if a person has multiple alts then perhaps a little more support?

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Dear Stormy,

My commentary was not directed toward you personally so a defensive position is really unnecessary. NING and the issue of its continued healthy existence is far more important than any one personality or group for that matter. Its an endeavor providing an outlet for creativity and personal expression that we all enjoy. Therefore it behooves each and every one of us to do whatever we can to make things as easy and troublefree as possible for its hardworking administrator. Tat has made clear what steps we can take to do that. Its my hope we will all pull our weight together for the continued benefit of everyone who uses this site for whatever reason.

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Summer gives her sweetly reassuring friend a squeeze and an affectionate kiss on the cheek.

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For July 3, 2013 our thanks go to:

Ephe Luik
Lady Olivia Daniela Chapman
Merry Chase

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Dear Tat, Sending you my sincere gratitude for this site and everything you do to keep it running. I happily wear my heart on my sleeve to show my support for all your hard work. ( ;

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So I just stopped by the "big sign" at Coeur Fairgrounds to check on our progress. We seem to have stalled at just over 41,000 L... therefore, if my math is correct, about 35K to go.

Unless I am very much mistaken, the ol' tempus is fugitting...

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*has an idea*

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I've put up a post in the marketplace discussion - all proceeds from sales will go to the drive, and all items will be taken from marketplace when the drive ends. (all 3 of them :/ ... if I'd thought of it sooner I might have had more)

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As of Saturday morning Total Collected $42,324 Remaining $34,176

Our thanks go out to:

Trasgo Beaumont
Serenek Timeless
Sepp Bogart

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Thank you, Lady Olivia

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Thank you, Summer

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I agree with you there dear . I tend to donate late, partly because, I'm slow at receiving news, but also it takes me time to sell the contents of my shop. My shop is my income, so, I usually always donate late, for those reasons.

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Personally, I think every single avatar should pay at least a dollar or be removed from the site. There is no excuse not to...none. Just my two cents from someone who, in the past, has had to pay more to make up for those who don't pay at all.

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With 10 days left to go Total Collected $47,724 Remaining $28,776 Individual Contributors 41 (which matches our total Individual Contributors from last year).

Many thanks to:

Stormy Panacek
Aphrodite Macbain
Mme de Giroux
Charles Bamboo

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Merci Beaucoup!

Aldo Stern
Donatien A. F. Marquis de Sade
Maria Carolina of Austria

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Tat, perhaps a more practical and fair way of handling costs here might be to incorporate a small user fee for each time a registered member wishes to post something. That way the burden of cost would be more equally shared by those who most frequently use this site for their activities and promotions. In the long run It might eventually eliminate the need for annual fundraising which I'm sure can't be all that much fun for the administrator. A thought to consider?

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As long as I, the writer/contributor can charge a fee for those who read/enjoy/comment on my writings/contributions.

Stercore volutatus proclivis.

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Idohavea few ideas forsharing the cost of the site more equitably. I've actually been mulling them over for a few years now - lol.

Whatever is implement has to be mostly automated otherwise it won't be practical from a moderation point of view. With the release of NING 3.0 (we will probably be able to upgrade late summer or early fall) a finer level of automated control will become available. The most obvious use for this would be restriction of Marketplace posting. I think that it is only fair that people who use this site for business advertising help to support it. Many merchants already do but we could still generate some extra revenue from those that don't.

Finding the correct balance for user fees is a challenge and I had always hoped that it wouldn't be necessary but unfortunately it looks like it's going to be. This site has been able to operate because of the generosity of a small percentage of its user base and it looks like the time has come to make some adjustments. As someone pointed out, people use this site as if it's free but actually someone else is just paying the way for them.

Right now we have raised enough money for six months (at the higher monthly rate of $30) so we still have time to make some changes. We'll see how it goes.

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Thanks go out again to:

Alexandrine-Josephine de Fiennes
Lady Olivia Daniela Chapman

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.:**: .:**: .:**:

The subscription total was reached today thanks to the generosity of a member who contributed the remaining amount (1/3 of thetotal required).We are very fortunate that the site will nowbe able to renew at the lower annual rate and continue for another year.

Thank you to everyone that supported the site, including those of you that donated multiple times.

Though we are secure for another year, this isn't the end to our fundraising effort. As has been mentioned a number to times, we need tocome up witha better system that will distribute the cost of this site more equitably. I will set up a separate post to allow more discussion of this.

In the meantime, if you haven't yethad the opportunity to donate please do so.

I have reset the inworld donation board and any funds received from this point on will first be used to reimburse our last benefactor. If this is accomplished, and I sincerely hope that it will be, further funds will be held for next year's subscription.

.:**: .:**: .:**:

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Thank you, Paul III!

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Tatiana,

In addition to requiring that merchants who are promoting their products with the Ning blog posts be donors, might I also suggest that the same be required of those of us who use the Royal Courts Ning calendar to advertise our events? The royal courts/16th-19th century social history audience is a relatively small niche group. The Ning is an excellent way of targeting this finite market, so logically, it is only fair that all of us who benefit from it help to keep it viable.

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Many thanks to:

JoanDarc Ninetails
Fiorino Pera

for keeping the ball rolling

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I will certainly think about it, Aldo.

The Event Calendar is one of the mainpurposes ofthis site as it provides one central locationto co-ordinate the different activities over the various courts.

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A mid-week reminder that this fundraiser is still ongoing.

