Sunday, December 19, 2010

Der Other Fritz's Birthday


The Erbprinz von Hesse Seewald greets his troops on his birthday.

Yesterday, December 18th, I celebrated the passing of another birthday, my 58th one on this planet. I had hoped to get in a little bit of painting time, but with errands, Christmas shopping and waiting for the heating repairman to put in a new humidifier in the basement (lots of banging of sheet metal just a few feet away from my painting table), events seemed to conspire against me and I didn't get much time at the painting table.

I did finish off two more stands of Minden Austrian grenadiers, bringing my converged battalion up to 24 figures (2 stands of red-facing figures, 2-stands of blue-facing figures). I am working on two more stands of 6 figures in pink or rose facings to represent the Regiment de Ligne. I hope to have them completed within a couple more days.

Deliveries from the UK to the USA seem to be all discombobulated lately. I have three different orders posted to me in November and 3-4 weeks later there have been no pleasant surprises in my mail box, much to my regret. My understanding is that the Royal Mail got all backed up with the snow-related delays, and then add in the usual deluge of Christmas mail, and you have a recipe for extremely slow delivery. I am resigned to not seeing anything for a couple more weeks - if we get into mid January with nothing, then I might start to get concerned.

The weather has been very cold here in Hesse Seewald, staying between 10 to 20 degrees Fahrenheit, versus the average temperature of about 35 degrees F for this time of year. We decided to make lemonade out of lemons, weather wise, and headed down the street to a steep slope, where we (the Princess and Mrs. Fritz) did a little bit of downhill sledding. It was more like getting on a luge run, with our little sled and icy surface, but we had fun, and then afterwards, made some hot cocoa and sat by a roaring fire in the fireplace. Not a bad way to tackle a cold winter day.

11 comments:

  1. And a Happy Birthday to you! Major General Seamus Campbell will have his regiment fire a volley or two in your honor at the retreat ceremony tonight on the Potzdorf parade field.

    Jim

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  2. A belated "Happy Birthday" to you, sir.

    And may Santa get the postal services in gear so that you will soon have more troops to paint . . . and, for that matter, may he deliver you much joy on Christmas Day.

    Also, I am still waiting for the report of another "Teddy Bear" table top treat. Maybe that would be a good thing to occupy these "slow mail" days.


    -- Jeff

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  3. Happy Bday Uncle Jim,It helps me greatly that you said your age because mom will never own up to her's but I had a feeling and you confirmed it:). Thankfully no snow here on the east coast and I am greatfull. I am glad you are getting some painting in and I look forward to seeing the REG'T completed.
    -Cheers Alex

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  4. Happy Belated Birthday, Jim! Sounds like you've had a nice weekend.

    Best Regards,

    Stokes

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  5. Belated Birthday wishes too from all at the Duchy of Tradgardland!

    Post is a bit fraught here in the uk at present- more snow fell yesterday adding to the fun...
    best wishes
    Alan

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  6. The Reich Duke has ordered a five day celebration in your honor. He seens to remember 58 as a very good year indeed. Hope your turns out to be even better...

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  7. Bonne Anniversaire old fruit! And many happy returns.

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  8. This just in via fast post:
    "Birthday felicitations from Grand Duke and Duchess Orzepovski of Litharus."

    The Spring Equinox must be a joyous time, for my birthday (#56) was the 17th of December.

    Michael

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  9. Happy Birthday from the frosty and snowy Italy!

    Fabrizio

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  10. Happy Birthday!

    Yeah, I've had a couple of orders of my own take much longer than usual to go from the UK to the US. I'm still waiting on one item.

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  11. A belated happy birthday

    Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and your familty

    -- Allan

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