I have written two posts so far and deleted them but I will post this one.
Mrs C attended the breast cancer clinic this week and my understanding boss agreed immediately to carers leave and a time off in lieu day as I was owed umpteen hours. Over two weeks ago she attended a GP appointment and they immediately referred her to the clinic and after scans, exam and a biopsy we are now awaiting the results. They were more positive in the clinic after the initial panic when the GP initially broke the news about her concerns so we are at the fingers crossed stage. Understandably we haven't had much interest in doing our usual things and that included my blog but the shock has worn off and we have had discussions about the more important things in life. I am generally optimistic by nature which balances out Mrs C's pessimism so I am more hopeful after the clinic visit.

In other news it has been hot and humid with the usual media nonsense about how the sudden heat has brought the UK to a halt. We have also acquired a new Prime Minister although I am prepared to give him a chance after the shambles of the last few years but I just do not trust Boris. We'll see what happens and hope we don't have cause for regret. I returned to work yesterday for our team building day. I won the quiz and I was outed as being a clever clogs by a colleague whom I worked with in a previous team. We also escaped the Escape Rooms but I came second to last at ten pin bowling...how can I miss the pins so often?!! A great day out, sunny and very hot and it was good for the team to have some down time. It's a good team although a couple of colleagues were absent as they had prior commitments and one of them covered the duty desk for the team. The heavens opened as we left Skegness and the deluge was upon us.

Otherwise I have returned to the modelling bench today and cracking on with the group build for one of the fb modelling groups I follow and a second build for between times. The colourful aircraft is a Heinkel He 70 from the Spanish Civil War and the other is a PZL P11 which I am painting in Polish colours. I started out on this lark three years ago as a committed armour guy but I have built aircraft kits over the past two years with an occasional tank getting in there.

I have also counted up the number of kits I have in my stash for building and there are enough to keep me going for a couple of years. I generally buy older cheaper kits which I can use for practice and improving my skills. All in all it keeps me occupied, relaxed and stops me hanging around on street corners being a nuisance to all and sundry.

I am away to face the deluge as there is an absence of beers in the fridge and the cats need their grub. With this hot weather we have had a devil of a time getting the little furry buglers in at night. We generally find the smallest cat Mindy and our visitor Elvis in the house at night!

TTFN.

Progress so far on the build of the Heinkel He 70 with a coating of grey primer from a rattle can. I am a bit concerned as it did not spray evenly and has pooled in a couple of places. My fault entirely as I didn't consider warm weather and heat expansion in the can. I must also remember to wear gloves as my left hand has paint across it!

There are also some fit issues and I have used sprue shavings plus sprue goo to melt into the gap which I will sand later. The primer shows up areas requiring more filler and sanding. All in all a fun kit to build and I am looking forward to the painting next weekend. 

Last night I looked out for our four cats who were undoubtedly roaming around the neighbourhood. Calling them in and our fifth (part time) cat Fluffy arrived with a ginger cat in tow! No sign of our little buglers. I eventually got the two girls in but the boys are making the most of the milder weather and staying out. Fluffy visits most days now for meals, can generally be found sleeping in the garden or in the house when he sneaks in. Despite eating well when he visits us he is still underweight and somewhat untidy. We now put Frontline anti flea stuff on him and I am considering worming him as well because he still looks neglected. There was an issue with his mouth a few weeks back and we considered bringing him to the vet for a check up but that appears to have resolved now. He does tend to follow me around as do our own cats.

Otherwise the latest news is that Mrs C. will be out of work come September as the shop she cleans is being closed down as are many of the shops in the chain. Given her age and the availability of work she is likely to call it a day. She is one of the Women whom recent governments decided should continue working until they drop whilst MP's of all hues have further gold plated their own pensions over the last decade. I have suggested that as I have been promoted and had a pay increase I will just set up a monthly transfer so she doesn't lose out. She is due to receive her state pension in two years time, six years after she would have retired under the old scheme. Mine is still eight years away and looking at the current situation the pension age might well be raised again and I could be looking at another couple of years added to that! Best I save once the mortgage is paid off and invest the money in this and improving my garden for fruit and vegetables plus home brew! Perhaps also making our own clothing and start cycling again for when it all goes tits up! 

TTFN.

Late night, darts on the gogglebox, beers to hand and I feel mellow after an extremely busy week at work which ended with a ten hour day today. I don’t learn as first in and last out but a full day off now earned for a day off later this month. We are still trying to find a plumber; why is it so hard to find one who will answer your calls and then turn up to do the job? I’ll spend tomorrow chasing it up in between gardening and modelling. Speaking of which...

The finished product, an Amiot 143 circa May 1940 during the first battle of France. I start tomorrow on a fb group build which has modellers world wide taking part. There is a prize but for me it is the fun element and the shared experience, banter and learning from each other. I have this kit ready for the build and the paints I ordered arrived today.

It will be a challenge to achieve a good paint job but I am keen to meet the challenge and I am also astonished by the paint scheme. I have joined a Spanish Civil War model group on fb so I get to practice Spanish language skills as well. They invited me to join after I posted a picture of the Republican I-16 and my reading of a concise history of the Spanish Civil War. I found the latter quite sad and depressing to read and I am left thinking aren’t politicians absolute shits. Back in the thirties and again today.
As for work, I am enjoying it and yes, with the promotion I have acquired work commensurate to my promotion but I was largely doing the work already. However, yet another doctor is leaving and we are again in deep schtuck. We are apparently a rich nation yet there is no money or resources for our team and it is the same nationwide. I’d say why? But I know the answer already and so much needs to change with a focus on people and society. I and my colleagues work an average 37 1/2 hours per week yet the reality is that we generally put in 42+ hours per week just to keep things ticking over. It still isn’t enough yet we work with good humour, lots of venting off steam, coffee and far too many cakes and chocolate to keep us fuelled for the daily travails.

Update: I wrote this last night on the iPad but it became stuck! I suspect it's because it is an 'old' iPad and I have no plans to replace it despite built in obsolescence. It was raining this morning so I started on the new build which included a spill of my home made sprue goo (glue with sprue plastic added to it to fill gaps) so some clean up work of the kit required tomorrow.

TTFN.