After five years in a sort of limbo during which I’ve retired from a long time career, handled a couple of health issues, dealt with car and house crises, had a second dabble with full-time working, had a friendship that became a relationship then reverted to a friendship, lost an old companion and then gained a new one, I think I’ve finally reached the point where moving on in the physical as well as other senses has become urgent.

The urge to return home to Scotland has become overwhelming, particularly as England lurches from one disaster to another whilst mutating into something troublingly akin to Weimar Germany in 1932.

Whilst I love my little garden here, this house has failed really to become a home regardless of what’s been done to it; really, like most modern era UK housing, it is merely a space to sleep in, with no real room to grow in the ways I wish to.

At least it is no longer the mausoleum to a failed marriage that it was five years ago, but I conclude it’ll never be a place I can find genuine peace in and in any case, there is too much urban noise and development encroaching on these parts now.

Last month, I gave myself nine months to prepare this place and get it in a saleable condition; so far it’s progressing slowly but it’s still moving in the right direction.

There are three main jobs that are required; completing the line of the fence that was commenced last year and replacing the flooring in the kitchen and hall. All else is essentially paint and decor though I may replace the boiler if I can scrape enough change from the sofa!

I gave a bit of thought about my final destination in Scotland; the South West I ruled out due to being remote from most major points in Scotland;& the Borders too expensive and far too Tory! The Central Belt is too overdeveloped for my tastes now also.

I have always had a liking for the city of Dundee and the rural and coastal areas surrounding it so the County of Angus it is.

Additionally, it’s well placed for easy quick reach of the major towns and cities, most of my friends and hubs for my hobbies and activities.

All being well, I will hopefully have a wee bit of equity when I sell this place and purchase the next which will give me a bit of short term security while I find new work.

Whilst I enjoy the work I do, I’m beginning to tire of the shifts and weekend work again and physically, my body is taking a bit of a hit from the long periods at the wheel.

Something where I have more regular hours but still only around the 25 hour mark will be ideal as I also have to factor the welfare of my new companion in too, speaking of whom…

…meet Scubaidh Dubh!

Scubaidh is two and a half and an ex-racing greyhound, retired due to a muscle injury before he’d really made proper racing.

Fortunately he was kept at one of the more ethical kennels where retired dogs are re-homed as pets.

He’s made the transition to pet very well and he sure knows that he’s landed on his feet here. Watching him in full flight, he is majestic, powerful and graceful and yet he is a very gentle soul with a bit of a comedic streak about him too.

No dog is ever the same as it’s predecessor – there could never be another Abi and that’s as it should be.

Scubaidh is his own dog and he’s carving out his own special place in my heart in his very own way.

He’s gonna love his new world when the time comes!

And perhaps in a new, more suitable location, free of other complications; modelling can resume its proper place in my Pantheon of interests and activities – although I’m considering a dabble with bee-keeping too, since the little guys seem to be needing a hand at present! 🐝🐝🐝

…or is it becoming impossible to sell your surplus model items without going through a certain rip-off auction house?

Ten years ago; like so much else, it was so much easier; you just wapped it in the classifieds in RMweb and job done; you’d get a decent, mutually agreed price, sometimes within minutes!

That option went after the Warner’s takeover.

These days there are a few Facebook groups but not one of them has been any use whatsoever and their utility in my experience is utterly eclipsed by that of a chocolate teapot.

Therefore, the only options open appear to be the traditional ads in the Modeller and similar or as a last resort sticking it up on here in the hope that some of the blog’s limited audience might find something of interest!

I recently had another of my periodic appraisals of my modelling stocks and I feel that there’s an enormous stock of kits, RTR and built stock that will probably never be used. At the same time, I need to invest in some household projects in order to get this place in a saleable condition.

As such, selling a host of items will sort out a few projects that can be undertaken quickly including the last sections of the garden fence started last summer.

Meantime; I offer a couple of things in the fleeting hope that someone out there might find them of interest.

Firstly, here’s my spare Bachmann Fairburn 2-6-4 tank.

The side tank rivet pattern was less common in Scotland so I have less need of this one.

It has all its detail parts in the bag and has seen very little, if any use.

I’m looking for circa £65 for this one.

Next up is this project which I’m unlikely ever to get on with is GT3.

This bundle comprises the Golden Arrow resin body shell combined with the excellent High Level Models etched chassis kit.

