Skip to main content

A Totleigh-in-the-Wold of Our Own. . .

Not our eventual new house but Highclere Castle, aka Totleigh Towers, aka Downton Abbey, aka many other something or others in various films and TV programs.  But, we will soon have a new castle where yours truly can set up the soldier things once again and daydream about how to avoid falling afoul of Sir Watkyn Bassett, Lord Sidcup, and Alpine Joe. . .  to say nothing of Madeleine Bassett.

Good news.  A new Stollen Central and Zum Stollenkeller are on the horizon.

We meet with our real estate lady on Saturday (tomorrow) morning to set into formal motion the eventual purchase of a new home.  While modest and unmistakably suburban, it has everything we want.  Excellent schools, a quiet almost rural setting, an easy commute, yet far enough away from campus, large front- and backyards plus a tree-house with tire swing for the Young Master, plenty of space indoors, no major repairs or replacements that require immediate attention (roofs, furnaces, water heaters, and so forth), and. . .  a fully finished basement!  Cue the insane laughter, please.  

If the stars align just right, we plan to move in just before Christmas during mid-December.  I know, I know. . .  Serenity now! 

-- Stokes 


House Update. . .
Our offer on the house that we most wanted has been accepted.  Our real estate lady called me about 20 minutes ago with the news.  We have a few more pieces of paperwork to sign etc., etc., but we will be able to occupy the house after December 8th. . .  Well ahead of the Christmas holidays.  I cannot wait!  Our current apartment is very nice, fairly new, and so forth, but it's not 'home' by any stretch of the imagination.  It will be awfully good to have a month,or so to unpack and settle in before classes resume in January.  The Grand Duchess and I might just have a glass or two of wine this evening.

Comments

marinergrim said…
Good luck with the purchase. Good news all round.
9:24 AM
Anonymous said…
Good luck. The basement sounds perfect. Much snow in December?
9:46 AM
The Good Soldier Svjek said…
Glad to hear your getting a base to get back to painting and gaming , hope all goes well , Tony
10:05 AM
El Grego said…
It sounds enchanting... best of luck!
1:32 PM
Bluebear Jeff said…
Hopefully everything will go very smoothly, sir.


-- Jeff
3:11 PM
Fitz-Badger said…
Sounds great! Good luck and here's to moving in in time for Christmas stollen!
4:34 PM
Ross Mac rmacfa@gmail.com said…
Best of luck with a smooth purchase.
5:22 PM
Der Alte Fritz said…
A true wargamer looks at the basement first and really doesn't care what the rest of the house looks like. :)
10:32 PM
Unknown said…
Great news and my fingers are crossed for you.
Simon
4:48 AM
WSTKS-FM Worldwide said…
Thanks for the kind words, men. And yes, the first thing I have examined in all of the houses we have viewed has been the basement. This house has the nicest and best appointed one yet, so I was ready to move in two weeks ago when first we saw it. Room for my den (you know, for REAL work), a painting area, and my table plus lots of built-in closets for storage. My very own Wargaming Holiday Centre. I may never come out again once we are ensconced.

Best Regards,

Stokes
7:34 AM
guy said…
Well done! I have long thought what an excellent invention the basement is in so many N American houses. So long as its warm/cool (depending on the season) and dry then just perfect for the troops. Years ago in my parents old house there was a huge attic room where I set up my wargames table but in the summer it was unbearably hot and in the winter just freezing. There was therefore a short campaigning season!

Regards,
Guy
10:50 AM
Sweet Pea said…

Greetings!

Is it possible to purchase from you the delightful prints of Santa dressed in
purple? He is perfect in purple for a reception I will be hosting.

Or are you able to direct me to the source to purchase?

Your site is splendid; I love the Duchy and Duchess, Young Master endearments!

Thank You~
Marsh Mallow












3:58 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Little More Brushwork. . .

    A little more brushwork on the first batch of (my version of) the Anhalt-Zerbst Regiment yesterday (Saturday).  Taking a different tack this time and addressing many of the details first before the white coats and other larger areas of uniform.   The eagle-eyed among you will notice that I've painted the (dark) red stocks of the enlisted men.  Always a difficult and frustrating item to paint, it made sense to paint from the inside out as it were and get that particular detail out of the way first rather than try to paint it in later after much other painting has been accomplished.  Trying to reduce the need for later retouching of other items on the figures you understand. Hopefully, I will be able to get back to these later today after a second trip back to the Apple Store for help with a couple of new iPad issues and, following the return home, some revision of Google Slides for tomorrow's meetings with my students. -- Stokes P.S. And according t...
8 comments
Read more

Basic Reds Done at Last. . .

  S till quite a way to go with the current batch of 20 human figures and a horse (of course), but they're actually starting to look like something after all of the red distinctions.  Quite a bit of painting in hour-long sessions the last week as and when time has allowed.  Mostly applying the basic dark red to facing areas and turnbacks followed by the inevitable touch-ups to clean up wobbly edges and those misplaced, minute splotches of Citadel Khorne Red.   They're looking like so many Austrian infantry regiments of the era at this point, but the eventual flags will turn them magically into the Anhalt-Zerbst Regiment, more or less, of the AWI period.  But I'm getting a bit ahead of myself. One frustrating point (ahem) of sad discovery.  I've started trying to use those Winsor & Newton 'Series Seven' brushes (#1 rounds) purchased last spring, and the blasted things simply will not keep a point.  Very frustrating since I have heard over the y...
3 comments
Read more

It's Early Days Yet. . .

M aking some early progress with Batch A of the Anhalt-Zerbst Regiment over the last several days/evenings.  Nothing terribly exciting just yet, but the basic black, brown, and flesh areas are done as are the green bases, and gray undercoat.   The latter two areas needed some careful retouching early in the week.  Next up, the neck stocks.   I might just do these in red for the enlisted men although some of my source material suggest they were black, but I always look for an excuse to shake things up a bit.  Any errant splotches of red (or black) can be covered with another application of light gray before I move onto the next step.   "Giddy up!" as one Cosmo Kramer might have said. -- Stokes
2 comments
Read more