Posts

Another Year on the Farm

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Hello folks! It's been a year! I've not been particularly active on this blog but hopefully as I go through all the things I've been up to it may be understandable as to why! The biggest project for us this year has been getting the house renovation done and although it's progressing well - it certainly is behind where we were hoping it would be (The original timeframe would have had us moving in before Christmas)... Sonoma County kindly made sure that wasn't an option by sitting on the permits for 6 months before even taking a first pass on them. Our contractor has been working diligently to keep things moving though and although there have been a few hiccups - we're moving in the right direction! The rest of the property has also had some great progress as we finally thinned out the back lot and even dealt with most of the poison oak back there. We need to figure out on going management but it's worlds better than it was. Burying the lead slighty, the ot

Thanksgiving 2023

Hello all! This year I am doing something a little different for my Thanksgiving blog post. As president of IPMS Santa Rosa - I have been focused on trying to build some strong resources for the new club site and to that end, I am writing my traditional Thanksgiving blogpost on that site. If you'd like to read it - you can check it out on the President's Blotter part of the site: https://www.ipmssantarosa.org/ - Raggy, signing out

Vino Cup 2023

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1st Annual Vino Cup Join us in the heart of California Wine Country for the inaugural Vino Cup! This will be a one day tournament with plenty of prize support and an emphasis on fun. TOURNAMENT RULES PACK 2023 July 8th, 2023 at Outer Planes Comics & Games 1901 Cleveland Ave Santa Rosa, CA 95401 Cost and Sign up! In order to Register for this tournament you must do the following: • Entry- Send $20 via Paypal to dev at ragados dot com, On-site Sign-ups will be $25 • Rosters- All coaches that pre-register are required to send in their Roster by June 27, 2023. Players can email their Roster to painting at ragados dot com • Rounds- This is currently scheduled for 3 round event. Tournament Schedule 9:00 – Check-In Starts 9:30 – Round 1 (Random) 12:00 – Lunch 12:30 – 3:00 – Round 2 (Swiss) 3:00 – Round 3 (Swiss) 5:30 – Results/Awards What you should bring • Your Painted Blood Bowl Team • Five Copies (one for each round) of team roster • Blood Bowl Field/Dugouts/Templates • GW or NAF Bl

Thanksgiving 2022

Since moving to America, it has become a tradition of mine to write all the things I am thankful for. It is a challenge for me to focus on the good things in life. It's been a challenging year for me and many of the people around me this year, but for all that there are good things to be found and this is the time to acknowledge them. The really big thing for me is my return to the job that first brought me to the US. It has not been the best move for my career progression but it is worth it to be working back with great friends and doing work I know so well. I was finally able to return to the UK and see friends and family and I'm about to do it again! As well as hosting a friend here in the US.  Our home is starting to roll forward and I hope that by this time next year, we'll have the renovations done! Here's hoping for a wonderful 2023 - Raggy, signing out

Month 5 - Back to rank and file

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The penultimate month of this excellent endeavour had arrived and I was feeling cocky. A slight over ordering meant that I had an additional unit of Kharadron Overlords above my initially planned two squads, well no matter - I'll just paint up more models. Why not. I'd kicked off my participation in #taleof5painters with a squad of cutlass armed pirates, and I knew my second squad would take the hatchets... a little less piratey but it makes them distinct. But... what to do for the third squad? Well having lost an axe arm, I found a random Ironbreaker shield arm to attach to one of the models and decided I really liked the look of a pistol and shield. Certainly not the most traditional of weapon pairings but, as 30k fans will tell you - Breachers have a certain je ne sais quoi to them and I think these chaps are no different.  Painting 20 went faster than I'd expected, even having to do extra bases and more customization, it was clear that my colour scheme had become secon

The feeling when you've lost a month

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Month 3 of Tale of 5 Painters didn't materialise for me... My focus ended up being on a Lumineth army for the NOVA Open Foundation charity auction that should be going live in a month or so. I also had a lot of customization work that was needed for both the Frigate I was meant to do for month 3 and the Ironclad for month 4. Thankfully this put me in a good place to get the models cranked out month 4 and got me back on schedule! - Raggy, signing out

Keeping the hobby healthy

After a year in lockdown, many of us are suffering failing mental health, isolation and general ennui. Painting has provided many of us with something to focus on but it often spins into unhealthy cycles of competition. Instagram has provided a whole world of competition for likes, followers, engagements. It can become a dangerous cycle and this post really highlighted to me the importance of revising my objectives. So what do I want out of my hobby? Since I really started working to improve the calibre of my painting, I've been torn in this regard - part of my wants to become a better painter, another part of me has been focused on eroding the rather daunting pile of opportunity I've developed over more than 25 years in the hobby. Generally speaking I've been fairly successful in both areas in the last few years but more recently the quest to conquer that backlog has become rather 'all consuming'. I dedicate blogs to tallying what I've painted, what I'