I'm a Cryptkeeper

Tomorrow is the official start of the countdown to Halloween. That said, I start counting down since the first of November, or almost and I prepare myself mentally to Halloween and to this time of year from August onwards. And every year, for the month leding to my favourite holiday, I become a Cryptkeeper and blog almost exclusively about Halloween. I also get my cool badge from the Countdown to Halloween blog, THE big online gathering place for Halloween lovers. And what a cool badge it is this year: it is a changing one! It has an image of witch, of zombie rising from the grave and of a raven. My favourite is the raven. Anyway, I cannot wait for tomorrow and please keep reading this blog.

Des champignons partout

Autre photo prise par mon père durant une promenade en forêt. Il y avait des champignons partout. Les champignons étant un signe de l'automne, je partage.

Brain on Tea VS Coffee

You know I am a bit of a fan of the comic strip Sarah's Scribbles, so I hope you will forgive me if I share another one. This one shows, in a nutshell, why I prefer tea to coffee and why it is my performance drug of choice. Both provide energy, but one is like disgusting tasting liquid cocaine, where you feel just as tired, only with a brain working overtime on empty nutrients, the other is like the essence of life. Anyway, this is funny because it is true and more to the point, it is wise.

Les couleurs de l'automne

Des fois, mon père va dans le bois et il prend des photos. Des fois, c'est l'automne et les couleurs sortent. Il m'envoie alors les photos. Et j'ai le mal du pays, même si ici ce n'est pas tro pmal non plus. J'espère que vous ne vous en lassez pas parce que moi en tout cas, je ne m'en ai jamais assez. Et encore, ça a beau être beau déjà, ce n'est pas encore à son degré maximal de beauté, comme ce sera le cas dans deux ou trois semaines, où ça sera encore plus magnifique.

Autumn Soda

Sometimes I find fun things in some local shops and it makes my day. Sometimes also, it makes my season. This was the case last Saturday: I found this apple based soda from Square Root. A company I never heard of before Saturday. Real apples, apparently (30%). Their Apple Soda is special for a specific reason: apples being the emblematic fruit of autumn, it is literally sold as an autumn soda. The soft drink of the season. It will for mine for this autumn anyway, and it might become a tradition.

Mafalda la pessimiste

Si jamais vous vous sentez un peu mélancolique, je vous offre ce gag comme remède,tiré bien entendu de de Mafalda. Je ne m'en rappelais plus du tout de celui-là, ça fait du bien de le redécouvrir. je ne crois pas que vous ayez besoin de parler et lire l'espagnol pour comprendre et apprécier.

New train travel soon?

Of  the few things I have been missing with the pandemic and the lockdown, one of the most important is that we stopped traveling by train. This is probably what I miss the most. Not commuting by train on a daily basis, I really enjoy working from home (although if I had to commute I would rather do it by train), just going from point A to point B via railway. Well, I just might travel by train soon. Not for a very long journey, but long enough to enjoy it. The company I work for has its HQ outside England and one of the seniors is going to be in London next month. He said he wanted to meet the team for a drink, in an informal setting, so we should have an afternoon off to go there and back. And,of course, have a drink with the boss inbetween. I generally don't like these kinds of company events, but since it is not on an evening and it will allow me to meet the team in person, I am almost looking forward to it. If it works of course, as these sorts of things can get cancelled easily. But if nothing else, it will be the occasion to travel by train again. Not in ideal circumstances, but I will be careful, and at least the journey should be pleasant. I honestly cannot remember when I last took the train.

Les couleurs de l'automne

Mon père m'envoie des fois des photos des arbres en automne. C'est pas mal plus coloré qu'ici. Sinon, rien, je voulais juste partager ça.

Charlie Brown's Books of Questions and Answers

I don't know if I am the only one remembering them, but back in the days, like inthe early 80s, there was a series of books, called "Charlie Brown's Great Books of Questions and Answers" It featured the Peanuts gangs in their usual comic strips, of course, but with lots of educational articles about thigns: means of transports, biology, traditions, etc. We had the book on transports, I remember one of my friends had a few of them, including the fourth one, about customs and traditions in various cultures around the world. It is the one I liked the mos and I spent a lot of time reading it when I was visiting him (I know, I was a lousy, socially inept friend). He thought little of it, but then again he was not as much of a reader as I am. Anyway, I found it online, second-handed, at a decent price, so I decided to buy it for my son, because I think it is quite educational. Yes, that's the excuse. I have another reason which I will explain in another post, when I receive it. But going through this will taking another pleasant trip through memory lane.

