I read yesterday this article in The Guardian from Emma Beddington (no idea who she is). It is titled: "I've been trying milk substitutes in my tea- it's a stomach-churning experience". You really don't need to read the article, the title gives you all you need to know about its content. And I have no difficulties believing that milk substitutes are an abomination' I tried almond milk before and I cannot believe I survived the ordeal. That said, normal cow's milk with tea is in my opinion is a stomach-churning experience. Milk in tea is barbaric. So my solution is simple: drink tea straight, like your whiskey. No milk, no sugar, no substitute. You don't need to thank me.
Wednesday 30 June 2021
The tea and milk heresy again
"Malva rose"
Tuesday 29 June 2021
Railway Memorabilia
I don't know if it is because of the lockdown that is slowly fading away, or if it is because WOlfie will start school in September, but my wife has been talking a lot about holidays. I don't know where or when, and it will probably someplace new, but I secretly hope we can go with Wolfie to the National Railway Museum of York. Partially because he's a train lover, partially because his dad is too. Recently, I have been checking their online shop, checking what I'd like to buy during our next visit. ome items are costly, some less, but I love them all. I have a few from our first visit, including this guidebook, which needs to be updated. As you can see, it has been very much loved. I have it on my bedside table.
Des geais bleus
Monday 28 June 2021
First Sunday Roast
L'arbre croche
Sunday 27 June 2021
Waiting for the storm (still)
You may remember that about two weeks ago I was blogging about the forecast of thunderstorms. They didn't happen, or if they did it must have been during nighttime. I am a bit disappointed, but at least it rained, enough so the temperature cooled down considerably. So far we are in a very bearable summer, rarely going above the lower twenties. I am relieved, as I hate scorching hot summers. That said, I miss a good old thunderstorm, the one thing I love about this season. They are forecasting some this coming week, but I will believe it when I see it.
Nouvelle gâtastrophe
Saturday 26 June 2021
A diamond for cryptocurrency
Sometimes, just sometimes, I start thinking about diamonds. As I mentioned in this post from 2020, I think they make for great MacGuffins in crime fiction. Precious gemstones is one of these tropes that in my opinion never gets old. So yes, sometimesI think of diamonds and I then read about diamonds. So I thus recently learned that Sotheby's will accept for the first time cryptocurrency for the auction in Hong Kong of a 101.38-carat diamond that could be worth $15 millions. Now, I don't know much about cryptocurrency, but I don't really trust it. I read this and it was like Sotheby's is selling a $15 millions rock and they'll accept Monopoly money. Something of the romanticism attached to diamonds get lost. Nevertheless, I can imagine the potential for a solid crime story, especially given the volatile (in my view) aspect of cryptocurrency and the ever darker aspect of diamonds, the embodiment in stone of human greed and the cause of so many crimes and wars. It's easy to imagine something going wrong in that auction.
La coupe se rapproche des lèvres
Je sais, je sais, j'ai blogué cette même chanson il y a deux semaines. Mais comme le Canadien a éliminé les Golden Knights, je crois que ça mérite de partager à nouveau. Je ne veux pas vendre la peau de l'ours, mais ça me rappelle beaucoup 1993, quand Montréal avait affronté des équipes soi-disant plus talentueuses, mais trop sûres d'elles. La détermination, la discipline et l'acharnement, dans le sport comme dans le reste, ça ne garantie pas le succès, mais ça aide. Et puis sinon, il nous reste toujours cette chanson:
Friday 25 June 2021
Everything is Communism
Thursday 24 June 2021
Fêtons avec le Vent du Nord
Mon père m'a conseillé de mettre un peu du Vent du Nord pour célébrer la Saint-Jean. On peut difficilement faire mieux pour pour faire très québécois, même si ici, ils sont en Écosse. Et puis il faut se rappeler aussi que le Québec a des racines celtiques.
Wolfie the "Quebeckan"
Today is Saint John the Baptist's Day, which is also the Fête nationale of us Quebeckers. I tried to explain this to Wolfie yesterday and I don't think he quite understood. I explained to him that tomorrow was going to be our celebration. I told him that daddy was a Québécois, and so was he, but not mummy (except when Quebeckers do well during the winter Olympics, but that is another story). He then told me: "When I grow up, I will be Quebeckan just like daddy." Which was quite cute and a new Wolfism. It's not much in terms of national identity, and it is very likely that he will identify first and foremost as an Englishman, but it's a start.
