So much progress...

 Hello and welcome to Inso's World again.

It has been a busy month that started with the arrival of Storm, into our home:

Click the Pic!

Storm has settled in well and has been accepted by the other cats. He is a very sociable, cuddly little cat that is full of energy and we are very glad that we made the choice to adopt him. He's a perfect fit for our little family... here's Alfie, looking out for him:

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I have started to work on the garden... I've removed about two thirds of the turf but unfortunately, the kitten's arrival and the blistering heat has meant that I haven't been able to finish it yet... but it will happen and I will build a pebble beach in the garden!

Life is happy and I am happy... so that is cool.

Onto hobby stuff and I have kicked it out of the park with the sculpting. First I finished the five close combat Dwarfs:

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... and then I finished off the DJ:

Click the Pic!

That means that all of the current Space Dwarf sculpting is complete and that tomorrow, I will be posting the whole bunch, to Macrocosm Miniatures for casting... that's another nine sculpts for the army:

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Hopefully, I'll get some nice casts back, very soon. The trouble is that I now have no Space Dwarfs left to sculpt so I am going to return to the Politico sculpt that has been sat for ages, in a bid to finish that off as well. It should be a fun distraction.

I would say "that's it for now" but I think I have done better than that, this month so I'm not going to say it.

Cheers!

See you from the sunny side of the street!

Back to the Army.

Hello again. Welcome to Inso's World.

This week has been a beautiful, challenging, tiring and rewarding week.

Work has been really good. I have worked with some proper team players and have had a very positive week... even though the temperatures within the care home have been like a sauna and I have faced some challenging behaviour from some of the residents. The good thing about the challenging behaviour is that it isn't the resident's fault, it is their dementia so I can blame the disease and not the person which means I never feel the need to get upset with anyone.

I can safely say that this week has really confirmed the fact that I love my job.

In other news, the garden is now cleared and has been mowed and actually looks like a garden again... which is nice. As well as sorting the garden out, I also managed to get a trip out on my bike during the week and yesterday, I drove up to Aylesbury to see my in-laws. It was a lovely visit and although short, was very much worth the long drive.

Alfie has properly settled in and has been well and truly adopted by Sam. It is ever so cool, watching Sam protecting little Alfie when he goes out into the garden. It's like he's got a little brother that needs keeping an eye on. Yep... Alfie is properly settled:

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Now for some hobby news and I have had a distraction again. I have stalled on my Electropriests because I got fed up staring at an older project on the work bench. After a bit of effort, I finished off the third of the three veteran units for my Dwarf Army:

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This unit will join two others and Colonel Straken to form a Vanguard Detachment. The same detachment will also include some Ogryn but they haven't arrived yet. After all my indecision, I finally decided to get some Ogryn from Mad Robot miniatures in the USA. As a result, I have six of THESE (with guns) on the way. When they arrive, they will climb to the top of the conversion list so that I can finish off this detachment fully... and also see how the miniatures assemble and maybe write a short review.

Now that the veterans are finished, I decided to start work on something else from the army. After trying to clean up some legs for my Hearthguard and losing the will to live, I decided to keep things simple and start small so I dug out a Tau Firewarrior body and started work to convert it into a Beastman Psyker for the third infantry platoon. Here's where it's got to, at the moment:

Click the Pic!

It is very early days but hopefully, I can make a bit of progress over this week.

That's about it for now.

See you from the production line!

More of the same.

Hello and welcome to Inso's World again.

It has been a quiet few weeks.

The garden is still filled with rubbish from the fence replacement and that is something that is beginning to annoy me.

I haven't been sleeping very much so I haven't been getting much hobby done... in fact, apart from going to work, I haven't been getting very much at all done.

Sam (my cat) has been very strange over the last week and I think his tail injury is the problem. He will need to go back to the vets again but I think he just needs a bit more time to get well...

... we have managed to coax him into the house after he has been avoiding us for a few days so at least he has a full belly, even though he is currently hiding behind the washing machine. I fear that we have some difficult times ahead, with him.

The kitten is being a kitten. Alfie is either tearing up the house or asleep... so he's a typical kitten. He needs to tone it down with the other cats because he is looking to get beaten up by one of them... you never know, it may do him some good and teach him some 'cat manners'.

Work has been good. I'm still enjoying it but am looking forward to sleeping more because I am in a heavy working environment at the moment and I need to keep my wits about me.

