A cheerful pre-Christmas quiet settles over the Grand Duchy of Stollen. . .

Here's another great old Christmas card from years gone by. I really like the green robes and purple hat of this particular St. Nick. Hmmmm. Green and purple. Might look good together on a future unit of infantry or cavalry!

Well, the Grand Duchess Sonja and I got a late start yesterday afternoon, but we managed to pick up the Christmas trees and decorate them last night. In fact, we sat up until almost 1am drinking egg nog and talking about this and that by the light of the trees and our Swedish Advent star that hands in the front window. Young Master Paul stirred at about 4:15 am and drifted easily back to sleep after a bottle and a change of diaper. But this time it's Dad who can't go back to sleep! I've been awake ever since, finally giving up the ghost and rising about an hour ago. And it's 6:50am on a Saturday, darn it!

So, what better way to start the day than with a quiet cup of fresh coffee and a bowl of oatmeal (porridge) while some light snow drifts down onto the ground outside. A final little bit of Christmas shopping later today and maybe a little painting time this evening. But the house is all ready for Christmas, the kitchen is well stocked, and life is pretty darn good, so I feel very lucky. And, if you'll pardon my straying into this, I guess it's important to remember those sorts of things at Christmastime because not everyone in the world is as fortunate.

Comments

ColCampbell50 said…

And let the congregation say "AMEN!! Brother."

Jim

10:31 AM

Mosstrooper said…

Amen indeed !

11:09 AM

Presenting the Anspach-Bayreuth Kuirassiere!!!

Here they are, with the rearmost nine figures still drying, three squadrons of the Anspach-Bayreuth Kuirassiere, now in the service of the Grand Duchy of Stollen. And now, it's onto that artillery!

And It's the End of September!!!

Saxony's Ploetz Cuirassiers, an illustration lifted from the Kronoskaf website, which has thus far guided my spectacularly glacial painting of 30 28mm Eureka Saxon cuirassiers purchased all the way back in October 2016. A gray, cool Saturday here in Mid-Michigan with rain in the forecast. The Grand Duchess is away at a conference, so it's just "The Boys" here at home. The Young Master (almost 15) has retreated to his room for something or other following breakfast while I have stolen back down here to Zum Stollenkeller (masquerading as my office) with a second mug of coffee and both cats comfortably ensconced nearby. Enjoying the late morning and still in my pajamas! Not much planned for today beyond designing a couple of promotional flyers for workshops my department is presenting (small parties we will throw?) in October and November. With maybe a bit of on the next podcast script. More important, I am toying with the idea of returning for an hour or...

Happy September 2nd!!!

T his weekend, the question of what, precisely, constitutes an "imagination" came up in an online forum of which I am a part. To be fair, the issue originates from further afield in a Facebook group that I am not a member of, but I weighed in with my own view. The following was in response to the question posed yesterday (Sunday) morning by an exasperated member of my own rather more gentlemanly town square, who had been met with a strident response to information he shared about his (admirable) hobby activities on said FB group. Here is, more or less, what I wrote: To my mind, the concept of imagi-nation(s) is a broad one. It can range from historical refights or what-if scenarios/battles/campaigns between armies of a particular era, to completely made up combatants operating in a quasi-historical setting, to the rather generic red and blue forces of the Prussian Kriegspiel that examine a particular tactical problem, task, or exercise. ...

The Grand Duchy of Stollen

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