C'est notre tour
Wednesday 23 June 2021
His name is Sésame
Well, I learn things every day, even about stuff I thought I knew everything I needed to know about. So anyway, I learned last month on the St-Viateur Bagel Shop's Facebook page that the mascotte of the business actually has a name: Sésame. He was created more than 40 years ago. For me, he is more Montrealer than Youppi. It is St John the Baptist's Day tomorrow, which is Québec's national day. I am not sure how I will celebrate it, but had I been in Montreal, I would have eaten bagels from St-Viateur. What I will do however, and maybe it is fitting, is wear the shirt I bought there, with Sésame on it. It is blue and white, like our flag, so it is fitting.
Les orchidées sauvages
Tuesday 22 June 2021
Godot Logistics
I never played Samuel Beckett, but I did study him a bit at uni. He is one of those writersI wished I had studied more. Read this post from 2010 and that one from 2013 to know a little more about Beckett and me. But anyway, I saw this meme online recently and it really made me laugh. Of the works of Beckett, his most famous might be Waiting for Godot, which of course I studied, so yeah, I thought it was hilarious. I guess I'm easily pleased.
Vin d'Alsace et conversations françaises
Monday 21 June 2021
Highs and Lows of Summertime
Yesterday was the summer solstice, according to some sources. But I read other sources, including the Wikipedia entry, saying it is today. Good, because I pretty much missed it yesterday, being Father's Day and all. But in fact, it feels like summer missed solstice this year: after a week or so of hot weather, temperatures dropped dramatically and last weekend I had to wear long sleeves shirt to be warm enough. It is still the case today, as they are forecasting the highest teperatures to be 14 degrees. In June. On the day of the solstice. Because it has been mostly cloudy these last few days, the days don't feel like the longest of the year. So summer might be passing smoothly, at least for a while, which I can't complain about. I prefer low to high temperatures and I love when the sun goes down earlier rather than later.
Portrait pour la fête des Pères
Sunday 20 June 2021
Independent Bookshop Week
Un gâteau pour la Saint-Jean?
Saturday 19 June 2021
When we read cereal boxes
Omble (le poisson)
Mon père m'a envoyé cette photo. J'ai cru un instant que c'était du saumon, mais non, c'est une omble de l'artique. Jamais mangé, enfin je ne crois pas, et c'est pas la première fois que mon père m'envoie une photo de l'omble. Le reste, c'est de la salade à la crème de La Baie, avec patates et poivre d'érable. Morale de l'histoire: je veux vraiment manger du poisson ces temps-ci.
Friday 18 June 2021
The voice of a Bond girl
"Si j'avais les ailes d'un ange..."
Si j'avais les ailes d'un ange, je partirais pour Québec pour le 24. En fait, ce serait sans doute plus Montréal, voire même Chicoutimi. Enfin bref, parce que ce sera la Saint-Jean bientôt, je partage un classique de Robert Charlebois, je vous laisse deviner lequel...
Thursday 17 June 2021
A Sockwork Orange
As you know, I am since my teenage (and maybe before) a big fan of A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess and the movie it inspired. So I got quite excited when I learned of the existence of these socks, featuring one of the classic book covers of the novel. I find them real horrorshow. Burgess allegedly hated this cover, because it was directly inspired by the film and he wanted his novel to stand on its own. Be that as it may, I really want these socks now.
Les 'tites bières d'été
Wednesday 16 June 2021
What to Look for in Summer
Tissé serré
C'est la Saint-Jean dans un peu plus d'une semaine et je me prépare très peu ces temps-ci. Est-ce l'effet d'être un expatrié? Peut-être un peu. Mais je veux quand même célébrer,même si c'est pas toujours facile, d'autant plus que j'ai un fils qui est à demi québécois et qu'il faudrait bien entendu le lui rappeler de temps en temps (dautant qu'il n'est qu'au quart anglais, mais c'est une aure histoire). J'ai donc jeté un oeil sur le site officiel de la Fête nationale et j'ai vu quele thème cette année c'est "Vive le Québec Tissé serré". Avec la pandémie, je crois que c'est une belle façon de rappeler nos liens de solidarité, mais pour l'expatrié que je suis tentant de donner à son fils un fond bleu québécois, ç me rejoint aussi beaucoup.
