So What Else Do You Do?

 As some of you will no doubt know, my other great passion in life is the collecting of Scottish Terriers.

Now, it was a question of going to the Steel Warriors show next weekend, wasting money for what I fear may not be the best show I'd visit this year, or spend the day pushing a pet buggy around with a 10 week old Scottie pup.

The show lost. And it really lost when I called the venue to make a few enquiries and got a somewhat 'can't be arsed' response. And thus, I though 'Fuck 'em!' as I am wont to do when I get short shrift.

So, this morning on a whim, I called the breeder of my last Scottie and lo and behold, she had one puppy available from a recent litter, and double l.a.b, it was a girl - Perfect!

So, Sunday will see the memsahib and I making a 5 hour round trip to collect Penelope Prune McSnuggle (yes, we have a well hone ritual for naming our pets, but the memsahib says that she will never countenance naming a Scottie 'Rab De Fridge'. It was a fight to get her to agree to 'Prune', but I stamped my foot and threatened to give her freshly painted figure of Charles 1, the 'Tower Of London Treatment' with some clippers. A dangerous gambit, as I sleep with my eyes closed for a few hours every night... 

'Canine Unit 6' was also rebuffed, as a matter of note.

As you can see from the pic the breeder sent, she is a cracking young lady.

This morning the postie delivered a selection of Essex 28mm ECW figures, and to this day they are some of the cleaning castings and nicest looking ECW figures I've ever had the pleasure to own. The Puritan preacher is always a joy to paint, you'll always find one somewhere in one of my ECW armies. The memsahib has a Papist ne'er-do-well lurking close to the king, but a well placed artillery barrage will deal with that thorn in the side of Parliament.

We've had quite a busy two days. The memsahib was at the hospital for almost 16 hours yesterday as our daughter had her gall bladder removed and needed ferrying home afterwards, but also needed her Mum to help get her to come around after the operation, because the staff couldn't get her to wake up. 

All credit to the staff at the Northern General Hospital for doing great work, but they couldn't do what a bar of Dairy Milk could :)

We spent a couple of hours going out for lunch today, but the day's mostly been about getting the things we need for the arrival of Penny, as well as the requisite disinfecting of the floors in all rooms with kennel disinfectant and a steam mop. That said, we did get a chance to make our holiday plans for the Summer and the various Christmas meals and the annual 'Kate Rusby Christmas Concert' which is always a joy, but which hasn't taken place for a couple of years now.

We love listening to a couple of hours of traditional festive folk and especially Yorkshire carols and wassails. This year it's the night before we take our 4 week Christmas break, so it'll be a great start to the festive season proper.

Speaking of the Steel Warriors show, the trader list has now contracted to just 12 traders with Irregular Miniatures being crossed off the list. Hardly what you'd call a good omen.

Well, if you will excuse me, I must go and watch Starsky and Hutch and try to get some sleep as it's an early start on Sunday. The excitement here is palpable.


TTFN




Comments

Post a Comment

Leave your praise and vitriolic commentary here...

Popular posts from this blog

How, Over 40 Years Ago, A Guy Called Andy Changed My Life With 5 Words, And Other Reminiscences...

Image
 Of late I have been having long and vivid dreams wherein, I am often walking or travelling with people I have known, some living, some passed, talking over things we had done or said. I confess that it's been eerie but also very liberating. These coversations have been so real that I have awoken in the morning (more usually, half way through the night) and been confused at my surroundings.  Last night I was speaking with Dave Hoyles  - very much alive and kicking - of Q.T Models/Museum Miniatures. The only thing I have noticed is that is often been snowing heavily in these dreams. One of my latest dreams was of the late Ian Smith, another the comic book artist Paul Green - who, thankfully is still with us. This pattern began a few years ago when I had a similar experience with the recently deceased Pete 'Greblord' Armstrong. It was a very cathartic experience for me, as I had much which needed to be said. I may have written of this before, but this particular dream was d...
Read more

A Serious Post And Another Obituary But With Some More Positive Stuff At The End

Image
 I am at an age where I would expect the odd death of someone I know, but I am starting to realise that it's the younger end of the line which is getting culled.  This week I found out through a good friend that another friend in the hobby from the old days had taken his own life, bringing the total friends lost to 5 and drom that number the number lost to suicide in the last few years to 2. Now, I've been close to that I think, three times, but I've been lucky enough to be able to turn my illogical brain around and decide that the world and my enemies will not be happy if I thrive and stay alive. So, that has been my stated mission, to live long and be hated that much longer. The first time I was taken with thoughts of suicide, was when I was banned from Games Workshop Sheffield in the 80s (see my book or earlier posts) and my so-called friends allowed themselves to be bought off, trading silence as to what a set-up it was in return for part time jobs at the store. That wa...
Read more

The Passing Of A British Wargaming Legend

Image
It is with genuine sadness and heavy heart that I must record the passing of Sheffield Wargames Society founder member and long time Chairman, Steve Roberts.    I was 13 when I first met Steve (some 43 years ago, now). It was a chance meeting. I'd been playing Dungeons & Dragons for about a year and had taken some Citadel FTZ Zombies back to my Junior school to show my headteacher there, who'd always encouraged the creative arts in pupils.    He was impressed (as you'd expect) and told me that a wargames club met at the school now, on Monday nights run by a chap called Steve Roberts.    Well, of course I was interested, and together with my friend Alan Staniforth, I attended the club, to find there was no D&D...   What there was however were historical games, played by local kids with 'Big Steve' the only adult. But he ran that club like a champion, providing all the models and simple rules, which was just what you needed to hook kids in. ...
Read more