Trains, Trains and More Trains!

today we had a day in so it was upstairs in Casey Jones mode! I mention Casey Jones as despite many people seeing a TV series about him he was in fact a real life railway engineer,

but back to our railway, Diana was still making trees in the tree production line so I was busy gluing them in place,

using a file to make a hole in the plaster,

whilst waiting for a few more trees to dry I started to put some undergrowth between the tracks,

just put some glue down and apply bits of material,

then a few more trees around the goods yard,

a small copse taking shape,

a touch of glue around the base to keep it in place,

a few more trees now in place on the right hand hills,

over the next few days we will paint the tree trunks a brown colour,

the goods yard leading down to the stream starting to take shape now,

and the hills above the tunnels, but more trees needed!

lots more trees!

Diana has now got a production line worked out,

easy when you know how!

another few small trees ready to be planted,

and a dab of glue to keep them in place,

I have to say considering this is my first attempt at a railway I am getting more pleased with the results as the days go on,

the goods yard nearly finished,

soon I will have to paint the rocks and banks at the waters edge,

then after a hard days playing around, baked salmon, potatoes with herbs, asparagus, broccoli and a glass of wine, then feet up to watch a couple of DVD's,

but first a couple of Diana's Hotel Chocolate chocolates,

first a so called 'art' film, Onibaba, a 1964 horror film set in in 14th century Japan, a mother and step daughter struggle to survive in the middle of a war and a huge tract of bamboo, perhaps I should leave the review to one reviewer,

'a film that aims at portraying the baser side of human nature and investigating human psychology, it is chalk-full of symbolic scenes and sequences, from start to finish it draws you in with the odd imagery and scenery of Japan's rural areas, and even though in this film though there are very few characters and elements that are to it, both visually and literally, through its' minimalism it effectively tells its' story,

this film is both very artistic & symbolic as well as literal and upfront, juxtaposing very graphic, real images of the face of humanity that demand the viewer to infer much throughout the whole of the film, when going into this film, I would say that it is very important for the viewer to think of the film as being very symbolic for the instincts and base nature of mankind, and perhaps even a 'state of nature' portrayal of humanity, if you watch this film with that in mind, it will help with the inferences that one must make to get the most out of this film,

as it stands by itself, aside from the deeper meaning, it is an intriguing story that is a veritable 'slice of life' film in the darker sense, viewing the way that people had to live during a period of war and hard times in feudal Japan, it deals with the hardships that these people face, and their method of survival, in addition to a very human story of jealousy and portrayal with a very interesting culminating point that I did not expect at all,'

so there you have it, Diana loved it, I always know when she likes a film as the 'pause' button is hit as she goes out of the room!

then a few episodes of Doc Martin, great family fun in a sleepy fishing village, after that two episodes of Midsomer Murder, Death of a Stranger and Garden of Death, then off to bed.