End of July (and all of June) Update...

 Wow, we're at the end of July already?

As of today there are only four (4!) more Mondays left until the "ber" months come!
Hurry Autumn!

Okay first off I have to apologize once again for no update in June. Life has been horribly hectic and crazy here at Murph-haus and it's been a lot of irons on the fire and very few removed.

So due to a lot of it, (and I will explain some in a bit), I am just now finally, FINALLY getting around to getting things in order and updating this blog.

So I am going to be starting off this one with the end of May and moving into June and then July. 

(NOTE: This post is very VERY photo intensive. Please click on the pics for larger versions and please wait for it to finish all the downloads, etc.)

MAY:

Towards the end of the month, we decided to hit the local Titus Bakery in Lebanon, and we gorged ourselves on some donuts. Titus is one of the top donut bakeries. 

All I can say is "Thank The Lord for Metformin."

Between gulping down delicious donuts and other tasty goodies for the month, I got back after a 2 month post Little Wars hiatus to working on my figures again. This was especially easier on me now that I had taken time and cleaned up the painting area once again.

As for figures, I got back to working on my pirates that I never finished for Little Wars. I'm on a massive binge of trying to get figures, and scenics, (and some boats), finished and ready for playtesting by Dec-Jan.

(Arrr me hearties! Tis time to finish this band of scalawags up!)

(Working on some British Marines also, to give the old ball and bayonet to the Pirate scum!)

So then June rolled around....

JUNE:

So I started June off with a clean work desk.

And a clean painting room....

A friend of mine then said "You know that nature abhors a vacuum, and that this clean area will soon be littered with production "stuff"."

I nodded sadly. It was true.

When Father's Day rolled around my wife in her ever charming way, gave me an awesome gift....

And yes it was true.

I am now a cat daddy.

REARRANGING: 

The comedian Jeff Foxworthy once said, "When a woman says "I've been thinking", it usually means that you, as the husband, are going to end up buying something, moving something, fixing something, or painting something."

In this case though when my wonderful wife, (Gawd bless her!), said "I've been thinking." I listened to her, (just like any wise husband should), and her idea made sense. 

Since I set up the gaming room, I haven't really been happy with the layout. I needed shelves and bookcases, yet the current layout prevented it. I also realized that the TV viewing area simply wasn't the best setup.

So I did some rearranging.

On the day that we went to get some donuts, we went down a side street and lo and behold, three bookcases sat on the sidewalk. The guy that had them had gotten new furniture and they didn't match so he was getting rid of them.

A couple of days later, I got 2 more off of FB marketplace.

I then set myself to the task of setting up the new layout for the game room.

I recreated the alcove area of bookcases that we had at our house in Indy. This gave me back to back shelf space, (which was quickly taken up).  I am always slightly flabbergasted as to the amount of space that 28mm terrain and scenery (15 does it's share also), takes up in storage. Next house will have an attached warehouse to it. 

So I went to work and finished it up.

(The new setup for the TV area. Bookshelves were moved and all of the books I had in storage are finally out and on the shelves. Some of them have disturbing titles...)

(The game table area (8' X 5', 40 sq ft of gaming table space), along with the display cases. Display case #3 on the far side has a burnt out light...again.)

(The front side of the new bookshelves with all of the "stuff" on it. )

(The back shelf "alcove", holding games, books, booze, terrain and scenery, and a wide amount of other stuff...)

A portion of one of the bookcases in the back alcove also was deemed to hold my liquor collection.

(Quite an interesting collection...)

The top shelf holds my bourbons and whiskies, (including a 30 year old bottle of Wild Turkey 101 rare breed that we purchased on Christmas night 2006, and the remnants from a cask of Jack Daniels that had been in the barrel from 1953 until 2007...

The second shelf holds mostly my rums including two bottles that cannot be purchased in the US, (long story on that one...).

The third shelf holds all the "others", (vodka, gin, blue curacao, schnapps, etc.).

The shelf below it holds some 15mm terrain and scenery in storage containers. I went a little "Sheldon Cooper" with the label-maker and labeled pretty much everything in the containers for easy ID.

(This top shelf holds all of my Blood and Plunder stuff...)

Against the back wall I had some artwork, certificates, and my collection of "old game convention badges" displayed.

The set across from this held boxes of miniature stuff, (top shelf being dedicated to SST), as well as rules, board games, etc.

The other shelves were also devoted to box games, RPGS, and boxes holding old Dragon, White Dwarf, and other Magazines.

Above it all on the top is my headgear collection, including my old original "steel pot", and my Boonie that I wore during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm.

Down the side alcove is more terrain boxes, some kits, my entire town of Chili Verde and a whole lot more. All just waiting....

As well as the Flag of Bongolesia.

And I got my bookcases set up....

And then I added more figs to the display case, (in this "case" I added some more 18th century figures.)....

