A train in the snow

You know my love for trains, a love I think I easily shared with my son, who loves al sorts of vehicles. Well, my father decided to take a few pictures for Wolfie of a train passing. It is "only" a cargo train, nothing fancy, but the images of the train in the snow are striking and I wanted to share a picture here tonight, just for fun.

Deux ans sans tourtière...

Ça m'est venu en tête ce soir, je sais pas trop pourquoi: ça fera deuc ans bientôt que je n'aurai pas mangé de tourtière. Un délai vraiment trop long pour mon plat régional. Ça devrait se corriger pour les Fêtes, mais quand même, je me rends compte que ça me manque beaucoup.

The Tramway Bookmark

Some people collect stamps, some people collect rare coins, I collect bookmarks. It is not as glamorous, I know, but it is not nearly as expensive either. So during our last time in Derbyshire, we visited Crich Tramway Village, which was really fun. I don't love tramways as much as I love trains, nevertheless it is a nice, elegant means of transport, and stepping in that village was like being in a different time period for a day. I decided that I needed to buy a souvenir from the place, and what better souvenir can someone buy than a bookmark. It does not cost much and it always comes in handy, when you are like me and you read books the old fashioned way, the ones with pages and no batteries. So I bought a bookmark, the one you can see on the picture. It is now one of my favourite. Now my favourite is the bookmark featured in this post, as it features trains, but still, a bookmark with tramways on is pretty cool.

La neige qui tombe

Mon père m'a envoyé pleins de photos de la neige qui tombe au Québec. J'en partage une nouvelle ici, rien que parce que j'ai le mal du pays et parce que je me sens dans un état d'esprit, disons-le, hivernal. C'est quand même beau.

The Last Hunt for #Noirvember

Cool news for my #Noirvember read: I received yesterday The Last Hunt, which is the latest Deon Meyer novel! I started reading it almost as early as I got in. Well, as soon as we could put Wolfie to bed at least. It is the latest novel featuring Bennie Griessel, which is great news in itself, but there is something else that makes it an exciting read for me: it also features Rovos Rail, a luxury train company. I did not know anything about it, until I started reading. Trains, crime, violence, a modern setting, it's just so perfect for my #Noirvember read, it's like the book I was hoping to find this year.

La cuvée 2019 de Ciné-cadeau

Petite nouvelle d'intérêt: ils ont déjà fait connaître la programmation 2019 (et début 2020) de Ciné-cadeau à Télé-Québec. Après un rapide coup d'oeil, je sais que je vais y trouver mon compte, grosso modo, et je vais essayer d'en voir un ou deux avec petit loup. Un bon nombre de classiques, mais seulement ceux qui reviennent chaque année. Outre ceux-là (Tintin, Astérix), ils ont joué de prudence avec des films pour enfants plus modernes. Ah si, j'ai cru voir un film d,animation norvégien et un film japonais. Chapeau pour avoir osé, quand même! Mais j'aimerais qu'ils fassent preuve d'un peu plus d'audace. Et vous, que pensez-vous de la cuvée 2019?

Manga Portrait

My wife had her birthday recently and on this occasion,like it is the case every year since we've known them, we had the visit of Blonde Tickler and her mother. Blonde Tickler is now a teenager and has developed an interest and a talent in drawing manga characters. SO she gave my wife the best birthday present this year, or certainly the coolest: a birthday card with her manga portrait, as a manga character. With cat's ears because, well,because I guess mangas can sometimes be human-animal hybrids. I am not a specialist of mangas, but I found this extremely cool in any case and isn't it the sweetest present?

Première photo de la neige

 Mon père m'a envoyé cette photo, à ma demande. C'est la première photo de neige tombée sur le Québec cette année que je partage sur le blogue. C'est plus qu'on aura ici pendant tout un hiver. J'ai hâte d'être au Québec et de pouvoir enfin en profiter.

