Thursday 15 October 2015

Home for half term. Jan's absence from the house is almost tangible yet I am surrounded by her everywhere I look. Two days ago I got a dayrider ticket in Edinburgh and travelled around by bus and tram going to such exotica as Balerno where I had not been for maybe 30 years.It was a good day.
I flit from project to project having little enthusiasm but needing some distraction given by the hobby.I have decided not to worry too much about this and do as and when I feel like it. I feel like I am in a  Kafkaesque nightmare as I phone to contract business and queue for hours on hold only to be given another number. One cannot hardly contact a bank directly at all! What an age of wonders ?
Enough of this. This morning I thought I would see what the 40mm chaps looked like in terms of space. Firstly the field of mars-
Secondly arrayed for battle-
The large units have a wide frontage but a pleasing feel.Next time I will open the table out and extend it.
Now manouvering-
Infantry need to move in column two bases wide rather than one but again I like the look it gives.
Finally an aerial shot-
Maybe a game soon to try things out...

6 comments:

  1. Tradgardmastare,

    I had forgotten that Scottish school holidays were not the same as those in England, and that they seem to fit in better with the seasons than ours ever did.

    It sounds as if you have been filling your days doing things that you might have wanted to do for a long time ... but never quite got around to. When my mother died some years ago, I did a trip to Kenton in Middlesex to take a look around the area where I lived from the age of 3 until I was 8, including the school I attended and the church I was baptised in. I then visited the maternity hospital in Lambeth where I was born. I found it rather cathartic; it wasn't just the memories that it brought back (e.g. Opening the parcel one Chirstmas on the living room floor of the flat we lived in in Kenton, and discovering that it contained a toy fort and soldiers!) but the movement as well helped me feel better.

    Good luck with your projects. I'm sure that flitting backwards and forwards is no bad thing ... although your 40mm-scale stuff looks attractive enough to hold your enthusiasm for quite a while.

    All the best,

    Bob

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  2. Tradgardmastare -

    Thanks again for sharing what you're going through. I'm sure it doesn't feel this way to you, but as Bob says above, it sounds like you're dealing with your pain in a really sane and constructive way. Giving yourself space to wander and tinker and feel bad is something which takes a lot of strength. I'm lucky that I haven't had a loss like yours, but I hope I can remember your example when I do.

    Anyway, I like the way your 40mm look on the table - their size makes them vivid and substantial. I wish you lots of energy so you can get a full game set up.

    Matthew

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  3. Hello Alan:
    Glad to see your troops on parade. Gladder still to see you starting to explore the new normal, but it will take time for that to come into focus, I am sure.
    I share your frustrations about talking to real people at banks and businesses - I always feel, after being redirected to one rep after another, each sounding like they're on a different continent and having to explain my circumstances to each one, that it should be better than this.
    Best,
    Michael

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  4. Hi Alan, it's good to see you're finding your way back to a more even keel. Just doing what you feel like doing at the time is a good therapy. Nice to see you're getting some toys on the table.

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  5. What ho Alan, echoing all the above, I hope things are looking positive (or at least not negative) and you can try and have a decent week at home.

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  6. Hi Alan, I hope things are now more positive. As the years go on I begin to understand the Wendy Craig character in "Butterfies" and her monologues, or telling it to the bees more and more.
    Balerno - not sure about exotica, my Uncle Gerrard and Aunt Beryl used to live at The Larches - the place with the big gothic gates by the bus stop. The drive ran for nearly a mile down the riverside to a suitably Scottish Baronial style house that boasted a 20 foot Aga cooking range. My aunt, lady of a certain age, used to ride down to the shops on a sit and ride mower - Handbag in the grassbox, splendid in twinset and pearls with a backwash of Chanel No 5.
    On other matters I have finally managed to secure some working vintage artillery for Funny Little Wars including a 4.7 so it looks like I might be able to hold my head high at future meet ups when I get back to Europe next year (even if it is only as far as Georgia)
    Graham, Delhi

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