Hobby wise, I have received some brass wire and hole punches from EBay (for sculpting and cutting holes in plasticard for my Epic Squat army bases), I received my Kickstarter pledge from Diehard Miniatures (more on that in a later post), I have pledged for another Kickstarter and also started a sculpt for a Facebook Sculpting competition.

This is the sculpt I am working on and the title for the competition is "the humble infantryman". I have decided to go for a Squat Sergeant 'at rest':

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As you can see, he is very WIP at the moment but he's only been on the go for a couple of days so he's getting there.

As for the Kickstarter I have pledged for, it's this one:

Kickstarter Link

I've just pledged for the Dwarves. Time is running out so if you fancy adding some of these to your hoard, get pledging.

That's it for now.

See you from the trough!

Things...

Hello and welcome.

This week has been one of all sorts of things so let's get to it.

Cats.

On Tuesday, little Alfie went to get his first jabs and have a check up. He's in perfect condition and is settling in beautifully. He has adjusted to all the cats and they have adjusted to him... so we have a four cat family now.

Click the Vid!

Sam, on the otherhand, hasn't had such a good week. He got himself injured and his tail stopped working. After a few days of him disappearing and me eventually coaxing him in, I managed to get him X-rayed at the vets and he isn't too damaged after all... just bruising, swelling and a temperature... so he had an infection as well. Pain-killers, anti-inflamatories and antibiotics are working to resolve the issue and he has started to regain the use of his tail again.

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He's got to go back to the vets on Tuesday for a check up and has to be kept in... but he has resigned himself to his incarceration and it has given him a chance to enjoy the company of the kitten... and he has been socialising with Alfie very nicely.

I'd like to say that was the end of the expensive week... but then there was the fence...

Fence.

Yep... we now have a glorious fence around the garden that is rock-solid and not rotten (YAY!). We are just waiting for a couple of old posts to be removed and the old fence to be disposed of and it will be a good starting block to crack on with the rest of the garden... money well spent but still 'more expense'. At least it was planned. I haven't taken any pix yet because of the rubbish in the garden. Once it is all cleared away, I'll get some pix.

Job.

This week, I have finished my care certificate, had my probation interview and also been trained as a care certificate assessor. I now have an extra "BUDDY" badge to wear at work. So I have an official qualification and have a second career (the first being aircraft, engineering technician) as a Health Care Assistant. I am rather happy about that.

Hobby.

As you can imagine, I have not really had the time or motivation for much hobby this week so I only have a small update that was finished last Sunday evening... and this is it:

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The pic shows the last infantry elements of the Artillery Company... this is Blue Company Command. With these troops finished, I just need to sort out the vehicles and the company will be finished... well, when everything is properly based, of course. 

I have started work on the second infantry platoon for Orange Infantry Company... but have only got as far as base-spraying them and adding ten pink faces. Hopefully, this coming week will provide me the time and motivation to get back to painting them again.

Who knows what this coming week will bring?

See you from the surgery!

Kitten Chaos...

Hello and welcome to Inso's World again.

This week has been a tiring but rewarding one.

First of all, the fence in the garden is in the process of being replaced. I am finally going to have a fence that is a nice, natural colour and is sound; not rotten. It is going well and will be finished relatively soon... it is a big tick off my list of jobs that need doing.

Work has been the usual level of awesome but tiring... and I am at a point where I have more or less finished my care certificate and should get it signed off this coming week... so I'll be off probation. In fact, I am going to be training to become an assessor so my managers seem to be pretty happy with me.

The other big news is this... meet Alfie:

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As you can see, Alfie has settled in nicely and is a rather sociable little chap. He's off to the vets on Tuesday, to get his first jabs, a check-up and sign up for kitten-club... 

... on the not so happy side, our oldest cat, Fred has also been to the vets and sadly, he's not well and is on borrowed time. He is arthritic (has had medication for it for a long time) and his mobility is reducing but he has also developed some lumps in his neck that are starting to make eating a little difficult... his next visit to the vet, will likely be his last so we are monitoring things and making his last days as happy for him as we can.

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In other news... my hobby time has been limited... mostly due to tiredness BUT I have managed to get another Squad of Epic Squats finished:

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This is the last section command squad for the artillery company. I am currently working on the company command units and hope that they will be finished soon. Then it will be back to infantry platoons again.

That's about it for now.

See you from the sofa!

