Operation A Dog Named Sue #27

#littlemonsters, #MonsterSquad, #SuicideSquad

I know the last few posts have all been dog related. To be fair that is the most important thing going on in my life at the moment. There will be other content soon I promise.

Last night Kate asked how Ace’s paw was doing. What I present here is the resulting exchange that was interspersed with photos and video.

“He’s healing well, and we’re keeping a very close eye on him”

“Good he seems very friendly and good with the other dogs.”

“Yes, he is very friendly with everyone !”

“Ace has been friendly/playful with other dogs and people.”

It is very obvious from the photos, now and previously, that he gets on well with other dogs. I have to admit I find these photos hard because I want the other dogs as well. They too deserve a loving forever home.

The one thing I am unsure is whether myself, Dolly, and Loki are ready for Diogo and Ace playing!

Looking at the paw in the video I don’t think next week is out of the question for Ace completing his journey to us. Then I can start getting excited again.

LiveFromPeru Part 16

#littlemonsters, #livefromperu, #MonsterSquad, #SuicideSquad

Tuesday saw Diogo have his second pickup and train session with Heidi.

As usual Heidi takes the odd photo and video of Diogo to show how he is doing throughout the lesson.

This time he spent time in the main park in Wisbech.

Obviously there were other dogs and even joggers there. He’s still reacting to other dogs, but his recovery ie stop reacting is improving.

Diogo even took treats from Heidi this time!

Diogo even had his first ever pup cup from the local Costa. Something I wasn’t aware they did. That did feel a bit like missing a child’s first word to be honest. It also means road trips to walks in the area just got expensive!

It does appear, no it’s obvious that Diogo is enjoying these sessions with Heidi, and a trust is building up between them.

Diogo has another session booked in two weeks time.

Operation A Dog Named Sue #26

#MonsterSquad, #SuicideSquad

Over night there has been an update on Ace and his injury. Sadly it’s a bit of bad news.

“We have an update regarding Ace’s injury.

Although it is improving, it has not fully healed yet. If SENASA were to inspect him today, they would see the injury and would not approve the issuance of the health certificate.

For this reason, we believe it would be best to reschedule his trip for at least one week later and continue with his treatment until the wound is 100% closed and healed.

The little one is under constant supervision. He’s in great spirits and eating well. We’ll continue to keep you updated on his progress and health. He’s such a sweet, lovable little guy. ❤️”

It was pointed out that “It looks like he has chewed his paw too.”

They replied:

“In fact, it looks wet because we cleaned the area this morning.

I can confirm that he has not been chewing his paw, as he has been wearing the cone, and we only use the boot when we are not able to keep an eye on him.

We are trying to keep him without the boot as much as possible, while keeping the cone on at all times, because the boot causes his paw to sweat excessively, which does not help the healing process.”

Can’t say I’m more than a little disappointed with the delay. It does mean there is a high likelihood that this now overlaps with my ex-wife (who is paying for all this) being out of the country. Which adds a further complication that isn’t insurmountable. Just inconvenient.

Let’s finish this update with some more photos of Ace that were also shared with the bad news.

Operation A Dog Named Sue! #25

#littlemonsters, #MonsterSquad

The great journey from Peru to his forever home here in the UK with me and the monster squad, has started for Ace.

Ace is currently in Lima (as an update below will confirm) going through the “usual” checks required for him to leave Peru and enter the EU, before then coming to the UK.

Here is the latest update and photo drop of Ace. Which is a combination of photos of him at the airport and at the foster home.

“Ace is a very loving dog. He has a limp on that foot. Sometimes he drags that paw and he’ll hurt his nails. These days he’s been nervous. Thank you for all the care.

I recommend to order his boots for when he arrives to England. I’ll send the size I previously ordered on Amazon.

But that’s why his boots will end up getting messed up with holes very quickly.”

Naturally when I read that update at 4am (what was I doing awake at that time in the morning? Old person bladder issues, and I’ll leave it at that) I was onto Amazon and ordering the suggested boots.

However…

“There’s been a hiccup he has a sore on his paw. He’s in Lima now.”

So my first job of the day is to get a visit to the vet booked in for Ace.

I also need to get the vet to tell me how I can get Ace’s medical records transferred to them digitally because they are too large to just email.

Because Ace is limping I will need to get him to a specialist orthopedic vet hopefully near me. But these have to be through referral so I will be asking the vet to do that also.

Let’s end this post on a high with some video clips that were also shared with me.

