After an early night I was up very early this morning. We spent an hour in B & Q (DIY store) yesterday buying some MDF and getting it cut to size as well as buying a rug and some storage boxes. This was followed by a trip to the GP for Sue, a walk and then shopping so I was exhausted as was Sue. She now has medication for an underactive thyroid and as she says she now rattles with the amount of tablets she takes. The one bonus of early rising is that it is cool enough to get some more garden clearance done and the garden bin is once again full. Spiders and cobwebs everywhere presaging autumn. A chat with my neighbour whose nuclear bomb shelter (shed) is slowly making progress and now a welcome cup of coffee and feet up.

Slow but steady progress with the Cam 37 as filler added to the seams and this morning they were sanded down and some paint applied to the interior.

The engine and some other small parts are resin and have to be sawed / cut carefully whilst wearing a mask. CA (super glue) has to be used for resin and happily I bought one that has a brush applicator which is easier to apply.

The kettenkrad is 1/48 scale for the future planned diorama but I plan to have this, the trailer and some figures ready before building the aircraft. I brush painted thin layers of desert yellow and buff on and will add a later layer before a wash and decals. I try not to have  two kit builds on the go but waiting for the putty to fully harden on the plane allowed me time to start the second build in between visits from the demands of the cats. Maisie has fallen in love with the new rug, rolling around on it and meowing and last night she slept on it. There must be something in the materials or chemicals that is attracting her to it.

Time for a well deserved shower to wash off the garden dirt, sweat and cobwebs!

TTFN.

It is pouring rain here and thankfully much cooler than of late as sleepless hot nights and hot days spent driving around in a tin can is not conducive to my wellbeing. What is conducive to my wellbeing is modelling and the kit that had gone missing in the post finally arrived.

It is a small Kettenkrad and trailer to go with the Bf 110 and will form part of a diorama. The company I bought the kit from is reliable and I have used them many times so I believe it was the postal system at fault particularly since the box was slightly squashed and there was a cut in it! Happily no damage to the contents but Royal Mail just doesn't cut it any more or in this case, it did! 

The box at the top shows a Cams 37A flying boat as I do very much like flying boats. I have started the build and I might possibly build and paint this one in a Portuguese livery although I am sorely tempted to paint it as a privately owned aircraft, some bright jazzy colour just for fun. We shall see but this was the progress up until yesterday evening...

A bank holiday weekend coming up and four days off but given it might be a wet weekend we have plans to carry on with some of the work in the house and further tidying up. It makes sense to leave everything as it is until we can start redecorating but we might start moving shelf units back so that we have some semblance of normality. We'll see how it goes as there really is no hurry to do that and we were advised to allow at least six weeks before painting the newly plastered walls which takes us up to mid September. I will stick with that despite well meaning advice from family and friends that we can start now. I will only post up pictures once we have completed the work. One advantage of a wet weekend is that the ne'rdowells and druggies will be quiet but I just checked the weather forecast and it might be dry after all. There was 'excitement' two nights ago when a police car chase occurred in the early hours and the car they were chasing hit something with a loud bang. Up out of bed but unable to see what had been hit but the next morning I noticed a fixed traffic bollard squashed flat. Sadly we are seeing more and more anti-social behaviour locally. 

TTFN.

 The final reveal for the Heinkel He 219 early 1945 to which I added a very light wash weathering.

An enjoyable and straightforward build with no problems encountered although I struggled to add weight to the front hence the clear sprue support at the back. 

My last three builds all in 1/72 scale and all late war German aircraft. I have a kit lined up but I will consider what I would like to build next. This is partly because work will be busy but also because there are future jobs to do around home plus there might be a glitch to getting the electrical work done as the electrician asked if we have an isolation switch? I replied there is an off safety switch for the electrical box but he replied this is not an isolation switch. Trying to obtain an answer from my electrical supplier is proving difficult as they are more interested in anything pertaining to money / payments but no response to this question. This is the ancient box in question...

I will chase it up again with the company planning to do the working hear what they have to say but I might have to have an isolation switch fitted before any other work. For the next build I am torn between a quick simple kit build or to start a slow long build over the next several weeks and get in some time at the table as and when I have time. 

TTFN.

 We went for a morning walk to stretch our legs, get some fresh air and to see this...

The latest mural commissioned for the town centre harking back to Grimsby's fishing heritage and promoting a positive image of the own. Hopefully there will be further murals reflecting local history.

It's good to see and report something positive amidst all the doom and gloom in the media. Having stretched our legs, had a look at the swans and the large cygnets we did some shopping and headed home as both tired from the walk and my knee was playing up. For the latter I plan to do some short walks each day and build up my strength again as an ex-work colleague posted up some pictures of Vindolana and I remain keen to get up there and look around. That's on my planned itinerary for next year as I would like to get myself fit for some walks next year.

Time for a coffee and to complete the Heinkel He 219 and grab some sunshine in the garden this afternoon.

TTFN.

 I seem to rinse and repeat each week here as it is Friday, the first of three days off and I am shattered after another busy four days at work. It is busier than ever and the news we received this week of some specialist teams no longer accepting referrals and handing cases back to us...there is a hint of mutiny in the air. I shall find out next week what's going on because I don't want to know today. I spent the morning with a brief spell of modelling and then relaxing in the garden and that is my plan for the weekend.

