I ain't got me no Dettol

First attempt at painting a Dwarf warrior:

That went well didn't it. I've got me no Dettol but I got me some Zoflora. Hoping that jazz does the jazz. 

So far under lockdown I have mostly photographed sparrows from a window:

It's not all bad, but I've been self-isolating due to my wife having had CV-19 symptoms (minor though, thankfully). Just doing my bit now and waiting till early next week before putting myself out there again for local exercise and walks. It's hard being cooped up but, in the meantime, dwarf x2 is undercoated and ready to accept paint:

Does this blog even exist any more?

Does it?

It does.

I sold all my shit (painting). I focused (ha) on photography. I was happy. Then Coronavirus arrived. It didn't visit me personally, and I hope it never does. But what it's done is limit my (in fact everyone's) liberty somewhat. So I did what most panickers do and panic-bought my way to a happier place. But I did not panic-buy toilet rolls or pasta - oh no, I went and spent my hard-earned wedge on some paints, brushes, some Oldhammer miniatures and other assorted painting paraphernalia. It all arrives in a couple of days.

Given the parlous state of society's health due to CV-19, I needed something to occupy me whilst locked away from other people (wife excluded). So I picked up once more on a hobby that has brought me diminishing returns since I went 'pro' (debatable) for 12 months about 20yrs or so ago. However, this time I can see me sticking with it. When I say 'this time', I am talking about what is probably the 5th epoch of painty-stuff since the dawn of time itself. And when I say 'the dawn of time itself', I mean the very first time I tried to paint a Hero Quest orc with enamel paints.

Anyway, for better or (likely much) worse, I will attempt to blog my way through the coming days, painting this or that, getting miserable about it, losing my rag. And the beauty of it all is that no-one gives a chuff. That's the magic of it.

Oldie newbie

Last week in work I finished my part in a project. I have been 2.5yrs away from my old role, and here i am sat in my dark living room, looking out the window, waiting to be picked up to collect a van to take my first baby steps back into my past. What a weird feeling.

And I'm all of a tizz about my painting/collecting miniatures hobby versus my new-found enjoyment of photography. Do i carry both on or focus all my money into the one. That'll be cameras and jazz most likely. Thinking of at least paring down my Oldhammer books and minis collection and using the funds elsewhere. I'm not going to jettison all of my stuff like I've done before - that'd be silly. But a slight cull will possibly help. This is what comes of sitting in the dark, waiting.

My newest lens

Whoa! I'm standing right next to an object, yet when i look into my viewfinder it seems like an arm's length away. Whoooooooaaaaa!

So i was pretty excited as you can tell.

I've got to really get out there (in the streets, countryside, hills, seaside, wherever) to play with this 10-18mm malarkey, but i at least took a shot of the man station from almost on top of it:

Perspective

I'm sat in the University Hospital Wales, Cardiff, waiting on someone having a routine procedure. Anyway, i was sat in the concourse with my book and phone (free wifi - fair play), and a feller in a wheelchair was purchasing a coffee from a little takeaway gaff. He was struggling to wheel himself with one hand (the other was holding a coffee) so I offered a hand, but he said he was alright. He parked up next to me anyway, and we got to talking. He came in last night for a transfusion. He has terminal prostate cancer. He hopes to survive until February to see the birth of two grandchildren. He got us both a bit emotional to be fair, but he isn't a maudler. In fact, the feller has left a hell of a legacy. Simply put, he was a decorator when he was able to work. However, the kind of decorating he did was pretty specialised, mostly for Cadw, the body that works to preserve Welsh monuments. I'm talking castles, churches, all sorts. He was even on telly with Eddie Butler (of Welsh rugby fame - he said he was a bit bombastic, which was pretty hilarious), decorating a listed building in Pontypridd. What a remarkable feller - it puts everything in perspective, listening to someone in that position. And he had a bit of devil about him too, having sneaked off the ward for a taste of real coffee. He had me rapt. I hope I can leave even a little bit of something worthwhile behind, like he has.

Edit - the point being that life is fragile and you only have one crack at it, so at least try to enjoy it. I could go on. Feeling a bit philosophical. I'm not going to though, as it sounds way preachy.

New lenses

Been getting a bit excited about taking photos of late. Wanting to build on my cheap and cheerful Canon EOS 1000d, I went and got myself a new lens to give a greater focal range. I'm no pro (and I'm not much of an amateur either, but hey-ho), so i took some advice from the esteemed and creative spacemunkie (aka Scott Symonds). I ended up with an entry-level-ish telephoto-lite lens, covering 55-250mm. Effectively, it picks up from where my standard 18-55mm lens stops, meaning that the fullest zoom on the standard one equals the lowest zoom on the new one, and the highest zoom on the new ones gives me a far greater magnification. And, unlike the standard lens, it has in-built image stabilisation, meaning i can take longer exposures in hand rather than with a tripod. I think that's the technical terminology anyway. Well, having enjoyed the new lens so much (i even packed the whole camera kit to go to Ibiza for hols), i have now also ordered the lens that goes before my standard one, giving me a 10-18mm set-up. This will be more of a wide angle lens, and better for close-ups. It will again have image stabilisation. I'm frothing at the thought of it arriving, fair play. Second-hand purchases all, as it's a pricey old game otherwise. Some shots with the 55-250mm can be seen below:

Still managed to get a little camera shake on the hanging shoes which is a bit embarrassing..

