Only Two Weeks until the Big Day. . .

You can almost hear the tin soldiers marching to do batttle with the Rat King and his minions.

No painting to report his morning as it was just too cold in Zum Stollenkeller yesterday evening for a sedentary pursuit like that. Odd that a cellar would get so cold, but there you are. However, temperatures are supposed to moderate somewhat during the next few days, so hopefully the weekend will see me back at the painting table, at least for a little while.

In the meantime, here's a cheerful Christmas image for you Grand Duchy of Stollen regulars -- a nutcracker version of The Rat King from, you guessed it, The Nutcracker! I have a similar wooden, puppet-like ornament, depicting the Rat King, which I must get from my mother before next Christmas. Mom still has a couple of boxes of Christmas tree ornaments and decorations from our younger days (my sister and me) in storage that I need to claim when I rent a truck and pick up several family pieces of furniture next summer.

Anyway, there is a funny family story connected to the Rat King ornament I mention above. About 18 years ago, when I was living in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh with my mother and step-father, one cold December morning a week or so before Christmas, Mom looked contentedly out the kitchen window at the birdfeeder, hanging from a tree in the back yard. To her intense dismay, she noticed two of the Rat King's brethren (ahem) gnawing at the corner of a big plastic bag full of garbage left on the back porch! Seems my professor step-dad (a displaced Welshman) had not taken the kitchen garbage all the way to the garbage cans (it had been his turn to do so) at the side of the house the night before due to the intense cold.

So, I pulled on shoes, headed out to the porch, shooed away the tresspassing rodentia, and quickly deposited the garbage bag in it's proper recepticle. Once inside, Mom muttered something under her breath about how my step-dad was going to be in BIG trouble when he came home. I laughed, and replied. "No Mom, you're misktaken. Those weren't rats. Those were city chipmunks!" She laughed and we moved onto talking about other things. But ever since, we have always referred to my Rat King ornament as the City Chipmunk ornament. Enjoy the weekend everyone!

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!

Keepin' an Eye on the World Going By My Window . .

'The Nap at the Palace' by Jose Triado Mayol N ot much in the way of hobby-related activity happening here in the Grand Duchy lately. Sigh. And no surprise there really since there are only so many hours in the day, only so much mental and physical energy to spare, and you sometimes simply just have to give in and know when to say, um, "When!" A glass of wine and/or evening yoga by the hearth with the Grand Duchess (who has practiced for over 20 years), and then off into la-la land. Zzzzzzzzz. More immediately, I'm recovering, mentally speaking, from a grueling Friday in which I was involved with three (online) conference sessions, one right after the other, followed by a 90-minute meeting at the end of the day. Also virtual. My brain has been mush ever since, so an easy, completely unproductive Saturday watching intermittent snow fall outside (no accumulation however) and drinking coffee while the visiting handymen completed some repair work down h...

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...

The Grand Duchy of Stollen

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