"Never be in a hurry; do everything quietly and in a calm spirit. Do not lose your inner peace for anything whatsoever, even if your whole world seems upset." Saint Francis De Sales

Friday, February 28, 2014

My Painting Plan for 2014

I’ve been reading a number of miniature blogs where the authors set out a plan for painting for the year. This is an interesting agenda to place on the blog. If you list too many figures everyone will think you are somewhat delusional. If you list too few, you better have a sound reason for not spending more time miniature painting. So, everyone selects a number somewhere in between. It is broken down by period, scale and possibly game rule. Sometimes the figures are being planned for a competition in painting, sometimes for a specific game at an upcoming convention. Then there may be a few “odd” things that would be nice to paint.

I decided to join my fellow gamers an put together my list. One not too long not too short, but sufficient for me to complete. The important thing is to make sure I don’t get side tracked with something else.  

My period(s) of interest is the American Revolution (AWI) and the French and Indian War (FIW). My scale is the 25/28mm range.

AWI 

Queen’s Rangers         British Light Infantry 
Creek Indians 
2nd Virginia Regiment 5th Virginia Regiment

FIW

Last of the Mohican figures: Cora and Alice Munro, Hawkeye, Chingachook, Uncas and Magua 

Coureur de Bois Huron Indians



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Thursday, February 27, 2014

Friends

My wife, Dee, is still in the hospital. She is slowly recovering, each day brighter than the one before, as we look ahead to her returning home. Our family, as always, has come together to support each other. My prayers are being answered, my faith remains strong. Thank you Lord for being by my side.

I am blessed with friends who are praying and helping me and my family through this burdensome time. These friends are my Christian family, my brothers and sisters in Christ. We laugh together and we cry together. When life throws curves at us we support each other. We share and we love.

To all our friends, thank you.

To our special friends Brenda and Lou, Ellie and Bill, Jeanine and Dave, Maureen and Jack, Pam and Tony, Susan and Roger, you have changed our lives, teaching us about the love of friendship.

“Faithful friends are a sturdy shelter;
whoever finds one finds a treasure.

Faithful friends are beyond price,
no amount can balance their worth.

Faithful friends are life-saving medicine;
those who fear God will find them.

Those who fear the Lord enjoy stable friendship,
for as they are, so will their neighbors be.”  Sirach 6:14-17







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Wednesday, February 26, 2014

To Disclaimer or Not

Sometime last year, one of the blogs that I read suggested adding a disclaimer to your blog. The recommendation was to go to http://www.disclosurepolicy.org. It seemed like a good idea, but I never followed through with it. Today, while rummaging through my “blog article ideas for the next 7 days, 7 blogs,” I discovered some notes on disclaimers. So, off I went to the website and followed the easy step-by-step instructions on how to create my own blog disclosure statement. I made some revisions and came up with the following.   

This policy is valid from 26 February 2014

 This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me. I write for my own purposes. However, I may be influenced by our background, occupation, religion, political affiliation or experience.

 The compensation received will never influence the content, topics or posts made in this blog. All advertising is in the form of advertisements generated by a third party ad network. Those advertisements will be identified as paid advertisements.

 I am not compensated to provide opinion on products, services, websites and various other topics. The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely mine. If I claim or appear to be an expert on a certain topic or product or service area, I will only endorse products or services that I believe, based on my expertise, are worthy of such endorsement. Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer or provider.

 This blog does not contain any content which might present a conflict of interest.

I have a start date, describe that the blog is only written and edited by me and I would not present ideas that might present any conflict of interest. There’s a bunch of stuff about compensation, endorsement of products, etc. etc. etc. Now I need to decide where to put it. If I put it at the top it seems to get in the way of the blog articles themselves. If I place it at the end I feel like I've added “the small print.”  Is anyone really going to read it? There was only one instance of interest on my part about a disclosure and that was when it became part of a blog article. Maybe I will create another page entitled “If I Wanted a Disclaimer on My Blog It Would Be Something Like This.” Then I could write the following.

This policy is valid from when I first started writing, although I never documented it until today, 26 February 2014. It will probably change because we all change as we learn and experience life.

This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me. I write because I like to share my thoughts. So the writing is for my own purposes. I hope that readers will find it interesting and possibly learn from it. I am influenced by my background, occupation, religion, political affiliation and experience.

I don’t write for compensation but Google has this program called AdSense, so I added it to my blog.

I will provide opinion on products, services, websites and various other topics if I like them. These views and opinions that I express are purely mine. I will only endorse those things that I believe, based on my expertise, are worthy of such endorsement.

This blog will not contain any content which might present a conflict of interest.

It doesn't contain as much detail but seems to cover the basics. If I have it on a separate page then those readers who are interested will be able to find it without searching all over the main blog page. Disclaimer yes or no, a decision to ponder.


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Tuesday, February 25, 2014

The Cat in My Yard

I am not fond of cats. They are too independent and I’m allergic to them. On the positive side they are quiet, resourceful and mind their own business. My neighbor likes to feed the few feral cats in our neighborhood.  All of our homes border a large wood of about 60 acres and we have deer and rabbits as well. The cats sort of fit in and don’t bother me. I would like them to be more assertive with the moles.


There is one cat that sits at the back of our property. He is white and black and resembles the coloring of a pinto pony. About two years ago I was working in the yard and I saw him lying on the small wood walkway I built back by the wood edge. He was laying out like he was sleeping. After an hour or so he hadn’t moved and I figured he was dead. I went to the shed and got my shovel. The least I could do was take him back into the wood and bury him. I got to within ten or fifteen feet of him and he jumped up and ran into the wood. “Dumb cat,” was my reaction and I went back to yard work. He is still around and it must be the food that the neighbor gives him that keeps him here. I don’t know why he stays in our yard. Probably because I don’t bother him. We acknowledge each other but otherwise we each do our own thing.