Tuesday 15 June 2021
Thunderstorms
We've had a few hot days recently, a few weeks of hot days in fact and I am already getting fed up with summertime. I don't like the season, especially not when it gets hot like this. However, soon I will hopefully be happy as they are forecasting storms for the next few days. Not only this should cool down temperature, but if there is one thing I love about summer it's a summer storm. The weather warning issue for thunderstorms is in place for the next four days, so that should be interesting.
Pâtes au Pesto
Petit billet gastronomique rapide: le Chef Michel Dumas a aujourd'hui fait une vidéo sur comment faire des pâtes au pesto. Or, c'est le repas préféré de mon fils de quatre ans. Je dirais même qu'il fut un temps où il ne mangeait que ça ou à peu près. J'ai donc regardé ça avec Wolfie, qui était bien sûr fasciné.
Dry Well
La couverture familiale
Monday 14 June 2021
How to bluff your way about football
This weekend, we went to a car dealershipbecause my wife needs to buy a new car. The salesman was chic chatting with us, asked me what line of work I was in and he got very impressed when I told him. Without giving any details, it is true that the title and the industry I am in sounds quite impressive. So I could see he was impressed and at some point the conversation switched to football, because it is Euro 2021. I know nothing about football and care even less. But I started talking to the guy as if I knew something about it, saying in an assertive tone that the English team needs to stay focused and disciplined and they should do fine, that I think the French team has the best chances to win, and so on and so forth. It is the tone that matters, and the fact that I talked without hesitation. And maybe, the idea he had that I was a man with a big title and a big job. The salesman was literally drinking my words as if I was a football expert. That was quite funny.
Notre nouveau potager
Ma belle-mère nous a offert il y a quelques jours ces plantes pour notre jardin. Je crois que c'est pour nous forcer à nous en occuper plus et mieux. Il y a un plant de tomates, un plant de courgettes, des plants d'autres choses, je ne sais plus quoi. Je suis étonné, car elle connaît mes très piètres talents de jardinier. Qu'à cela ne tienne, nous avons maintenant de quoi faire un modeste potager.
Sunday 13 June 2021
Whatever happened to Bass?
Première chauve-souris
Hier soir, j'ai vu ma première chauve-souris. J'étais sorti quelques minutes dans le jardin alors que le soir tombait pour ranger toutes les bébelles que petit loup avait sorties durant la journée et je l'ai vu voler un instant au dessus de ma tête. J'aime bien avoir des chauves-souris dans le voisinage, je ne sais pas trop pourquoi.
Saturday 12 June 2021
The "Amoral Afrikaner"
Sometimes, I spend far too much time on TV Tropes, either looking for something specific, or just browsing. So anyway, yesterday I stumble upon the entry on the Amoral Afrikaner, which I found quite interesting. I have developed a certain fascination for South Africa, became my father-in-law is from there and because I love the crime novels of Deon Meyer. Meyer's novels are actually full of amoral Afrikaners, often badguys, sometimes good guys, so I am familiar with that trope and really like it. There is just something about cynical, amoral villains, or antiheros who are almost entirely self-interested. I was also happy, but not surprised, to see that Meyer's novel Blood Safari was mentioned in the Literature section as an example of this trope. I wish there was a Northern equivalent of this trope, maybe I could use it in my own writing.
Mon filleul veut voyager
J'ai appris une nouvelle de la mère de mon filleul récemment: il ramasse de l'argent pour faire un voyage d'un an après son cégep. Il veut aller en... Chine. J'espérais un peu qu'il vienne ici, même si on ne peut pas vraiment l'héberger, en tout cas pas pour longtemps. Dans tous les cas, ça m'a fait un choc de voir qu'il grandit et qu'il a des idées de voyage. Il est très sérieux et discipliné dans sa démarche, paraît-il.
Friday 11 June 2021
Did I find my editor?
As you might remember, I am working on a crime fiction novel (or novella). Well, I have written the whole story, but it is short of a novel and some things need to be developed and clarified. I can say that I have written my first draft. I have decided to push things forward and go to the next, so I can hope some day to be published. So I got in touch with an acquaintance of my wife, an American living here, who is also a professional editor. We had discussed about my stories in the past and she seemed interested about it. Anyway, long story short, I sent her the draft for a quote, she gave me one which is pretty much what I was ready to pay and gave me some helpful and more encouragingly very positive feedbacks. I think I will accept her offer, after working a bit on the story with the comments I received from her. So yes, I might have found my editor and I am quite happy.
