The Grand Duchy of Stollen

Not our eventual new house but Highclere Castle, aka Totleigh Towers, aka Downton Abbey, aka many other something or others in various films and TV programs.  But, we will soon have a new castle where yours truly can set up the soldier things once again and daydream about how to avoid falling afoul of Sir Watkyn Bassett, Lord Sidcup, and Alpine Joe. . .  to say nothing of Madeleine Bassett. G ood news.  A new Stollen Central and Zum Stollenkeller are on the horizon. We meet with our real estate lady on Saturday (tomorrow) morning to set into formal motion the eventual purchase of a new home.  While modest and unmistakably suburban, it has everything we want.  Excellent schools, a quiet almost rural setting, an easy commute, yet far enough away from campus, large front- and backyards plus a tree-house with tire swing for the Young Master, plenty of space indoors, no major repairs or replacements that require immediate attention (roofs, furnaces, water heaters, and so forth),

The next nineteen RSM95 Prussians midway through the white basecoat of acrylic gesso.  I like to apply two coats of the stuff before starting actual painting. V ery quiet around the temporary Stollen Central the last few weeks what with all of the required new employee seminars, professional development workshops, online training, and so forth before the start of the fall academic term last week and now course preparation four afternoons/evenings a week.  Factor in visiting various houses that look interesting to us with our real estate lady and/or attending various open houses at homes currently on the market along with the Young Master, who is having some trouble adjusting to a new school and life here and is requiring some extra time and attention, and, well, there has not been much time at all for soldiering in any sense.  Nevertheless, I did manage to sit down two weekends ago and apply the first of two coats of white acrylic gesso to the next batch of RSM95 Prussian musketee