End of July, End of August and more....

 Well, July is over with, and now it seems that August is also almost over with, and we are now pushing into September and my beloved Fall Season.

Not much has been done on the gaming side for July and even less for August, or even the painting side.

So without further eloquence, here we go....

Buildings and such....

Our gaming group is taking a summer break, and we won't reconvene our D&D game until September, so I decided to get on my Western building kick for now. After Widow Morley's Cafe and Bakery, I've kind of hit a slump.

Right now my current project is finishing up a project that I started approx. 10 years ago, and that was "Working an ERTL Cowtown Barn into a decent building for my Western Town".

I started the project back in 2012, and then just "stopped". It's sat quietly for 10 years now, and I have now just started it up again. 

I decided to make the barn a livery stable, and in honor of my late friend Dan Merchant, am making him the proprietor of it.

(The front of the building showing the wood covering I am putting over the plastic. A slow process but the results are good.)

(Test fitting the building together to see how it fits and looks. Right now the front and back are complete and I just need to do the sides.)

(An oblique shot showing the front, part of the back and the undone walls. The sign is a test sign and the final one will be bigger and will cover the blackened square area.)

The ERTL Building is now coming along quicker than I thought, and all I have to do now is the interior, the sides and paint it up and weather it, (as well as adding signage).

I'm also working on "The Newspaper Building".

Right now it's called "The Rimfire Herald", but there's also a chance that name will change too.

(The future home of "The Rimfire Herald"; "All the news that's fit to sell...")

While working on these, I took a quick look at some of the buildings, I need to finish, and this is the gist of it:

(Projects to be completed....)

It's a mix of Arnica, Knuckleduster, Hovels, and some Old Glory "Foam" style buildings. (This doesn't include the ones I am working on, the scratch builds, or the Ertl stuff...)

After that, I decided to try to do a "group town photo", and this is most (not all) of my current Western Setup.

(Rimfire, Arizona Territory...or what I have so far to build the town and populate it...)

(A close up shot of the town and it's folks, and the visiting "Lil Ole Band from Texas"....

And as the time passed... My Wonderful Wife was able to get her hands on this:

(Yeps. Her very own copy...)

And then it hit us....

So I had started working on a project at a major university. The money is really good, and the work is good. I am enjoying myself.

I took a different route one day on my way home and saw something that made me think about "What Orcs could do if they truly put their minds to it"...

(Wonder if they have a union?...)

So I got home and wasn't feeling too well...

Went to bed early and slept for almost fourteen hours.

Woke up feeling horrible....

Took the test....

(Well crap....)

So there I was...COVID had dropped by to say "Hello".

I was isolated for 2 weeks, (I failed the second test also), so I had some time on my hands, and could've painted, etc. but it's just too much. As of this writing, I am still suffering some long term effects, (still dealing with cough, sniffles, body aches, and fatigue, as well as slight loss of coordination, some memory issues, and complete loss of taste and smell.

But while I was down, I was able to see them move the USS Texas from her tired berth in San Jacinto, to the shipyard in Galveston for the work she so desperately needs. It was a grand thing to watch.

(Moving her past the Stewart, and the Cavalla at Seawolf Park)...

(A deck honor crew on the Cavalla waits as the USS Texas, (BB-35), passes by...)

(An edited photo of the Texas in Galveston Bay. Tugs edited out.)

The current plan for Texas is to get repaired, and then from there to get an idea of where she is going to go, as San Jacinto is now out of the picture. Most people are hoping for Galveston, but Beaumont, and Baytown are trying to get her also. Gods I hope not.

And the Ginkgo is coming down....

TMP readers and some other folks will remember that in the past I have discussed getting the Ginkgo Tree that we have down due to it interfering with our backyard, house, and the smell of the pods when they drop and rot. 

So we had the tree team come out, and in the first of two sessions they got approx. 85% of it down.

(The Ginkgo Tree as they started to take it down...Sad but necessary.)

(The yard starts to quickly fill up with brush and branches....)

(Working on getting more down....)

(A massive amount of brush and limbs taken down...)

Truly it was kind of sad for the tree to come down as it was a pretty tree and offered nice shade, but then again, the roots, were causing issues, the branches, were also problematic, and the smell of the pods were a cross between fresh vomit and dog poop. We hired a couple of guys that do yardwork to come and remove the currently photo'ed six foot pile of branches. Three trailer loads full, and it was finally cleared, and we were ready for the next and final phase, (next weekend to be exact)....

And a quiet anniversary....

So on the morning of Sept, 2nd I woke up to the realization that it was "40 years ago on this day that I started my first day in the Army..."

Forty years...

Wow....

And I had coffee, and said, "Yeps"....and got on with life....

(Just a dumb 18 year old kid from Texas, that liked tanks...)

More to come for the month of September!

See you soon!