The Push and the Pull

Getting my education degree has been one of the best decisions I have very made (of course Tina was involved in that decision as well). I have grown so much over the years. Met so many people. Made so many friends. Learned so much. I have experienced stress and pain because of this but I have also found talents that I'm not sure I realized I had. And this is because there have been people who have come into my life that convinced me that I had these talents. Now to hunker down for four more months.

I'm kind of nervous like everyone else about getting a job after I graduate. I know there are lots of people looking. I think if I've learned one thing over the years is to just take life as it comes and don't stress what I can't do anything about.

Ok so Tina and I celebrated our 17th wedding anniversary last week. Wow!! I'm so blessed to have someone as wonderful as Tina. I'm not sure we love each other more than ever, I just think we're better at showing it in ways the other person needs it shown. That's been the biggest lesson learned I think.

Happy New Year. This year I resolve not to make any resolutions. I just want to be a person who cares.

cheers

AAAACCKKK!!!!

This is the sound of me under stress. I'm not going to lie. These have been a tough couple of weeks. But I have learned so much about myself that I wouldn't trade it for anything. I think understanding and knowing oneself is important if one is going to improve themselves in the future. Today was especially trying. And not because bad things were happening. Just a lot of stuff was happening. I'm learning how to deal with these things and to understand what I can and cannot control. I'm glad I have a good role model to work with. He cares a lot about his students and has a passion for what he is teaching. What better place to be for a student teacher. Fortunately and hopefully, in three months I'll be able to drop that tag and maybe it will just be......teacher. Wouldn't that be nice.

cheers

SIC's make me Sick

I'm writing a SIC which is a School Initiated Course. And yes, it is as much fun as it sounds. It's a lot of work. Kind of fun, but a LOT of work.

cheers

Music and Friends

I had the opportunity to see Steve Bell in concert in Winkler about a month or so back. I've listened to Steve Bell on and off for about 20 years. The first time I saw him was at a chapel service at Providence College. At the time I thought he had a very smooth and worshipful sound. I've been able to follow his career a bit because Steve Bell is a Golden West Radio staple. He's been featured on Made in Manitoba a number of times and because I produced the show I got to listen to the songs a number and keep the cd's afterwards. The cd's don't come out that often, not because I don't like them, but because I've found I need to be in a specific mood to listen to them. Anyway, back to the concert. It was beautiful. There is something about his music that is so simple yet so profound. I can identify with the lyrics. He has become my Sunday morning staple music. I'm listening to him right now actually. Anyway, back to the concert. One of the people playing with Steve Bell was Mike Janzen. I go even further back with him. I worked with Janzen at Red Rock Bible Camp when I was in high school. He is passionate and caring and the most talented musician I know. The thing I like about him is after not seeing someone for 5 to 10 years you can pick up right where you left off as if no time had passed. It was great to be able to talk to him for a few minutes after that show. Well, back to my homework I guess. I think I'll leave Steve Bell playing in the background.

cheers

I Can't Sleep

I shouldn't write a post after midnight. I'm bound to say something I shouldn't. I guess I just have to be extra careful before I hit "publish post". I am trying to be more positive. For some reason the wiring in my brain is configured in such a way that when things come up that irritate me the synapses that tend towards the cynical part of my brain fire. This part of the brain has many connections to the "that's not fair" section which is cross-wired with the "ooh that makes me so angry" section. Unfortunately these three sections can get control of my mouth and my typing fingers and from there bad things happen. I've tried installing a "sober second thought" device that is supposed to filter out most of this. Unfortunately there must be a bug in the system because it only seems to be partially effective. This has led to more use of the "crap I can't believe I did/said that" recovery system which seems to only work when "man, I'm useless" is already running.

"And here by the water, I'll build an altar to praise Him. Out of these stones that I've found here. I'll set them down here, rough as they are. Knowing You can make them Holy." Steve Bell

Rough as I am God can make me Holy. This is also known as the system reset. Only God knows how many times I've had to use that function. Only He doesn't keep track.

cheers

It's time to Blog

It's that time again when I go to a blog and blog. I'm halfway through my second week back at university. I'm finding it a little tough to get into the groove but I'll get there in the next day or two. I think we're supposed to develop a teaching philosophy. Is there really anything I need to write beyond the word CARE? I have decided this is my personal philosophy. CARE. CARE about my students as people and not receptacles of knowledge, care about the people I work with and work with them to create a CAREing environment where students feel safe. My friend Josh called me an optimist. I'm ok with that moniker. I want to be the dreamer and not let myself be held back by my own cynicism.

cheers

A Prayer For Baptism

Here is a prayer I used during the baptism service this past weekend. It was a beautiful morning for a church service on the beach at Winkler Bible Camp. I got this prayer from Christine Sine's blog which is associated with Mustard Seeds Associates.

