Almost The End Of The Holiday...

Well, I have 3 days of my holiday left and I am knackered...

We went over to 'The Other Partizan' last weekend and whilst I had a good time, there was not much to really draw me. Baccus took £150 of my cash for some lovely 6mm stuff and I picked up a few scenic materials, but that was about it.

Now, I'd planned to pick up some Perry Miniatures Cape Wars stuff, but the range is far from complete enough to put together two complete forces, so I shelved the idea for the present.

I also broke the 6mm only, vow when I was offered 660 1st generation  Minfigs 15mm ECW from the 'strip' era. They are painted in a pleasing toy soldier style and whilst they will need a re-base and a bit of cosmetic work here and there, they are wonderfully vintage sculpts which make me sigh with pleasure in the same way that Samantha Fox and her comely udders did in the 'Daily Star' when I was but a youth, or which the food pages of the 'Yorkshire Post' do, today.

They are lovely little models, dated, stereotyped and I really, really like them. In fact, if you have any and need a new home for them, I'll buy them. Drop me a line as a comment (nobody can see it unless I publish it) and we'll do business.

To cap of the pleasure, when the models arrived on Friday the Osprey 'Wargames Campaigns : Naseby' book was in the package too, with some gorgeous pictures of Peter Gilders collection.

Bliss!



With the building work here at the Dark Tower completed and the labourers all sacrificed to seal the warding on the new construction, we'd discussed adding a new aquarium, to the Great Hall, for the edification both ourselves and any visiting ambassadors from the outer reaches of the land. It was something for the future, but when a hard up dealer in fine oak cabinetry offered to knock 200 gold pieces off a rather nice (and rather expensive) furniture grade aquarium, we snapped his hand off and took the metaphorical plunge much earlier than planned. And then, because a bit like cheeseburgers, one is not enough, we purchased another smaller aquarium for the kitchen staff to look at in between peeling exotic root vegetables and tending to the spit.

The larger tank will need a few weeks to mature and will be housing African Rift Valley Cichlids from Lake Malawi. As you can see, my somewhat wry sense of humour was at work with the inclusion of a life sized human skull in amongst the bare rocks which simulate the alkaline conditions of the Lake.

I also installed an advanced LED lighting system which can mimic weather and lighting conditions, including lightning storms, as well turning the tank some rather jolly shades and hues.

I installed the tank after it turned up late in the day on Wednesday and by 10PM that night, it was looking like this:


12 hours later and the sediment was settling and the enormous filter was hard at work, but it was still a milky looking environment:


Another 12 hours and things were looking decidedly chipper, with excellent clarity and PH values. The heater was doing it's job perfectly, and I was ready to play with the lighting remote control:





And now, as this is the last day that I will be journeying from the Dark Tower this holiday I must bid you a very good morning and bathe and dress before a trip to Nottingham to catch a gallery or two.

TTFN

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