I also took out the 18-55mm for a day trip to Ibiza Town, and some shots from that are shown below:

(The last shot was of a feller with a mobile knife-sharpening rig. He wheels it around and sets it up outside a restaurant, and the kitchen staff bring out their knives. He powers a wheel by using a pedal, and that in turn causes the grindstone to turn. He has another stone for fine honing on the other side. I could have watched him all day. 

And now I'm just waiting for delivery of my newest lens, on the morrow. Grand stuff. I'm catching the bug.)

Instagram Splurge

Had a bit of a mad one on Instagram lately. Gone a bit nuts and chucked up loads of stuff. I undervalued it before now, but I'm beginning to see the light. My moniker is herodtheswiss and and here's a small selection of shots:

Another week

Going up north again. Only as far as Llangollen and Oswestry this time, but I'll be away four days or three nights, however you look at it. Had a good couple of hours with the dettol yesterday, hanging out in my painting area. Didn't do a jot of painting but got the place looking hot. Now it's so tidy I'm feeling sad about leaving it, even if it's so under-used. Freed up all of my paints as well. Next step is incorporating my modest, unpainted collection. A picture or two below...

Anyways, off north now, leaving family and home behind like some itinerant, wandering monk. And on the topic of monks, my company will be Cadfael, on print format. Poetic really, considering I'll be split between Shropshire and Wales.

6 months is a long time in real life

I've neglected the cathartic process of blogging for many months. I thought I'd get better at life, but it continues to have me in a half nelson. Anyway, during some away time with work, now seems a good time to pick up the process again. I may as well start with some stuff that happened (or will come to happen):

1. A big family wedding in Cyprus.
2. Decided to sell the caravan. Currently on the market.
3. Actively seeking to move a bit closer to a local village-within-the-city.
4. Agreed to do a half marathon (but see below).
5. The project I'm on in work has entered its final, frenzied few months.
6. My wife dropped to 3 days work a week to great effect.

I'm pretty sure loads more happened than that. Something about Wales qualifying for Euro 2016 - and then proceeding to electrify a nation by getting to the semis - springs to mind. Got a proper grown up telly as well. I'm not into bling and possessions, but a decent telly is a great investment.

• Paint x1 miniature per month. Guaranteed. No shenanigans. Just do it.
• Cook a new vegan dish per week.
• Do at least 6 decent mountain walks.
• Learn to use my camera in proper manual mode and look like a pro.
• Re-learn French (to be achieved in conjunction with painting).
• Jog twice a week.

To address some of my previous goals as outlaid in my previous post (see above), i have managed to paint one miniature. I have continued to push boundaries with my cooking, but probably failed with one new dish a week. I've done probably one mountain walk. The camera has gone far better, and while i don't do much with it I'm beginning to get to grips with stuff. I need to keep on with that and also develop my composition skills. On the learning/re-learning French, I had a really productive period of listening to French lessons in the car, but i need to get back on them after a period of time away from it. And then the running.... This has actually happened. Or at least it has quite recently. I even agreed to a half marathon, and was of the opinion that i could manage it until even more quite recently I had a minor operation to remove my little swimmers. That put me out of action for a few weeks, and my employment has also now started to encroach on the precious work/life balance, taking me away for some days at a time. This only looks like worsening over the final few months of the project, with trips to the north of Wales for several days at a time likely to be interrupting any routine i was building up with my running partner who, incidentally, is quite apparently far fitter than me. We'd taken our runs up to a 6 mile distance not long before i had the snip, but i fear for how I'm going to get back to that quickly enough and hit a 10 mile target before the main event that's now less than 2 months away. Add to that a constant need to evacuate my bowels whenever i run, I'm in a bit of a dark place with it all. I'm going to get back on it next week and hope for the best.

Here's that miniature i painted:

Resolutions

I've been mulling over a few achievable goals for the new year. Granted, it's been a little while since last year ended, but i like to have a smooth glide-path into the new year without knee-jerk decisions. I spent the first week back at work enjoying the evenings in much the same way as i did at Christmas: with a tipple and a smile on my chops. I weaned myself off of the booze gradually over that week and got to grips with normality, and during that time I've formulated some reasonable aims for the year:

• Paint x1 miniature per month. Guaranteed. No shenanigans. Just do it.
• Cook a new vegan dish per week.
• Do at least 6 decent mountain walks.
• Learn to use my camera in proper manual mode and look like a pro.
• Re-learn French (to be achieved in conjunction with painting).
• Jog twice a week.

