Happy Feast of Stephen!

An unusual old Christmas image that I cam across in my annual image search earlier this month.

Happy second day of Christmas everyone. Or Happy Day After as my late maternal grandfather used to say. We are planning a relaxed day with some light skiing in another nearby park which has trails. Again, just about five minute from the house and later more Christmas goose and all of the fixings. The Young Master seems to enjoy goose and even suggested yesterday evening during dinner that we have it for Christmas every year, so I guess that is that. Otherwise, some time down here in Zum Stollenkeller today, so I can finish tightening up an article to get off to Greg well in advance of the New Year. The online Christmas jazz should help spur me along nicely.

-- Stokes

The Young Master and Dad, Christmas Day 2017.

Comments

MSFoy said…

Ignoramus that I am, I have to confess that I knew St Stephen's Day was sometime around Christmas, but I never realised that it was the 26th. These blog things are educational, no doubt.

When I was a nipper in Liverpool, there was an alternative schoolkids' version of the famous carol. I hope it is not unacceptably sacrilegious:

Good King Wenceslas looked out, on the Feast of Stephen,
When a snowball hit him in the eye and made his face uneven.
Brightly shone the stars he saw, though the blow was cruel,
Then a poor man came in sight, riding on a bandy-legged mu-u-el.

We're probably on relatively safe ground here, since the carol makes no reference to the Nativity, nor anything holier than a good deed.

Today is our day for tidying up and putting away the Premier Cutlery. All part of some ancient ritual...

2:00 PM

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...

Having a "No Day". . .

F or the almost 20 years that she lived in Mexico, one of my late mother's Irish friends frequently mentioned having a "No Day." A day with no social obligations, chores, tasks, or other work that interfered with whatever personal interests took one's fancy on the day in question. Since today -- a gray and chilly Saturday -- is Mom's birthday, the Grand Duchess is out with friends, and the Young Master is ensconced on the sofa in the TV room with a cold, yours truly is taking his own such No Day. I think Mom would approve of my decision to make the world go away, as the old Eddie Arnold song intoned, even if only for a little while. So, I will spend Saturday afternoon focused on that first squadron and small regimental staff of Eureka Saxon cuirassiers. These have stood waiting untouched over on the painting table for almost three weeks while we skied and otherwise gadded about with snowy, winter outdoor activities. I hope to share a painting update Sunday...

The Grand Duchy of Stollen

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