Skip to main content

Lately, There Are Days When I Feel Like My Head Will Explode. . .

 


And I am not just talking about the frightening state of the world just now, but then we've been moving ever further into this general area since at least late 2016.

No, I am referring specifically to the continuing issues I seem to have with using Blogger.  Access to my blogs, even with a recovery phone number, has become increasingly sporadic and frustrating when it comes to troubleshooting what the problem(s) might be.  I think I might move to Word Press or Wix before long and include a link to the new premises here for visitors who might like to find me in my new digital digs.

Of this, more later.

Lots and lots of cross-country skiing, however, has kept me sane this winter.  We even managed a final quick tour at a small, local area last Saturday before temperatures jumped from the teens to the mid-50s Fahrenheit Sunday and melted all of our lovely snow here in Mid-Michigan.  I have not skied this much since Norway in 1999-2000 in any case, so no complaints.

The Grand Duchess and I are already planning ahead to next season.  That for yours truly will include an upgrade to some waxable -- Madshus Redline 3.0 Classic 'Cold' -- skis, already on order with our favorite ski shop up north in Frederic, Michigan.  They just need to be manufactured in and make the journey from Norway late in the summer.  I've skied for over 20 years on two pairs of so called 'waxless' (a misnomer since you do need to wax the glide zones) light touring XC skis by Madhus and Fischer.  

It's time for some faster racing skis now that my skills have finally caught up.  I'll hang onto the old pairs though since they have their uses depending on snow conditions and time of the season.

You knew I'd eventually work in a reference to Rod Argent and The Zombies, didn't you? 

Needless to say, I cannot wait until next winter.  Should be able to try 'em out late in November or early December once there is a good groomed base at one of the Nordic skiing centers we like in Northern Michigan.  If you plan the day right and leave early in the morning, a three-hour drive will get you there in time for a 9am opening, you can ski all day, have dinner on site, and drive home in the evening.  Or splurge for a motel or even, occasionally, rental accommodations for a long weekend.  

The Grand Duchess and I refer to these skiing getaways as "self-care," an important concept during the last couple of years with the pandemic.

Cross country skiing may not be quite as glamorous as Alpine skiing, but it's certainly quieter, demands more physically speaking, and is much more affordable.  I'd recommend taking up the sport in a heartbeat (ahem) for interested parties.  Plus, you meet some cute, physically fit, and interesting young women on the trails.  

Speaking of which, The Grand Duchess and I had our first actual date during February 2001 at a Nordic ski center outside Minneapolis, Minnesota, and I'll never forget that wonderful experience as long as I live.  She picked me up in her car about 9am that bright, sunny Saturday morning.  The temperature never rose above 5 degrees Fahrenheit that day -- Hey, it's Minnesota. -- but the diagonal striding along the trails, up the hills, and schussing down the other side quickly warmed us.

We skied until early afternoon, spent the rest of the day talking over tea and coffee back at my apartment, and finished by walking a few blocks to a Ukrainian delicatessen where we enjoyed the most delicious and hearty meal to the tune of an accordion orchestra of about 25 musicians until closing at 9pm.  

I was, as the late Benny Hill might have said when in German character, "schmitten."  It was easily one of our most magical days, and there have been many in the years since.

But in the meantime, it's best to get back to the painting table, tie up some loose ends for The Young Master's figures, and dive back into my own stuff.  I've got a bunch of 18th century civilians from Ratnik Minitures giving me the painting itch.

-- Stokes


Comments

Matt said…
Good to hear you have made the most of the snow. Over here we get rain - perhaps I should take up snorkelling?
marinergrim said…
Love the fact that when it snows where you are the first thing you do is to get out the skis. Here, we get a few flakes and the entire country goes into meltdown and panic mode!
Chris Kemp said…
Wordpress (WP) has its faults, but has overall been pretty reliable for me. If you like justifying your text, I would advise using the 'Classic' option rather than the new 'Blocks' option, which is just a dumbed-down version of Classic. The main advantage that Wordpress had over Blogger, the last time that I looked at it, was that WP does not limit the number of pages that you can generate.

Regards, Chris.
Der Alte Fritz said…
Okay you have winter figured out, so you are you going to make it through cold and wet and miserable April? 😢

Popular posts from this blog

Comfortable Rules for Games of Glossy Toy Soldiers in the Old Style. . .

  Introduction A Tangled Mass is a game of toy soldiers in the old style, set more or less in the middle part of the 18 th century.   Our miniature forces are colorful and, we hope, glossy.  Although the latter, like so much else, is up to the discretion of the players.   But it is the modeling, brushwork, and unit organization of hobby greats like Gilder, Mason, and Robinson that provide our visual touchstone and continue to inform "the look of the thing" even now. Tabletop armies in A Tangled Mass can be historic, semi-historic, or whimsically fictitious, but the more flags and mounted officers, the better.  Formations, while bearing some resemblance to their historic precedents, are generic: column, line, or extended order for lighter types.   Squares, while possible, are less common than during all of that later Napoleonic madness with its guillotines and Spanish ulcers.  And we'll simply choose not to mention patent leather dancing pumps, or that unseemly bedr

Prussian 3rd Garrison Regt. Update. . .

  Still a few small things to do, including apply fleshtone to a left hand on an officer that I somehow missed at some point plus lace on the drummers and officers , but we're very close to the glossing stage. L ots of painstaking work to clean up edges, highlight folds, and touch up various bits and pieces the last few evenings.  My trusty little Sony Cybershot, I fear, has gone to that big electronics place in the sky and no longer seems to be working.  Well, I've had it since 2013, and small electronics don't last forever, so I cannot complain.   With that little hiccup in mind, I snapped today's shot with my iPhone, brightened, and cropped it in Fotor before sharing it here.  Again, the blue is not quite so bright in reality, but the auto-improve, or whatever they call it, makes for nice bright photographs in which everything shows up.   Not long before these are done, and The Young Master was suitably please when I asked him to have a look a few minutes ago. -- Sto

A Break in the Radio Silence. . .

  S till plugging away at the 60 or so Wied Infantry currently on the painting bench as and when work and family life permit. Using three different whites for the clothing, shoulder belts, and officers' wigs plus trying some Army Painter quick washes.   My friend and one-time online magazine co-editor Greg Horne (the man behind The Duchy of Alzheim , still one of my blog and hobby touchstones) suggested I give washes a try a month or two ago, and I think he might be onto something.  Admittedly, he suggested the Citadel contrast range, but what I purchased eventually is in that general direction.  I am especially pleased with the Army Painter flesh wash, which picks out the facial details on the Minden figures very nicely.  I've applied it on top of my usual Windsor & Newton alkyd oil fleshtone and then highlighted the brows, bridges of noses, cheeks, chins, lower lips, and knuckles/thumbs the next day with more of the fleshtone.   Suddenly, and with relative ease, my paint