Preiser HO scale cafe people - seated.

Made a start on gluing the HO scale Preiser diners onto their teeny-weeny Preiser chairs.

Have a look at these photos:

Preiser chair

Preiser figure.

The figures must be glued to the seats.

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Currently listening to:

Golden Teacher

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Last night's dinner:

Forgot to take photograph, but it was a take-away Chicken Chow Mein; here's an image from the Web of somebody else's meal.

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Currently Reading:

Back to the Mitchell Library this afternoon.

Mitchell Library

And this time chose the books from the "Recent Releases" section - plus one randomly chosen from shelf.

Here's hoping!

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Miscellany:

My Chinese HO scale figures arrived today way in advance of their predicted time of arrival. In fact, they didn't come by container ship, they came "Par Avion".

Some more HO scale figures arrive.

Noch, Faller and Preiser are three German manufacturers of HO scale plastic figures. Those that I ordered to populate the nightclub street have arrived. (The Chinese made figures are still in transit somewhere in the middle of the ocean.)

The revellers made by Faller.

A couple and a bloke reading a newspaper from Preiser.

Street musicians from Noch.

The street down which they will stagger.

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Currently listening to:

Auntie Flo on Rinse FM

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Last night's dinner:

Scallops, fried potato and broccoli

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Currently reading:

Persevering with this - not hugely gripped.

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Miscellany 1:

The view from my desk.

Miscellany 2:

Another solo Samba practice session today.

With only these chaps for company.

Preiser HO scale cafe tables.

Spent an hour last night gluing teeny little spindly plastic legs onto microscopic plastic table tops.

A reminder of what the end product should look like.

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Currently listening to:

I don't have the CD whose cover is  pictured below, also by Scientist, but what a cover it is.

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Last night's dinner:

Vegetable pakora

My wife's chicken tikka

My chicken curry.

All the above eaten at the Shenaz restaurant, Glasgow.

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Currently reading:

The Mitchell Library

In desperation last night, went to one of the largest libraries in Western Europe - the Mitchell Library in Glasgow and with half-closed eyes chose 4 books from the fiction shelves totally at random. I didn't even look at their titles when the librarian was processing them at the desk.

My reasoning was that since I'm incapable of choosing decent books with my eyes fully open, this random method might be more successful.

It wasn't - all of them were utterly hopeless.

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Miscellany:

Caravans.

Teeny-weeny details - HO scale.

Just realised that these teeny cafe tables will need crockery, cutlery bottles of wine etc.

Holding a table top between my fingers.

As you can see, from the pictures on the back of the box, Preiser do seem to manufacture the requisite dishes etc for the table tops, although, I haven't hunted any down on the internet yet.

I was going to make some myself either from FIMO or teeny pieces of card.

Goodness knows how anyone creates an N scale cafe - N scale being half the size of HO scale.

But here is one:

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Currently listening to:

Optimo

Since downloading these Optimo podcasts, my iTunes expenditure has plummeted.

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Last night's dinner:

Marinated artichokes, roasted red pepper and lettuce.

Fried potatoes and lemon sole.

 I was extremely pleased with the presentation of this meal. But, it was absolutely tasteless!!

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Currently reading:

Sticking with it.

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Miscellany:

Tried out a hi-hat at my snare drum lesson today.

The pedal (use with left foot if right handed) has a very pleasing action.

Preiser HO scale plastic tables for cafe.

Decided to use typex and red felt-tip pen to add check table cloths to the Preiser tables.

Started with the parasol.

Then the table tops.

Verdict: Awful - will have to do them again, tomorrow.

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Currently listening to:

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Last night's dinner:

Over done vegetable pasta bake.

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Currently reading:

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Miscellany:

For me, every morning begins with approximately 45 minutes of intercessionary prayer ie beseeching God to intervene mercifully on a list of individuals who each face challenges of various sorts. This has been the pattern for many years.

However, recently, I have had my doubts about the validity of this approach. Perhaps, I should just let God get on and be merciful if he sees fit. Perhaps he does not need me to point him in the direction of any individual human being. And so on, and so on.

In fact, so exercised have I been about this issue that last week I approached the young parish priest and said that I might arrange an appointment to seek his advice on the matter.

The only voice that seemed to say "Keep going with your routine; don't abandon it just because you can't justify it rationally," was that of St Therese of Lisieux who spent her whole life doing nothing other than praying for missionaries - that was her mission.

Nevertheless, I was in a quandary.

Then this morning, I got a clear answer; and, from an unexpected quarter.

On the way back from morning Mass, I acquired my first puncture and had to walk the bike home. As a result, I met a neighbour who herself was returning from Mass, but at another church.

We spoke of Christian matters and in particular her cancer. I mentioned my quandary and she immediately responded.

"You must not stop, Tony. That is your vocation. God has placed all these names in your heart."

Which is what St Therese would say.

I felt full of certainty that this was the answer that I was looking for.