Visitors etc

 Photos in Blogger’s order not mine , apologies.

Fascinating plant l had never noticed before at the Botanics.

This week’s reading. The first is full of fascinating illustrations as well as new insights into garden use by the Georgians. The accounts of 😮”naval battles”  and ships with cannon on the estate lakes made the purchase worth it alone. Secondly good solid hedgehog info written in an accessible style.

Wee dérive into Edinburgh and a wander in the Botanics gardens, a pleasure as ever.

Close up of the plant in the previous picture with signage.

Really must get some for the garden, a beautiful plant.

The rock garden. I never get bored of this garden within a garden.

A friend l volunteer with mentioned she hosted a hedgehog in her garden that was being released back into the wild . Sounds interesting we thought and so l was put in touch with the hedgehog lady. Two hedgehogs were brought to my garden on Monday . The above photo shows them having been put in their house.

The visitors upon arrival in the Duchy.

Food and water is offered daily and taken . We have not seen our visitors since they arrive but are delighted to welcome them. 

A question for the railway buffs

 Bid on eBay, was beaten for the railbus but won these. I don’t quite understand what l  bought . Why do these wagons have an engine? I am a novice. 

Yesterday

 Yesterday we all met up at South Queensferry, the weather was sunny and better than expected.

A most welcome gift from daughter number one from her recent holiday . It was bought in Betty’s in Northallerton. Perhaps a raid on the cake shop was the reason for the battle that took place there in 1138?

Finishing off a few figures for a skirmish game.

The rules arrived yesterday and I have had a little time for a look. First impressions are they are accessibility written, well presented and look interesting. I will dive in later this week properly.

Yesterday saw daughter number one and her now fiancé tell us that they got engaged in The Lakes whilst on holiday. I am delighted with the news. Congratulations.

After the news was broken we celebrated with coffee and cakes/parties from the redoubtable Dune in South Queensferry.

Daughters one and two plus new fiancé went in then for a brief swim. 

Photos of the Dune bakery cakes and their enigmatic logo on the paper bag. In the background is the fiancé of daughter number three who gets married later this year. A busy and exciting year.

Finally some attempts to personalise some figures using parts from a free sprue in the form of small sacks and wee pouches.

Night time raid or using the scenario part.

 Having played a few games to get used to the “Red Hand, Hot Trod rules” yesterday we tried the scenario generator part. To cut a long story short this took our gaming to a new level, providing a narrative and incident filled game, not to mention it being great fun. I was the defender and had to deploy one sentry and the rest of my forces were asleep in the houses. The attacker was coming for my livestock. First four turns were in darkness so limited visibility.

The attackers enter the village under cover of the night.

 

The begin to steal the livestock whilst l remain asleep. My lone sentry at top of picture has seen nor heard nought.

The alarm has been raised and I deployed my figures as they ran out of the buildings. They had been allocated off table beforehand where they were sleeping. The yellow dice are there to number the buildings.

A last stand by a defender, his comrades fallen  . Orange dice shows the unit has activated this turn and I forget the use of the green ones. Plans have been made to make counters for next time.

The defenders are panicked ( red dice) and unloaded  ( black dice) and the Warden of the Marches has just rallied some men off camera.

Endgame, the cattle are driven off by the attackers.

The majority of the defenders and a few attackers have become casualties. All in all terrific, tactical fun, minimal book keeping and any situations not covered directly by the rules resolved by gentlemanly discussion . Win win in my opinion even though l lost. A most enjoyable game. We will certainly try this approach again.

Renewed enthusiasm

 

A busy day at the station, passengers and workers alike discuss the recent better weather .

Neglected alpine planters before they were given a make over this week.

New alpines and half price plants about to be given a new home.

The fruits mainly of my daughter’s labour bringing the garden back from neglect 

Apple blossom coming out .

First use of the new bench that replaces the rotten one that stood here for well over twenty years.

In hobby news l am finding it very hard to settle to any project, flitting endlessly A peak of activity and enthusiasm wains to be replaced. Today a friend comes over to try the scenario rules properly for our border reiver games. I have invested in ADLG for ancients as I hear good things of it. DBM has served well but l become less and less willing to read the dense prose necessary to get to grips with them. Hopefully l can learn the rules myself and get my regular opponents on board…

Pillbox!

 Here is a box, a cardboard box , painted and ready to play…

The interior of the pillbox complete with artillery piece and crew.

Revealing the interior of the box…

The external aspect of the pillbox with one of Mark’s Little Soldiers for scale.

The origin of the idea, a picture from an interwar Elastolin catalogue. 

More Elastolin fortifications from the same catalogue.

Barred wire from the above source.

I found this cardboard box lying about and immediately thought it was idea for the project. I feel it has a suitable toy soldier vibe as an idea to fit in perfectly with MLS figures and game aesthetic. Might try it anon in 54mm scale, availability of box permitting.

Fife Riviera

 A most enjoyable trip to Aberdour yesterday.

Sun shining over the bay .

Passer by offered to take our photo.

Aberdour castle, we passed through the grounds but didn’t venture in.

Interesting signage with a great story attached.

Memo to self, find out a little more about this…

Walking to the beach

Walk from the station to the sea, happy memories of this in past years , good to be back. Scratching my Cornish itch, a bit.

Lovely coffee shop The Curator, five minutes from the train station.

Time afterwards to try out the new garden bench for the first time.

And also to work on these fellows…

Lovely day hopefully promising a great summer ahead…