A cool week.

Hello and welcome to Inso's World again.

It's been a really good week, this week.

We have had family visiting for the week so I have managed to get some family time in between work shifts. They were down to visit because this week has seen the annual Flora Dance and it is a real community experience. Luckily, my missus had the week off so that she could have plenty of time for family so she had a great week.

On Flora Day, I had my first pint of ale in a whole year. It was worth waiting for... so now I am able to enjoy a pint after my year off the beer. I also spent some quality time with one of my new mates from work so that was cool.

The reason behind the year off the beer was to celebrate my Dad's life with something that meant something and also something that I could look back on and say "I managed to do that". Well... I managed to do that!

On top of that, I have arranged to have our garden fence replaced. The tradesman who is doing it, should be starting at some time this afternoon... possibly Drektly... I guess we'll see.

From a hobby perspective, I have continued with the little Squats and have been working to complete the artillery company. I haven't quite managed it but have had a little progress:

Click the Pix!

The images show the last of the three Thudd-Gun sections and two command squads for two of the sections. I still have the last of the 3 command units to finish and then the company command/support section. I have decided that the support part of this command section will include another couple of Thudd-Guns so it will be different to the Infantry company command/support section. All will become clear when things get painted and based properly.

This coming week will see the arrival of our new Kitten, Alfie. We are expecting to pick him up on Tuesday evening and we can't wait.

I think that is about it for this week.

See you from the camel's back!

More of the same.

Hello and welcome to Inso's World again.

It has been two weeks of pretty much the same old stuff... lots of work, a few bumps in the road and a little bit of hobby... so here we go.

I have been enjoying work and had some really good shifts where there were no agency staff so the continuity meant that the shifts went without any bother and were really stable. The clients were happy because they knew us and we were happy because they were. I am certainly not saying anything against agency staff because they are a key part of our home running efficiently and they work as hard as us... but some of them don't work with us very often and aren't as familiar to our clients and it can cause them (clients) a little confusion.

So... work has been good...

BUT...

One of our clients passed away and has left a big hole behind them. They were absolutely awesome, genuine and always appreciative of the care they received and will be sorely missed. There were more than a few tears... but they went peacefully and had family around them so it was a good way to go. Safe travels to them.

Life has been pretty straight up. Pottering along, as I do.

Hobby has been a bit hit and miss... but I have found time to continue with my Epic Squat army:

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From the top, we have the second thudd-gun section for Blue Company, then -  Orange Company, Blue platoon command squad, 2 infantry squads and heavy weapon squad. I have also cleaned up a second infantry platoon, with a third one cleaned and primed ready to go. In the meantime, I have the third and final thudd-gun section for Blue Company, on the painting table, getting painted.

I have also received my order from Vanguard Miniatures so have a few vehicles to add (once the troops are finished). Here's an idea of how big they are:

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In other related news, I have been trying to decide what to go with this little army , as heavy support and will be building a Titan and possibly, a large, train-like land vehicle... but it's very early days yet.

Three weeks until Alfie arrives.

See you from the fluffy place!

Continuing the trend.

Hello and welcome to Inso's World again.

This week has been much of a continuation of last week... working and being tired due to lack of sleep.

My wife has had a week off work and I was lucky enough to pick up a training course on the one day I had off... so we couldn't really get much done. Fortunately, we managed to go out for an evening at a local historic garden with Marie Curie. It was a good evening which consisted of a walk around the private areas of the garden followed by tea, cakes and a bit of a meet and greet with other Marie Curie fundraisers and committee members.

Last Saturday, we popped over to see kittens at a friend's house and we are pleased to say that we are going to be bringing one home in a few weeks. His name is Alfie and here he is at the moment:

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He's only four weeks old so it will be a few weeks before he comes home with us... but he is a little cutie.

In other news, I got a pay rise... which is nice. I'm still really enjoying the work so I am hoping it can continue.

Apart from that, I have been doing a small amount of hobby stuff... and have focused entirely on my tiny little Epic troops. This is where I am at...

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So far, I have finished five Exo commanders, a ten man command unit, three Thudd-Guns and six crew. I have also finished a further three Thudd-Guns but haven't finished the crew for them yet. Obviously, I need to base them but I will be dealing with that when I have an idea of how I am going to do it... but progress is progress and I am happy to be getting the tiny folk painted up so quickly.

That's about it for today.

See you from the care home!