Happy Feast of Stephen. . .

One versions of the Uhlans des Saxe for yours truly to daydream about in the coming year of cavalry painting and basing. The Grand Duchee presented yours truly with a unit of Minden Lanciers de Saxe for Christmas this year.

"Happy Day After!" as my much missed maternal grandfather used to say while sipping his scotch and water before an open woodfire on the hearth (we enjoyed two working fireplaces at my grandparents' place).

It has been a peaceful, quiet few days here at Totleigh-in-theWold. Christmas Eve saw us attend a church service at the Episcopal church just down the road from us, and the Young Master did remarkably well through the the hour-plus "family" service at 5pm. He has never experienced a church service before, and given the challenges he faces day-to-day, we weren't sure how things would go. But well he did, and we came home to supper and reading Clement C. Moore's The Night Before Christmas before YMP, his teddy bear, and Miss Kitty went to bed so that Santa Claus could stop by in the middle of the night long after the three of us were sound asleep.

Christmas Day and today have been full of more than enough rich food, telephone calls to and from family, seasonal music, gifts, and enjoying each others' company. I hope for some time to myself to sit down and do a few hobby-related things, but thus far, Legos, assembly of several gifts the Young Master received, and other father-son activities have taken precedence. Here's to a Christmas Week that continues in a quiet, peaceful, and happy vein.

-- Stokes

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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