The smell of bonfire in November.

Tonight is Bonfire Night. After living about twenty years in England, I sitll cannot get used to the noise of fireworks, which goes through the whole month. I am not the biggest fan, except for one thing: it also means this month is the month of, well bonfires too. So it smells of bonfire all thought November as well.And I love the smell of bonfire.I love it at any time, but especially in November, where it mixes with the cold air and makes it so very soothing. This is one of the many reasons why I now love the month.

Hockey bottine

 Mon père a pris cette photo d'enfants qui jouaient dans la rue au hockey bottine (hockey bottines?). Nous y avons joué enfants, mes frères et moi, dans la même rue. Pas tant que ça, mais quandmême, nous avons eu notre moment hockey bottine, pas tant en novembre que quand l'hiver était pris. Et c'est donc notre mot du jour.

Welsh rarebit

 We went to Waitrose recently and had lunch in their café. I was surprised to see that they served Welsh rarebits. I love a good Welsh rarebit, especially on a cold day, it is comfort food at its best, so I had to try it. Especially since I hadn't had one in ages, maybe in years. Just seeing it on the menu made me crave it. It was a decent one, albeit tasting a tad too much of mustard (even though I love mustard). All the same, it's been a long time, so I enjoyed it a lot.

Noël en novembre?

 J'ai lu hier un article dans la grosse Presse, appelé: Pourquoi Noël arrive si tôt? C'est une excellente question. Dès novembre, les commerces prennent les couleurs de Noël. Quel'on commence à magasiner des cadeaux pour les Fêtes, passe encore. Je le fais dès que la fête de ma femme est terminée, et elle arrive au début du mois. Mais est-ce bien nécessaire d'en faire autant déjà? J'en ferai peut-être une question existentielle, mais mettons que ça m'agace.

November is #Noirvember

 I used to dislike November, not so long, then I came back to my senses and ended up embracing the month. One of the reasons why is that I discovered the concept of #Noirvember. It's a yearly, month long celebration of Noir movies. But I extend it to Noir novels and crime fiction in general. So yes, instead of feeling gloom and doom for November, I embrace the month's gloom and doom and I binge read crime fic. It's grim, it's bloody, it's violent, it's just so much fun. I will keep you posted of course. And I hope I will convince some of you to join me and enjoy #Noirvember.

Le temps du feu de foyer

 Il y a des gens qui n'aiment pas novembre. J'en faisais partie, mais j'ai pris du mieux. Et je vous donne ici des raisons pour aimer novembre: 1)c'est toujours l'automne, 2)c'est toujours l'automne, 3)c'est toujours l'automne, 4)c'est le temps parfait pour les feux de foyer. Je n'ai pas de foyer, mais j'envie ceux qui en ont. Et ici, avec la tradition anglaise du Bonfire Night, c'est tout le mois de novembre qui sent bon la fumée.

Post. Halloween. Blues.

 Today is the first of November, All Saint's Day, the one and only day in autumn that I don't really like. Because Halloween is over, of course. And that it is Friday does not make it any less painful. I have made my peace with November. I used to dislike the month, now I take it as another autumnal month and I enjoy it almost as much as the others. But its very first day is always, always, always painful. Nevertheless, I will not spend the rest of the month moaning. Watch this space, I will blog more and I will be more cheerful, promise.

Tarowean (Toussaint)

 "

"Je suis l'océan Pacifique et je suis le plus grand. On m'appelle ainsi depuis très longtemps, mais ce n'est pas vrai que je suis toujours pacifique. Je me fâche parfois, et alors je donne une raclée à tous et à tout. Aujourd'hui par exemple, je viens de me calmer mais hier, je dois avoir tout raflé sur trois ou quatre îles et autant de coquilles de noix que les hommes appellent bateaux... Celle-ci... Oui, celle que vous voyez ici, je ne sais pas comment elle a pu s'en sortir. C'est peut-être parce que le capitaine Raspoutine connaît son métier et que ses marins viennent des îles Fidji. Ou bien parce qu'ils ont fait un pacte avec le Diable. Mais cela n'a pas d'importance, aujourd'hui c'est "Tarowean", le jour des surprises, le jour de tous les Saints, le 1er novemvre 1913."

Parce que c'est la Toussaint, je cite le début de La ballade de la mer salée d'Hugo Pratt. Une tradition sur ce blogue depuis quelques années déjà.

