Coping!

I understand that the World's perception of the UK is that it is a usually wet country climatically wise. Given that the last decade or so has seen some really hot and dry spells you would think that perception would be on the way out. However given today, yesterday, the day before that and so on, maybe that original perception is still valid! It has been a real rainy day and I think that the Burning Woman Festival that I talked about yesterday is probably more like a Somewhat Damp Festival as from what I understand it is mainly taking place in the open or in tents. Not something I could cope with these days!

However, I think I can cope with the wet weather better than the 40C temperatures in some parts of Europe at the moment. Anyway, whilst it is very British to talk about the weather, there are other things in life, as Mrs. Woody tells me as she hands me another list of jobs to do! To cope with doing those I have, however, managed to get out to the Man Cave between jobs and without getting too wet! Having found the missing safely stored coping stones to the two viaducts I thought it best to actually now attach them before they became missing safely stored again.

I had thought that I was only missing four coping stones but it was actually eight - the other four were in the bag - luckily! Anyway with them all in place it just makes the viaducts look better - you could even say coping well!

Things turn up when you least expect it!

Things turn up when you least expect it like out on a bike ride this morning when I came across this sign.

I am sure there the event is not as you might read from the sign but that is one strange sign. Must find out what it is all about.

Back in the reasonable safety of home, the last couple of days has seen the WMD HQ undergoing some deep tiding and cleaning which Mrs. Woody seems to be keen on having done and having done by me! Fair enough. The cats and me do make most of the mess whilst Mrs. W, safely watching, from the comfort of a sofa, some more murder mystery TV show, does not! I must admit that I do sometimes leave things lying about. The six pens, can of paint and some screw drivers (I wondered where they had gone!) in the kitchen are probably better placed elsewhere! 

Having got into the right frame of mind for this tiding and cleaning lark I took to my Man cave which was looking decidedly messy to bring about some sense of cleanliness. Whilst I was tiding things up I happened to open a box to see what was in there. I actually emptied it out to establish the contents and found this at the bottom.

It might just look like a plastic bag with a few bits of cardboard but as soon as I saw it I knew I had found them. I had found the missing coping stones and the brick pier to the viaduct that I talked about a couple of weeks ago. 

Brilliant! I knew that I had put them somewhere safe - in this case a very safe place! I also knew that the likelihood was that I would find them when I was least expecting it which I did. Anyway they are on my workbench ready to be glued into place. Now where did I put the glue?????

The destructive abilities of cats and kittens!

Three weeks today it will be Christmas so I thought I would make an effort and introduce the cats and kittens to the WMD HQ gesture to Christmas decorations. Those with cats and kittens will know the futility of putting up a Christmas tree and accompanying decorations. All that happens is that it becomes an enormous cat play toy. Eventually the tree is felled, the lights trailed across the room through furniture and the decorations are scattered throughout the house still being discovered in their new locations during the following summer. However a few weeks ago I did spot the Racing Santas decoration whilst accompanying Mrs. Woody on one of her wallet stressing shopping trips (that post is here). At the time I was taken by it and I went back a week later to pick up the last one in stock. I thought that at least it can be easily put out of the reach of cats and kittens. Today it came out and was assembled. You can't help by being amused by the kittens antics ( the older cats were asleep)  and you can understand why they are banned from the Man Cave! Nothing would be left which Mrs. Woody would no doubt find as amusing as the destruction of the Racing Santas as highlighted in this short video!!

Talking of the Man Cave I did some more finishing off on the landscaping with the road and canal glued down and their edges given some greenery to blend them in. I have also put two of the track circuits back in temporarily and today saw some trains run - YAY!!!!!!!

Nearly there!

Yes! Nearly there with the two viaducts on my 00 gauge layout. everything is built apart from the end parapet supports which will have to wait until the viaducts are finally ion position as I think they will need altering to fit. The viaducts have also received a dose of weathering to make them look less like they were built last month and more like they have suffered decades of hard life - just like me! Only thing is I have done it naturally over the years as Mrs. Woody highlights as she smiles with no wrinkles!

The weathering has been done with an airbrush to highlight various areas where dirt would make itself known. Firstly I used a very dilute light grey and then a dilute earth brown. No real art to it although the experts would be able to do a far better job but for me I am happy that both structures now look somewhat more aged than before I graffitied them! 

This is what it looked like in mid October.

Six weeks later (is it that long???)

Still more to do with the weathering using some weathering powders and a few parts of the landscape to tidy up as well as fastening the road and canal down but certainly getting towards putting the track back!

Road closed!

 Out on my bike ride this morning I found my route subject to a road closure. No road works causing the closure but a group of swans who had probably decided being out of the canal water was warmer than being in it and the road was the perfect place to warm up. Only problem was that they were not willing to share it! As I approached they showed their aggitation!

Having stopped they went back into guard mode. I was not going to risk my wellbeing or bodily extremities by going any further so turned back! 

