The Grand Duchy of Stollen

  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 a

  Nothing much to look at, and still on the sloppy side, the first (slightly more than) half of the 30 Saxon cuirassiers are nevertheless underway. S ounds like a film title, eh?  One of those war dramas from the 1950s or 1960s.  Kind of along the lines of The Guns of Navarone , The Heroes of Telemark , The Dirty Dozen , or perhaps Where Eagles Dare. Cinematic delusions of grandeur aside, it seems like a good idea to share some painting progress where those Eureka Saxon cuirassiers are concerned.  Not much to look at quite yet since I am still at the stage of blocking in main colors, but it's  a start. The first squadron and regimental HQ  mounts have already received two coats of black.  Not sure yet whether I will dry-brush these with a dark blue or a dark gray before adding white markings to muzzles, legs, and the moving onto the hooves and horse furniture, which will be highlighted here and there with dark gray before adding metal highlights where appropriate.  Not everyone doe

  The 15 Ansbach-Bayreuth Jaegers mentioned below and finished during mid-2023. I n a postscript to yesterday evening's post, and looking back at the year just ended, painting output was not completely abysmal it seems.  I managed to complete the following infantry units: 1) 60+ Wied Infantry (Minden) -- Finished early in 2023. 2) 15 Generic -- Ansbach-Bayreuth -- Jaegers (Fife & Drum) 3) 15 Generic Frei-Infantrie --  Von Hordt --"Double Blues" (Minden) 4) Started 16 of 30 Saxon Cuirassiers (Eureka) in November.   So, not a huge output rolling off the ol' painting desk in 2023, but not too bad either given the various commitments vying for my time the last 12 months or so.  The next post, will look quickly at planned painting once the Saxon cavalry have been finished. -- Stokes The 15 Von Hordt Frei-Infanterie all based and ready to go.  Combined with the jaegers above, they form a 30-strong light battalion  according to the rules -- Suggestions? -- outlined in Yo

J ust back from a week five hours north in Ontario on what was to have been a skiing excursion.  Not a typical winter up there so far thanks to an El Nino year, global warming, and whatever else Mother Nature decided not to do this year, so it was an odd week of sitting on our hands, with some hiking and limited sightseeing since much is closed for the winter season in the area in and around Sault Saint Marie on the Canadian side.   The area we had hoped to ski -- Stokely Creek Lodge -- had lots of snow on the ground a month ago. with many trails groomed and open for skiing, but warmer temperatures and lots of rain put paid to that in the 10 days or so before we journeyed north on December 27th.  Lots of dirty piles of snow, or pure ice here and there, but nothing remotely skiable on the trails themselves.   Back down here in Mid-Michigan, the ski trail situation has been equally disappointing thus far.  Most years that we have been here, there is usually at leas six or eight inches of