Happy Feast of Stephen!

A lovely, quiet Christmas Day here at Stollen Central yesterday, which included a couple of very interesting books for yours truly.  The first is a history of the military kriegspiel, both the serious, non-recreational kind as well as the somewhat more recreational variety entitled War Games and Their History (2012) by C. G. Lewin.  The second beneath tree was Armies of Bismark's Wars: Prussia 1860-67 (2013) by Bruce Bassett-Powell.  I discuss these in a bit more detail here once I've had time to look them over more closely.  The Young Master and Grand Duchess also presented me with some much needed Minden pioneers and Uhlans de Saxe as well as a few additional Austrian and Prussian limber horse riders for several additional planned wagons and ammunition carts.

The Young Master, for his part, had what I believe was a smashing time although the sugar and excitement of the day became to much in the end, and he had to be excused from the dinner table and put to bed early.  A tired, overstimulated small child, who is hopped up on too much chocolate and other kinds of candy, does not a pleasant dining companion make.  A much calmer day today, and our small, blonde progeny is building with some new Lego bricks in his bedroom and listening to one of his two new Diana Krall CD's.  Hey, he's a young jazz cat, and who can find fault in that?  Like, crazy man. . .  Crazy!  He still has a few gifts left to open beneath the tree today, so we'll do that with some eggnog and pumpkin (the Young Master's favorite) or cherry pie after supper this evening. 

Today's vintage Christmas illustration is an old Swedish greeting card depicting, as you can see, boys and girls sledding in the snow.  Since an old Scandinavian/Nordic tradition involved going for a sleighride on Saint Stephen's Day, December 26th.  I lacked a suitable image though, so it seems like a nice idea to share this one instead.  Since this year we have had no appreciable snow to speak of yet (the ground had been covered for two weeks by this time last year), we are going to take the Young Master to a local park that he likes for a long amble around the various paths and through the woods today.

I wish you a peaceful and quiet day of continued Christmas celebration in your part of the world.  As my maternal grandfather used to toast us -- on the afternoon of the 26th, invariably with a scotch and water in hand, as we convened in the living room with the Christmas tree and a wood fire in the fireplace -- Happy Day After!

-- Stokes