Having survived the potential swan incident I returned to the relative warmth of WMD HQ where some progress was made on the viaducts. One viaduct now has all its parapets and capping stones which makes a visual difference and brings this long ongoing project a step forward to finishing. Maybe by the weekend I might be able to get some track back in place and actually see some trains running. That is unless Mrs. Woody has other ideas for my time.

 I also added the cosmetic stones around the underside of the arches to hide the join between two parts.

There is a gap as I have not fully bedded the viaduct in yet. It is getting tight so I don't want to damage anything!

5882

5882. Not just a random number but marks the total cycling mileage I have done this year so far. November saw me pedal another 421 miles which given the weather during the later part of this month is not a bad total. Just another 118 to do this year to get to that 6000 revised target - it was 5200 so I have certainly beaten that by several miles!

Back in the relative warmth of WMD HQ I did a bit more on the landscaping of the valley sides of my 00 gauge layout. The edges of the landscaping looked ragged so some card formers were glued onto the sides and the gaps glued and then covered with static grass as these before and after shots show.

Some progress with the viaducts too with the parapets being added to the second viaduct along with some capping stones.

I will be glad when the viaducts are finally installed and I can get some trains running again.  Just have to keep pressing on ....just like my cycling!

 

Home in the warm!

It was one of those damp cold days that probably feels colder than it really is. However whatever temperature it is it is not warm enough in the man cave for the landscaping on the valley sides of my 00 gauge layout to dry. Luckily it is not glued down to the baseboard although given the current issue that glue would not be dry either. Never the less it was easy enough to bring it into the house when Mrs. Woody left and it has a nice window view above a radiator to hopefully fully dry. I have closed the room off to cats so the only threat to it from feline claws is the pottery cat peeking round the curtains which is a risk I ma willing to take!

Meanwhile attention now turns to the pair of Metcalf viaducts which need finishing and weathering before being installed in place. Given that weathering methods and materials take better on a rough surface I have sprayed the viaducts and remaining parts in Tamiya matt varnish. You realise just how big these structures are after you spray two bottles worth of the stuff to cover everything.

Hopefully I can begin to make a bit more progress again - then again I don't think it is going to warm up any time soon!

Wilding!

A strange word but one that has come into favor over the last few years as ecologists and environmentalists try to turn back time and return habitats to pre human industrialisation times. Well whilst not strictly wilding in those terms I am trying to wild the valley sides of my 00 gauge layout so that they look unkempt, natural and hopefully realistic. Using a variety of Woodland Scenic products I have been adding vegetation. Whether this wilding will succeed is open to debate but here are some photos of progress so far.

I have been using dilute PVA glue to soak the various products so they look a bit shiny at the moment but once dry the should look better. At the moment nothing has been fixed down to the baseboard which means at the moment I can have better access to areas of the valley side - working smarter not harder as I get older! Once I have got the wilding done then it will be time to start fixing things down and merging the tops of the valley side into the main baseboard tops. 

The grass is growing!

As it is late November the grass outside shouldn't be growing and my lawn mower, cosy in its Winter hibernation in the shed, hopes that is the case. However in Woody's World in his man cave grass has been growing as I begin to bring some life to the valley sides.

I am using a static grass applicator to put an initial layer of short grass made up of 2mm long winter grass fibers and fine turf on the valley sides. Once this is done it will give a base layer to apply some more varied vegetation. Generally in the sort of location that I am trying to recreate the vegetation will be unkempt and wild!

The static grass applicator provides a static charge to the grass fibers as they are shaken through a mesh at the bottom end of the tool. The red wire is connected to the area being grassed and the PP9 battery in the applicator completes the circuit and as the grass fibers leave the  tool it is statically charged so that it stands upright in the glue applied to the area to be grassed. There is a special glue which is supposed to be electrically conductive.

Leaving this to dry overnight before going any further. Hope it doesn't grow too much!

A bit philosophical!

Nearly two and a half years ago I had a detached retina in one of my eyes. To cut a long story short it happened out of the blue but I did something that most men, including me, usually don't do until it is too late which was to actually seek medical help. I think I realised something serious was wrong and the fright of possibly loosing sight in one eye made me seek that medical attention. Despite the pandemic at the time, I was diagnosed on a Tuesday afternoon and undergoing surgery on the Friday morning. The surgeon was highly skilled and the rest of the team brilliant and my sight was saved. Since then I have had to go for regular checkups at the hospital. Today I went back for another checkup and was finally signed off by the surgeon who was happy that all is well. That is great and I am really pleased. 

The whole saga has brought into my focus (no pun intended) the fact that most of us take sight for granted. Having gone through the possibility of loosing sight in one eye I now have a keen interest in news and organisations related to sight loss and the work that they do. I probably have a greater empathy then I ever did before with those who have lost their sight and have to live a life in darkness. I think with some of the other things I have gone through during the past few years I have learnt to live life positively and make the most of each day. You never know what tomorrow may bring. 

