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Report from Michigan. . .

The third and fourth companies of that monster 80-figure regiment I began last winter.  Mostly RSM95 figures with a couple of Minden Austrian standard bearers at right.  Now, if I could just find my paintbrushes and the rest of my (acrylic hobby) paints.

A bright, cool and breezy morning outside today after heavy rains yesterday afternoon and late last night.  Feels like Northern Europe if I you'll allow me to be so bold.  Good thing too as the trip to Berlin is fast approaching.  I've already got Deutschlandradio Kultur on the computer to begin brushing up on my German.  I can understand (in speech and reading) quite a lot actually thanks to years of studying other languages in the same family plus three semesters of German for Reading knowledge.  I always laugh and say Norwegian is like Low German but with easier grammar and a sing-song accent, but my speaking vocabulary in Standard German is still kind of limited.  Ah, well.  Nothing that seven weeks won't help a bit.  "Poco a poco" (little by little) as they say in the Yucatan in Mexico.

The most necessary unpacking and apartment arranging is just about done, and things kind of resemble an antiseptic version of home.  We have, however, made the decision NOT to unpack our books, furnishings, and so forth since we are very limited on space, and we want to reduce what must be repacked once we find a house.  Amazing what you can store in the garage when everything is packed in boxes and neatly stacked around the walls.  So, our living space feels more like a large hotel sweet with some of our furniture, kitchen, bathroom, and clothing items, but still generic and lacking in personal touches if you know what I mean.

On the soldier front, I managed to find and unpack just a few things yesterday afternoon, which should help keep things moving forward somewhat once I find the wooden box containing my paintbrushes and Citadel hobby acrylics plus the front rank finials and brass rods which will eventually become flagpoles.  It might just be easier right now to purchase new things rather than try to find this stuff though since I have no clue where the particular box is that holds it all.  Probably at the back of my clothes closet beneath the still sealed boxes holding the various Styrofoam peanut filled plastic tubs of painted soldiers.  I also located my tubes of oils and the box containing my various paint cleaners and mediums plus my cutting mat though.  

Finally, one of my folding tables from Zum Stollenkeller has been covered with a large batik tablecloth, brought to me 20+ years ago from Indonesia by good ol' Mom, and now resides in one corner of our bedroom as a makeshift (computer) desk/painting table/photography area.  Hopefully, I will be able to resume a bit of painting during the evenings once we return in mid-August.

-- Stokes

Comments

Ahhhh moving......may I never have to do it again!
Glad to hear your getting a bit more settled in to you new location , Tony
Der Alte Fritz said…
Sometimes it feels good to just have a few essentials unpack and ready for use.

I would probably create a Go Box containing paints and brushes plus some figures to work on. I'd have a few books such as Savory, several Duffy titles and The War Game on hand for some reading material.

Jim
Bloggerator said…
Fully in agreement with all your correspondents so far Stokes.

I'm off on a weekend away "up the snow" and will be taking my own version of a travelling hobby box for those early mornings. 4-5 Willie Cavalry, just enought paints, files and glues to do them and a couple of brushes.

Just the thing.

All the best,

Greg

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