Christmas at Murph-Haus...

This Christmas has come upon us, and the house has taken on "the season"...
With the outside of the house being slowly blanketed in white...(approx 7" inches so far and more to come)...

Crisp and cold, the winter snows give everything a magical look from far away and up close...


Inside the house, the tree is up...
It's an 8ft Scotch Pine and while we are decorating it, I am making my old German Favorite...


Mmmmm....add a cup of cold water, some nutmeg, apple and orange slices...a little cinnamon, and stir...drink and stay warm....mmmmmm....Frohes Weinachten!



The tree is up and even "The Velvet Christmas Elvis" seems to approve.....
So we light it up....


And like the previous tree in our "strangely haunted house", it takes on a "glow" of it's own. I think our occupants like the tree....

The Tree and Elvis....

The Ornaments are all on the tree....


Including The "Elvis" Ornament...(I gotta get more of these)....



Then it's time to eat! Melodies delicious homemade tacos.....


Mmmmmmmm......tasty!
And washed down with....

mmmmm.....GOOD BEER!!!!

The stockings are hung...Melodies:

And mine...


WHAT THE ?!?!?!?.....

How did THIS get here?!?!?...Oh dear....

And a MYSTERIOUS PACKAGE ARRIVES!!!!....hmmmmm.....

No I didn't order an inflatable Salma Hayek...wait...did I say that out loud???...

Upon closer examination....

Oh dear...with cryptic words like this...what ever could it be????

And it's times like this that I know that I am truly blessed.

Yes, I've got bills to pay, and a job that doesn't pay enough, and as I get older my health gets worse, and I find myself burying friends...But in the long run, it's friends here on the net, (on TMP, and other sites), and in "The Real World", that remind me that I am truly blessed.

And I thank everyone that subscribes and reads this blog (and my others), for it means a lot to me...Thank you...

I didn't post as much this year as I wanted to, with work, and school getting in the way. Next year I am hoping for some more gaming and some new stuff, (including some forays into my new genres....mmmmm...), and to be able to share it with you.

But even with all the toys and fun, and merriment....let us not forget, the REAL "Reason For The Season"...

"For with Christ, all things are possible...."

And here is hoping that you and yours, have a very Merry Christmas....and thank you for blessing me by coming here...

Oh, and by request (scroll down please)....

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"Somewhere off the coast of Bongolesia"....

Merry Christmas to everyone....

Michael T. Murphy

Projects on the table (and under construction)...

So I've spent this weekend, dear reader, catching up on long dormant projects. Since most of these involved Bongolesia, and that I am doing a large game at Origins, I feel that this is the priority, but, as with all wargamers and mini-gamers in general, "other things" slowly start to creep in and demand attention as well...

One of my ongoing projects is the building of a coastal tramp trawler...a "boat of all trades"...I had a problem with doing the hull, until a foray into Hobby Lobby showed these little babies up for sale...


They're anywhere between $ 4.50 -7.95 each (if you catch them on sale), and are actually quite nice little pieces. with a little work, (removing some of the little items), they could actually be used stock the way they are for 28mm figs....Hmmm...Maybe my pulp figs need a little sailboat to take them out to the mysterious fog shrouded island???...hmmmm...

Anyhow, with my trusty Dremel (and a lot of patience), some balsa wood, basswood, and Plastistruct stuff, it was changed into this:

Not a bad little effort if I do say so myself...Now it's not completely finished, but you can see the changes and effort, and it's going to be the "perfect" little coastal trawler boat...Just the thing for when when you are making a fishing run, a scientific expedition, or taking folks out for "a three hooooooooo-ur tourrrrrrr...." along the coastline of Bongolesia...

A side by side comparison...

A word of warning though...If you do get these boats and start working on them with a Dremel or saw...wear eye protection...and be patient. The wood is extremely hard and when it cuts it shatters.

Next up...what construction project would be complete without a report on the progress of the Bongolesian Presidential Palace?

Here you can see the ground floor, the balcony, the columns, and for good measure; a member of the Presidential Guard standing near the entrance to give you an idea of the size of this structure...Just the thing a President-For-Life needs... (and always a good objective for the next coup that is sure to come along)....

No Presidential Palace would be of any real "umph", if it didn't have it's own grounds....Soooooo...Here is the layout of the Presidential Estate. Naturally there will be walls surrounding it, and of course...guards with machine guns and itchy trigger fingers...

Moving on in our little worktable tour....

The capital city needs an airport...you know, a place where tourists with full wallets can come, and tourists with empty wallets can leave...where air cargo can be offloaded and onloaded and where hijacked planes can land and await to see if the hijackers demands are going to be met or not...

Soooo...I've started work on the initiat buildings of "Sudekia International" also known by it's formal name as "Bomba' De Plane Airport"...(It's French you know...)

Here we can see the terminal building along with the flight control tower, (most of it), and a section of chain link fencing. A BRDM1 Scout Car and the Presidential Guard stand alongside to give a sense of scale...

Now what self-serving dictator wouldn't have signs telling people "how cool and great he is?"...B'wonah has it!

And of course as I leave the work table and turn around and look at the "project table"...THIS is what I see...patiently awaiting me....

AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!

And who are these "mysterious" characters on the table, overseeing all that is done?...Why it's none other than (From R to L), "Herr Doktorr Von Glockenspiel, "Uncle Albert", and that mysterious mummy bandaged criminal mastermind simply known as "The Tool"...What COULD they be up to???

Tune in next week for another exciting episode!!!

Comments are appreciated...