(Quite a few "Pirate Scum" on the second shelf I see....)

And all was good...

Until the following evening.

"We're taking water!!!!"

The next night I sat down with my wife and we had pizza and popcorn and watched "Oblivion" starring Tom Cruise. 

Outside the thunder rumbled and the rain fell...hard and long.

It was that "time of the year" in Indiana where strong summer storms could cause some problems.

And this one did. 

A series of storms came up from Texas and our state had already had 2-3 days of on/off rains and the ground was saturated and our creeks and storm drainage points were already backed up and full.

And the new rains fell.

At the end of the movie, I told my wonderful wife that I was going upstairs to bed. She likes to stay up late and binge watch her favorite TV shows.

As I was getting ready to go up, a little voice in my head said "You better check the basement first."

So I listened to the little voice. 

And I was glad I did.

Water, water everywhere.

The storm drains had backed up and we had water in the game room, in the painting room and the laundry mechanical room. as well as the entry way and bathroom.

(Towels, sheets, rags, and anything we could use that would soak up water out of rugs and the floor and slow down the flow of water..)

(Our poor overworked and overwhelmed shop vac once the floor started drying....)

After approx. 4 odd hours of water collecting and draining, we were finally exhausted and fell into bed.

During the night the storms passed and the drain system dropped in level and the water finally went down into the storm drain.

By the next morning, it was mostly a wide, wet, stain on the floor which required some mopping up and cleaning.

Sigh....

Also for the month of June, I was able to finally get some good US made flag display cases for my stepfather and my wife's moms funeral flags.

Now they are display, with the honor they deserve.

During this time, I had a friend of mine asking about size comparisons of different manufacturers of 28mm figures, so I set up a quick scale for him, (and anyone else that wants to use it).

(From left to right, Hawgleg, Monday Knight, Foundry, Foundry, Old Glory, Dixon, Dixon, Knuckleduster (the old 25mm stuff), and Gunfighters Ball (Knuckleduster new figures).

(Here's another version that you can see the varying heights of figures.)

And with the new room re-arrangement, it was just in time for the live broadcast of the US Army 250th BD parade.

Meanwhile on the "Cat Front" of things....

(Black cats are very unique, special, and magical in their own ways...)

(Making you wonder what they are often thinking in their uniqueness...Yes they are unique...)

(They can look at you and be quite intense in their gaze...)

(Sigh...and they can also be uniquely "weird"....)

One of the things we noticed was that while Juju was happy, she sometimes seemed depressed and lonely. 

So we discussed things over, my wife and I.

Actually she suggest and me, being the good husband that I am, said "Yes dear."

(And this is Gemma...)

I went back to the shelter because my wife had seen this tortie and loved her. She had been surrendered by her former owners who basically treated her as "a cat", and allowed her to get pregnant way too young. She had had a litter already and had been spayed. They didn't know her name so they just called her "Shakra". It didn't seem to fit, so we renamed her Gemma, (Latin for Gem).

We brought her home and did the slow introduction.

Lots of hissing and attitude, but slowly over the days, things got better. 

There was some of the legendary "Tortietude", but that's been pretty much gone.

(Bathroom duty...)

("Birding" together....)

Now they are pretty much a team.

And it's good for them.

Juju has a "sister", and Gemma has a "sister" and like Juju, now has a "forever home", where she can sleep in places, play as much as she wants, look out the windows, eat good food, and get loved on. 

And I finished up some more figs, getting them ready for flocking and sealing.

And this brought us up thought July and into August.

I went back and set up my water and terrain boards, (existing) to get an idea once again for next years Pirate Game for Little Wars. 

(8' X 5' = 40 sq ft and it still doesn't seem enough...)

And I added some more figures to the display case.

Now I am seeing a bend in the thin plexiglass shelving due to the weight of the figures, so it means I wil have to order a 1/4" piece and double up the two 1/8" pieces when it arrives.

Sigh.

It's always something.

And with that dear reader, I shall close out this overdue entry and get it out to you for your enjoyment.

Thanks for reading, take care, leave comments on what you like and what you would like to see as all comments are appreciated.

Stay tuned for there is more to come!

 

And the girls want to wish you a "Y'all come back soon now, ya' hear?" 

End of May Update.

 So the month of May has quickly sped by, and now we are down to the Memorial Day weekend. 

I'm a bit surprised at how little I have done game wise, or gaming wise, or even in the hobby.

This is explained a bit below.

Those "Post Convention Blues"....

I'll admit it. I have it. 

I reveled in the joy and fun of Little Wars, and have the fuel for the fire for next year, and "The Crew" and I have already been planning. 

And as the month has passed, due to the myriad of things going on, that fire is settled down some.

First off is the major amount of housework going on.

For those thinking about it.

1: Old houses are amazing.

2: Old houses are problematic.

