新年快樂

It is the year of the ox. One horoscope article said that my luck this year is very bad and another one said that my luck this year is very good. Which one to believe? So far, things have been tough and it looks like it is going to be much tougher still.

A New Beginning

It's a new beginning and a historical moment. OK, now that we have finished with the cheering, when do we start making changes? The honeymoon will soon be over, let's make the best of it and do some real work.

A New Year

Yes, it is a new year and people kept asking me about my new year resolutions. I thought for 2 seconds and declared that I want health, peace and tranquility. What more can one ask for?

I have been down with a nasty cold for the past two weeks. On the morning of first dayof being sick, I thought I could tough it out and insisted on getting back to work. I regretted my decision the moment I got in onto the subway train. I was lucky enough to get a seat, but no matter which way I sat, my body was aching all over. I couldn't keep my eyes open and dozed off on my ride to work. Back in the office, I couldn't concentrate on my work and had to put my head down on my desk. I was having a fever and burning up inside. I sent out the few emails that I must sent, made the necessary telephone calls and decided that I should head back home when I still have the strength to do it.

Back home, I downed a few pills, dranked plenty of water and orange juice, put on three layers of clothing and buried myself under three layers of blanket and went to sleep. I had nightmares, came in and out of sleeps and 2 hours later found myself dranged in sweat. I pulled myself out of bed and stripped down to towel off. I changed my clothes and again put on three layers, drank two glasses of water and went back to bed. An hour later, again I found myself in sweat. I got up, stripped down, toweled off, changed clothes, and went back to bed again. After three rounds of sleep, I noticed that my body temperature had dropped and my fever had gone. Other than the sore from lying in bed for hours, the pain had also gone. This technique has never failed to get rid of a fever.

With the fever gone, I still had to battle the coughing and running nose for the next week and a half. The off the counter medicines do not seem to be too effective. A friend suggested that I should visit the doctor, but an appointment is a month away. Typical Manhatthan doctor. When I told the receptionist that I have been sick and should be examined soon, I was told to contact the hospital emergency room if it was a real emergency. Otherwise, I was informed that I should take the off counter medicines.

Well, I have been a bit better now. My nose does not run that much and I cough less, except when I am working at the office facing that big window that has a wide gap.

So, last week I attempted to paint a few figures. I wanted to paint the French Hussars from Strelets. The figures are nice even though the horse furnitures are wrong. I didn't mind too much.

I was hoping to paint them to depict the Second Hussars. I like the trumpeter figure very much and selected it to be the first figure to be painted. I used the Andre Jouineau French Hussars book as reference and the figure below was my almost finished product.



It was only then that I checked with a color reference on a web site and my Ospray book, and realized that the blue should be a sky blue and not a royal or dark blue. You can imagine how frustrated I was. So, after a few coughing fits and cursings, I decided to repaint the blue into a sky blue. Below is the result after the correction. The figure is not done yet. I still need to add in and touch up on a few details.

做冬

Yesterday, for the first time, I replaced the screen on the screen door on my own. I followed the instructions on the screen package and, after a few attempts, I managed to get the screen and the plastic tube into the tiny gap. The finished work was far from perfect, but I think it was a good first try.

A friend reminded me that today is the first day of Winter and is 做冬 for the Chinese. It's happens to be my niece Victoria's birthday too. Happy birthday Victoria.

Oh, I didn't have a chance to 吃湯圓 and I like the ones that are sweet inside. But I did make Cantonese soup myself. It turned out better than I expected.

Vacation

In ancient times, believers went on pilgrimages to holy places to worship God. In modern times, children and their parents go to Disney World and Disneyland to meet their beloved cartoon characters.

My first trip to Disney World was about 18 years ago with my parents, my aunt and her entire family from UK--about 13 people altogether. This is my second trip. The famous gothic castle still stands and the characters are still as popular as ever, but we have all changed.

The hosts of the castle--Mickey and Minnie. Dare to dream was the theme of the show.

Pirates of the Caribbean is a new theme. It has a nice ride.

On the African boat ride. Watch out, the crocs are coming!!

The late afternoon parade. Here comes Cinderella in her pumpkin carriage.

Here's Belle and Beast.

I'm not sure who are these two, but I bet my two nieces know.

Here is a classic character--Donald Duck.

The castle at night.

Viking house in Epcoy Center.

Epcoy Center at night.

Election Day & Afrikakorps Pak36 Anti-tank Gun

We have a President-Elect. Let's hope he can lead us to a better future.


I was watching the election results on the television and Internet while painting my Afrikakorps figures. Here they are unbased.

Yellow Rose, Agincourt and Saxon Warrior

I was in South Jersey last Saturday and noticed that there was still one more rose on the bush. Beautiful. I know I have said it before, but this has to be the last rose of this year. The weather is getting cold and I doubt there would be another one.


On the other hand, these are in full bloom.


Here is another figure that I painted months ago. This is Guillaume de Martel, Sire de Bacqueveille at Agincourt. I followed the color plate of him on page 58 of Ospray's Campagin Series: Agincourt 1415. Here, Guillaume de Martel is wearing a yellow surcoat emblazoned with his arms--three red hammer gules. He was the bearer of the Oriflamme at Agincourt, but killed in action and the banner was lost. I will have to scratch build the Oriflamme for this figure.

Here is a figure from a different period. A Saxon warrior carrying a round shield and a war axe.

Here is the figure from another angle. Kind of displaying a heroic stand when shooting the picture from a low angle. I painted the cross on the shield free handed. First, I used a fine tip designer marker to outline the cross, then painted the shield with arcylic paint and brush. It was my first attempt to paint shield patterns.