Memories, Old and New

The cover above is that of a book I found while decluttering; a book that I spent hours poring over as a kid. I got it at a discount book store in a mall in Florida, on a particularly cold day. It had pictures of my favorite toys, and I was sold. I honestly don’t remember much of the text at all, just the images.

This book is honestly the reason why the Mark’s Little Soldiers range has been on my mind so much. That pseudo-nostalgia reminds me of so much from my childhood.

Speaking of MLS, it’s no surprise then that I stumbled on a note about the Nuremberg Scale of 30mm!

This sole image inspired so much of my play as a boy, I can’t even describe the sentiment I feel looking at it.

More images of classic toy soldiers.

Pre-Great War Germans on parade.

In other news, we went to the Mission San Luis Obispo on the coast, as well as Hearst Castle. Both rich historic sites and both deeply important to the history of California, it was really great to get to take the girls (who were far better behaved around the artifacts than most of the adults!!!).

Hearst Castle is full of historical artifacts from all over the world, from Egypt to medieval Bohemia. We got rushed through on this tour (our third) so I only got a few pictures, and I don’t have great descriptions of them. Our docent had a rough time, we had people in the group who were touching 3,000 year old statues despite being informed of the necessity and rule to leave them untouched…

The tapestries were gorgeous.

Choir seats.

An imported ceiling!

The original section of this ceiling is ancient, but the room was too large, so Julia Morgan (the architect WR Hearst hired to build his palace) found the most skilled craftsmen of the day to mimic the original.

A tapestry in the dining room.

Finally, and likely least interesting to you but most interesting to me, I moved our old desk into my office and now have a dedicated hobby space! I’m currently working on a toy soldier project a couple of Hussite flail wielders.

I haven’t been posting as much on the blog as I’ve just had no energy recently. I’m doing hobby things, but I’m hitting a fatigue point in regular life, and blogging takes a back burner because of it. Still reading and following all of you, even if a little quietly! I’m sometimes able to get a little something posted on the Brush and Battle Instagram as well, it’s a bit easier to post a pic here and there rather than a full post.