York

 Had a wee trip to York recently, for a couple of nights

.

Reading material purchased.

Helmet in the Yorkshire museum, a fascinating and diverse collection of.

Daughter 3 enjoyed the virtual reality dinosaur experience.

Utterly fascinating Melsonby hoard exhibition, really well displayed 

Interactive chariot display and activity for children .

More of the hoard…

A charming wee observatory in the museum grounds, sadly not open. I wonder what it is like inside.

Famous bit of Roman Wall and plaque about it.

My daughter hadn’t been in the Minister since a small child and was keen to go in. I hadn’t been in for years. Amazing building.

I was taken with this illustration on display.

Looking towards the East end.

Barley Hall, didn’t go in this time but have been in years ago, most interesting place.

My daughter has inherited my enthusiasm for all Christmas decorations of a German kind so we couldn’t resist the shop. 

Breakfast on the hotel terrace, lovely weather enhanced the experience.

Interesting use of shipping containers as places to eat and drink. Really quirky mix, well worth a look.

My daughter on the first night. She remembered a little from childhood visits but was really taken with the place.

Nice touches on my room.

K

Interesting railway map on York station wall.

Striking art on various bin and electrical boxes around the City.

Forgot to bring some holiday reading. I did so much like the Brigadier and UNIT back in the day.

Memo to self must come back to York very soon, great place, great City.

Finding and shedding

My eldest and fiance at last night’s celebratory meal. Daughter number two excelled herself with cooking and cake. Zoe and Angus have found each other.

Result of shedding ( the art of digging in the lead mountain to downsize it but finding an interesting project to do instead) yesterday. Late Bronze Age Scandanavian 28mm!!

I wondered where they had gone…

Reading outdoors this morning and having found a beautiful book, a retelling of the Arthurian tales.

Newly published, beautifully written and illustrated. 

Well , worth “finding “ for yourself or as a gift for a loved one. Don’t miss out, read.
 

Giant tree ferns at Penedredfel and diverse matters

 

The giant tree ferns at Penedredfel have survived the winter. A railway man checks them out.

Two Pound @ The Works, Trinket box to 1/32 pillbox, work in progress.

One of my regular opponents called off yesterday due to illness at the last minute so plans were changed to a TYW board game. Danes v Imperialist. As Tilly I managed to lose very badly . Bright musket rubbish dice as he might have said. However it was an interesting and enjoyable game and we look forward to the next go with additional rules to try next time.

Cave goblins 90% finished, a wee tweak or two to do. I am pleased with the results.

Locally and trying a new hobby technique for the first time.

It was super to see the City getting behind the Team when I was out and about yesterday-

Merch vendors on the high street.

Shops have decorated their windows.

A display in the shopping centre of  items associated with the team past and present.

The local paper has got in on the act too. I wish The Pars all the best for tomorrow and hope anyone attending the match has a grand day out.

Meanwhile on the lead mountain-

I looked out what remains of the goblin/orc kickstarter l backer ages ago . It was from Colon Patten at Ragnarok miniatures. I opted for a mixed bag of assorted goblins.

I found what I was looking for and extracted the ones l was after- cave goblin types, unarmoured and primitively attired and arrayed. I decided to try the brush bristles technique to make their primitive javelins. I was surprised how well it worked and how easy it was to make a flat point with pliers.

Here they are on the painting desk awaiting more work. The desk is currently messy even by my own standards! 

Welsh Nationalists for a Very British Civil War

 Finally got round to photographing my Welsh Nationalists prior to their first game, a solo one in the coming days. Many moons ago Al Front directed me to some reading about the interwar Welsh Nationalists. It has , along with the official source books , provided me with some ideas. So what moves my wee lead chaps?  Simply put they are Europe focused rather than uk focused, desiring to be part of a greater whole. They look to France for support . Support in terms of weapons, equipment and expertise..Some have become Roman Catholic as part of this . Some wish Wales to be a nation in a wider Catholic Europe. Others of a non conformist background are suspicious of such a view. There are tensions but the VBCW has given them a chance to move…

In the rules the units have a Quality and a Morale rating.

Enough chat now for the lead-

Headquarters, with a Mari Lwyd replacing a standard, local poet as commander, with French , on leave , senior nco for advice. Veteran and Determined.

French Volunteers, former soldiers and politically motivated. Uniformed in blue in Chasseurs de pied uniforms. They are Regular and Determined.

The local village and townsfolk. A little suspicious of the French, the RC’s and poets. In their everyday clothes and with what weapons they were given and could hide.They are Green and Low.

The Teulu , highly motivated volunteers who have taken to the mountains and form flying columns. Equipped with French equipment and weapons. They are Veteran and Determined.

The miners. They are mixed in their enthusiasm for this struggle, equipped with rifles. They are Green and Steady.

Finally the rules below by Eric Turner , via Society of Daisy , will be used.

I will report on the scenario in my next post…