Skip to main content

One Week to Go. . .

Yet another seasonal image of Saint Nick, once again in Green robes, strolling across a wintry landscape with a couple of presumably well-behaved children.

Where does the time go?  Yesterday was a little on the busy side, so I wasn't able to make an entry here.  However, the Grand Duchess and I did manage to escape for a couple of hours to have coffee and non-child centered conversation at one of our local cafes thanks to the good graces of one of our three regular babysitters.  Young Master Paul and his friend Miss B. went to the Nearby Children's Museum just up the street from the cafe, where there are all kinds of interactive exhibits that appeal to toddlers and primary grade aged children.  I'd almost forgotten what conversation about other things was like, and it was a nice way to kill a couple of hours.

We met them at the appointed time, picked up the Young Master and brought him home for lunch and his nap, during which time I was shamed by the Grand Duchess into taking care of a final bit of work out in the front and back yards, to prepare for the onset of winter.  It really wasn't that bad though, and it felt kind of good to bundle up and get out into the cold air for a few hours of quiet, fairly mindless activity.  

Once the Young Master was up, he and his mother ran a few errands, so I managed to snatch an hour or so late in the afternoon, to come down here and work on the current batch of five figures, which are getting very close to completion now.  Really just some brown/black lining and touch-ups, which hopefully I'll have time for later this afternoon.

At any rate, it was suddenly dinnertime for Young Master Paul, followed by bedtime (both my turn yesterday evening).  Uff!  Bedtime has recently become a sometimes arduous process because the Young Master is at the stage where he gets very wound up late in the day.  More often than not, that results in lots of struggling and laughter that turns into screaming as you try to undress him and get him into pajamas.  It can turn a normally 10-15 minute process into a half-hour ordeal that is simply exhausting, and makes me think "Why on earth did we do this?!" 

The Grand Duchess and I followed with a nice quiet dinner at about 7:30, coffee (complete with several hilarious and unintentional puns made by the Grand Duchess), and an interesting discussion post-meal about the precise definitions of a few different words, during which the Grand Duchess fetched a dictionary to settle the matter.  Yes, yes.  We're both real nerds that way.  Living out there on the bloody edge and all that.  Anyway, the rest of the evening was spent decorating the two Christmas trees.  One is a very tall fancy tree with lots of pretty, quirky glass ornaments of various kinds and white lights, and the other a smaller tree in the dining room for family ornaments from the Grand Duchess's childhood, also illuminated with white lights.

All of the decorating was accompanied by seasonal music played at a soft volume and copious amounts of eggnog.  I used to drink this intoxicating golden elixir like a fish as a boy and younger man at this time of year, but staying trim is not as easy as it once was, and eggnog does not help in that endeavor!  Before we knew it, it was after 11:30pm, the Grand Duchess was yawning hugely, and it was time to retire for the evening.  I read a short story until I couldn't keep my eyes focused and finally gave up, turning out my bedside lamp at about 12:30am this morning.  You know you're tired when you read the same paragraph three or four times, and it still does not make sense.

While I am getting the Young Master up and serving him breakfast in about an hour (8am), I hope to have a bit more time to putter around at the painting desk here in Zum Stollenkeller today, finishing those five figures, maybe taking a photo or two of them, and preparing the next five with a couple of white basecoats.  Now that the trees are decorated, the stockings hung, and the poinsettias arranged on the mantle, things have settled down somewhat, and we can enjoy a fairly quiet week before the arrival of Christmas in earnest.

Now, you are probably thinking to yourself at this point, "Great, Stokes.  An absolutely riveting post.  Wake me when it's over!"  True, this entry has very little to do with painting model soldiers and wargaming.  But maybe it's healthy to get away from the painting table for a little while and experience some real life occasionally.  You know?  To come up out of one's gopher burrow now and again and have a look around at other things, gaining a little necessary perspective in the process as one of my grad school professors at the University of Minnesota used to suggest.  And it's awfully easy to get caught up in our soldier hobbies and imaginary activities, but that risks coming at the expense of missing out on other things like family and shared experiences.  And if I never emerged from the confines of Zum Stollenkeller, I'd miss out on the delicious, delightful, and delovely Dresdner Stollen that the Grand Duchess will prepare later today!

Santa Claus in brown robes (or purple?) again.  For some reason, this particular card reminds me of the winter landscape in southeastern Pennsylvania where I grew up in the country, about two hours in those days, outside of Philadelphia.  And there were quite a few Decembers in the 1970s and 80s when the snow arrived very early in the month and remained on the ground into March.  One year, we accrued so many missed days of school due to snow that the schoolyear was extended into late June just to make up the lost time.  Excruciating!

Comments

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!

Taking Stock Part II: The (As Yet) Unpainted but Planned OOB. . .

  Two companies of Reichsarmee grenadiers painted back in 2017 or 2018.  Minden Austrians of course. A lovely early autumn day here in the grand duchy.  Bright sunshine and a light breeze with cool temperatures will make for some very pleasant late afternoon lawn mowing in a little while.  But first a bit more discussion of painting plans for the future. Last time, I looked back at the various and sundry units, support troops, and civilians that I've managed to paint in the last 17 years as the Grand Duchy of Stollen project has developed.  So today, let's look into the seemingly bottomless Drawer 'o' Lead to my left for a clue to the new direction.  Be forewarned, it's not going to be a quick job getting everything painted and based, but there we are. The following plans are based on the pile of unpainted figures already here.  Any future purchases will be limited to small things that might be needed to fill out the envisioned units (the odd few officers mounted o

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 a