And as an aside, I'll be watching all the X Files episodes ever made.

Here's some examples of what's to come:

Happy New February.

Scotch on the rocks

Ah, scotch on the rocks. That's how we kick back. Sweet.

The final legge

This is the long bit, the rubbish bit before the nice bit, the bit where work will somehow crank up and chuck all sorts of silliness at me before I limp over the line at some point on Christmas Eve. Already I'm due to head north for the first few days of Christmas week to cover annual leave. My hope - and it's a naive one - is that I'll be able to focus purely on what needs doing there, but I'm pretty sure there are going to be a few slippery balls to catch on the hoof, as it were. And this week brings the team Christmas meal. I'm not going to grumble about that as we're off to a wickedly good fine-dining Indian restaurant. I've had to clarify my position (vegan) to them ahead of time and we've managed to make sure I get a  decent bit of tucker. And let's be fair, if the Indians can't cook that stuff well, no one can. So I'm looking forward to that. But there will be a sting in the tail of this week somewhere. I can see it. I dreamt about work last night so it's playing on my noggin.

Anyway, in other news, I have a Slambo miniature being painted for me by a true pro. I'll unveil him when he gets back and give details of the dauber. 

Vegan mushroom pate anyone? I've got a tonne of it. Freshly made by me. And it's almost nice...

Kafka and Oldhammer

I only popped out for half hour, but it feels like months.

Anyway, apart from dodging painting and collecting like a pro, I've been spending time in the kitchen learning more about cooking like a vegan. Quality stuff - I've got lentil loaf coming out of my ears...

But, in between my kitchen chemistry and real life stuff, I have dived into a bit of Kafka. I picked up two books in a secondhand gaff, The Trial and The Castle, and it's the latter of the two I'm currently reading. What has struck me is the atmosphere of the novel: it reminds me of some of the old WFRP scenarios and bits and pieces from WD published for the game. The basic premise as I see it to date is that the protagonist is called to a village to undertake land-surveying, but there has effectively been an admin error and he needn't have bothered. The snow-shrouded village has a castle in it, but access to it is seemingly almost impossible (not physically, but in principle). Despite not really needing to survey anything he is still able to remain in the village but as an employee of the invisible authorities represented by the castle. I'm about a third of the way through and it's a mind bender - the protagonist struggles to be accepted in the village and even though seemingly employed to the castle is unable to gain access, which itself is becoming a burning desire for him. Again, it's the atmosphere that puts me in mind of the encroaching weirdness of chaos in the Warhammer Old World.

That's all I've got to say at the moment. I'll keep on reading.

Epic Fails

Had a funny one today. I pulled my finger out yesterday and got going on my Kimril (he of slaying fame) with a black undercoat and some grimy/rusty chainmail. I wasn't sure about the idea of a dwarf not buffing his armour, but let it go having considered the drunken nature of your average slayer perhaps impacting on armour-cleaning time, etc., so went with it. I got to a point from which I could tidy up later to improve the look, so I took a stab at his mohican and beard. I wanted to go for a nice contrasting colour to the silver and orange brown I was expecting to end up with on the chainmail so plumped for a purple to pink to white combo. I wanted gritty so I worked from a dark base. The result was - sadly - utter shite. I have since sent him to the well of eternal dettol and will go at him again once he has repented and/or drunk his way out. Here he is in all his shame prior to his banishment:

Another epic fail today relates to my adventures in vegan cooking. I've been 11 weeks a vegan now and it's been enjoyable. I'm cooking stuff that's completely new to me but cooking well as I'm quite a decent home cook thank you very much. I've realised that Indian cooking is the best way for me, especially as I enjoy learning to cook with different ingredients. Generally speaking, I've been quick enough to realise that the best way of approaching veganism (for me at least) is to avoid substitutes like Quorn and whatever. The main reason is that they're pretty shite, but I also think that such a change is better made by learning new skills rather than cooking the same old same old with a replacement product which is (inevitably) inferior to the original meat product. It's far more rewarding. So I'm a bit pissed off with myself for having my will bent by a desire to replicate BBQ pulled pork. Recently there's a bit of excitement in vegan circles over a pulled pork substitute called jackfruit. This fruit in its young and green state offers a strand-like texture and look, and little or no taste. It is available in tins from Chinese supermarkets for something like a quid a tin. As much I have been pulling away from the old dishes I loved, this one pulled me back in with huge hopes for something that has - anecdotally - tricked meat-eaters into thinking they were eating pork. So I cooked it tonight. And to be fair, it looks massively like pulled pork. And the homebrew BBQ sauce I made is boss. But the initial texture of the fruit, not dissimilar to pulled pork, quickly becomes mush. And apart from holding some BBQ flavour, it's pretty insubstantial stuff. My stepson doesn't like it at all, saying it made him think of mushy fruit. Mango to be precise. I'll have to question him on his sudden expertise on fruit, mango especially, but I can see his point. But his reaction was tame compared to my wife, who almost gagged and had to gob it up into a tissue. Strong stuff that - a definite statement! The worst I ever heard from her about my food before tonight was that a dish had been salty. Perhaps on a couple of occasions we agreed I wouldn't make a dish again, but that's an issue of preference. This was physical dislike. Horrendous 😞. Anyway, I'll eat it tomorrow with nachos and pretend cheese (still kidding myself). The original recipe can be found at http://minimalistbaker.com/bbq-jackfruit-sandwiches-with-avocado-slaw/. I should credit them with a hashtag too: #minimalistbaker. Fair play to the blogger for the attempt, but I see this stuff as the Emperor's New Clothes. Shame. Here's the result alongside a killer BBQ sauce:

