The Grand Duchy of Stollen

The fully assembled Berliner Zinnfiguren Prussian mobile field forge with Fife & Drum limber horses and an RSM95 rider. A few of you asked the other day for a peek at the items schlepped home from Berlin recently by the Grand Duchess, so here you are. -- Stokes Various Willie (Suren) 30mm ladies of ill repute, with The Naughty Lola at the center of things, and a 30mm Black Hussar Prussian military chaplain.  I'd say he has his work cut out for him.  More 30mm Willie (Suren) sutleresses and vivandieres.  I'll use these in two or three small vignettes, one of which will include a couple of soldiers' wives tending a large pot of laundry over a fire and hanging wet things on a line.  A 30mm Willie (Suren) plucky stable lad and running farm girl. A 30mm Willie (Suren) bishop.  This one has, as yet, no practical application, but he was too good to pass up since he bears such a marked resemblance to Monty Python's Terry Jones.  "Oh no

Various useful 30mm Willie figures and a Prussian SYW-era mobile field forge, courtesy of Berliner Zinnfiguren, a truly amazing little model that comes almost fully assembled. C ontinuous insane laughter.  Nothing more need be said really. -- Stokes

You and a guest are cordially invited to attend a formal ball, hosted by the Grand Duke Irwin-Amadeus II, to be held this evening at Krankenstadt Palace.  Festivities are to commence precisely at the hour of nine o'clock. I t seems, The Grand Duchy of Stollen blog has picked up another couple of followers during the last few days, raising the number to 201 souls who, apparently, are interested in my various and sundry occasional meanderings here.  In any case, a hearty welcome to you, thank you for your interest (it's nice to share one's hobby with like-minded people around the globe), and please continue to check in during the coming weeks when things will, hopefully, become a bit more interesting than has been the case in recent months. -- Stokes P. S. The Grand Duchess is wending her way home circuitously from Berlin at the moment, via either Copenhagen or Amsterdam (maybe both), through New York's JFK and finally to Chicago O'Hare, followed by a four-

This old standard from the historical Duchy of Courland (part of modern day Latvia) will provide the model for eventual Grand Ducal standards, which will be added to the line infantry regiments of The Grand Duchy of Stollen along side their existing regimental standards. I t seems that a pernicious painting funk is making the rounds for a number of us in Bloglandia at the moment.  Sigh.  I have been a complete and utter painting sloth since. . .  What was it?  March?  While I've tinkered a bit with prepping my pontoon and wagon train for painting these last three weeks, it has been difficult to get the coveted painting mojo stoked up again during the Grand Duchess' prolonged absence in Berlin, and my acting as sole parent and beneficiary to our son.   To be up front about it, the Young Master has been an angel most of the time, easy going, and a pleasure to look after, a responsibility with which I am already more than well acquainted.  However most evenings following

A little 3 in 1 Oil or WD40 might be just the thing. W ell, the spring semester has been finished for a little over two weeks now and grades were submitted on April 30th.  Still, it's been hard to get the painting gears moving again even though they were clicking along smoothly during January-March.  The Grand Duchess left a number of days ago for three weeks in Berlin to visit some archives and meet with a few people in her field, so I've been otherwise occupied looking after the Young Master. He has been a hoot, and easy to get along with, since his mother left last Wednesday.  Clearly, a real sense of humor and fun has developed in the last 18 months or so.  As wonderful as that is, and much to my chagrin, I have also found that when the Young Master is able to make me laugh, it becomes very hard to exercise parental authority and restore order.  He simply stops listening and continues to clown around if I giggle at his antics.  So, a great deal of mental energy and e