"We thank you, Almighty God, for the gift of water. Over it the Holy Spirit moved in the beginning of creation. Through it you led the children of Israel out of their bondage in Egypt into the land of promise. In it your Son Jesus received the baptism of John and was anointed by the Holy Spirit as the Messiah, the Christ, to lead us, through his death and resurrection, from the bondage of sin into everlasting life. We thank you, Father for the water of Baptism. In it we are buried with Christ in his death. By it we share in his resurrection. Through it we are reborn by the Holy Spirit."

Cheers

End of an Era?

Ok not really an end of an era. This last week I finished my summer stint working for Landville Drywall, my Dad's company. You could say I've been working on and off for him for 35 years. (I didn't have to do stuff till I was 2) The last 3 summers have likely been the most important for me. I don't think I would have been able to get a summer job around Winkler area. And especially not one that paid the same amount that I made working in Winnipeg. There were good and bad things.

Good

-wages

-flexibility of hours and days worked

-get to see my parents

-breakfasts with my dad

-got to hang out with my cousins

Bad

-gone from home more than I would have liked

-dusty, itchy working conditions

-on the road, A LOT

I think one of my favourite things about this job has been going for breakfast with my dad. That is the thing I will treasure most. It has been an opportunity for us to just hang out. sigh. I'm going to miss that. I have also appreciated the opportunity to have a good paying job and being needed. I know Landville is busy and that this is work that needs to be done so they can keep up. They aren't scrounging to find work for me to do. I'm doing my part to help them keep up.

The thing is I don't want to need to work for Landville anymore because that would mean I have a teaching job. The construction thing is fun but it feels temporary. I'm looking forward to some permanence again.

cheers

Movement in Theatre

"Getting your intention fully integrated with your body is essential to any style of performance. The audience isn't telepathic; it only understands what is happening through what it sees and hears. If the script, or the director/choreographer's vision, is not fully realized in clear physical action , then the audience cannot comprehend what is going on."

Lorna Marshall from The Body Speaks: Performance and Expression.

cheers

Git off my land yer vermint

So today I caught some kid eating apples from my apple tree in the backyard. Well actually Griffin came running in and said some guy biked on our yard and was eating our apples. I walk out and yelled, "Hey, what are you doing?" and he biked off. I followed his bike track through the grass to where I'm pretty sure he lives. This kid routinely cuts through a bunch of backyards to get to where he needs to go. Kind of annoying. The kids are very concerned about what I'm going to do. I was thinking today. He hasn't stolen anything, he doesn't vandalize my property, and he was eating apples that were probably going to just fall off and rot anyway. I think my big issue is the lack of respect for other peoples property. He's never asked if it's ok to what across. He doesn't care. I'm thinking of going to his house and talking to him and/or his parents. But if I do is he going to get pissed off and take it out on my yard? Is it that big of a deal? That and I hate confrontation. I'm not sure what I'm gonna do.

cheers

Stuff

It's been a good week. I've mentioned how nice it is to just be at home for a while. Today I made bacon, brought the kids to swimming lessons, mowed the lawn and weeded in the garden. It's such a relaxed pace right now. On Wednesday I started my summer Lord of the Rings club. Only one person came but we had fun. Moria Goblins vs Uruk Hai. Goblins win. Next week hopefully some more guys can make it so we can have some more games going. That would be cool. Tina, Griffin and myself are going to go see Harry Potter tonight. Very excited about that. That's it for now.

cheers

Way Too Long Since the last post

Alright, it's been way to long since my last post. For the 8 or so of you who read this I apologize. I'm home now, for at least a week. It feels glorious. I have no job, no school work and no extended stays away from home and family for a while. This is great.

We pick up a cat today. He is an orange tabby named Sprinkles. Tina and the kids went to pick him out before we went to London. Now that we're back we were ready to pick him up. The kids are with him right now as he explores the house. It's wonderful for them to have a cat to love again. I'm a little way because of the hurt I felt when Mitzy died. I'm scared of feeling that pain again. I'm glad the kids aren't as apprehensive as I am.

