ALY MORRISON'S "BUTTERFLY" ADVENTURES IN THE WORLD OF WARGAMES AND TOY SOLDIERS

Tuesday 13 July 2021

Four years old….

 Greetings…

Gosh… another year…


Wow!… Where did last year go?…

Wow!… It’s been like Groundhog Day every day…

Two conflicting feelings of how yet another year has passed…

It has indeed been eventful… for the good and also sadly for the bad…


So… Hobby wise.

Lots of toys painted…

I have started a couple of new things…well of course I have… and hopefully I will be posting evidence of this soon.

The older collections continue to be added to…

My Shiny Napoleonic project continues to give me a lot of joy…And a slight amount of horror when I realised just how many Minifigs S Range castings I have acquired… It is however a dirty job and someone has to do it..😁

Having played a couple of solo games with my 3rd Century Romans and Sassanids I am also enthused enough to paint more toys… Camel Cataphracts… Oh yes…

In the background I have been steadily re-basing my Crimean War collection… l will hopefully be able to show something of that the near future .

Sculpting… Hmmm!… I’ve been playing about with bits and pieces… Trying to get my Mojo back… but while my hobby space is dominated by my works computer it is hard to switch my sculpting brain out of the virtual/digital world…

I suppose as I start to reach retirement age… in the next couple of years😲… I should be able to spend more time creating historical toy soldiers.

On a personal level…

Two jabs and I am feeling a bit more confident about returning to the big bad world… Of course my country is run by buffoons, so I continue to be cautious…

The ACW campaign I am part of is starting to kick off again… let’s hope that General Luckless doesn’t live up to his name…

Mharaid and I have had some jolly good games… However I still seem to come second 😕.

Games in general have halted as I sort out the wargames room in anticipation of work on my house towards the end of the year… when I say sort out… think archeological dig.

The major downside of this year was of course the very sad news of the passing of my old chum Duncan Macfarlane… A true giant in our hobby and a sad loss to our world.

To end on a positive note… Which I feel one should always try and do…

Having this Blog and getting the support from my followers has been an uplifting and enjoyable experience… I have and continue to connect with like minded individuals…many of whom  I now consider friends…

So I thank you all for your support and encouragement…


All the best   Aly.




49 comments:

  1. Happy blog birthday Aly - here’s to many more!

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  2. Happy birthday! Its been good to have another blog worth reading on the list. Long may it last.

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  3. Happy Birthday to you and your fine blog, Aly! Always a pleasure stopping by for a visit.

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  4. Always worth a visit and looking forward to future blog/birthdays: Excelsior!

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  5. Happy Birthday Aly....it's always a pleasure to read your blog and receive your comments on mine. You can at least console yourself that the real buffoons are not running "our" country ...I don't know what your opinion of Ms Sturgeon is of course! And like me, you are probably not too concerned that football has gone Rome rather than Home!

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    1. Thank you Keith…
      Nicola still has her problems.. but she is certainly more cautious and thoughtful than Boris…
      I remain rather neutral as far as the ‘game’ is concerned..my daughter was rooting for England and my many Italian friends were of course supporting their homeland.
      It was a good game…but someone had to win.

      All the best. Aly

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  6. I enjoy your pages very much ... so another year please :-)

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    1. Thank you Norm…
      As you wish… I shall do another year 😁

      All the best. Aly

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  7. Happy birthday to you and your blog. Let's hope things are finally moving forward, despite the buffoons! Bring on the camel cataphracts!!

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    1. Thank you David…
      Yes here’s to the future… And Camel Cataphracts..

      All the best. Aly

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  8. Happy birthday to your blog Aly and thank you for adding that little shiny space in my life 👍😀

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    1. Thank you Matt…
      It’s been my pleasure…

      All the best. Aly

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  9. Congratulations. I enjoy my visits to your world of model soldiers. As someone for whom retirement is about the same way of I hope too to increase the world's stock of shiny troops.
    Stephen

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    1. Thank you Stephan…
      Here’s to a long shiny retirement.

      All the best. Aly

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  10. Happy bloggy birthday I shall look forward to your next four years of fluttering immensely. Shine on Sir.

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    1. Thank you Phil…

      Flutter Flutter….🦋🦋🦋

      All the best. Aly

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  11. Your blog has been a real asset in a year where there have been few of them. Looking forward to more.

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  12. Hello there Aly,

    Many happy returns old chap to you and the blog! Also apologies for adding to the lead mountain....:-)

    All the best,

    DC

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    1. Thank you David…
      I think it was the two boxes of French cavalry I forgot I had that tipped the balance… 😂

      All the best. Aly

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  13. Well done to have survived another year…especially the last one! I am glad to see that like me you are planning your retirement (I have a mere 778 days to go).

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    1. Thank you Mark…

      Not that you are counting the days or anything 😁

      All the best. Aly

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    2. He has an App on his phone that is ticking down to R Day.....!

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  14. Happy Birthday to you and your blog - may both have a long and fruitful future, full of good food, wine and shiny things.

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    1. Thank you Rob…
      Clearly you are a man after my own heart…

      All the best. Aly

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  15. Happy blog birthday! Camel cataphracts hurrah!
    Best Iain

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    1. Thank you Iain…

      What’s not to like about Camel Cataphracts…

      All the best. Aly

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  16. Happy blog birthday from across the pond! I greatly enjoy all your delightful wargame ramblings! Here’s to another year! Cheers!

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    1. Thank you David.

      I shall continue to ramble…

      All the best. Aly

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  17. Happy blog birthday! You definitely have done a lot over the last pandemic year! I wish you more face to face gaming with your Daughter and friends... and that the future will allow gaming travels abroad ;-)

    Best wishes,
    Jan

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    1. Thank you Jan…

      Normality…. Bring it on.

      All the best. Aly

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  18. Happy blogaversay, I think you’ve summed up the last year pretty well and as to time flying having sold Crann Tara I couldn’t believe 9 years had passed since it’s creation. It all seems such a blur. But I have plans for second retirement which will see the grey cells keeping active and the butterflies continue to grow. Live well, play strong and keep the projects flowing

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    1. Thank you Graham…

      You are a man with strong butterflies.. l can’t wait to see where they take you 😁

      All the best. Aly

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  19. It’s been a joy popping past and seeing your hobby work Aly. Long may it continue…

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  20. Always a good read and an inspiration too...though I've still to go shiny on anything!
    Keep up the good work.

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    1. Thank you Stuart …

      Go shiny… you know you want to…

      All the best. Aly

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  21. Gillian thinks we both sound like a pair of excited four year olds when we’re chatting about our toy soldiers.

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    1. I think she may be correct David…
      Although I like to think I am now closer to 12 years old…

      All the best. Aly

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  22. Happy fourth Birthday Aly and may there be more to follow. Whilst my replies have been perennial I hope I can be more active in my replies on your fabulous projects and game reports in the future.

    Stay safe and well. That extends to the family always.

    Best wishes,
    Helen

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  23. Thank you Helen…

    All the best. Aly

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  24. I will steal another respondent's phrase and wish you a happy fourth blogaversary! I have enjoyed following the flight of your butterfly. Here's to the journey!

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    1. Thank you David…
      The fluttering will continue…

      All the best. Aly

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  25. Congratulations on your anniversary and hoping for many more. Always a pleasure visiting here. I have learned a lot, and greatly enjoyed your comments and thoughts. I feel when I visit here its like listening to a old dear friend. Many thanks!

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    1. Thank you very much Mark…
      I am glad you enjoy my sometimes random meanderings through the world of toy soldiers…
      Here’s to a time when we can actually meet up throw dice and drink a few beers…

      All the best. Aly

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