Sunday 27 August 2017

Slow and steady wins the race.

Hello and welcome to Inso's World again.

This week has been fairly chilled out, being mostly filled with a few chores and lots of pottering about.

Monday I sorted out my chores and went to get a tattoo:


Click the Pic!

It is the Rune Fehu (Freya's rune) and matches the rune that my wife wears as a pendent. The tattoo is on my left moob...

After the tattoo, I popped round to pick a mate up so that he could go to the beach for the first time in years. He has fallen on tough health over the past six or so years and hasn't really left the town... so we went to Marazion for a bit of sea air and a pint and it was a great way to spend an afternoon.

Tuesday I put my Halfling Snipers and Exo Armour legs up for sale. The Halflings can be found at this link:


and look like this:



Click the Pix!

The Exo legs can be found here:


and look like this:


Click the Pic!

and when combined with some Tartaros terminator bodies (available from HERE), they look a bit like this:


Click the Pic!

Then, in the afternoon, I went to get my hair cut and let my hairdresser loose with whatever she wanted to throw at me... so this happened:


Click the Pic!

Yes... it is PURPLE with leopard spots around the side... I must admit that, even with my strong character, I had to take a deep breath before walking out into the street.

The rest of the week was taken up with family time, chores and packing up miniatures... with a trip to the post office thrown in.

Another thing happened this week... and that was the realisation that I can't be dictated to by circumstances and I need to start setting myself some sort of routine where I have portions of the day set aside for chores, sculpting, packaging and renovating... so I will be trying to get my head around that over the next few weeks.

This coming week is another one where I travel to see my dad so he can go and get his chemotherapy treatment. Unlike the previous times, this time will be a bit different because I have arranged a visit from a specialist animal collector who will be bringing some tarantulas and reptiles for me and dad to handle. It is something dad wanted to do before he is too ill to do it and the wonderful chap who is popping round has a little education business going on that can be found here:


I am hoping that it is everything dad wants it to be.

In addition, I will be keeping up with all the other stuff and trying to get some sculpting done as well... I also need to replace the car windscreen... BIG crack in that too...

Lots on...

See you from the top of the very long list!


Sunday 20 August 2017

A warmer place.

Hello and welcome to Inso's World again.

This week, I travelled up to Somerset to take my Dad for his Chemotherapy again and it went well. Although he is feeling more tired as a result of the treatment, the nausea tablets are working very well and his breathing seems to improve as a result of the drugs. Luckily, Dad has a week off the chemotherapy this coming week so I will also have a bit more time at home to catch up on a few things.

This week also threw up a rather interesting encounter with a bat.


My wife woke me in the morning to inform me that my cat, Sam, had caught a bat and that she had rescued it and put it in a box on the table downstairs. Obviously, with bats being a protected species, I did a little research online and made sure that the box was OK and that there was a tea towel and water in it. The bat was full of beans so I left it to its own devices while I contacted the local bat rescue people. A couple of hours later, I had safely delivered it to the bat rescuers and they said that they would be back in touch to arrange a release at our home... so that is something cool to look forward to. It was a Pipistrelle bat and had a few little blemishes... but would likely make a good recovery.

This week seems to be one of abrupt wake-ups. Thursday night, just after midnight, I hear my daughter arrive home from her job at the pub as usual but then I get "Dad... I've had a crash". Luckily she was none the worse for wear and had only bruised her knee but I got up, dressed and we went off into the wilds of Cornwall to rescue her little motorbike. Another lucky break was that the bike wasn't badly damaged and we got it started quickly so that she could ride it home. Just a broken windscreen and a few bent brackets that were easily straightened. Needless to say, it doesn't look as shiny and new as it did here:


Click the Pic!

Friday was a pub night... Saturday was a house warming party at a friend's house, where the three of us had a great time (including learning how dreadlocks are created and cared for... something that a gentleman was kind enough to explain). Today has seen a trip over to the railway station to drop my daughter off so that she could go visiting and the very smallest amount of sculpting.

Did I mention sculpting? Well... I have been sculpting a little this week but sadly it isn't stuff that I am able to share with you yet. One of the sculpts is for a charity sculpting competition that you can find here (if you are on Facebook):


The other sculpting is something that will likely end up for sale at some point over at...