In the coming weeks I hope to blog about our future house, a gaming club and anything else that comes up.

cheers

I guess it's time to start getting lunch ready. Did I mention how excited I am to be home.

A House

So Tina and I are in the midst of planning for a house. We want to build on our property which means demolishing the house and garage we have and starting over. Of course this is all contingent on me getting a teaching job. So much up in the air but we need to decide on stuff and have it planned so when we're ready we can get started. We've been looking at a lot of plans. A LOT of plans. One of the things we're going to need to change on almost any plan is the size of the bathroom and walkin closet off the master bedroom. We're not into needing that much room. At least not for that kind of stuff. We're also looking at what we want in a house compared to what kind of square footage we can afford. So many questions. An we want to have geo thermal and a grey water return system. And I would really like an open ceiling in the living room. ugh. So anyway, I'm going to try and blog throughout the process. We're going to go to an architect soon. And talk to our builder. And hope I get a job. And hope I graduate. Good Times

cheers

A lot to catch up on.

Well, I've been putting this off for a long while now. So much has changed. My hands hurt right now from drywalling. I'm so not used to this.

We had ACT fest last weekend. flatlands theatre company hosted the Association of Community Theatres in Manitoba's annual festival. I had the privilege of being the emcee. It was wonderful. I had so much fun. Theatre people are an awesome group to hang out with. People like Jeanette and Darren and Tina put a lot of work into making this festival happen. They did great. It made being an emcee that much easier.

The downside of the weekend was the death of our cat Mitzy. She was hit by a car late Saturday afternoon. We were devastated. There were a lot of tears from all of us. I'm not totally shocked it happened though. Mitzy came to us as a stray and was too used to a life of roaming wherever she wanted to. She was constantly running back and forth over the road. I loved that cat. She was perfect.

Our house is driving me nuts. We've had water seeping into our basement for over a week now. And no it's raining so it's seeping in even more. So frustrating. At least there are no flood waters running in.

I'm working in Winnipeg again. I'm home one night a week. I wish I could be at home more. Thank goodness this is only a temporary thing. I'd go into depression if this was to be the rest of my life.

anyway, happy rainy day every one.

cheers

It's not just Superstore

Our grocery shopping can be quite the adventure. We don't go to just one place to get everything. In fact, there is a lot of driving involved. The following is a list of the places we go to, what we get, and the rationale.

Meat

Spenst Bros.

It's owned by some local cattle farmers. The started up the store during the BSE crisis because they couldn't send anything to the states. So the beef is locally grown, they don't use steroids in their animals and they're pasture fed as much as possible. And the owners are really nice. And they make great frozen pizzas.

Fruits and Vegetables

Giesbrechts

This started off as a large shed where they sold watermelons whenever a trucker came back with a load from Texas. It has turned into a little fruit and vegetable store. We go there because it's locally owned and the stuff is a bit fresher. Being a trucker, he is the middle man, so we're removing one step from the field or orchard to our plate.

Bread

Valley Bakery

Again, owned locally. Their bread is way better than the stuff from Co-op or Superstore.

Cinnamon Bread and Bagels

Funk's Bakery

Owned locally (sense a them here?). The kids love the cinnamon bread for breakfast and Tina likes the bagels.

Milk

Organic Meadows/Kroekers

We pick up our milk at Kroeker's but it is from the Organic Milk co-operative of Manitoba. There is a farm close to Winkler that is a part of it. So it's not only local but organic as well.

Potatoes, Onions and Carrots

Heartland Fresh Pak

Ok we don't actually buy from here. They are a producer south of Winkler. We won a years worth of vegetables from Genesis House last year so every month we head over there for some goods.

Eggs

Tina's Cousin

How could I forget. Tina's cousin has free range chickens (in the summer at least, NO CAGES) and they are not fed the gross steroid infested feed of other chickens. Whenever we need eggs we place a call and they are delivered the next morning. YAY!!

Honey

Burwalde Woods

There is a family out by Winkler Bible Camp that produces their own honey. Their store is a sign on their yard with two shelves that has three different sizes of containers for honey and a box with a slot to put your money. No kidding. And during the winter this is the same place we go skiing.

