Day 273: Saturday Painting

I managed to sleep in until 8ish this morning with no events to wake me. First time I slept about eight hours in days. I did the dishes. Read emails and painted figures. I ignored the laundry and did not fold it–it did not seem to mind.

I am still using the “Classic Editor” on WordPress and have not had any more crashes. I can also see the back-ups. I would prefer the new editor, but having everything working as expected is a plus. I will remain using classic!

I watched the next Mandalorian episode this morning. I am still impressed by the acting and creativity, but it seems guilty of the same issues I see in Doctor Who. The story cannot progress fast during a week; that is saved for the end-of-season. I liked the TV series The Expanse because I am never sure how important an episode is while watching it–they would kill characters and complete major story arcs anytime. We will see what happens with this show.

I ordered bagels for lunch for everyone. I had an everything lox bagel.

I painted figures for much of the day. I am trying to complete the initial painting of the dwarf faction of the board game Heroes of Air, Land, and Sea. I have completed the initial painting of all twenty figures (it is hard to do twelve figures that are exactly the same), and now I have to do the touch-up and corrections. I have also done the hair by my new dry brushing light colors over plain colors to get the hair to look more realistic. I do not want a blond to look like they are wearing a lemon. This with a dark shading oil paint to restore the 3D shading will make this work.

I should finish tomorrow with these figures.

I also read a new book on gunnery practices in world war one for battleships delivered today–are you bored already? Revisionist historians are now–well, in 2005, after more than a hundred years, looking closer at what happened in one battle for three hours. It was one of the worst moments in history for the modern British Navy, the near defeat of their best fast attack squadron and the destruction of two ships and crew. This near-disaster happened in the “Run South” of the Battle of Jutland 1916. Britain’s ships only managed eleven hits on their opponents (vs. 35+ hits against the British ships) and lost two battlecruisers in horrific explosions. Historians are still trying to understand what happened. The official account from 1916 or so was just published, being suppressed for 100 years! I bought a copy when it was released.

This book on gunnery has no strong narrative to keep you interested, and I did manage to nod-off this afternoon after page 9. I am further now. I am interested in the author’s conclusions about the battle (I have ten or more books on this one battle and related material), which makes me plow through.

Returning to today, I had to slip out, nothing I like to do with the Covid-19 growing infection rates, and buy some goods at the restaurant supply store and a few other Safeway items. I was happy to see everyone is careful and following procedures, and wearing masks. I was surprised to see a new meat counter in Safeway and picked out some nice steaks. Before, the local Safeway had only refrigerated cases, and you picked out what you wanted from the pre-packaged items. Today, for the first time at my local store, I could pick my steaks and have them packaged for me.

It is strange to see my Safeway keep improving during the emergency. The store is cleaner, better organized, and has a better selection now. Not what you would expect in a pandemic!

I made dinner of Morrocan Lemon Chicken with rice. I use tagine spices and preserved lemons for this. There are recipes for something like this are on the Internet. I just two chop onion, cut up celery, peel and cut carrots into largest bits, heat oil and butter in a large dutch oven on the stove, cook garlic and the onions for a bit, add the spices, chicken, cook a bit, and then add the rest. Bake covered for an hour or so at 350F. I made the rice in the Instant Pot.

While we waited, I dug out the Olympia Provision cheeses and meats. Susie made that her dinner. Corwin and I enjoyed the chicken.

I was going to make some beignets today, or at least get the dough started. I will likely try that tomorrow morning. I have always wanted to learn how to make these since I watched Princess and the Frog by Disney. I liked the music too–I have the soundtrack!

I usually get burned-out of painting after doing two factions. I have one initial set left, but I may move on to something else after I finish the dwarf figures (forty figures in a month is a lot for me). I will see how I feel on Sunday.

I would like to get back to writing Howard’s stories–putting painting aside for a while. I was editing Howard in Amsterdam, and I want to add an epilogue to Howard’s Lockdown. I usually write at a coffee house, but Covid-19 prevents that now.

The deaths from Covid-19 in the USA today: 2,309.

Another hymn I miss singing. I can manage to sing this one most days: Many Gifts, One Spirit. Methodist Hymnal #114.