It's Almost Christmas in The Grand Duchy. . .

A suitably snowy vista across part of the capital city Krankenstadt of the Grand Duchy of Stollen, a place which bares a striking resemblance to Riga, Latvia.

Things are busier than I would like here in the Grand Duchy at the moment, further early brushwork on the first 16 Eureka Saxon cavalry has been put on a back burner, and a slight cold for a few days threw a wrench into the works. Grrrr.

But I am on the mend now and steaming full ahead with the few last minute details and errands out ahead of Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and our December 27th departure for a week of cross-country skiing in Canada through the new year. In the meantime, it seems like a nice idea to share a few of our favorite traditional carols here in the Grand Duchy of Stollen.

Given the many traditional carols out there, this has been a tough call to make since there are some truly beuatiful pieces, but his long-suffering manservant Hives and I have managed to narrow the list to Grand Duke Irwin-Amadeus' Top 10. No doubt, you will recognize many. Now, we are not certain, but witnesses tell us that these particular carols, and one more modern jazzy piece, always bring a tear to Grand Duke's eye through the beauty of their melodies, lyrics, and quiet sentiment. Here they are in no particular order:

Stille Nacht (Silent Night)

Es ist ein Ros Entsprungen

Es Wird Schon Glei Dumpa

O Tannenbaum

Ding-Dong Merrily on High

The Holly and the Ivy

Once in David's Royal City

In the Bleak Midwinter

God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen

Here We Come a Wassailing

Christmastime Is Here (Honorable Mention)

In the meantime, there will be one more post here before Christmas Day. If you have a few spare moments, please be sure to drop by for a figurative cup of seasonal cheer.

-- Stokes

Comments

Andy McMaster said…

Frohe Weihnachten und Schöne Feiertage!

3:30 PM

The Good Soldier Svjek said…

A Merry Christmas to you all , Tony

11:49 PM

tradgardmastare said…

God Jul from all in the Duchy of Tradgardland!

1:33 AM

Duke of Baylen said…

I'll look out for that next post too.
Merry Christmas
Stphen

2:29 AM

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...

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...

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

The Grand Duchy of Stollen

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