That's about all i can think of.

cheers

Not Much

Griff and I headed off to Games Workshop in Winnipeg on Saturday. We had a pretty good time. We were playing a Lord of the Rings Scenario that took place in Ithilien. I was on the good side playing Rohan and Griffin was on the evil side playing with Isengard. There were four people on each team. On my team were 2 elf armies, 1 army with elves and army of the dead and myself and on the evil side there was Hardad, Mordor and easterlings along with Griff's Isengard. It was a tonne of fun and now Griffin is totally pumped about LOTR. Yay. I also picked up a little goody with some birthday money.

It's the model on the left. A Balrog!! I included the other model just so you could see how big the model is. Yes!!! I can't wait to paint it. Anyway, I'll post a picture or too from my birthday. For some reason I can't upload them right now.

cheers

Not A Choice for Lent

Oh Sweet delectable elixir of the morning. I am writing to say that this affair must end. You can't be good for me. When I'm not around you make me hurt. (literally) Why do you need to cause me pain just because we don't get together one morning. I think you have issues you need to work out. So until you can handle brief moments of separation without making my head feel like it's going to explode we're going to have to call it quits for now. Sure you're going to make me feel miserable for the next few days. But then you'll realize your life doesn't need to revolve around me. So until then. Farewell Coffee.

cheers

My Ipod

I did my top 5 podcasts which seemed to go over well so I thought I'd do top 5 songs on my ipod. Or at least the ones I listen to the most.

5. When the Soldiers Sing Red Army Chorus

I used to have a Red Army Chorus two cd set when Tina and I first got married and I don't remember if this song was on it. But I heard it in the movie The Trotzky and realized I had to have it. I love Russian music.

4. Viva la Vida Coldplay

This could almost be considered an oldy. Love the strings.

3. Double Vision 3Oh!3

I'm a sucker for songs with a beat.

2. Marry You Glee Cast Version

This is a happy song for me. I wish I was in a choir and that this was one of the songs we sang.

1. Club Can't Handle Me Flo Rida

This song has a "no counter clockwise movement of the volume dial" policy. I nearly drove off the road once I was rockin' so hard. And yes Tina. My musical tastes have not matured since I was 12.

cheers.

Lent

Ok so this picture has nothing to do with Lent but it is a cool picture and I hand't posted any from the Grade 7 camping trip yet.

So it is now Lent. There seems to be a lot of talk, at least in some of my social networks, about what to give up for Lent. I gave up coffee one year and last year I only had meat on Sundays. This year I was looking for something a little more intentional towards my spiritual well being. I have decided to give up complaining. This is going to be hard because I'm pretty good at it. If something is bugging me I'm willing to let everyone know about it. Except of course the people who may be behind the reason for my malcontent. I don't think this is healthy and I'm not afraid to admit this shortcoming of mine.

I could look for a Bible verse to back up my decision to give up complaining but I don't think I need it. This view isn't unique to Christianity so I'll take the advice of all faiths on this one.

cheers

Perfect Morning

This has been a pretty good morning so far. It's a day off for the kids so we're all at home together. These days sometimes run into gong shows and I just get angry and frustrated. Which is why I now get a job during the summer break instead of just staying at home. So, I know Tina has often told me to plan out the day to make things easier but I'm a bit of a dunce and have never done that. So this morning after being asked about xbox and playing board games I finally grabbed a pad of paper and went upstairs to talk with the kids. Together we have planned out the whole day together. This plan is posted on the wall in between their rooms. They are very excited because they know exactly what is happening when. They are now upstairs enjoying free time before xbox at 11am. The extra special thing is they are both in Griffin's room playing chess. Griffin has taught her how to play. I went in there before and they were lying on the floor on a blanket playing. It was so cute. They do have some arguments because Emi does not want her queen captured. She just popped her head out and told me they came up with a compromise. They took the queens out of the game.

they are so awesome. I love them to pieces

cheers

A Children's Book

Wow, another post.

I can't believe how many times I've posted this week while still getting homework done.

So anyway, I've read at two schools this week for I love to read month. Well actually I read and I tell stories. I have two stories I've made up that I use along with the books I read and kids from Kindergarten up to Grade 7 (That's the seventh grade for you Americans reading) all love them. I've been thinking for a while that maybe it's time to try and get these stories published as books. The big question that comes to mind is will these stories translate to books. How much is going to depend on the illustrations. How much of the enjoyability (is that a word?) of these stories is in how I tell them. The other question is how the heck does one go about getting a children's book published. Anyway, just some thoughts. I would be cool being an author.

