Skip to main content

A White-washin' Aunt Polly's Fence??!!

Is it really true? Will Stokes be painting a fence like Mark Twain's Tom Sawyer? Not exactly.

For the next few days, I'll actually be a paintin' the future room of "Little Nimbus" as the several gallons of primer and Flaxen yellow paint plus rollers, roller pans, brushes, and the like -- now waiting on the floor of the bedroom next to ours -- will attest.


Yep, I'll just be a paintin' fool through the weekend while the Grand Duchess attends her baby shower on Saturday with her mother and sister, who arrive this evening for a few days. Now, some of you might be thinking to yourselves, "Well, Stokes, that's either plain old dumb luck, or very astute planning!" I'll never tell. ;-)

By the way, for those who might be scratching their heads, Little Nimbus is the name by which we refer to the future heir to the Grand Duchy of Stollen since we are waiting until the baby is born before we learn its sex. We have specific names all picked out whatever the case may be, but "Little Nimbus" is vague enough to work for both a boy or a girl until the big day. And where, prey tell, did we come up with this delightful name?

Well, about three or four years ago, The Grand Duchess was in a particularly dark mood one afternoon when she arrived home. I finally remarked that she was like a looming dark cloud. A Cumulonimbus cloud to be precise. When I slapped the label of Surly Nimbus on her later that evening, it had the desired effect, causing Sonja to break into gales of laughter, and the evil spell was broken. The fair Grand Duchess was restored to a pleasnt mood. Afterwards, whenever we have discussed the future heir to Stollen, we refer jokingly to him/her as "Little Nimbus".

Comments

Snickering Corpses said…
Good luck with your room-painting, my friend. And I love the story of Little Nimbus. Besides, every kid needs a nickname to live down, which can be trotted out to embarrass them before future dates. ;)
Martin said…
Evening Stokes,

Hummm...Dumb luck vs. Prior Planning...I vote for dumb luck since no amount of planning will replace it. Ha, ha.

Just remember that when you're painting the room, it doesn't need to be as detailed as one of your wargame figures. Once "Little Nimbus" makes his/her way into the world, you'll just have to find the Disney Winnie The Pooh Movie, so you can learn all the words to "I'm Just A Little Black Raincloud".

S.C. has it right. Why, my daughter Kate still bristles when we call her "Briar Rose".
Stryker said…
I really wanted to call one of our kids Rumpelstiltskin but on both occasions was out voted. Still don't understand why it was rejected...

Ian
guy said…
Children's names- our eldest is Hebe and the codename was Bruno after a favorite dog of mine. There hadn't been a baby girl born in the male side of the family for over a century so we were pretty convinced it was going to be a boy. The delightful west Indian nurse couldn't quite get Hebe so called her Hubbabaloo. She still gets called this 14 years later.

regards,
Guy

Popular posts from this blog

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!

And It's the End of September!!!

  Saxony's Ploetz Cuirassiers, an illustration lifted from the Kronoskaf website, which has thus far guided my spectacularly glacial painting of 30 28mm Eureka Saxon cuirassiers purchased all the way back in October 2016. A gray, cool Saturday here in Mid-Michigan with rain in the forecast. The Grand Duchess is away at a conference, so it's just "The Boys" here at home. The Young Master (almost 15) has retreated to his room for something or other following breakfast while I have stolen back down here to Zum Stollenkeller (masquerading as my office) with a second mug of coffee and both cats comfortably ensconced nearby. Enjoying the late morning and still in my pajamas! Not much planned for today beyond designing a couple of promotional flyers for workshops my department is presenting (small parties we will throw?) in October and November.  With maybe a bit of on the next podcast script. More important,  I am toying with the idea of returning for an hour or...

Happy September 2nd!!!

    T his weekend, the question of what, precisely, constitutes an "imagination" came up in an online forum of which I am a part.  To be fair, the issue originates from further afield in a Facebook group that I am not a member of, but I weighed in with my own view.  The following was in response to the question posed yesterday (Sunday) morning by an exasperated member of my own rather more gentlemanly town square, who had been met with a strident response to information he shared about his (admirable) hobby activities on said FB group.  Here is, more or less, what I wrote: To my mind, the concept of imagi-nation(s) is a broad one.  It can range from historical refights or what-if scenarios/battles/campaigns between armies of a particular era, to completely made up combatants operating in a quasi-historical setting, to the rather generic red and blue forces of the Prussian Kriegspiel that examine a particular tactical problem, task, or exercise.   ...