3: Old houses are often expensive as practically nothing is "repaired", or able to be repaired. Instead it has to be replaced.

For those of you that have been following on TMP, and here, I am having major plumbing and contracting work being done.

We now seem to be in the home stretch.

We are working on 3 of the four bathrooms here. 

This house was built before "code", and the previous owners did a lot of half ass cobbling things together to make things work. We are now working on making it work "like it should". 

The bathrooms are the main case, as is the drainage line.

I've included some pics to show "some" of the work that has been done.

(Click on pics for larger version)

(Removal of the old broken tub, old line, old drainage line, floor section, wall section, etc, to include toilet, sink, and vanity...)

With the new flooring and tile in, it looks a lot better....

 

 

While working in the bathroom, our wifi fears and suspicions were confirmed. 

The interior walls of our house are between 6-9" thick depending on which wall. With most of them also being lathe and plaster, with 3-4 inch support beams, and now it seems coated in support grid metal. 

This essentially makes each and every room in our house its own separate, individual, Faraday cage. 

And we had to get a new drain line for the kitchen and get it re-piped through the basement.

(This also includes working on the wall, which was damaged during pipe removal....)

(And the new pipe is in....)

With all the work being done, they were working on everything but the kitchen sink.

Oh wait....

(New sink to go with it...)

In order to get the new bathtub to work property we had to remove the 108 years old valve system, (Mostly copper, steel, and brass)....

Dang that thing was heavy.

Bathtub removal was courtesy of a sledge hammer.

It was the original cast iron bathtub, crafted in Sept. 1918.

As this has been going on for over a month, we are starting to see the end of the projects and going forth from there, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. I'll keep you updated for when the work is all finally done.

But this brings us to our next dilemma, which is known as "The mess that is my game and painting room"...

Due to all the work (As well as the convention prep), both my painting room and game room were completely wrecked.

All of my Little Wars loot and swag that I got is still sitting up in a corner in the dining room because I simply have no place to put it downstairs due to the construction mess.

First up is the disaster known as "The Painting Room"...

(Yowza! What a mess!)

(The disaster known as "The Painting Table"...)

(The even bigger disaster known as "The side table"...)

I started working on it, by starting to clean, reorganize, and relabel Shelves #3 and #4.

So far so good.

(It looks a lot better than it was looking at the start....)

Then I decided to get an idea of the game room.

And wished I hadn't.

(An ominous warning I think...)

(EEEEEEEKKKK!!!!!)

(And double "EEEEEEKKK!!!")

So I went back and worked on the painting desk and side table, and got it more or less kind of straightened up.

(Not as bad as it was, but still could use some more work...)

(This is better also...the table that is, and not what is under it....)

I did take part of a day in Lafayette and stop by the LGS, (I won't call it a FLGS because while it was "Friendlier" than in the past, it still wasn't "Friendly".)

I picked up a couple of GW pots, (the brown flesh, and another pot of Agrax Earthshade) as well as some Vallejos and a new bottle of Zap A Gap. 

Meanwhile I stopped at the local Goodwill store and picked up a couple of plastic storage boxes for 1.99 each.

I can use these in some capacity so they will come in handy.

Figures:

My painting table still has two trays of almost completed figures on them. One tray holds a nice selection of British Marines and a civilian lady, while the other tray holds a group of scumbag pirates.

(Arrr...'Tis be a group of scumbag pirates!)

And I was able to finally get some of my figures back in the display case.

(Quite a collection of figures for the genre and age...)

And for terrain ground purposes, I was able to get a nice piece of felt for groundcloth.

Meanwhile my wonderful wife, (Gawd bless her!) was out at a friends farm, playing with mini cows and the rest of the barnyard animals.

I was also able to pick up some books while at Goodwill.

They all look interesting and "do-able"...

(Recipes so simple, even I can do them!)

(Martha Stewart would be proud....)

(And she'd even smile about this....)

And I tried out my Dracula "Robber Steak" recipe.

(From the oven to the plate...)

(Not bad, if I do say so myself....)

And I had to get to work on cleaning up the wood pile in the back yard.

(Starting to get this mess in order...)

(Finally done...and it's all gone...)

After getting the wood burned, I enjoyed the rest of the day with a nice, cold, Spotted Cow, and a Hoyo De Monterey "Excalibur" Cigar, while listening to Cleveland lose to the Cincy Reds, 3-1 on Sirius XM.

(A stick...)

(And a drink...)

I was also fortunate enough to be able to order some more Mezzo Mix. It's been out for a while, so I was overjoyed at it's availability.

And "someone" decided that I had "slept enough"....

And so the month of May is closing and I will close this out.

The next post for June will highlight my recent bookcase purchase, the clean basement gaming room, (hopefully), the rearrangement of the gaming room, and some of the things we have seen and done while on some road trips to some yard sales. 

Stayed tune for there is more to come!

Thanks for reading!