L'anniversaire du SagLac
Whole Earth Organic Cola
Le rhume des foins
Photo prise en 2008 en Bretagne, je sais pas pourquoi je l'ai prise, mais elle va bien illustrer le thème de ce billet. Toujours est-il que c'est l'été ici, ce qui veut dire pour ma femme le rhume des foins. J'y suis sujet, dans une bien moindre mesure. Quand je dis que je n'aime pas beaucoup l'été, ben c'est une des choses qui rend la saison moins agréable à mes yeux (ou à mon nez).
Thursday 10 June 2021
The Green Man of Henley
My wife and Wolfie recently went to Wallingford to meet her parents and she sent me this picture from their time there. And now I love Wallingford a bit more and I really envy them for being able to go there. You can all recognize I hope the Green Man, the legendary creature associated with vegetations and fertility and so on. Just above a public bench somewhere. Now I want to see him myself and I want to see if there are other ones of his kind in Wallingford or nearby.
Erratum: I made a mistake, the Green Man was not in Wallingford but in Henley-on-Thames. Boy that is embarrassing. But hey, Henley is an okay place too.
Pommetier: un pronostic
Wednesday 9 June 2021
TikTok Pasta
Le CH et mon état d'esprit
Bon ben je voulais souligner que le Canadien a éliminé les Jets, fa' que...
Tuesday 8 June 2021
Bittersweet anniversary
I am not sure if I shiuld be celebrating or not, but today I have an anniversary of sort: a year ago, I was having the e-meeting that confirmed that I was made redundant due to the pandemic. But as I hated that job and everything about it, that came off as a relief. One year later, it feels like it's the best thing that could have happened to me. I quickly got another job, then last month I was hired for a new role in a brand new company, in a much better position, for a much better salary and with a better team. It is still early to tell if I will be as happy in my new rol as I have been in others in the past, but one thing is certain: I am far better this year than I was same time last year. I explained my new fortune like this to my parents: "Last year, I was working in a lemonade stand, this year I work in a five stars restaurant." That sums it up perfectly and this deserves to be a new great unknown line. So yes, while I still feel bitter for the three years in professional Hell that I spent working for and with petty backstabbing bastards, last year's e-meeting was truly a liberation.
Le mois de la Saint-Jean
Il y a une chose que je n'ai pas beaucoup mentionné jusqu'ici, mais que je prépare un peu. Je veux bien entendu parler de notre Fête nationale, communément appelée Saint-Jean-Baptiste, ou plus familièrement Saint-Jean. La quinzième (!) d'affilée que je célèbre en expatrié. Je ne m'y habitue pas et j'ai toujours un sentiment d'étrangeté lorsqu'arrive le 24 juin, le sentiment d'être en décalage à la fois entre mon peuple et entre mon pays d'adoption.
Monday 7 June 2021
The Dinosaur Chair
Our old Mountain Warehouse garden chairs are all falling apart, so we have been looking for new ones, both for my wife and I and Wolfie. I went last weekend to Mountain Warehouse and found this one, which I thought looked very cool. I took a picture and showed it to Wolfie, just to make sure he'd like it and would not be scared.Like his dad, he thinks that a dinosaur on a chair is very cool. So I just might purchase it next weekend for him, although my wife is far less ethusiastic about it.
Le CH et moi
Finding thrillers
Calmar de sable
Sunday 6 June 2021
A pint of milk and a shot of bourbon
I have recently watched action/crime thriller The Big Ugly. It is not a great film, maybe not even a good one and certainly not a very original one, but I enjoyed it tremendously. Probably more than it deserves. There are many reasons for this, each one of them worth a blog post, but let's start with one for today: the anti-hero protagonists grows fond of a rather unique drink: a pint of milk with a shot of bourbon in it. He calls it "a pint of a milk and a shot of bourbon". There are probably more sophisticated cocktails, but I find it very cool and very badass.Milk is never a good sign in fiction, see my old post about barbaric milk. Even spiked with a shot of bourbon. Not sure if I'd dare to try it myself, but be warned if you see someone ordering that in a bar: he's up to no good.
Le chat perché sur le mur
Je suis tombé par hasard hier sur de vieilles photos datant de 2008, lors de nos premiers séjours en Bretagne. Du temps que mes beaux-parents y restaient. C'est bien, ça me fera des sujets pour ce blogue. Il y a plusieurs de ces photos dont je me rappelle peu ou pas du contexte, dont celle-ci. Une statue de chat sur un mur. Je ne crois pas que ce soit le seul que j'aie vu, mais je ne sais plus où j'ai pris la photo. Je l'ai peut-être déjà partagée ici, mais je ne crois pas. Dans tous les cas, comme c'est une image assez originale, la voici (à nouveau?).
