Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Snow Day in Central Mississippi

After warnings yesterday about the approaching winter storm, we awoke this morning to gently falling snow which had been proceeded by some freezing rain.  Although the Jackson area only got about 1" of the white stuff, it was enough to just about paralyze this deep south burg.  Bridges iced over and all the local schools closed.  It was worse south of here, with southern Mississippi getting up to3" of freezing rain, sleet, and snow.  They even got snow and ice down on the Mississippi Gulf Coast which is very rare.
 
Since I didn't get a call from my box or hear a TV announcement about the state government offices being closed, I drove into work, taking about twice as long to get there as usual.  Then about an hour after I arrived we were told to go home since the governor closed all state offices except for mission critical personnel (of which I'm not!!).  The drive home was even slipperier than the drive into work.  And this evening we heard that the state offices won't open until noon tomorrow (Wednesday) so I get to sleep late for a change.
 
Here is a picture of Col Campbell's quarters on this infrequent snow day in central Mississippi, taken about 3:00 pm when I ventured out to retrieve the mail..
 
 


Houses from Michaels

Last Monday I was out in northeastern Jackson metropolitan area and stopped by the Michaels store.  While there I found a clearance area containing a number of different size and shape paper mache boxes.  There were four in the shape of two story houses which I bought for 99 cents each.  Even if I botch the "artwork" to decorate them as houses, they were well worth the expenditure.

A Royalist officer and a BUF commander pose in front of a newly acquired house.   As you can see from the ruler, it is about 6" tall to the ridge of te roof and 7" to the top of the chimney.  The roof comes off so that things can be placed inside, which also means we can put troops inside.  I'll decorate these with  doors, windows, and other trim.

A view with the roof removed, showing the front dormer and the side chimney in better detail.

Two of the houses side by side, each being about 5-1/2" wide and about 4-1/2" deep.  I think they will look good both as stand alone buildings and as row houses.
More later as Campbell's Construction Company works its "magic" on these.


Liberty Bell Legion Additions

In my last post, I described a unit I have created for my Very British Civil War gaming - the Liberty Bell Legion, raised in the United States to oppose the Fascists surrounding the British throne.  The company headquarters and the 2nd Rifle Section have finally been outfitted and have joined the anti-Royalist forces in southwestern Suffolk.
 
Company Headquarters section - (from left) first sergeant, company commander, standard bearer, runner, and company executive
 
 
Better view of the Legion banner
 
 
2nd Rifle Section - lieutenant and eight riflemen
 
The Legion has begun field training with the Anglican forces around Bury St. Edmonds.  A third rifle section is still being outfitted. All the Legion units will join the anticipated actions against the Royalist and BUF forces in eastern Essex in the spring.