Knife Attack (very local crime news)

I learned something that was quite scary today. In fact, it was just as scary as it was revolting: the evening before, so yesterday, there was a knife attack on our street. Just at the entrance of it. Thirty minutes before I walked home. Apparently, it was a case of conjugal violence, the ex partner of a woman in her late forties who stalked and assaulted, but so far the details are very sketchy. I did not notice the police or the ambulance as I take a different route and get home through a small pathway, not via the main street. But I was shocked when I heard about it. I know it could happen everywhere, but it takes a different meaning when you know it happens almost literally on our doorstep. I am glad I learned Krav Maga, because this reminds me that it might come in handy one day. I hope that I will never need to use it, yet if I do need I hope that I will remember my training and that my instincts will kick in. This also makes me think that I need to get back to training as soon as possible.

Il neige au Québec

Alors que l'on communicait avec eux sur Facetime, mes parents nous ont montré (surtout à petit loup) qu'il neigeait. Je commence à avoir envie de refaire l'expérience des neiges québécoises. La neige en novembre, elle donne de la couleur au mois et le rend plus agréable. Et puis quand il neige en novembre, surtout quand elle reste, c'est un peu l'hiver qui est déjà là. Enfin bref, j'espère pouvoir partager des photos bientôt.

Mademoiselle from Armentières

Today is Remembrance Day and I wanted to commemorate it here on the blog, not knowing exactly how. I have done so in the past, pretty much every year, and I have said pretty much all I could say. Then it struck me that since I watched the documentary They Shall Not Grow Old, there is a song that is sung in the closing credits and that I now associate a lot with World War 1 and army life (which I know nothing about). It is of course Mademoiselle from Armentières. It is a raunchy song, but it also shows a certain camaraderie in war and a certain fondness about army life that is quite heartwarming. It is, in any case, a very catchy tune.

Le petit loup, le banc, les chouettes

Je partage ce soir une nouvelle photo de Wendover Woods, rien que parce que... Ben elle est jolie, d'abord. Et puis ce fut un autre moment où notre petit loup a été complètement fasciné. C'est pas mal le banc public le plus cool que j'aie vu, je crois. En tout cas, il est dur à battre. On ne s'y est pas attardé longtemps, en fait on ne s'y est même pas assis, petit loup était trop occupé à admirer le design de la chose. Il aime plus les objets techniques, surtout les véhicules et les engins de construction, ça me rend heureux de le voir s'intéresser à ce qui reste un morceau de bois et des animaux. J'espère que ça lui permet de diversifier ses intérêts. Depuis hier, il a en tout cas une curiosité renouvelée pour ses toutous.

Wolfie and the Gruffalo

You probably all have heard of the Gruffalo, this creature and modern children classic story. Wolfie has a ambivalent report with the story and the monster. He loves it, loves when we read the book to him, loves the animated adaptation... yet sometimes he gets scared of the Gruffalo and asks us to stop reading, or stop watching the movie. A few weeks ago, we went to an fayre and there was a Gruffalo cave, with a "real" Gruffalo (a man or woman in a Gruffalo suit). Wolfie got terrified. He had to keep away from him and he begged me to hold him every time the Gruffalo was coming by. Today, we went to Wendover Woods, where there is a huge wooden statue of the Gruffalo and... and surprisingly Wolfie was not scared at all. He was even fascinated with the creature. It is true that he was prepped by his mum, who told him that this Gruffalo was made of wood and just a pretend one. Still, I'm surprised that he enjoyed the Gruffalo so much, given that it looked so real and lifelike.

Les cabanes dans les bois

Aujourd'hui, nous sommes allés à Wendover Woods. Notre première visite. Nous n'y avons pas passé beaucoup de temps, car la journée était assez avancée quand nous sommes arrivés, mais ce fut un moment très plaisant, alors nous y reviendrons sans doute. Petit loup a adoré. Quand je marche dans les bois, j'ai souvent l'impression de passer dans un autre monde et une autre époque. J'ai pris quelques clichés, dont celui-ci. On dirait la cabane d'un lutin, ou d'un kobold, ou d'une créature féérique quelconque. De manière plus sinistre, on pourrait dire que c'est le repaire d'un ermite dément ou d'un homme sauvage peut-être hostile aux civilisés. Bon, je m'égare, mais c'est toujours l'impression que j'ai quand je vois ça.

