It's the First Day of Winter!

 The first of two vintage images of Father Christmas this cold winter's morning morning.  I absolutely love these old late-Victorian and Edwardian Christmas cards.

A bitterly cold, windy, and clear morning here at Stollen Central with a couple of inches of crunchy snow on the ground outside.  And so, in view of the pre-Christmas rush around here at the moment, let me wish everyone in the Northern Hemisphere a Happy Winter Solstice!  Please continue to tune in to the GD of S blog during the next few days in the run up to Christmas Day, to see how the wooden trucks I'm finishing for the Young Master finally turn out.  And maybe I'll actually get some soldier time in this weekend too.  Assuming I don't conk out in the evenings.  You know.  Mr. Excitement and all that.

And here's a second old Christmas card, featuring purple robes, trimmed with white fur and a dark red, or crimson cap with a gold tassel.  These old images used to seem so strange to me when I was small, given the Coca Cola image of Santa Claus that most of us in the United States have in our collective consciousness.  But I prefer the old images as an adult.  They are certainly more colorful, and there is just something magical about them.

Here is the gingerbread house the the Young Master and the Grand Duchess assembled two or three days ago.  Paul applied much of the white, sugary icing and many of the various candies.  Apparently, he was more interested in helping his mother stir and then eat huge spoonfuls of the former.

 Finally, here is a photograph of our main tree (A Fraser Fir) -- especially for Jeff von Saxe-Bearstein -- in the library/parlor/front room of Stollen Central with some gifts beneath it already from the Grand Ducal In-Laws.  The arrival of their Christmas parcel each year in early December is always a much anticipated event.  While things are wrapped, and no clues are thus given as to what the packages might contain, it is great fun unpacking the large box and then placing everything beneath the tree several days later once decorating for the Christmas Season has taken place.  Please note the Young Master and feline friend inspecting things closely at the bottom of the photograph.