It feels like a long time since my last post, mostly because it has been such a long time since my last post. Things have been so busy in Smythland since May 9th and I confess I haven’t done a lot, but I’m happy to share a bit.

First, there was the wonderful trip to the UK. Flew to Begen, Norway, cruised around the British Isles, and ended with five days in London. Visited notable places such as Lerwick in the Shetland Islands. Went to Invergordon, Scotland and visited Culloden battlefield. Was reunited with my luggage in Edinburgh, but really enjoyed my visit to Edinburgh Castle and a wander through the Royal Scots Greys museum. We spent a day docked in Belfast and toured a lot of the County Antrim countryside en route to Giant’s Causeway, which is amazing. Truly a lovely spot. Then on to a day in Liverpool, which was far more wonderful than I imagined. Did some Beatles stuff (hah, of course I did!!!) but had a wonderful tour of the city which I really enjoyed. Then on to Wales and Castle Caernarfon, a day in Dublin and then we wrapped up our journey in Greenwich. Each of these places I could easily have spent a week exploring. That’s the nature of cruising-you can see a lot of places without unpacking, but don’t blink because you’re on to the next spot.

The five days in London were so far beyond my expectations. I thought a stay in a huge city would be overwhelming, but making our way on the Tube was easy. So many great sites. I finished at the Imperial War Museum, which I thought I would pass, but it was great. I also fulfilled a major dream by getting to Portsmouth and the Royal Navy Museum there. I was able to clamor about the HMS Warrior and the HMS Victory. It was fabulous. But the other big winner was the city itself. I’ve never been to New York, Tokyo or Beijing, so I was a little overwhelmed by the idea. We stayed in a lovely part of the city by Kensington Gardens. It was so cosmopolitan, and there is no experience I had that wasn’t right on. I even loved the food.

Since I’ve been home, my life has been stacked to the roof with to do’s. We had our two hobby rooms remodeled and I dragged my entire life out to a pod in the driveway. It took the better part of a week to put things back together. By June 6th I was able to officially move back in and it’s been great. I have the larger of the two rooms and it is much more comfortable to work in and move around. It’s a super place to work and listen to music.

Since returning from Europe I’ve managed a couple of games. I’ve gotten in one SAGA game. At the moment, that is the big thing. Our SAGA group which began small with four of us playing at Silver King game shop in Tacoma, has reached as many as a dozen. Everybody is having a good time with it. I’ll say a bit more about my own SAGA efforts shortly. The second game was with David Sullivan playing Xenos Rampant at Zulugames a couple of weeks ago. It was very much fun, and my first opportunity to drag out my small pile of Xenos Rampant troopers. Though I didn’t do well, I enjoyed the game and learned a lot from playing.

The rest of the summer has a lot of busy in it. Lots of family and community stuff. Weekend games look tough to squeeze in. However Wednesday SAGA days look more available when the puppies get older. What? I haven’t mentioned puppies??!! Last week Lorri and I brought home two miniature American Shepherd puppies. They are nine weeks old and truly delightful. However they do suck up some time that I’m happy to give.

As always I’m making plans for what to work on. Right now that means SAGA. At the present time, I have two painted armies: Norse-Gaels, and Irish from the Age of Vikings book. I’m working on one more army from the same book, the Anglo-Danes. They are about half finished. I’m also working on a Pict army for my dear friend Dave to honor his 75th birthday. These are Footsore figures and pretty fun. I’ve been trying to give them tattoos using a fine point pen. I’m not going to do anything else until these two armies are complete. I’ve made progress on both, but do have a ways to go on each.

I’ve made a commitment to do Camerone at Enfilade in 2024. There is some painting go with that, so after I’m done with the Picts and Anglo Danes I’ll be splitting time between Camerone figures and a final SAGA army, the Skraelings. I know I’m being ridiculous because SAGA armies are a lot of like a bag of Lays potato chips, but that’s all I have on my radar at the moment.

It’s hard to imagine June is nearly gone. It’s been a great if very busy month. Haven’t accomplished as much on the painting or gaming front as I would like, but I haven’t done nothing either.