UPDATE.

 Two days ago I had my second cataract operation, on my right eye this time.  Once again quite painless and problem free. Already I can see quite well. Interestingly my regular distance glasses are of no earthly use anymore but my very old reading glasses are giving me tolerable distance vision. However, as planned, reading etc is best without glasses at all.  I now have to wait four weeks before I can visit my optician to get tested for new distance glasses. By the time I get them it will have been at least 8 weeks without driving !!!!  To me that is the worst part of having these procedures...I really miss driving a lot.

The good news is that my wife has cast aside her refusal to drive my car..."too big, too fast and too expensive"... and driven my car a few times over the last couple of weeks as she thinks it bad for the car to be left unused for weeks on end, which is quite right of course. Naturally she drives it just fine as I expected, she is a great driver, and in fact has put her foot down hard once or twice and had a smile on her face when she did, again, as I expected !!!!

My other good news is that I became a grandad for the third time yesterday. A second, so far officially unnamed,  grandson, whom I have labelled Freddie alongside his brother Buster and sister Squirt, much to their Mothers irritation !!!!!!!!! Grandads can have such fun...for example feeding the children chocolate and fizzy pop etc before sending them home !!!!!!! Am I bad ??????

BOOK REVIEW: ADMIRALS.

 THE NAVAL COMMANDERS WHO MADE BRITAIN GREAT.

Another book from my library  and a complete change of subject. While not a huge navel enthusiast I do like reading about the navel history of Britain and this book offers a good overview of that history over the ages via the lives of some of the greatest admirals in the Royal Navy.

The lives and careers of eleven admirals are discussed including Lord Howard 1536-1624, Robert Blake 1599-1657, James II 1633-1701, George Anson 1697-1762, Samuel Hood 1724-1816, John Jervis 1735-1823, William Parker 1781-1866, Geoffrey Hornby 1825-1895,  John Fisher 1841-1920, David Beatty 1871-1936 and Andrew Cunningham 1883-1963. Each is assessed as having had a significant and positive impact on the art of being an admiral.

Interestingly Nelson is not included. There are a couple of reasons for this, firstly there are already a lot of books about him and secondly , he is assumed to be the "perfect" admiral, perhaps the best admiral ever. Those in this book are the admirals who came before Nelson and provided the foundations for his career and success and those who subsequently took his legacy forward. Between them these are the admirals who made the Royal Navy the greatest navy in world history over a period of some 400 years.

Each admiral gets his own chapter that not only provides a detailed character assessment of the man but also outlines his full career and the political and military circumstances during his time in command. Naturally his actions in battle are also recorded.

Overall a fascinating book that will appeal to anyone interested in British naval history but also as a well written general history book.

UPDATE.

Just a brief note to report that having had cataract surgery at the end of last week I can now just about see enough to read blogs and type this post.  The procedure went well and was totally pain free however I now have quite different levels of vision in each eye which is very disconcerting. I am due to have my other eye done later this week after which I shall not be able to use my glasses at all. However I should have excellent close range vision and be well able to read, watch TV and type or indeed paint and model. Driving will not however be an option. I should be able to get tested for new glasses for long distance around early April ....I will miss driving so much !!!!!!

MY PAINTING AND MODELLING FACILITIES.

I have noticed that several of the bloggers I follow have recently included photos of their painting arrangements. This is very interesting and supports the often mentioned theory that we all like to know more about the "person" behind the blog. With that in mind I thought I would join in and post some details of my working arrangements.

I am very lucky in that I have a dedicated modelling room. It is the smallest bedroom in the house. However I have also been allowed three further display units and two book cases in the spare room which is basically my wife's  dressing and general storage room.

The first photo is from the doorway of my room and shows the bookcases on the right and the modelling unit on the left with one of my four display units above. Also seen in the foreground is my armchair where I do my computer work including writing this blog. Being a lifelong amateur woodworker, all the furniture (except the armchair of course)  has been made by me in my workshop, the roof of which can just be seen outside in the bottom right corner of the window. Like everyone else, book storage is an endless and unsolvable problem !!!!!!

The photo below shows a full on view of the work bench with the display unit above. The drawers at the bottom house materials, tools, stationary items, the computer and the computer printer which is on a pullout shelf behind the larger door on the right behind the bin.

The unit was designed to be closed up when not in use hence the concertina doors as seen below. However as you might expect, they never get closed !!!!!

The next photo below shows the doors open with the actual work top still folded up. The black patches are actually thin rubber sheets designed to protect the top of the unit when the doors are open and the work surface down. My "special" modelling slippers can also be seen, only used when sitting at the unit !!!!.

With the chair in position, complete with soft  cushion and craft mat on the work surface I am ready to go. Just visible is the extension lead in the leg space to which my modelling lamp and the printer are connected together with my miniature drill when needed and of course the computer recharging lead. 

Below is a close up of the working space. Not particularly big but adequate. On each side are miniature sets of drawers holding paints, tools, materials and all sorts of odds and ends. In the centre is a set of pull out drying shelves that I use to hold screws I am painting. Vehicles under construction or being  painted are located on sheets of plastic card on the shelf alongside the clock or even on the window cill occasionally. A batch of 30 field kitchens that I have recently finished painting are just about visible on the left.

Well I hope these photos are of interest, I also hope others share their arrangements too.

BOOK REVIEW: DEATH, DYNAMITE AND DISASTER,

 A GRISLY BRITISH RAILWAY HISTORY.

Some readers may recall that back in January I reviewed a book on British Railway Tunnel disasters. I mentioned that I had found another book by the same author and had bought it from Amazon. This is the review of that book.

The book is divided into three elements based on the title. "Death" includes details of the first death on British railways being that of Huskisson during the launch of the first railway ever between Liverpool and Manchester in 1830. Also covered is the accident that occurred at Sonning in 1841 being the first fatal accident on the GWR and, at the time, the biggest loss of life in a railway accident. Also discussed  in this chapter is the impact of railway construction in the larger cities especially London and the impact this had on old grave sites and the work needed to remove thousands of bodies.

The second section of the book covers "Dynamite" and includes not only details of the use of dynamite in railway construction and the inevitable accidents but also the perhaps not so well known terrorist campaigns in the 1880's and 1890's by Anarchists and Fenians against the railways.

Finally the last section on "Disaster" covers the Tay Bridge Collapse of 1879 which was caused by the failure to use the most up to date engineering standards of the time and the Hexthorpe accident in 1887 which was caused largely by the railway company's failure to utalise the most modern  braking systems then available.

Every incident account is based on contemporary newspaper report supplemented by the official accident reports therefore the language used is of the time being sensational and colourful. The level of detail is extraordinary. Often full details of the dead are included even the amounts of compensation paid to relatives is revealed.

Overall a fascinating book and highly recommended especially to those interested in early British railway history however even casual readers will find this book a great read.