My Fire Kit

#backtothehills, Camping/hiking gear, hiking/backpacking/camping, outdoors

I’ve not done an outdoors related post for a while, or as some more hip and younger folks would say “in a long minute”.

Either way the fact remains it’s been board games and dogs mainly on here.

So let’s try and even things up with an outdoors related post.

Recently I got a DJI Osmo 360 2 camera. So I’ve been doing some test footage with it. Just to see what it allows me to capture in various situations.

One test was the short video below where I decided to film the contents of my fire kit and my canteen holder/bag contents for fire starting.

I think it’s general/common knowledge given in many YouTube videos that you have redundancy in your fire kit. Usually three ways to get a spark. So if one fails etc etc.

My little fire kit has a fourth because it’s so small and takes up so little space really.

In my canteen bag/holder (a Helicon one iirc) I also have a “basic” fire kit.

Usually the fire kit goes in the bag if I’m out playing with one of my twig/wood burning stoves. But the canteen bag kit is permanently in one of the bag’s pockets. So if I have the canteen I have a fire kit of sorts no matter what stove I’m using. To be fair these days my preference for lighting a meths stove is a ferro rod.

Anyway enough rambling and on with the short movie.

Fire kit items in the video:

  • Forest Fundamentals Zipped Organiser Pouch for the Nesting Stove
  • Forest Fundamentals Artisan Mini Fire Mat for the Nesting stove
  • BCB Fireball Ferro Rod & Striker
  • British Army Windproof/Waterproof Matches (from a ration pack)
  • Bic lighter
  • 2x Forest Fundamentals Fire Plugs
  • Pathfinder Mini Inferno Fire Disc
  • 2x homemade version of fire disc
  • US Military Spark-lite fire starter
  • Some odd ends of paracord 

From the Forest Fundamentals Pocket Fire Kit:

  • Handmade Waxed-Canvas Fire Mat
  • Hex Bellows & Wax-Infused Jute Rope
  • Telescopic bellows from a Polymath Spitfire Pocket Fire Lighting Kit

Canteen holder contents:

  • Forest Fundamentals Beast Fire Starter & Stealth Striker
  • BCB Strong Match Safe filled with British Army Windproof/Waterproof Matches (from ration packs)
  • Bic lighter in an Exotac Men’s Waterproof Firesleeve 
  • Fat wood from a Forest Fundamentals Fire Lighting kit

Obviously in both kits my first port of call is the bic lighter. If that fails for whatever reason, most likely it’s run out of fuel, it’s on to the matches. With the third and final option being the ferro rod. And yes there is a fourth option in the main kit of the Spark-lite.

For me starting a fire is about minimum effort, ease, and speed. I want my fire going as quickly as possible. That’s why the lighter is the first option.

Yes there is more to starting a fire than just what you are igniting it with. There is what tinder you are using, your wood, weather conditions, etc, etc. I usually have at least a couple different types of tinder with me, and carry my own wood (there is a logic to this that I’ll go into one day).

So that’s my fire kit.

September 2026 Gaming Roundup Part 2

Gaming roundup

The month continues with more games being played than expected.

I still can’t help feel the format needs some tweaks. But will need to reassess after the next set Homeworlds, and the base upgrades. Which I believe we are less than a week away from.

It was nice to get a handful of games in this month. Although it seems the latest shiny CCG Cyberpunk has diverted the attention of one or two players. So at the moment and possibly for the foreseeable future games might once more become hard to get.

Acquire 60th Anniversary edition: so I’ve played a board game older than me! And it still holds up. It just works at four and five players. I did buy 6 wooden scrabble tile holders to use with the game. It makes holding the game tiles easier. I think it’s the only thing this anniversary edition is missing. The poker chips have a nice weight to them. I think I’ve become a big Sid Sackson fan.

Hanami: I think this is a very pretty game. It does play nicely at three and four players. Plus it’s become a hit with those I’ve played it with. One club night saw us play it three times in a row! It’s also deceptively cut throat. Plus it’s not a high scoring game. You are in the end competing for three points! Each point decided by who has a majority in that token. I lost two games on the tie breakers.

Innovation: another two player game, which it really works well for. This is a very take that game. Which I love but get that this style of game is not for everyone. Sadly they are missing a great game.

The Thing Board Game: we managed to get a 4 player organised. On the day we managed to play 2 games. It was fun but better with the higher player counts. I managed to be on the winning side both times.

National Economy: a great card based worker placement game. And so far everyone who’s played it likes it. Sadly it needs a western publisher to make it more easily accessible.