Would mean I'd have to wear a scarf and get a house with a studio overlooking water?

cheers

Another Day

So I figured I could either whine and complain more about my classes or I could comment on my plans for the next 18 or so months. Let's see...(fade into dream sequence)

March

-Finish classes

-Do 3 days of practicum before starting Spring Break (how useless is that)

-Spend Spring Break with the kids at my mom and dads (not the whole time)

-Should maybe do lesson plans too

April

-Celebrate my birthday. Yay!!!!

-Practicum, Yay, A month that will actually help me be a better teacher!

-End practicum(sigh)

May

-Begin work for my Dad (Allow him to buy many breakfasts for me)

-ACTfest. YAY!!

-Go to PA to see my new nephew.

-Get arrested at the airport because they misunderstood when I said I have lip balm in my pocket.

-More work (more money more motivation, more motivation more money)

-plant garden

-Coach Flag Football

June

- More work

-More Flag Football

- watch garden grow

- watch weeds grow

- realize I have to pull weeds so garden will continue to grow

- grumble about pulling weeds.

July

- Go to Mennonite Church Canada Assembly (Cause I'm so Mennonite)

- Go camping (Cause I'm so Canadian)

- Pull weeds (Cause I'm so under Tina's thumb)

- Work for my Dad (Cause I'm so poor)

August

- Start harvesting the fruits (and vegetables) are my hard work in the garden.

- Realize I was going to start exercising this spring and now it's August.

- Work out for one week and then stop.

- Panic because I haven't registered for school yet.

- Get kicked out of the education program (I'm assuming these last two won't happen but I did forget to put them in June so I may be in trouble. They may kick me out anyway because of my last post)

- Lament the start of school

September

- write an apology card to my family for not being able to see them on Sundays because of the start of the NFL season.

- start getting excited to see my University buds.

-get first assignments and remember why I hate education classes.

-realize I only have 6 months of classes left and 2 months of practicum till I graduate.

October

- start getting ready for halloween.

- Write a blog post about how much I hate education classes.

- Hit the ditch during a freak freezing rain storm. (Could happen)

November

- Walk out my door and scream to the sky in frustration over the useless papers I am being forced to write for my stupid education classes.

- Celebrate American thanksgiving. (my brother lives in the U.S)

- Go to a Chiefs game and achieve World Peace (both are as likely to happen.)

December

-Do practicum (those high school kids won't know what hit them. But if they do I could be in big trouble)

-Get arrested for assault. (It wasn't me, it was the one-armed man)

-Get out of Jail Free. (Dang I love Monopoly)

-Buy my Christmas gifts (Literally, I ask for money so I can get what I want)

-Return gifts (I didn't like what I got for Christmas)

-Celebrate Anniversary

-Buy flowers and an apology card for Tina for forgetting to by her flowers and a card.

-Stay up till midnight with the kids.

January 2012

-HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

-Begin last semester of useless education courses

-Laugh at fifth year students panicking about trying to get a job.

- get first assignments and remember why I hate education classes.

- watch Chiefs lose in the first round of the playoffs again.

February

-Write a blog post about how much I hate education classes.

-Write a letter of apology to Faculty of Education and beg to not be kicked out of the faculty.

- Celebrate Valentines Day

-Buy flowers and an apology card for Tina for forgetting to by her flowers and a card.

- Do a killer job of interviews during reading week. (joy buzzer handshakes goes over really well)

March

- Finish useless education courses.

- Celebrate end of classes with fellow students

- Apologize to Tina for pictures of me celebrating with other students that ended up on the internet.

- Pay reputation defender company to remove pictures of me celebrating with other students that ended up on the internet.

April

-Celebrate Birthday. Am I really 38!?!?!?!?!

-Do practicum (Remember not to hit students)

-Finish Practicum.

-Graduate

-Give Valedictory Address

- Send letter of apology to university after comments made in speech made it into the globe and mail and youtube video of address goes viral

May

-Appear on Ellen

-Turn down offers from Garden Valley, Western and Border Land School Divisions because I'm pretty sure I'm gonna be cast on Glee.

-Get Letter saying I didn't get part in Glee because of pictures of me celebrating with other students on the internet.