Wolfie the gift unwrapper

It was recently my wife's birthday and it made discover a new way in which our life changed since we became parents. So when it was time for my wife to unwrap her presents, and by this I mean Wolfie insisted first thing in the morning that her present had to be unwrapped, he decided to "help" his mummy. By helping, I mean that he did the job himself, pretty much. That was nice, but then Wolfie thought the gifts were his. Including and especially a drink holder I bought to keep the coffee mugs stable on the armrest of our sofa. Apparently, that was the coolest thing ever and Wolfie did not want his mummy to use it. He kept saying: "this is mine, mine, mine". Sometimes with a cheeky grin, sometimes with a sad expression, what his mother called his "bottom lip". Either way, he was adorable. In any case, I think it shows again that when you have children, every event is all about them.

Le mois des feux d'artifice

Novembre, en Angleterre, c'est le mois des feux d'artifice. En théorie, ce n'est que le 5 novembre, le soir de la Guy Fawkes, ou Bonfire Night, que l'on célèbre avec des feux, mais ça commence toujours quelques jours avant et ça continue jusqu'à la fin du mois, au moins. Et si on ne les voit pas (ou peu), on les entend et on les sent. J'imagine que ça donne un certain air festif à novembre, mais je ne m'y suis jamais habitué.

A Treasury of British Folklore

I recently mentioned that I read crime fiction in November. It is however not the exclusive genre I read. For some reason November is also the month when I read a lot, or a lot more than usual, about myths and legends and folklore. So this month, on top of the other books I read or intend to read, I have started A Treasury of British Folklore. Subtitled: "Maypole, Mandrakes and Mistletoes." I love all folklore, but the British one in particular, so although I'm only a few pages in, it is a great fun so far. If you know any similar books worth a read, please mention them in the comments section.

Promenade de novembre

Aujourd'hui, comme je suis en congé, nous avons passé la journée en famille et avons fait diverses activités, toutes assez tranquilles. L'une d'elle a consisté à se promener dans le plus important parc local en fin d'après-midi. Ce fut fort plaisant: il faisait juste assez frais et les jeux de lumière étaient vraiment jolis. Je tente de me réconcilier avec le mois et jusqu'ici ça marche assez bien. Je commence à garder en tête que novembre, c'est toujours l'automne. C'est aussi plus facile avec un petit loup qui a pris beaucoup de plaisir à se promener comme un grand, sans être dans la poussette.

Future railway journeys?

I took this picture at the National Railway Museum in York and I am sharing it here as it goes well with this topic. And also because you cannot share enough pictures of trains, especially vintage ones, on a blog. We last traveled by train in September, for a fairly long journey to spend a few days with some friends and their son who is the same age as Wolfie. Since then, Wolfie wants to visit his best friend again, but tonight he said "in just one train". I guess he didn't like the many changes. We are also planning a possible visit to London. For all these journeys, I am at least as much eager to experience the journey than arriving at destination. As you know if you have been following this blog for a while, I love traveling by train and I think it is time for a new railway journey.

Cidre chaud

Il y a quelques semaines de ça, nous sommes allés à une "fête de l'automne" qui était en fait au moins autant une fête de l'Halloween, mais bon. C'était organisé par une garderie catholique. (Parenthèse ici: l'apostat athée et anticlérical que je suis a quand même une femme qui, malgré qu'elle soit elle même impie et issue d'une famille laïque et biculturelle par dessus le marché, a quand même quelques amies catholiques). J'y ai bu notamment un cidre chaud qui était fort honnête. Je bois rarement du cidre, encore moins souvent du cidre chaud, et je crois que je devraisen boire plus souvent, ne serait-ce que parce que c'est très automnal.