Skip to main content

But All Painting and No Skiing Makes Stokes a Dull(-er) Boy. . .

 




 

The three of us spent an amazing couple of hours at a local ski area early this afternoon.  Ideal temperatures, several inches of new snow, groomed trails.

We even chatted (from an appropriate social distance, with apologies to Bette Midler) with a couple of Norwegians and Swedes during mid-ski pauses along the trail.  The woods of Mid-Michigan.  Who would have thought?  Funny the odd places they turn up!  

In any case, I cannot recall when I have had so much fun on skis.  It has been a dozen years or more.  And Young Paul is really coming along.  He navigated all hills but two, fell only once, and really picked up the pace during our second hour.  He may well give the Norwegians a run for their money in another few years, but for now, he ought to drop off early and sleep soundly tonight.

-- Stokes

Comments

Neil Moulden said…
Your very lucky to live in such a wonderful place.
It's true Scandinavians do pop up in the oddest of places. That wonder lust I guess. Though now they leave less dead bodies behind than in the old days.
Kindest regards.
Neil.
4:18 PM
WSTKS-FM Worldwide said…
We are indeed very fortunate, Neil. I must remind myself more often.

Best Regards,

Stokes
4:45 PM
marinergrim said…
Sounds like a good day out. Very fortunate to be somewhere that allows you to do what you like so easily.
12:54 AM
tradgardmastare said…
It is great to see the photos and to hear what a terrific time you all had.
1:33 AM
Carnoe said…
Looks like you were having a lot of fun in that winter wonderland!
1:23 PM
Neil said…
Stokes,
Good for you. We have also taken this opportunity to do more outdoor activities.

Neil

http://toysoldiersanddiningroombattles.blogspot.com/
9:50 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

It's Early Days Yet. . .

M aking some early progress with Batch A of the Anhalt-Zerbst Regiment over the last several days/evenings.  Nothing terribly exciting just yet, but the basic black, brown, and flesh areas are done as are the green bases, and gray undercoat.   The latter two areas needed some careful retouching early in the week.  Next up, the neck stocks.   I might just do these in red for the enlisted men although some of my source material suggest they were black, but I always look for an excuse to shake things up a bit.  Any errant splotches of red (or black) can be covered with another application of light gray before I move onto the next step.   "Giddy up!" as one Cosmo Kramer might have said. -- Stokes
2 comments
Read more

And We're Off!!!

  Arrrgh!  Gotta go back into camera settings on my iPhone to bring all of the frame into focus.  Blast! Painting is underway on the 60 or so Minden Austrians, which are slated to become my version of the Anhalt-Zerbst Regiment of AWI renown.  More or less indistinguishable from Austrians of the era really, right down to the red facings and turnbacks, but the eventual flags (already in my files) will set them apart.   I went ahead and based-coated all of them over a couple of days lthe last week of August, using a mix of light gray and white acrylic gesso, before next applying my usual basic alkyd oil flesh tone to the faces and hands.  In a day or two, I'll hit that with Army Painter Flesh Wash to tone things down a bit and bring some definition to the faces and hands.   As usual, the plan is to focus on about 20 figures at a time, splitting the regiment roughly into thirds along with the color party and regimental staff.  Depending on ...
5 comments
Read more

The Eventual Anhalt-Zerbst Regiment. . .

  The Anhalt-Zerbst regiment musters in the drill square to sort themselves into platoons and companies during the coming weeks  Fall maneuvers if you will. A large dose of real life the last few days with the start of classes next Monday, various preparatory meetings, and finishing up a few other things this week.  But, I managed to sort out 60 or so Minden Austrian infantry from the pile and get 'em stuck to temporary painting bases.  Must carefully drill out the hands of several NCOs for flagpoles and pole arms this weekend before the usual basecoat.   I'm thinking of mixing the usual white gesso with the usual light gray to kill two birds with one stone so to speak.  Applying both base- and undercoat in one fell swoop as my grandmother used to say. In the meantime, the recently finished squadron of Saxon cuirassiers has been placed carefully in one of the clear acrylic boxes on my shelves until I have the suitable flag to affix.   -- Sto...
1 comment
Read more