Summertime Blues

Mood music for today's post....

https://open.spotify.com/track/2OQRzUAtpXLnX18hHW0Jfb

I made a N-RAIL SPOTIFY playlist. 
 :)

 It's one of these down periods of time where a bunch of items are taking me away from the hobby, which is a real drag. I actually use the hobby as a sort of therapy, so not partaking actually sends me into a flat spin of just trudging through life with a grumpy attitude.

Sure, there are things the bring me up - wife, kids... , but it's tough at times. It's nothing major - just the usual work and the need to do some freelance to get a little more cash flowing through the house. (Work doesn't know that the cost of living actually goes up EVERY year. Did you know that?) The added stress adds to bouts of insomnia, which leads to sleepy days, which leads to more difficult work flows.....repeat.

Fun sunlight on Soyokaze Harbor

The summer adds to the fun as well. We're starting work on a major garden re-org (No....this doesn't include a G scale layout running through it, sadly! heheheh) which is going to suck up a fair amount of time for a few weeks.

However, I've got time here and there once things calm down a bit, so I'll work in some hobby time in the near future with luck. I still manage to slip taking shots of the layout into my work day.

I've been looking into a few items here and there during family outings and errands. I'm looking to have my lights in in the next month or so, so I've started looking into various systems that might work.  My primary want is "daylight" light. I love how the change from "orange" light to daylight bulbs really brought things together on the layout and added a level of realism to the whole of it.  More on that process later.

One of the first modifications  - a hotel for my oldest daughter

 My usual RETAIL THERAPY® methods are difficult these days. :)  I'm not making time to do hobby stuff, so I'm not buying more hobby stuff at the moment - figures, trains, buildings and the like. I still have Sankei kits from Santa-san to build. Time to make it out to retail shops isn't something I want to mess with either, so I'm banking some freelance work "fun money" for later when I get around to buying lights.

So, I make an effort to keep my eyes on my computer screen instead of turning to face my layout until things chill a bit. However, the ideas are still flowing and Soyokaze and Shizuka will ramp up again in the near future. :)

Soyokaze River Village sits higher up in the hills