Speaking of my little shop-blog, I have recently posted an update with regards to the Exo-Armour Legs and the Halfling Snipers so pop over to have a look. 

This coming week, I plan to get some stuff up for sale and catch up on some stuff... maybe get some proper sculpting time in as well. Weather dependent... I may even get to see the sea.

See you from the traffic jam!

Sunday 13 August 2017

A week in the life of...

Hello again and welcome to Inso's World.

This week has been one of travelling, hospitals and missed opportunities.

Monday I do chores for me and a friend who has a few health issues.

Tuesday, I travelled up to Somerset so that I could take my Dad for his first set of chemotherapy for his terminal cancer. Dad chose the chemotherapy option to give him a few extra weeks/months so I got to his place in time to have some lunch, travel over to the hospital in time for a coffee before heading to the ward to start the treatment. Luckily, I decided to buy a lightweight wheelchair because it REALLY helped with the journey from the car, through the hospital to the ward.

The first round of treatment went relatively smoothly but took a little longer than expected (due to a possible reaction to the drugs). A few extra drugs helped things along and we made it home OK. I stayed overnight to make sure things were OK and travelled back home on the Wednesday. So far, apart from a little nausea and a lot of tiredness, Dad has been OK. His breathing has even been a little better so it seems to be going OK. The second round is this week so I am hoping it goes a little smoother again as we get used to the process.

Thursday, I was a bit of a zombie. Friday, I was kept hanging around to find out when I was taking my daughter's boyfriend to the railway station so I couldn't really get much done. I did, however get a small amount of (secret) sculpting in.

Yesterday was a slow day but we managed to get some cinema time in. We went to see 'Valerian and the city of a thousand planets' which was a good film but sadly confirmed what the critics have been saying... "no chemistry between the leading characters, shallow plot but a wonderful spectacle of special effects". It was good... but not awesome. Worth going to see though.

Tomorrow is another week of much the same. Chores, chemo and hopefully, an opportunity to get something moving on the 'Inso's Diminutive Emporium' front. At least I now have all of the components to get things moving (boxes, labels, bases, bubble wrap, light-box for photos... ). Hopefully, I will get the time, alertness and inclination to get things started.

Seeing as this has been a bit of a slow update, here is a picture:



So much to do... so little time.

See you from the queue!

Sunday 6 August 2017

The traveller returns...

Hello and welcome to Inso's World again.

This week has been one of tiredness but full of progress as well.

I have started a small local community project that I am not going to expand upon but takes up a little time so that has been something that has to be accounted for. I also travelled up to Oxfordshire to collect my daughter because she has moved down to Cornwall and will be staying with us until she can find a place of her own. Obviously, we have been spending time together and going out doing stuff so I have been kept pretty busy.

This week has also seen my wife's 50th birthday so I have made sure that she was spoiled and looked after. She puts up with me so she deserves a bit of a pamper every now and again.

My father is in good spirits and has had his briefing with his cancer team about chemotherapy. I will be taking him for his first batch this coming week. The rest of the week will depend on how he responds to treatment with regards to side effects. Hopefully, it will go perfectly and there are very limited side effects but only time will tell there. One thing that will help is that I decided to buy a lightweight wheelchair for him so that he can take a breather and let me take the strain a bit. I made sure it was one with smaller wheels so that he doesn't feel like he has to help... he'll have no option but to sit and be chauffeur driven.

Hobby time has been fairly limited this week; mostly due to time but also tiredness. That said, I have finished painting the first set of Halfling snipers:


Click the Pic!

To explain the colours I have used, the bases contrast with the camouflage so that the miniatures stand out. I understand that this isn't the idea behind camouflage, however, when you are hoping to sell things, people need to be able to see what they are buying so it makes perfect sense from a commercial perspective. I may add some tufts at some point but I think this current standard shows off the little troops quite nicely.

The Emporium... In a bid to actually get these Halfling snipers up for sale, I have been sorting out the mundane things and have so far got plastic bases for them, boxes to send them out in, bubble-wrap to keep them safe and am currently waiting for some labels to arrive. I have also ordered a light box so that I can (hopefully) take some nice pictures of my products (the light in my house is awkward at best). Once everything comes together, I will be in a position to start selling... fingers crossed.

That is about it for now.

See you from Jamaica!