A Few Words about Wordless Wednesday #381 - and an Unboxing!

Wow - I'm really starting off 2022 with a bang, posting-wise. Talk about feast or famine! Well, I don't expect I'll be able to sustain this pace, but for now I have a lot to post about so want to try and catch up while I can...

I always love seeing what Santa brought folks - and often see things I didn't know existed and sometimes get some cool ideas. So here's a few quick words about what I got (railroad/layout-wise) for Christmas. . . starting from the top . . .

• Those two block-looking things at the top of the photo are, actually, blocks. 1-2-3 blocks, to be precise (see what I did there?) and they're great for assembling structures.
• At the top corners are some much-needed packages of foliage from Heki. This stuff makes excellent brambles and general brush along the ROW. Even though I'm not a huge fan of doing scenery, I AM a huge fan of collecting every type of scenery material I can.
• What's Christmas without books? Although my layout design days are (probably) behind me (for the time being, at least), like many in the hobby I always enjoy a bit of daydreaming - and little jewel layouts, and imagining how I can fit them in various/sundry rooms, are definite dream fodder.
• And speaking of books - who gets Volume 2 of a set? Someone who already has Volumes 1 and 3, that's who. These books from Bob's Photo are always great sources of prototype information and inspiration. And now this set is complete!
• Those masonite looking things to the left are actually sidewalks that I plan to use in Middletown...
• And the pastels to the right were recommended by Lou Sassi in his "HO Layout for Beginners" Sure, I have a lot of pastels already, but who am I to ignore Lou's advice?

Oh - and I almost forgot that funny tube-looking thing under the blocks from Nicpro . . . Turns out, that contained a full set of micro paint brushes(!) So here's the promised unboxing . . .

These brushes are very cool - and if they're as good as their packaging/presentation, they should work really well for detail & figure painting. Can't wait to try them out!

So, what'd Santa bring YOU for Christmas?