So much to do, so much to do. . .

December is the season of toy soldiers in my book, and some brightly colored cavalry in miniature are always a stirring sight, at Christmas, or any other time!

So much to do, and so little time to do it before Christmas arrives in earnest next. Still a few gift errands to run, and one last batch of grades to submit online today. But, we did get the trees decorated last night, and they are stunning, so the first floor of the house, our front door, and front porch look bright and festive. The Young Master is on the mend today and very interested in the trees this morning. He keeps describing the various ornaments and colors that he notices. . . in English and German! Sadly, his Norwegian lags in third place somewhere, but there is still plenty of time for that to fall into place.

What about those wooden vehicles of his? Well, I got started painting his wooden trucks late yesterday afternoon, and they are looking pretty good, but I need to make a quick trip today to pick up some acrylic paints to finish the job. Hopefully, the wheels will arrive shortly, and then I'll scramble to paint those and attache them to the fleet of four trucks destined for the hearth just beneath the Young Master's stocking on Christmas Morning.

And what of soldier painting? Well, I ran out of time yesterday evening what with the Christmas tree decorating and spending some time with the Grand Duchess afterwards over warm Gluehwein followed by a glass of eggnog. And then suddenly, it was after Midnight! So, I aim to spend time this evening working on the current small batch of five officers. At this point, I fear that I'll fall far short of my pledged 20 figures when 6pm on December 24th arrives, but I'm giving it the old college try between now and then. Once the relative quiet of Christmas Week arrives, I'll have considerably more time for painting and otherwise puttering around down here in Zum Stollenkeller.

In the meantime, enjoy gazing at these two photographs of toy soldiers culled from the internet. They don't have anything to do specifically with Christmas, but as I mention in the first caption above, December is high season for toy soldiers in my mind.

A perfectly ordered row of tin soldiers (British, or Danish Guardsmen?), elegant in their simplicity.

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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. ...

The Grand Duchy of Stollen

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