Sakana Stack: jury is still out on this. It was enjoyable but I need a game or two more I think.

Catan on the Road: Catan in less than 15 minutes? I’m not sure our game was that quick. But still it was mostly a Catan like experience. I say mostly because there was very little trading going on. But it was fun.

New Arrivals

  • More Mayday premium card sleeves
  • A Gamut of Games by Sid Sackson
  • 6 wooden scrabble tile holders
  • Villagers Shifting Seasons
  • Halo Flashpoint Zeta all in
  • Root 2nd edition clearing markers and frog clearing markers

1982 peak board gaming?

life, the universe, and everything

Without realising it I’d become a Sid Sackson fan.

I’d enjoyed his push your luck game Can’t Stop.

But then recently I bought another game of his Acquire after finding out about it via my friend Gavin. Well Gavin was after a copy. I’d never heard of it and looked into it. Which made me think “oh that sounds interesting, I’d like to play that too”. So not long after the 60th anniversary edition with its bling was on its way to me.

At the same time I ordered a copy of Sid Sacksons book A Gamut of Games.

The 2011 printing of A Gamut of Games has three different prefaces from the earlier editions.

In the included preface for the Dover edition Sid Sackson says the following:

“1982 marked the end of what I consider a golden age of serious games.”

Which for me got me thinking has gaming been going down hill ever since?

Definitely when Sackson made that statement in 1982, he pointed out earlier in the same paragraph, video games were a thing. In the UK we were in the early days of the birth of the home computer boom. If memory doesn’t fail me the US was on the brink of the video game crash.

It was not hard to see where he was coming from. Video games pushing out board games for the attention of kids. Everyone and their dog trying to jump on the bandwagon. The writing was on the wall.

Sid Sackson passed away in 2002.

Catan aka Settlers of Catan was first published in 1995. Along with the likes of Carcassonne (2000), Ticket to Ride (2004) and many others to numerous to mention. A modern board game renaissance was born.

I can’t say Sid Sackson played or was aware of these games. I have no way to know. I do know he was not only a board game designer but also a collector. I have no way to know what he thought of those games that were out during his life time. But I’d be surprised if he had not at least heard of them.

Definitely since 2010 we have seen as some have called it a golden age of gaming, and numerous bubbles. Plus the rise of crowdfunding.

Each year somehow hundreds of new games get released. There is no way you can play them all, or buy them all.

Board gaming is more popular than ever. We have board gaming cafes, clubs, dedicated shops. Then add on the whole internet and what that brings to the coverage of board games.

Would Sackson think we are in a new golden age or renaissance?

LiveFromPeru Part 15

#livefromperu

Yesterday Diogo was picked up by dog trainer Heidi (from Transpawmation dog training) for his first ever pickup and train session.

These sessions basically see Heidi pickup your dog, and she takes them off on a walk and training session.

Photos of Diogo taken by Heidi

The training session saw Diogo go to a local orchard where he got to meet some other dogs to work on his reaction to other dogs. Which is apparently worse when he has Dolly around to encourage and support him! He then got taken to the local Pets at Home store which he’d never been to before.

Apparently Diogo wouldn’t take any treats from Heidi! Which is very weird.

Videos by Heidi

What I liked about this is not only did I get a report afterwards of what was done, and how Diogo got on. But there was also advice on what to work on, and other recommendations.

When Heidi picked up Diogo it felt like dropping off your child at nursery/school for the first time. Diogo behaved really well going with Heidi and getting into her car.

Handing over Diogo to Heidi and not being there requires a lot of trust in the person you are handing over your dog to. And I have a lot of trust and faith in Heidi. That has been built up over the weeks since first meeting her. Seeing how well she has got on not only with Diogo and Dolly, but with other dogs. I’m so happy we have such a great trainer to work with who cares for your dog nearly as much as you do. Let’s face it no one will ever care as much as you do.

I also like that as well as the report afterwards there was a couple of short videos and photos showing how Diogo got on. Very reassuring.

We have a couple of socialisation walks booked, and arranging some more pickup and train sessions.

Remembering Big Nan 2026

life, the universe, and everything

Time heals apparently. But five years on and it’s still raw.

I miss Nan so much. I miss her love and wisdom.

I spent this mornings walk telling Dolly all about Nan. Diogo was on his first pick up and train walk with Heidi the dog trainer.

I know Nan would love the monster squad, especially Dolly. Everyone loves Dolly!

Miss you Nan.