Lighting HO scale stained glass windows.

Installed the LED lights under the stained glass windowed dome of the church.

The LED lights

The unlit dome.

Quite difficult to arrange the background lighting conditions so that the illumination can be seen in a photograph. Here are a few shots.

Not fully satisfied with the look of the dome itself. The black felt tip pen lines that form the leading of the stained glass are not a success. I'm going to superimpose lengths of string on the black lines to give the leading some depth. I might also stick something on top of the dome eg a little cross sitting on a miniature dome or domelet!

Comme ca.

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Currently listening to:

Optimo.

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Last night's dinner:

A hurriedly made fish stew with scraps from the local supermarket fish counter: tuna, cod, trout plus mushrooms plus chunks of courgette.

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Currently reading:

Gripping..... actually, it is.

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Miscellany:

There was something lovely about the Dakota.

Back to LED lights

Have turned my attention to lighting up the church's stained glass dome.

Wired together a mixture of different coloured flashing LED lights.

Linked them to a 9 volt battery.

And then sat the dome on top of them.

The rationale behind connecting a mixture of different coloured flashing lights was to suggest the kind of strange flickering light that one often finds in a church - especially an old one.

Tomorrow, I'll actually install the lights.

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Currently listening to:

Yet again.... I find this mix endlessly fascinating.

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Last night's dinner:

Unbelievably, considering the number of photographs taken, I don't have one of the hog roast at my niece's wedding.

So, here's one from the internet.

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Currently reading:

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Miscellany:

Yesterday's wedding car.

Rossmore Road

Yesterday, I made a bit of a mess applying a red felt tip pen outline to the "Balthazar" sign.

So, I tried to ameliorate the situation by adding even more red.

And, actually, I think there is an improvement. Looks like a homely wee restaurant.

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Currently listening to:

Can't see past this hour long mix.

25 years ago, the Radio 1 DJ Anne Nightingale hosted a cult evening radio show that was tuned into by students all over the UK - this was before the days of student loans; a time when students went to university with the laudable aim of enjoying themselves for a few years.

I loved this show too - it was very punk/rock'n'roll/guitar based. 

This was one of her most requested records of that era.

I loved this record.

But then she underwent some kind  of sonic metamorphosis and switched to playing exclusively electronic dance music. She refused to look back.

I'm the same; I now can't see past electronic music. I now find guitar based music boring, and my attention wanders. 

Electronic music provides all my musical needs (with a bit of Bossa Nova thrown in).

Anne Nightingale

An aside: some years ago I asked a colleague of mine whether her husband, who had a colossal record collection, possessed a copy of "Rossmore Road" since I couldn't find my copy.

She came in the next day and reported that her husband had told her to inform me that he didn't collect crap music.

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Last night's dinner:

Take away chicken curry from the Shenaz.

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Currently reading:

The latest edition of "Africa": as usual, a most uplifting read.

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Miscellany:

This afternoon my niece gets married here:

With reception here:

The Romance of Maps.

Fiddled about with the entrance to "Balthazar".

Yesterday

Red border, red windows and black card filling in gap on RHS

Painted over some of those black splodges on LHS.

 Actually, the addition of the red was a mistake - I'll attend to that tomorrow.

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Sometimes I stand in front of this map of France and day-dream. There is something about its colouring which makes it come alive; it's more than a map.

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Currently listening to:

An hour long mix put together by Golden Teacher.

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Last night's dinner:

Homemade oxtail stew

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Currently reading:

What an amazing life, Richard Holloway led.

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Miscellany:

Cherry blossom fallen on a neighbour's driveway.

Using photos from internet for scenery.

Once again I searched the internet for photographs from which to make an item of scenery.

This time I wanted to make an "above the door" sign for the restaurant whose outside tables will be situated in the church square.

I chose this one:

Reduced it in size, printed it out at the most superior print quality setting, cut it out and stuck it on card.

The curve suited the shape of the entrance doors.

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Currently listening to:

These podcasts that I've recently been downloading are basically hour long segments of continuous electronic dance or electronic experimental music.

I'm beginning to appreciate the skill which goes into assembling a sequence of continuous tracks. They are almost like symphonies in that they seem to have a structure; no idea what the structures are. Discovering successful structures might make an interesting study for a musicologist.

So, today (for the umpteenth time) I've listened to the hour long podcast made up by Leisure Muffin.

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Last night's dinner:

Beef pie and baked potato.

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Currently reading:

What an unusual person Richard Holloway is.

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Miscellany:

I'd always assumed that Balthazar was this chap:

From the Book of Daniel - "the writing on the wall"

But the name seems to be more commonly used to refer to one of the Three Wise Men.

It also refers to a 12 litre bottle of wine which is equivalent to 16 standard bottles of wine.