The answer is … longer ago that I thought. In actual fact it was Wednesday 7th September … nearly three months ago! No wonder that I am feeling a bit jaded and in need of my wargaming ‘fix’.

Mind you, my wife and I have had a lot of things to deal with since September, and it is little wonder that I have not been able to set aside enough time to actually get some terrain and figures together and fight a battle. That said, we seem to be coming to the end of that period of our lives, and the prospects are beginning to look a bit brighter. I hope to get my toy/wargames room sorted out by this time next week … and then I hope to celebrate with a wargame!

These are currently stored in IKEA bookcases that cover two walls of my toy/wargames room plus about a metre of a third wall. They were originally arranged by theme (e.g. all the naval books were kept together) but over time this has become somewhat confused. Over the past few years books have tended to be put on shelves that had space and not necessarily together with books covering similar or related topics. The big ‘sort out’ should go some way to remedying this.

I may well end up with some books that are surplus to requirements. If I do I will probably dispose of them via eBay or as gifts. Any revenue generated by the sale of books will be ‘recycled’ to pay for future wargames projects … I hope!

Well here they are!

I have not played any wargames set in the eighteenth century for a very long time … but these figures have certainly encouraged me to think about doing so … but not in the near future!

Yet again, thank you Robbie for these wonderful figures.

Luckily my father-in-law had had the loft space boarded over and fitted with a light … although I did not realise the latter until I climbed up into the very dark loft and trod on the light’s cable. Once I had found the cable I quickly found the plug that had to be plugged into the nearest power socket (which was in the kitchen) to provide the power for the light.

Once the light was on I saw the magnitude of my task. Besides the six large suitcases and two travel bags – some of which still seemed to be full – I found a door(!), a large toolbox full of ancient tools, more used tins of paint than I could be bothered to count, eight carrier bags full of empty jam jars, several dismantled flat-pack wardrobes and cupboards, several old curtains and window blinds, a boxful of old photographs and pictures, and a large amount of old curtain track and fittings.

With my wife’s help I got almost everything except the door and the flat-pack furniture down from the loft. We then sorted through it all, and most of it was consigned to the garage for disposal. (I foresee several trips to the local refuse and recycling centre in the very near future.)

I hope to complete clearing the loft sometime next week … but next time I will try to remember to take some sort of heating into the loft because is was very cold up there today … and the weather was quite mild today for the time of year.

The stone had been thrown up by a passing car, and normally these just chip the glass. Such damage in inconvenient but repairable. Unfortunately this was not a chip but a full-blown crack which started out about three inches long but which quickly grew. At that point we decided that the best course of action was to go home before the crack extended right across the windscreen.

On the way back we stopped off at the local Autoglass depot, who arranged for the damage to be repaired tomorrow morning. They could not do the repair today because they do not keep windscreens for Mazda Tributes in stock, but they were able to order one for first thing tomorrow morning. The repair should take about an hour to complete, but I will not be able to drive for another hour after that in order for the the fixative to harden. My insurance excess for windscreen damage is £100.00, and I will have to pay this when the repair has been completed. This sounds quite a lot to pay, but the actual cost of the repair would be considerably more if I was not covered by my car insurance.