Getting Set

Having sorted the baseboard for the train set, we then needed to decide how to set it up - primarily so it could be 'deconstructed' if we ever have guests staying in the room!

We'd been through options such as pulleys to haul it up to the ceiling, foldable legs, etc. In the end went with a couple of portable trestles, (which were simple, cheap, and work a treat).

So . . . on to the next step - covering the board in cork sheets.


We'd finally got four rolls of cork of an appropriate size (bit of a 'fail' on our first purchase, where we'd misread 75mm width as 75cm!) . . . , which we were going to glue to the baseboard to provide a decent surface and some sound 'dampening'.   

Out with the PVA and one roll down - needed plenty of tins and jars to weigh it down and prevent it bubbling up, mind you.

  

Once that one was dryish, on to sheet two - then we did three and four together, as they were covering a smaller area (and we managed to find some more tins!)

Job done - looking good - next job finalising the track layout (not sure yet about the one shown here):

Jigsaw Time

I like a good jigsaw puzzle - and I had a couple of new ones for Christmas back in 2014 - but I'd made this pact with myself that I wouldn't start one until this blog was up-to-date.

So, a year on - thank you (again) for my Christmas presents!  Started with the Rolls Royce of jigsaw models - a Wentworth wooden puzzle, with its 'whimsy' pieces:

Beautiful quality - nice picture - and the Wentworth puzzles have such differently shaped bits (aside from the actual whimsies), which makes them really interesting to do, even at the 250 piece level.

On to the 1000s. . .

I Will Do Better . . .

So the flurry of blogging is over, and I'm now (for the first time in well over a year) actually up-to-date.  Look back to see what you missed in 2015 - and hopefully I'll do better from now on!

And So It Begins . . .

As mentioned, one of my Christmas gifts this year was a train set, and while the Virgin Pendolino had to go back due to a fault, it has duly been replaced by a Flying Scotsman.

A baseboard has been constructed, and much time is now being spent on track layouts, researching the ins and outs of track underlay, points, building models etc., etc.

We hadn't realised quite how many YouTube videos there were out there on model trains - the level of detail some enthusiasts go into is phenomenal . . .  but I don't think we'll be going as far as airbrushing our track with 'sleeper grime'!

For us, I think this will be a work in progress for quite a while - but expect lots of train set related blogs over the coming months.

In 2015 I Mostly Read . . .

So here's the 'reading list' for 2015:

November 2015 - January 2016 - more Tudors, more Dudleys (lots of them this time), in The Uncrowned Kings of England: The Black History of the Dudleys and the Tudor Throne by Derek Wilson. Really interesting coverage of the Dudleys and Tudors from Henry VII to the end of the line - felt quite sorry for the Dudleys in the end!

October / November 2015 - more on the Elizabeth and Dudley theme, with Sarah Gristwood's Elizabeth and Leicester - good coverage of a fascinating relationship.

September / October 2015 - back to the Tudors again withDeath and the Virgin Queen by Chris Skidmore. Really enjoyed this analysis of the relationship between Dudley and Elizabeth, and what really happened to Amy Robsart?

September 2015 - follow up to The Mangle Street Murders(which was going for 99p) The Curse of the House of Foskett. As with its predecessor not the most stunning read, but passed the time for the price . . .

September 2015 - something a little different - Antoine Laurain's The President's Hat, an engaging little number where Francoise Mitterand's hat accidentally changes hands changing each recipient's life for the better along the way. A feel good read.

August 2015 - back to historical biography and Tudor: The Family Story (Leanda de Lisle) - interesting to trace the emergence of the Tudor dynasty from its origins with Owen Tudor, and the even more fascinating life of Margaret Beaufort. You couldn't make it up.

August 2015 - Neil Gaiman's The Ocean at the End of the Lane- charming story, and a riveting read, but somehow left me wanting more . . .

July 2015 - new 'Welsh Elf' book (as Martin calls them) -When in Rome the latest Hidden Mysteries - another cracking story.

June/July 2015 - back to Tudor historical biography and The Winter King - excellent biography of Henry VII.

April 2015 - second of the comedian Ian Moore's 'Mod in France' books C'est Modnifique - another amusing offering, and a good read.

March 2015 - Back to historical biography and a book onRasputin - interesting read, fascinating character!

February 2015 - Moved on to a couple of more modern 'romances' with a fantastical edge - Cecilia Ahern's A Place Called Here and The Book of Tomorrow - preferred the first one, the idea that there is a place where the lost things go . . .

February 2015 - Finally read a Neil Gaiman short story I'd downloaded from somewhere ages ago - The Truth is a Cave in the Black Mountains - as ever with Neil Gaiman an intriguing read. Based on references in his reviews ofJonathan Strange then moved on to Lud-in-the-Mist a charming story, juxtaposing the homely and the other. Good stuff.

January 2015 - Excited by the news that the BBC have made a series of Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell decided it was time for a re-read. Had forgotten how good a book it is, what a wonderful and detailed mix of the historical and the magical. Looking forward to seeing what they make of it on screen.

Still a Bad Blogger

Ok, ok - I'm still not caught up - but 2015 is coming on by leaps and bounds (August should be up by the end of the week - and I'm blogging in real-time here) so check back on 2015, where posts will appear as they should have done in due course.  Hope to get 2016 on track soon!