Santa was good to me this year.

I've been a bit absent and have neglected the blog in the past few months. Real life tends to sneak up on you that way. I can't complain though because I was able to take a nice holiday break with my family and spend some good quality time with them all over the last few weeks.

Mrs. Claus and her elves, a.k.a. General ze Wife and the Teenage Spies, were good to dear old dad this Christmas. I compiled my wish lists with great care to hopefully ensure whatever was decided might possibly be a bit heavy in hobby related items than the traditional socks, pajamas, ect., etc, that my loves thought I needed. I can say this year was a complete surprise and more than I could have ever hoped for. Perhaps the General is warming to the idea of me spending all my time in the Laundry Room Barracks or perhaps she just wants me out of her hair in the evenings, either way, a small victory for my men and I was won this season.

I spent the better part of last year doing modern 20mm and decided that 2017 would be dedicated, for the most part, to WWII. With that in mind a platoon of Shermans, a couple of StuG III's and some Tigers were part of the Christmas gifts. I did also receive plenty of Land Rovers to convert for my modern gaming as well as a variety of paint, a platoon of WWII US Paratroopers and a platoon of German Fallschirmjager.

Not only did the General give me a set of the coolest bookends ever, but added to the military library.

The Queen Mother also contributed to my hobby pursuit this year. The platoon of German WWII paras were from her and the Father-In-Law General. Much, much, much to my surprise they also felt I needed to add to my collection of militaria. This was not as welcomed by General ze Wife who protested that I had already acquired more "old junk" than I needed. The Queen Mother just smiled and with a wave of her royal hand the General had to stand down. Sensing victory, I quickly stashed my loot out of site of the General and fetched a glass of her favorite fermented grapes to ease her temperament.
The gifts from the Queen Mother and the Father-In-Law General were absolutely amazing. I could have never imagined receiving such amazing and well preserved items. They span the range from WWI to modern civil war. The photo below shows some of the items and include a JNA/Serbian helmet used during the civil war in the former Yugoslavia. There are multiple original photos including one dated December 1, 1917 showing Company C, 118th Infantry at Camp Servier in Greenville, SC. There are a smattering of original WWII documents, a small hand made wooden child's toy ship and a cast toy of a WWII motorcycle. The old photos even included one of a girl in a bikini that had an old love letter to a GI with it. My WWII gaming is going to be mostly Europe, but going through these items just might spur my interest in the Pacific theater.

I hope everyone had as blessed a Christmas and Happy New Year.