Happy Thanksgiving Day 2018!

An 18th century table laid out for the evening meal.

Very quiet here at The Grand Duchy of Stollen in recent weeks what with the onslaught of daily life, but hopefully some time in the hobby chair during the long weekend. In the meantime, allow me to wish any U.S. visitors who drop by, wherever you might find yourselves in the world, a Happy Thanksgiving.

The Grand Duchess and Young Master are busily preparing the final dishes upstairs in the kitchen. The Young Master and I whipped up the pumpkin pie and one of our planned side dishes yesterday afternoon. In fact, my small, freckled partner in crime did just about everything with only minimal assistance from yours truly and did it very well. The pie and casserole ought to be extra good this year as a result.

I am now off to shower and shave before dressing for dinner and placing a couple of calls to family elsewhere. Enjoy the day everyone, and don't overdo it too much. Remember, we've got to leave some room for pie and coffee later. The BEST part of any holiday meal in my humble view.

-- Stokes

P.S.

Is anyone else having trouble with Blogger refusing to allow you to comment on others' blogs? I've been having the problem for about two weeks now, and it simply refreshes the page without posting the comment I have typed into the little window. The comment itself seems to disappear into thin air. Grrrrr. . . Any suggestions?

P.P.S. (Friday)
As predicted, the pumpkin pie and greenbean casserole (loaded with french cut greenbeans and artichoke hearts) were spectacular this year. And all thanks to the culinary efforts of the nine-year old Young Master. As probably all parents are prone to feel, it seems we have discovered yet another talent. Or at least an activity that seems to give Paul pleasure. Maybe another celebrity chef in the making?

I complimented him again on the dishes he helped with as we cleared the table yesterday evening, and he answered,

"Hey, Dad! I'm a special kid." To which The Grand Duchess and I replied almost simultaneously,

"You are a wonderful kid!" He is reading or coloring in his room at the moment until we manage to pull our clothes on (it's 8:50am here at the moment) to visit our favorite local quick and greasy for a post-Thanksgiving family breakfast.

The Young Master just after we put his pumpkin pie into the oven on Wednesday afternoon. He is a whiz in the kitchen.

The 18th century? What's the Fascination?

Hessian musketeers by All the King's Men Toy Soldiers of Snellville, Georgia, U.S.A. Just a quick post post today, but I thought the above question might be interesting food for thought. Obviously, there is an array of possible periods, theaters, and conflicts that might catch our eyes. But what is it about the era 1700-1799 -- either real, or imagined? Is it the commanders and politics? The fairly straightforward tactics? The myriad of uniforms and flags? The variety and scope of the conflicts? The patchwork of various and sundry petty states, (at least in Central Europe)? I'm very interested to learn your thoughts. Don't be a lurker! Please leave a comment -- or even two or three. Have a nice day everyone!

An Early July Hussar Update. . .

Marginally neater in appearance with green bases, girths, and ivory horse markings added, but I need to neaten up some hooves now before moving onto the rest of the tack. W here in the world did June go? While I still ponder the answer to that question, how about a quick painting update on the first batch of 14 Minden Austrian hussars and Nadasdy? Good. I'm glad we are of a like mind. Still on the sloppy side, but I've managed to move things along, painting the green bases, white (ivory) horse markings, and beginning the miles and miles of tack adorning the various horses. I always like to begin with the girths spanning the horses' ribs which helped hold the saddles in place. Even with the figures mounted individually on temporary painting bases, these can be kind of tricky to access, but there we are. I've also used various Army Painter washes (Mid-Brown and Strong Tone) as well as their Speed Paint (Grim Black) to make the manes and tails of the horses a bit m...

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...

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