Saturday Ramble.

Firstly a Happy New Year to all the blog readers. Granted it's a little late, but I tend not to follow the same pattern as most with yesterday being my first day off in fifteen. Yesterday was tidy up, now to look forward.

Modelling wise, 2017 was all about getting bits of GWR done and finishing the AotC. The later is now done, has one small showing in March, and then will probably find a new life. The immediate job with this is to build a couple of bits of stock and get two more trestles built for it to perch on. Then it would be onto completing Orne the 009 layout. Other than that there is the rolling, associated but not modelling, editing 009 News for The 009 Society and the completion of my third (and final!) book for Crowood. That means twelve monthly print deadlines for the former and one toward the end of the year for the later.

Regulars will know that as usual exhibitions are limited to about six local-ish shows and only single day ones at that. I find two day events too problematic to wrap around other stuff, and anyway I think the smaller shows are more interesting than the big events. Which brings me to another bugbear, that of advanced booking: I had a couple of enquiries last year which turned out to be 2019 and onward. I find it hard to plan much more than a week away, so two years seems unbelievable. Will I still be alive in two years? Will any of us with the way things are going? I'll repeat it here as always. If you have an exhibitor drop-out, call me a few days before and I can give you a fast yes or no. If it's for two years away forget it; see rule one. As I said a few posts ago. I'd probably find it better to build stuff for others to take to shows rather than for me.

Next up then is some writing, some GWR stock and buildings for the AotC and volume three. Have a great 2018 and lets hope for some governmental changes to calm things down a bit.