That's the philosophical bit over with so how are things going on my valley landscaping? Well slowly and almost a repeat of yesterday and probably some other days last week. More plaster work to cover the polystyrene formers to the landscape but I have probably finished that now.

It may be boring work at the moment but I am being philosophical about it and at least I can see to do it! More of the standard Woody mayhem will return tomorrow!

Woody goes to a gig!

I got a phone call at 4.30pm yesterday from an old friend, Dangerous Dave. Now that 'Dangerous' doesn't mean that he is an unsavory character just that he does some dangerous things! Best illustrated by the fact that when he wired a new light fitting into his and Mrs. Dave's bedroom he managed to wire it so that when switched on it also switched the light on in the next bedroom. No one could work out how he managed it - not even the qualified electrician called in to sort it out! Anyway Dave had an offer that apparently I could not refuse! I thought what does he need sorting out after his latest 'gone wrong' project? However he had a spare ticket to see a Thin Lizzy tribute band and would pick me up at 6.30pm. I had nothing else on and Mrs. Woody had a whole series of some murder crime mystery to catch up on so I said yes please! I am glad I did. The band was Limehouse Lizzy and they were incredible musicians as well as recreating very faithfully the music of Thin Lizzy which was part of my misspent youth! Both Dave and myself have played in bands during our times but neither of us are any where near the professionalism of these guys. The singer was a great front man and had the audience fully behind the band within seconds of coming on. 

I walked out slightly hard of hearing but I would certainly go and see them again. If you like Thin Lizzy this is the band to see.

Back at WMD HQ I decided it was time to clean my car both inside and out - it needed it! Whilst the bucket and sponge were out I also thought it might be an idea to clean my bike. Normally I prefer to spend my time riding the bike rather than cleaning it. Some cyclists I know spend hours polishing and cleaning their bikes only to see it smothered in dirt on their next ride! However I am sure me being slower these days is down to the weight of all that dirt! At least that is what I tell myself!  The photo doesn't do the build up of muck and dirt justice but it was bad.

Some water and sponge work together with an old toothbrush (and Mrs. Woody thought that those old tooth brushes were thrown out!) to get into the nooks and crannies and it was looking better and weighing less! 

 Back in the Man Cave a bit more work on the dropped baseboard section of my 00 gauge layout. Today the road and canal sections were put in which means that I can get on with finishing the landscaping. I must admit that this part of the project is dragging on for me but I do need to see it through!

The road and canal sections were cut from a sheet of foam card and hot glued into place.

I was wise enough to test that the road and canal actually would be capable of taking 4mm scale road vehicles and narrow boats without them crashing into the viaduct. The bus, car and narrow boat were borrowed from my 009 narrow gauge layout just to test things although they do look rather good in this new location. I was also wise enough to ensure that the road level is above the canal level! Working smarter not harder as I get older!

Well I am still a little hard of hearing so I have a good excuse for not hearing Mrs. W if she has any jobs that need doing! 

The bread knife comes out again!

The bread knife found itself being secretly transported back to my Man Cave for another session of polystyrene carving. I am sure that knife must be confused about where it lives and what it should be doing but luckily it can't talk to Mrs. Woody. 

Following my time for reflection a couple of days ago which resulted in the decision to move the viaducts closer to the baseboard edge, the previously formed landscape found itself subject to forces that nature would have taken millennia to achieve - who says I can't be fast when I want to be!

It looks a mess and it was a mess! Good job I can hide that all away in my Man Cave. Following some precision cutting, well more like hacking, parts were removed from one side and glue back on the other side. To my amazement I even managed to glue the parts on the right side! Result! Before anyone could look in too much detail I covered most of it in another coat of plaster.

Hopefully this dries fairly quickly and even more hopefully the bread knife goes back to its rightful home where it can resume its role in life of slicing bread rolls! 

Racing Santas!

Mrs. Woody was at home today so we had a look round a local garden center which as is the case these days is more akin to a gift shop with a garden center attached. They had a lot of Christmas stock in and much as I could ignore the fancy Christmas trees with all the trimmings, the motorised reindeer and singing snowmen this did catch my eye.

The Santas are lifted up the elevator to then roll down the roller coaster track. Hypnotically simple but pleases my mind which probably explains a lot!

Back at WMD HQ I started to plaster the valley sides on my 00 gauge Last Great Project layout. A mix of plaster and brown paint was made up (the brown paint colours the plaster so if it ever cracks or chips it shows brown rather than white) and strips of paper towel cut.

The plaster was then painted onto the polystyrene and then the paper towel strips added.

More plaster was painted on top of the paper towel and so it went on...

...until it was all covered.

Just have to wait for it to dry out now. I'm just wondering now whether I could incorporate one of those Racing Santa set ups into this scene??????