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We continue to move in an encouraging direction, nowup to 48 RC Supporters as compared to our total of 40 for last year. Let's give a cheer to:

Anonymous
Prospero Pastorelli
Federico Maria Giovanelli
Daquan Mongrain
Elisabeth Milneaux

for their support.

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Thanks to LouiseBathilde Sapphire for her donation this weekend.

Seems that today is the perfect day to celebrate the impending arrival of RL royal"Baby Cambridge" with a contribution to keep this site running for another year. Hmmmm ... perhaps we should run some kind of betting pool? I'm voting for Alexandra if it's a girl )

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Many thanks to Hyacinthe de Rigaud!

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I think they should name the little guy "Ian."

or "Nigel."

"Walter" has a nice, friendly sound to it as well.

But somehow, I bet they won't.

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You forgot "Aldo" ( ;

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Oh, don't be silly, Summer. "Aldo" would be a perfectly ridiculous name for the British monarch. "King Nigel I" on the other hand, has real gravitas...

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Dang, it's a boy so out goes Alexandra. I'm now going with James

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We're up to 49 RC Supporters so now we're looking for #50!!

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Woohoo!! Congratulations to RC Supporter #50, Monica Mam.

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George Alexander Louis!!

Not bad Though I still prefer James it's great that they got the Alexander in there )

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James is a good name too, personally I was hoping for one of the middle names to be Spencer

I love the name Alexander .....

Welcome to the world Prince George of Cambridge :D

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Thank you for the heart Tat, its very nice I am glad I can help keep this site alive!

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Many thanks to Marie-Lopoldine de Gramont.

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Thanks to one of our newest RC members, Eleanor Beam.

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A TGIF bump & reminder

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Waves hello to marian Valeska and thanks her for the donation

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We're up to 58 supporters which I think is a new record! Many thanks to:

Madame Desireme Fallen
Sophia Trefusis
Maria Theresia von sterreich's
Jerit Weiser
Tiamat Windstorm von Hirvi's

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AliKasah01 Resident dropped by to make another donation. Thank you AliKasah01!

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well done, Jean-Matisse.

Che bella figura!

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Starting this beautiful August weekend off by thanking:

C. Antoine de la Roche-Aymon
Empress Catherine II
AliKasah01 Resident

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Handed out more hearts to:

Tartuffe
AliKasah01 Resident
Alessandra di Fiorentino
Andre Jacquemin

Thanks!!

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Though posts have been less frequent, we could still use your support!

Thanks go to:

Lizbeth
AliKasah01 Resident
Mademoiselle Mran-Till

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A flurry of fall fundraising

Many thanks to:

Hugo Dieter
Lady Leena Fandango
Earl of Leicester

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Merci Beaucoup:

Elizabeth Tudor

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Thanks are in order to:

Anna Jagellonica
Ferdinand I von Habsburg
Princesse Catherina Romanovna Dashkova

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Thank you very much, Marian Valeska!

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A round of applause goes to Leonard Bast for his generous contribution

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Hi Tatiana, I will get to this at the weekend. I am sans laptop atm. Do you know, I know the Coeur intimately and have never come across the sign, and it's large apparently. lol, too busy takng in the greenery. For those who haven't contributed, they may have come in to Ning later or missed the significance of it like me. To be sure, without Ning these last 2 weeks, my withdrawals from SL since my machine went belly up would have been a spectacle for those around me in rl had I not had Ning to stay connected during this time, so a huge huge hug to you for initiating Ning and continuing it in the superb way you do. It is my oasis atm.

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LOL - Jane! I do try to keep the sign a bit out of the way as it really doesn't go with the Coeur atmosphere. It is rather large though

It's good to know that this site is limiting your SL withdrawal!So glad that it's working our for you. I know a lot of people like to use it from work where they have internet access but logging in to SL wouldn't fly very well

I keep meaning to create a more permanent "Support" button on the sidebar of the site but never got around to it. I'll have to make that more of a priority so that people can find it.

Hope you're up and running soon!!

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Many thanks to two lovely ladies:

Lorsagne de Sade
Jane Ixtar

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Hi Tatiana, I made it to the sign. I always loved that sign. I know it and I remember being very inspired when I came across it years it ago and I love that market area. I also found the link to Anne Boleyn on my way. It's great. I think the pink heart will make a difference next year as we will associate it with the funding of Ning and I must admit I did wonder how to get one quite a few times before twigging it. ) I think the sign is very much in keeping with the Coeur and I think the pink heart could be used on any sims where the community ordinarily supports the blog or would like to. I maybe haven't noticed them elsewhere??

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Many thanks tothis RP couple:

Sir William Cecil, Lord Burghley
Lady Mildred Burghley

Let's hope Lord Burghley puts in a good word for us with his Queen

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Thanks, Jane!

I'm so glad that you found Anne in your travels. Next up is Margaret of Austria who really deserves more than one poster of her own

Though there are a few signs spread aboutthat provide a link to this site, there is only one donation sign. Right now it's just easier from an administrative point of view as there's a lot of manual effort involved recording payments etc. Perhaps we will expand that, it's something to think about in any case.

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Ah yes, re recording the monies. And omg formidable women yes..

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Merci Beaucoup!

frenchie
AliKasah01 Resident

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Seems like Jean-Matisse (AliKasah01 Resident) has been camping out under the donation sign (when he's not busy with all of his other SL adventures, that is).

Thanks Jean-Matisse!!

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Please note that the Royal Courts donation sign has move to the Petit Trianon.

You can "Pay it" to donate.

Thanks!

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