Ebaying yet once more

I had a funny old day today. In certain respects it was purposeful: I swam a quarter of a mile, I made a very tasty mushroom, walnut and parsley soup, I finished reading Alastair Reynolds' Revelation Space, I made some walnut brownies, then I made a good old stir-fry. But then again, large parts of the day just seem to have been sitting or lying down. Of course, there's a wee link there with the whole reading a book thing! Great piece of writing, that book: thoroughly engaging. I have little idea how it has managed to sit on my shelf for about a decade (or so the publication date suggests). Maybe I used to get intimidated by books 500 pages long? However, this lackadaisical approach has its benefit: I can now plunge headlong into the other books in what looks to be a great series! It always amuses me when indolence pays off in some way.

The walnut brownies were a great idea, too. My friend, Berni, had reminded me that I need to eat more nuts, and her daughter had made some brownies with nuts (possibly even walnuts) in, so the seeds (boom-boom!) were sown. I went on a bit of a shopping run yesterday, aghast at the expense of petrol. "You spent money because you were upset at spending money, Pete?" Yes, I am totally sane, officer. Ahem. I picked up some more mushrooms - I don't know I could date someone who disliked mushrooms. Not because I have any sort of moral, ethical, intellectual or other objection to those who don't favour fungi, but because I suspect that the amount of fridge-space I give over to the fibrous foodstuffs would occasion more arguments than even my hatred of reality TV and soap operas. :-D Anyway, I grabbed nuts, too, and some stir-fry ingredients, and fresh parsley, basil and coriander. If there's anything that really makes me recognise how lucky I am, it's got to be the scent of fresh basil. Said the guy using a computer nobody could have imagined a century ago, living in a place where famine's unimaginable, supplied with about 6,000 volumes to read in the flesh, and the whole of Project Gutenberg (et alii) online, and so on, and so on. I really like fresh basil.

Anyway, I said this was going to be about Ebay, and so it is. I mentioned a few things that I put up yesterday, but without pictures, and I've added some more things, so here's a little rundown. At #6 is another in my supply of Griffons, revelling in that green-yellow paint-scheme I keep thinking someone else must like! At #5 is a Chimera in a more subdued and old-fashioned chipped khaki scheme, which I painted and modified so long ago I couldn't put a date on it. Some time after 2000 and before 2005, o honoured archaeologist! #4 is a Forgeworld Conqueror turret on a Mars Alpha pattern hull - a rather pretty configuration, if you ask me. The hull and body don't quite match up, but it was becoming clear I can't keep selling FW turrets without any hulls or I'd just have hulls left! #3, likewise, is an Executioner turret on a regular Leman Russ hull. I keep forgetting the name of those plasma turrets, frankly. I wish those guys at GW had more imagination. When you've got Exterminator, Eradicator and Executioner all as variant turrets for one basic design, you get fuzzy about what's what. Anyway, #2 is a squadron of scratchbuilt tanks suitable for representing basic Leman Russes. Three of 'em for thirty quid - so less than for a single GW Russ. Granted, you probably can't use 'em in a store, but they're fine for other sci-fi systems, too. And three for thirty quid, did I say? Lord, I sound like a used-car salesman. Finally, at #1 we have a Thunderer. The flanks and dozer-blade from the old Russ kit, and the main body and gun scratchbuilt. Click on the picture below for a larger version, dear reader.

I'll be doing my best to get some more work done on the saloon-cum-hotel. I got a bit distracted, as I am running low on Westerns . . . except for ones which I think are a bit downbeat. But I have been thinking that I should have some wallpaper in the hotel. My initial inclination is towards something red, as this is a colour common to all these films I've been watching. If it's historical, maybe that explains all those saloon fights: not the alcohol making men aggressive but the rage-inducing colour! Hm! Anyway, until next time, dear reader!