Halloween explained to children

Halloween is here and before it is over, I wanted to share with you two pages from Charlie Brown's Fourth Super Book of Questions and Answers. A friend of mine had it and thought little of the book (or Halloween). I was fascinated by the book and had been wanting it since then. As it is out of print, I am sharing it here today.

Les provisions pour les Halloweeneux

 Les provisions pour ce soir, faites par mes parents, pour les enfants qui passent l'Halloween dans le quartier. Ils ne font pas les choses à moitié... Et j'espère pouvoir être aussi extravagant un jour.

Happy Halloween!

 Well, it's finally here: Happy Halloween everyone! It is finally here, yet it arrives too soon: I don't feel like I have done enough. I haven't read enough, or watched horror movies. But I carved seven Jack O'Lanterns! Which is quite a feat in itself. With Wolfie's help, of course. He designed a lot of them. But this one is designed by me, as you probably guessed, I try to make them scary. I will try to blog more and visit yours, but will be busy with trick or treat. So much to enjoy, so very little time.

La pizza de l'Halloween

 Ma femme a fait une pizza pour petit loup,tirée d'une recette d'Hello Fresh. C'est une pizza de l'Halloween, avec des olives pour faire des araignées. Elles ont l'air vraies en plus. Petit détour nostalgique: la pizza était ce qu'on mangeait, mes frères et moi, avant de passer l'Halloween. Et c'est sans doute de la pizza que l'on mangera ce soir.

First Jack O'Lantern

We started carving pumpkins yesterday, Wolfie and I. We have seven pumpkins all in all. Maybe I should have started earlier, but I know if you carve them too early pumpkins can start rotting and we don't want that before the big night. So anyway, Wolfie chose the pumpkin and the design. I did most of the scooping after he got bored taking off the squeeshy bits and the seed, then the carving. What do you think? I hope it looks good tomorrow for trick or treat.

Les chauves-souris

Mon père a décoré le portico avec des chauves-souris, pour quand les enfants du quartier viendront passer l'Halloween. Ce n'est pas l'Halloween sans quelques chauves-souris.

The Werewolf and the Train

For today's countdow to Halloween, a post about our visit to the a "Scarecrow Festival",which is held in a nearby village. It is now a family tradition come Halloween. I don't know who had the idea, but one of the scarecrows on display had a spooky train and a werewolf next to it. With pumpkins in the surroundings. In the train, a dino(!) and the Grim Reaper. There's a horror story to be written about it, I`m sure. Either way, this looks so darn cool.

Première neige

 Il a neigé au Saguenay avant-hier. Mon père m'a envoyé cette photo.

A druid for scarecrow?

 We went to the annual Scarecrow Festival held in a nearby village recently. You know that I love scarecrows, especially round Halloween: they represent autumn, harvest and they do have a sinister side too. Read this post from 2009 to see what I mean. So they are fitting for Halloween and for horror stories. I was happily surprised that some of the scarecrows we saw were thus properly scary. This one in paritcular. I might get it wrong, but I believe it is supposed to be a druid, with the bottom of his white robe bloodied. It might be a direct allusion to a horror movie, but having not seen them all, I cannot be sure. Tell me in the comments. In any case, Halloween being at its origins a Pagan and Celtic holiday, it is all the more fitting.

L'Ankou

Cette image a été prise dans la Bible pour l'Halloween, enfin un bouquin qui est pour moi comme un livre sacré lorsque vient ce temps de l'année. J'ai nommé Halloween: Sorcières, lutins, fantômes et autres croquemitaines.. L'image est bien entendu celle de l'Ankou, le psychopompe breton qui mérite de faire partie des personnages de l'Halloween. J'aimerais bien le retrouver dans une histoire d'horreur ou deux également.

Rowan Trees (against the Forces of Darkness)

For today's countdown to Halloween post, I thought I would mention a weapon against supernatural forces that is seldom seen or used nowadays in horror stories. If at all. I am talking of course of the rowan tree. This one on the picture (dating back from 2009) is of the family's rowan tree. I mentioned it before, here and here. Because in mythology and folklore, rowan trees are meant to provide protection against malevolent beings, particularly against witches. So I could easily see rowan trees used to protect homes against witches, devils and ghosts and its branches, leaves and fruits be essential elements of protective magic. Maybe also turn the branches into blunt weapons. To top it off, with its fiery colours in autumn, rowan trees add great seasonal atmosphere for Halloween stories. So they should be featured in horror fiction. I guess I might have to be the one reintroducing them.

Feu de foyer

 Mon père a allumé un feu de foyer le jour de sa fête. Ah, les joies de l'automne qui me manquent ici!