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Monday, February 24, 2014

The Knights of Christ

I have always enjoyed reading about knights, watching movies about knights and painting miniature knights. The first photo below is a small continent of Knights Templar from 1170 AD. I painted them for our son Todd. The scale is 25mm and the figures are from Old Glory. Paul’s Bods completed a small diorama entitled, “Veritas Vos Liberabit.” A painting of a Hospitaller Knight on his way to the Holy Land. His miniature is 1/72 scale.

The Knights Templar were not the only knights of the Church. There was the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, the Knights of St. Lazarus, developed in Jerusalem and the Hospitallers of St. Thomas of Canterbury in Acre.

German orders were developed, the Teutonic Knights and the Brethren of the Sword. From Spain there were the Knights of Calatrava, the knights of Santiago, The Knights of St. Julian and Alcantara, the Knights of Our Lady of Montjoie, the Knights of St. George of Alfama and the Knights of Our Lady of Montesa. The Italian orders were the Order of St. James of Altopasio and the Knights of San Stefano of Tuscany. 

Medieval Europe brought together the great ideologies of Church and chivalry. The Knights of Christ, sometimes referred to as the “Warrior-Monks,” became the defenders of the Church.


My Knights

From Paul's Bods



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Friday, February 14, 2014

My Slow Takes about salt, men's blog's, The Hobbit and Melanie Rigney.

1. In Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus called his disciples the “salt of the earth.” Father John told us that we too are the “salt of the earth.” Pure, preserving and flavorful. Our hearts are pure and full of love for God. We preserve our moral standards, following God’s Word. As we live by example, we bring out the best in those we meet. We are also the “light of the world.” We bring love and hope to those in darkness. Our presence and how we live impacts others. Through Cursillo we learn to be a friend, make a friend, bring a friend to Christ. Keep the candle lit.

2. I have noticed that approximately 4% of the Friday Quick Takes blogs hosted by Jennifer are blogs by men. This is just an observation and is not intended to neither boast about the number nor suggest that the number is embarrassing to the male species.  

3. On February 10, 1763, The French and Indian War ended. The Treaty of Paris did not include the transferred territory belonging to the Indian peoples. England, Spain and France were only concerned about the “Imperial Powers.” A theme that seems to be repeated throughout history.
4. My son Todd and I went to see, “The Hobbit The Desolation of Smaug.” Peter Jackson continues to amaze me. This is the second film in the trilogy of the Hobbit and I loved it. I have been a Tolkien fan for many years and have read the Hobbit more than once. Each time I read the novel I learn more about the characters and their world. Mr. Jackson takes the book and allows one to go beyond the imagination of reading. I’m looking forward to part three of the series.

Some of my favorite cast.
Ian Mckellen as Gandalf the Grey.
Orlando Bloom as Legolas.
Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins. 
Evangeline Lilly as Tauriel. 
Richard Armitage as Thorin Oakenshield. 


5. Shirley Temple Black, probably the most famous child star, died this week. She was 85. I remember my Dad telling me about his “crush” on her and how he enjoyed going to see her movies. The New York Times, has an excellent article on the life of Mrs. Black.


6. The Luge Women’s singles was my favorite Olympic event this week. Erin Hamlin was excellent winning a bronze metal. I can’t imagine speeding down the course on the sled. There is barley enough room for your body and you’re traveling at speeds in excess of 80 miles an hour. Probably the fastest winter sport.


7. Melanie Rigney writes from the blog, “Your Daily Tripod” and the magazine “Living Faith.” I read both and was pleased when “Prints of Grace” wrote a book review on “Sisterhood of Saints.” Please take a moment to read Trisha’s review and get a copy of Melanie’s book.


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Friday, February 7, 2014

My Slow Takes about football, winter, a dwarf hero and my favorite author.

1. Super Bowl XLVlll is over and the Richmond, Virginia area is excited about the win for the Seattle Seahawks. Russell Wilson and Michael Robinson attended Collegiate and Varina High Schools. Read about them here at CBS6 News, Richmond, Virginia.

2. Punxsutawney Phil did not see his shadow, so we’re having more winter, another six weeks of it. 

Dear Phil, 
I realize that you spend the winter curled up in your warm little Hobbit like home. It must be a shock when you are suddenly dragged out and put into the position of predicting how long winter will continue. My suggestion is that you put a note on your door, "Do not disturb until the first week in March, when winter will be over." You get to hibernate longer and I feel better knowing that winter will not last six more weeks. 
Thank you.

3. Secundus, host of the blog, Iron Mitten, wrote a series of blogs about the “Saga of Thorgrim Ironbreaker.” His artwork and miniatures are excellent. Although the Orc figures used for the adventure are not painted. 


4. On February 4, 1826, “The Last of the Mohicans” was published. This is my favorite historical fiction novel written by James Fenimore Cooper. Dee and I visited the Fenimore House Museum while we were in Cooperstown, N.Y. It was a thrill for me to be in the home of such a great writer.

5. This is a painting by Graham Turner. He is offering this artwork and others via Studio 88. It shows French regular troops from the Languedoc and La Reine regiments, 1755. They are in line formation firing by platoons.  


6. Please pray for my friends. Russ who's Dad joined our Lord last week and Rick who's Mom joined our Lord this week.  

7. Please pray fro my wife Dee who is in the hospital. She is my soul mate, friend and love of my life. 


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