Back to the daal and stuff I reckon!

Everything

Realising the remit in my blog intro/description, here's some stuff in general:

5-a-side - we've had a lot of trouble of late; regulars have been dropping out, numbers dwindled...it took an impassioned plea to get everything back on track and all seems to be well again. I'm hoping we're good for another block booking as we've been playing for about 8yrs in different guises.

Rugby - RWC 2015 looms large. Wales are in the same group as England, Australia and Fiji, a stinking arrangement caused by the WRU's greed in insisting on the annual 4th and unsanctioned Autumn International game allied to some poor results, albeit against top teams, in the period prior to the RWC 2015 draw, despite a 4th place world cup finish and 2012 championship win if i remember correctly (lots of commas there - not too many I hope). Anyway, the first warm up game at home versus Ireland went badly for the pack, but we had a developmental team out against them (they did too but were far more canny in the pack selection). We play them again next weekend in Dublin and this time we need to look tidy with a decent team expected to be running out.

Beer - to be fair, as a near 2-month vegan, real ale is off-limits to a degree. I need to check which i can drink as they are often made with finings made from fish. Other drink like wine (sparkling or otherwise) is often clarified with animal products. It's a steep learning curve but scotch is a-ok!

Cooking - I'm loving this vegan lark. Been making ratatouille, falafel, Thai broths, aubergine curries, mexican jazz, all sorts. I miss cheese though. And proper gravy 😐.

Minis - i have been somewhat active of late in the trade business. By which I mean i have traded x3 pieces. But i also got a freebie from a comrade in the north of Wales. In total, for the loss of x1 chaos warrior, x1 Marauder greatsword type fellow and an orc with a spear and a goblin skin hat, I have received the classic Space Wolf captain with the wolf helmet, a skeleton champion with 2 swords and a spike helmet, an Yyrkoon model (Eternal Champion), as well as that freebie I just mentioned: Moonglum, another Eternal Champion piece. I'm one piece up! Can't fault it. Still looking for Elric, Dorian, Erekose and some other bits, as well as moon face Tzeentch feller and Nurgle fly head dude. Feel free to contact me for trade 👍.

Religion/atheism - weirdly, a Polish couple and their kid knocked the door earlier asking if there were any other Polish families locally. They were JW's looking to spread the insidious word. It struck me that the kid had no chance of a normal life and would no doubt have to carry the mental baggage of his parents' belief system all his days, whether happily within the narrow confines of that organisation or else perhaps awkwardly if he is ever able to break out from the belief system his parents have forced upon him. Other than the fact the doorstep evangelisers thought us unworthy of the good news they had for their Polish compatriots, that got me a bit riled this morning. Religion is a choice, so don't force it on your kids. I can only hope the poor feller has a chance to break away later in life, but judging by the rallies we have in Cardiff every year, it's unlikely: there are teenagers and young adults by the thousands lapping this stuff up. As a willing victim of Christianity in my young adult life (I successfully pulled away when I employed logic and free thought, but it was one hell of a wrench - more of that another time) I know the pitfalls and the difficulty of stepping away from a very loving, caring group. It's not easy, and that's an understatement. Good luck to them all.

Piffle - see above.

Nos da...

Dark Torgt Hell Grim

Bagged him. Oh glorious day! What a piece. Just waiting on delivery now.

Loose Command Groups and Sundries

Having had a look at what figures I've got I've put them into loose command groups. There are some big size differences, particularly in the undead lot. Here they are, including a few loose ones for the sake of cataloguing...

There's a whole load of collecting and painting to be doing right there. Problem is I'm lazy and tend to prefer cooking over painting most days. But hey, it's not a race. Got falafel to cook right now so they'll keep.