- Get money back from reputation defender company

-Begin work for my Dad.

Ok so that was only 15 months but you get the picture.

You get the picture.

cheers

Podcasts

I spend a lot of time in the car. On an average week I am on the road for 16-18 hours. I get bored. Lately I've been listening to podcasts and have just delved into audio books. I thought I might take a moment to fill you in on some of the podcasts I subscribe to.

1. Pardon the Interruption.

This is the best show on TSN and I never get to watch it because it is on when the kids are watching tv or we're having supper. The podcast is great because I get the entire show also because it's a podcast I don't get the visuals. These guys are smart, witty, funny and they know a thing or two about sports. Fabulous.

2. Age of Persuasion

This show only started being available on podcast in January. This is one of our favourite radio shows on CBC and is hosted by Terry O'Reilly (not the hockey player). The show is about the advertising industry, the history of it, and why certain ad campaigns have worked really well or have bombed. One of my favourite shows on radio.

3. Church Matters

This show is put out by Mennonite Church Canada. It offers a 15 minute discussion or interview about issues pertinent to the everyday life of the Mennonite Church. It helps me keep in touch with programs and projects going on in Canada and around the world.

4. Ideas

I started downloading this podcast for Tina but have started listening to it as well. I call it thinkers radio because the topics and discussions can be quite heavy. It's from the show on CBC Radio and is hosted by Paul Kennedy.

There you go. I've got sports, pop culture, church and philosophy all covered.

I'm so well balanced.

cheers

Our Education System and the Challenges for Me

I think it has been a good week so far but I've had to do a lot of thinking lately. I did a paper on Sunday about how I've experienced schools being just or effective or how they have fallen short. For the most part I think schools are doing pretty good with the move towards inclusion and differentiated learning and the multiple intelligences. But I think we're still missing the mark, especially when it comes to the arts. Take for example the school Griffin goes to. I think it's a pretty good school and the staff I know are really good. But when I look at his timetable only 11% of his time is dedicated to the arts. Thats 5 classes in a 6 day cycle and of those 5 classes only 3 are music and his teacher does not even have training in music. There is no extracurricular arts such as choir or a school drama because he's in grade 6. Sir Ken Robinson says we have developed a hierarchy of subjects where math and the languages are given most importance followed by the humanities. If there is any time left arts and phys ed can have it. We have all these kids in our schools who are aching to express themselves but our system has said, "No, you have to sit at a desk by yourself and quietly do whatever it it we think is best for you." And so we have these incredibly talented kids who think they're dumb because they can't add fractions. That their interests aren't important to the school system so they shouldn't pursue them. I am including a link to Sir Ken Robinson's talk he gave to a group of educators. It's very powerful.

So how am I going to encourage those in my class who don't fit the school mold and are obviously artistic and kinsthetic. I guess that's the million dollar question.

cheers

Amon Sul

I thought with all the stuff some of us have done with Lord of the Rings I would show you a little project I did over the Christmas break. SThis model that I built is of a ruined watchtower some of the characters spend the night at called Weathertop or Amon Sul. There is only a short reference to the ruined tower. For those of you reading or have read Fellowship of the Ring, the description is close to the end of the chapter with the title "A Knife in the Dark". I got the idea for the model from one of my gaming books. It actually has instructions on how to make the model.

This is the model after having done a lot of cutting out of styrofoam and foamboard. The tall pieces are just pieces of styrofoam that have been cut to look like rocks.

I've just begun painting at this point. You can see I've added some more ruined pillars in between the main walls. You may also notice some bumpy spots on the ground. This will be the dirt later on.

I'm a little further along with the painting here. It took a while to do because I didn't have a very good brush. (Can you see the spot of paint I got on the table? I did clean it up)

This is the model completely painted and the dirt areas done in brown as well. The model is actually painted with different shades of grey. After the initial coat I added some white to make a lighter grey and dry brushed it on. After that I added more white and did some more drybrushing. I did the same thing with the brown areas.

This is the model pretty much completed. You can see I've added grass to a few areas.

This is a close up of one of the areas. I forgot to mention that a smeared a putty like foam all over the model. That is also why there are a few bumps and ridges.

The statue blends in very nicely. I did not make it. It was part of another Lord of the Rings set I have.

And finally, what's a model without some models on it.

Thanks for reading this.