"Firing into the Brown" #33 - Brown, Cowboys, and beer 'natch

"So Carnehan weeds out the pick of his men, and sets the two of the Army to show them drill and at the end of two weeks the men can manoeuvre about as well as Volunteers. So he marches with the Chief to a great big plain on the top of a mountain, and the Chiefs men rushes into a village and takes it; we three Martinis firing into the brown of the enemy".

Kipling "The Man Who Would Be King"

Time for another update..

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Not a one for putting a lot of fiction book reviews here in the main blog; they tend to live over their on the left in the Book Reviews page, but I thought this one was worth a bit of focus...

I must have first read this when I was a young teenager, probably because it was written by the "same bloke wot wrote Hornblower" (sic) but what I'd forgotten was how good it was...  so the premise is that a young sailor, the sole survivor of a British cruiser destroyed by a German surface raider in WW1, is rescued by his enemies, but then escapes from the ship while it is undergoing urgent repairs received in the battle, and then seeks to delay it's departure at whatever the cost to himself. 

But it is far more than that - it's also about his life and all the influences on it, how he came to be conceived, about his indomitable mother, about the vicissitudes of life, about a father he never knows, and most of all it is about Forester's love and admiration for the Royal Navy, all which helps to explain his actions and why he is doing it..  bit boys own now, old fashioned undoubtedly, but I thought it was a lovely read.. 

Giving this one a 9/10

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The cowboys are done...  first batch here..

Wagon...  a nice model this, and comes with four horses and the guy to lead them

Very pleasing..  can see this one featuring in any number of scenario's - rob the wagon, hide behind the wagon, supply wagon, hide in the wagon, destroy the wagon, etcetc

Now the first selection of hired guns, cow pokes, innocent townsmen, gun slingers, outlaws and lawmen

Love the dusters (long light coats worn to protect against sun and dust/sand) - guy on the right has a double barrel (he'll be 'Doc').. the one in the front middle is going to be 'Sneaky Pete' for the gun he's hiding.. 😏

"Standoff!"..

"Did you see which way they went?"

Uh oh.. 😀

More anon, including my favourite of the lot..  'Pancho'.. 😁

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Beer of the Week:

We've seen mention of this one before on the blog, but in a week of otherwise quietness (on the beer front anyway) this was my standout beer of the week (new rule - bottles don't count from here on in, got to be a beer drunk in a pub)..

Was out for a walk with the current Mrs Steve the Wargamer and the gang of reprobates known as the Jolly Boys* (and their current partners) this week, and we had cause to re-hydrate at the most excellent Hawkley Inn [clicky] when what should see upon the pumps, but this oft bottle drunk beer, that is rarely seen on draught..  we almost bit their arm off, except Rodders (the leader of the Jolly Boys) who decided on "Pressed Rat and Warthog" (and yes that is a beer [clicky] as well as a song by the excellent Cream)

While I can't for the life of me understand why the draught is a whole 1% weaker than the bottled version (it'll be to do with excise/duty and beer strength undoubtedly), in truth it loses little in the translation - ours were fresh as a daisy, golden, full of bitter/grapefruit flavour (Citra hops without a doubt), and dangerously drinkable..

..top left... this one dates back to 2019 so it's been a staple for a while..  😏

Cheers!

*the Jolly Boys are the bunch I sail with in the summer..

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Laters, as the young people are want to say...