I painstakingly dabbed the darker grey camouflage on with a paint brush, slightly different from the instructions as photographs show this paint scheme as being more appropriate. It's a Heinkel HE 219 night fighter with radar out front and apart from some paint and seatbelt scratch building in the cockpit, I have built it out of the box. It's nice to get back to the desk and modelling, escaping the nonsense that is currently infecting the world. 

The garden itself was quiet with some sunshine and a cool breeze as I sat there with a cup of tea and listened to the seagulls and swifts overhead. A day for peaceful contemplation and escape the noise and constant demands. 

TTFN.

 

A quick model update, mainly for my records but this morning saw progress on my latest build This one built out of the box as a quick cheap build as I currently prefer to spend time in the garden. A thin lightly brushed light grey acrylic paint which I will allow to dry before turning the plane over and brush painting to top surfaces, then a second thinned covering of the same paint. I will then add the darker grey splodges before a clear coat to seal it in.

The Willow tree is looming large over the garden whilst the pigeons continue to nest in the upper branches. Interestingly, not one of our cats has ever attempted to climb the tree although they take a keen interest in the various birds that use it.

Otherwise a quiet day at home with temperatures hitting 27° Celsius, cold squash and salads being the order of the day. 

Quick update: We went for a walk by the river and then to B & M to check paint colours, cheap shelving and carpet tiles. Some of the latter bought and tester paints to try on the walls. We have identified some shelving for various rooms but I have been offered a large wooden shelf unit from work that is being thrown out and I offered to recycle it for my books and to display some of the completed models. 

TTFN.

 Hooray! Finally arrived at my days off although we have some 'spring' cleaning of the model room and tidying up to do. I enjoyed an hours modelling followed by two hours sat out in the garden soaking up the sunshine. One benefit to early nights and waking up at 5.30 a.m. and allows me to enjoy a full day of activities.

Yesterday I took a slow meander between visits and encountered roads full of partridge. I assume they have just been released for the game shooters...in my opinion not much of a game for tame defenceless birds and they were everywhere! I drove very slowly down the hill at this point to allow them time to move away. I then encountered a bicycle road race over the next ten miles but happily I was in no hurry and pulled over to take a water break as I received the message of a cancelled visit.

I also discovered a church new to me and added it to my list of places to explore. There are also a lot of barrows around this area and abandoned mediaeval villages plus it is great for walking as the hilly part of Lincolnshire. I have a variety of old ordinance survey maps for this and other parts of Lincolnshire and this could be where I have traits of ASD as I love old maps, collect them and enjoy studying them.

One benefit of the hot weather is that the three moggies are able to tolerate being in the same proximity without a scrap breaking out. This photo was taken the day after we finally had the garden wall repaired and the front garden cleared of rubble on the same day! What I can't do is the tree as there is a pigeons nest and we aren't sure if there are eggs in the nest. So the work will wait a further few weeks as I return to my original plan of cutting the tree down in the autumn. I have also booked the electrician next month for what I now know is a day and quarters work. Once that is completed we plan to install a new front door and that will be the building work completed for this year leaving us to redecorate at our leisure. It feels good to know that jobs that needed doing for many years are now being completed. Come the end of the year and I can consider what we do next although my fourteen year old car is increasingly creaky and noisy and that might need replacing. 

We are also now officially in a drought here in Lincolnshire although reservoirs are reportedly 80% full and the forecast for next week is thunderstorms and rain...much needed rain. The above is a bottle of whisky I ordered and I whet my whistle last night to celebrate the end of the damp course work and in anticipation of the drought and inevitable hosepipe ban. It is cask strength so to be treated with respect and just a wee drappie now and then.

TTFN.

Finally the damp course work is finished with the last of the plasterwork completed today. There is still the rubble run to complete but they are aware of this and will do that soon. Whilst the chap was completing the plaster work I was in the garden using the new toys, an extendable lopper and saw and a mini chainsaw. Just a small amount of the lower branches removed from the tree as I have ordered some climbing rope and my neighbour has kindly offered me the use of his ladder. My plan is to tie the ladder at the top securely to the branches and using more rope tied around the higher large branches to cut and drop them safely. I will do the work in stages over a couple of weekends and naturally there will be before and after photographs when I do the job. We also popped out to to buy more temporary carpet offcuts which will do us for immediate future.

We had planned to visit the international food market in Cleethorpes today but will instead join Sherlock in sitting out in the garden soaking up the sun instead. Sadly I find after even a short amount of physical work my knee and back let me quickly know I am not as young as I used to be!

I haven't mentioned work for a while and that's because it has gone from bad to worse. Next month we might be in the position of having just five nurses with three of us part-time and no immediate or senior managers as they are leaving. We can't attract any staff and currently it is best I say no more apart from the fact that we are one of the better staffed community teams! I have to admit I am very happy I reduced my hours when I did but I feel sorry for those just starting out in their careers. 

But time for a cold drink and some of that lovely sunshine (20° C or 70° F).

n.b. I was wrong, now cutting the offcuts to size and fitting them in.

TTFN.