This includes a bespoke gearbox and Mashima can motor.

a set of Gibson driving wheels is included along with a full set of decals prepared specifically for the model by Cambridge Custom Transfers.

The only things you need to add are bogie and tender wheels but because of that I’ll be happy with £135 for this one.

Also, again by High Level Kits; this kit for a J72 chassis.

All you need for a running chassis is here including Gibson wheels and motor.

I’m looking for £60 but will include a Bachmann J72 body in this, making another complete project.

Although I’ve not put a photo up yet, I also have the set of loco etches Mike Edge has done for the LMS Princess Royal in 4mm.

Again, I’m after £60 for these etched which are excellent although probably for the experienced modeller.

If anyone’s genuinely interested just ask and I’ll take a photo or two.

Today,  I read a truly wonderful piece of straight-from-the-heart prose, penned by a Social Media friend, Bruce Biddulph.

In this piece, Bruce managed to articulate every bit of thought, feeling and gut instinct that has reverberated in my heart and head through most of my adult life.

As a survivor of the Thatcher Years, the betrayal of Blairism and the storm of awakening that preceded and followed Scotland’s Independence Referendum, the barely describable insanity of Brexit and the Maelstrom of trigger happy “Free Market” Fascism that ravages our world today, these words chime powerfully with me as a statement of intent and a rallying call.

Please read Bruce’s words and ponder the sentiments therein.

In my opinion, these words would be worthy  of the great John MacLean.

I’ll allow Bruce’s words to speak for themselves now for although my perspective is Scottish, they transcend borders, just as that great man’s did.

“…Let me tell you where I come from. My interest in heritage and history has deep roots in my political and social standpoint. I watched as our centuries of work, the work of hands and great minds, were destroyed by the hands and minds of people who never broke sweat in their lives. They are my enemy.

I watched as a society of engineers and do-ers were cast onto a sacrificial fire that was no sacrifice at all to the financiers and the admin crews of pen-pushers. I watched as once cohesive communities and long-term bonds of social and democratic balances were ruthlessly torn to shreds and people with true grit and integrity hit the bottle, threw the towel in, emigrated or plain died of broken hearts.

I watched as our towns were torn up, our way of life made a mockery of in television shows designed by utter freakshow people who rose to the ascendant and corrupted life to the max. I watched a sure and promised land became a wilderness overnight.

That process was not done by the men and women I knew, it was done by men and women I never met. Yet the men and women I knew, went to their graves sadly, as surely as the sad remains of their centuries of work and learning were to be and still are, reposed in the graves they welcomed.

Today I dont see junkies, alkies, wasted youth, detritus, I see humans devoid of opportunity to use their hands and minds in full productive and pride-inducing activities. I see people told they are lost, they are nothings, they are nobodies and its all their fault.

They are told that riches alone define your worth, and those riches must be a number of zeros, that how you get those zeros matters nothing so long as you attain them. That is the lesson they are taught and that if they cannot obtain or have obtained them, then they are nothing but animals requiring penning into slave labour or as useful idiots, if they can perform neither task to the satisfaction of the zero-makers then they may as well go the way of the real makers of the past and be done with it.

The zero makers, I despise with every fibre of my being. They alone are responsible for all the fashions of our times, the shuffling of labour pools, the very pollution and cheapening of life values to the point they would watch even the ground they hope all non-zero people would fall into, burn.

They are my enemy, and their footsoldiers my weary adversaries. I will always be a friend to the dispossessed, the disinherited, the real people who you can look in the eye and tell would take a welcome break from hopelessness and would rebuild even though they are nothing and with barely a hope left and who everyone else turns from in their safe disgust. The real people, who if you were in a forest all alone, and without bread, would rush over the hill to seek sustenance if you were too weak to move.

The zeros people would have you perish.

That’s where my moral line is drawn from. And my philosophies, hopes and fears, my dreams, my obsessions, my spraying of alternatives, flows from.

And yes, I cant survive this world of zeros. But to no grave will I go without a fight against the world financier and corruption of life… “

And now you know where Bruce stands, you also know where I stand.

“Having been some time in preparation, a splendid model is guaranteed for all. “

Sorry, John! 😉

Mine is still to arrive but this excellent review from the Dean Park gang tells you what you need to know about this fine model.

Waiting enthusiastically for postlady now!