Generous Mr Awdry !

Constant readers of Michael Awdry's outstanding blog 28mm Victorian Warfare might have noticed that I was the lucky winner of his 500k hits raffle. Today I realised how incredibly lucky I was because his highly generous gift arrived today. A gorgeous selection of precious items awaited me inside a prudent wrapping:

Crikey! He even added a tea bag to his splendid mug: Newby's Earl Grey tea. Although I didn't know this brand Earl Grey is my favourite flavour. Either Michael guessed right or we share some similar preferences or Earl Grey is simply THE tea for wargamers. Anyway I was really pleased to find it besides the mug and a very witty pair of cufflinks. Another perfect item since I actually prefer shirts with double cuffs. Maybe these are not the set to choose for business but they'll find use during some leisure activities.

Most eye-catching part of the set is maybe the miniature Michael included. A set of two wounded British soldiers from Empress Miniatures' excellent Anglo-Zulu War range painted by the goodman of Awdry Towers in person.

My picutres hardly do justice to this piece of art and it demands to be framed with a collection tackling this theatre of war. Originally I wanted to disregard this conflict but at least a couple of South Wales Borderers will follow sooner or later.

As well as those miniatures the mug found instant entry into my household. Here you see it besides my other two favourite mugs:

Last but not least Michael topped the set off with a very nice Christmas card and best wishes from him and his dear wife.

Honestly I don't want to over-egg the pudding but I cannot thank him enough for this generous present which really made my day.

Finally I sat down to finish my set of miniatures for the first bonus round of Curt's painting challenge. Of course I had to employ my new mug to hold a sip of Michael's tea and added a slice of Christstollen a traditional German fruit cake which my mother baked:

What else can I say?

Exactly my cup of tea.