Saturday 5 June 2021
Reading outside again
Well, it is nothing that special and I know I have often blogged about it before, but I thought I would mention it again: recently I have startd reading outside again. Like I said, it is nothing special and maybe it does not even deserve a blog post, except for the fact that I can't remember the last time I have read outside before that time last week. I can read outside almost all year long, we have quite a nice garden for it, not a big one, so there isn't much to do but gardening and reading. And since I am a terrible gardener... No, but more seriously, I noticed last time that I managed to properly binge read. That is also something I hadn't done in ages. I hope this becomes an habit.
Question existentielle (370)
Nouvelle question existentielle, parce que c'est l'été,du moins en théorie. (Et anecdote ça fait plus d'un mois que je n'ai pas posé de questions existentielles, il fallait que je recommence.). Alors donc, sans plus tarder, la question:
-Quelle est la meilleure chanson de l'été de tous les temps?
Friday 4 June 2021
Cerberus (myths and etymology)
I hope this does not come off as geeky, but I am a big fan of Greek mythology. I found this meme recently on the internet and I thought it was so good that I had to share it, even though I am not sure about its accuracy. Anyway, it is about Cerberus, the hound of Hades (I need to blog about the Greek God of Death one day, by the way) and the watchdog of his kingdom. Anyway, whether it's true or not, mythology is certainly not boring.
Les oeufs bleus ou verts?
Mon père m'a envoyé une photo d'oeufs bleus, ceux de la poulette blanche de mon billet du 12 mai. Je partae la photo ici parce qu'ils ont une couleur particulière, bleu ou vert. Je les voyais bleus au départ, maintenant que je tape ces lignes sur mon écran d'ordi, ils semblent plus verts. Dites-moi ce que vous en pensez.
Thursday 3 June 2021
Casino Royale in June
They shared this image on the official Facebook page of Ian Fleming, I wanted to share it here because I love to quote Fleming's prose from time to time. Also because both the novel Casino Royale and the movie adaptation are among my favourite Bond stories. And also and finally because the novel has some great covers and I am sharing a lot of them in one go with this image. Tell me which one you prefer.
"Gros nenours"
Wednesday 2 June 2021
About missing pieces
Wolfie gave me another Wolfism recently, when he was looking for a missing piece in one of his many train sets: "What I really don't like about this missing piece, is that it's missing". He sounded deadpan serious when he said that and it was both comical and very, very sweet. It is still missing as I am typing this, but I reckon it will show up again, probably when he lost interest in looking for it.
Une observation sur le mois de juin
Je n'ai pas oublié que nous sommes le mois de juin, mais je ne savais pas trop comment souligner son arrivée hier, sans dire des banalités du genre "bon, on change de mois et c'est l'été", alors j'ai décidé de bloguer sur un autre sujet. L'inspiration m'est venue plus tard. En fait, j'ai pensé à une chose: juin est pour moi ce que décembre est pour d'autres. Des gens aiment décembre et l'hiver tant que Noël arrive. À cause des couleurs, de l'atmosphère, des célébrations, etc. Mais ils détestent la saison autrement. C'est la même chose pour moi et le mois de juin etl'été: je l'aime pour la Fête nationale. Une fois les réjouissances terminées (et ici le 24 juin est une journée comme une autre), j'ai hâte que l'été finisse.
Tuesday 1 June 2021
"The Train Beer"
It has been much warmer recently, so I have started drinking more blonde beers. I do try to go for the blonde ales though, not lagers. So I recently drank Cambridgeshire Golden Ale which is sold at Marks and Spencer. I don't judge a beer by its label, but yes, that it had a train on it did play a role in me choosing it among other blondes. Wolfie calls it "the train beer". So since then, I call it the Train Beer. My son seems fascinated by its label, if not the beer itself. He is like me really into trains. His mum told me that he will probably end up liking beer when he grows up.
Encore les fraises
J'ai blogué il y a peu sur les fraises, je récidive parce que c'est le temps des fraises qui commence. Mon père m'a envoyé cette photo, avec les informations suivantes sur le dessert: "Fraises du Québec crème de la laiterie La baie et sérip d'érable avec sucre d'érable." Dessert typiquement québécois, donc... Enfin bref, vous avez maintenant la recette, si vous voulez essayer.