L'Abbaye de Paimpont

Je suis retombé sur des photos de l'Abbaye de Paimpont datant de 2008, du temps où nous avions visité la Forêt de Brocéliande. J'aurais aimé y retourner, mais puisque mes beaux-parents ne vivent plus en Bretagne, ça n'arrivera sans doute pas, en tout cas pas de sitôt.

Scarborough Fair

Here is a bit of music for you, just because you might feel like listening to something today. I hope you don't mind melancholy, but if like me you are rather melancholic, you must know how to appreciate the feeling and even embrace it. I rewatched The Graduate and as ever, I really enjoyed it. The soundtrack is amazing, thanks to rom Simon & Garfunkel and I thought I would share one of their tune. Well, sort if, as Scarborough Fair is not originally their tune. But anyway, here is the long version you can hear in the film.

Le Salon du livre (replogue)

Petite plogue pour ceux qui peuvent y aller: le Salon du livre du Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean débutera ce lundi. C'est un peu tard et j'aurais espéré qu'il débute en fin de semaine, mais enfin bref. Comme il est semi-virtuel, vous pouvez sans doute y aller un peu sans y aller physiquement. Je vais peut-être tenter de le faire moi même. Dans tous les cas, c'est pas mal le meilleur Salon du livre auquel j'ai assisté, à une époque idéale de l'année pour tenir un Salon du livre, surtout au Saguenay.

A real life secret passage

Here some bit of uber cool news I have found out yesterday, although it dates back from a few days. So anyway: I read in the Metro that a man found a secret passage in his family home. Just let that sink in for a moment. A real, true, historical secret passage in his home, used by servants back in the Victorian era (and before?). I have a sort of secret passage here, which I blogged about, but it's not a real one. I mean I and Wolfie call it secret passage, but this was never conceived as a secret passage. And it's not really secret. I guess the guy's secret passage is no longer a secret one, but that's the principle: it is still there, it was built as a secret passage. And I can think of many games one could play in there. It's like owning the Clue/Cluedo manor! The moral of the story is: ideally, I wish I could afford to buy a much older house.

Le guêpier

 Il y parfois des guêpes qui viennent me visiter quand j'ouvre la fenêtre de mon bureau. Et hier, alors que l'on se promenait en famille sur notre rue, nous avons vu pleins de guêpes en train de siphonner ce qui restait de fleurs dans un arbre au coin de la rue, près d'un bosquet. On aurait dit tout un essaim dans un seul arbre. Je soupçonne donc qu'ils ont leur nid dans le boisé près de chez nous, ou alors accroché à l'une desmaisons de nos voisins (je crois et j'espère que ce n'est pas la nôtre). Ou alors c'est que les guêpes sont attirées par ce type d'arbre (je ne sais pas lequel),  néanmoins je soupçonne qu'il y a un guêpier à proximité.

Return on the "Dracula Game"

Maybe I should wait for my countdown to Halloween to blog about it, but anyway there you go. You may remember a few years ago, I blogged about the Dracula Game, based not so much about the famous novel (which I hadn't read at the time), but on a gamebook written by J.H. Brennan, Dracula's Castle. Well, I made a few rough calculations and if I'm not mistaken we played it on Thursday the 21st of September 1989. A day before the autumnal equinox, when teachers had been on strike for a week. Anyway, I blogged the story before: a friend brought this book and we decided to play a make-belief gme based on it. I think our intention was to bring the story to its conclusion around Halloween, but it was not meant to be and we played it only once. But we had such fun with it. Why I still remember it fondly and why was it so fun? Part of it is due to my fascination for the Count, which had started even back then. I wanted to know more about Dracula and this was the nearest and easiest source of info. I think it was also a well designed make belief game: a simple dungeon crawl in a castle, but in a real-world, contemporary setting, so it had relatability and atmosphere. Finally, there was Halloween already looming and this got us in the spirit of the season. These last few days, I only have to go out and smell the air and I remember how I felt that day. The boredom that suddenly triggers creativity.

La tarte aux pommes et moi

Mon frère PJ a fait une tarte aux pommes parce que l'équinoxe hier. Voici la photo d'une pointe. La pomme est sans doute LE fruit de l'automne, celui des récoltes, celui de l'abondance, le fruit aussi qui est associé au surnaturel de la saison. Donc, la tarte aux pommes est sans doute le dessert le plus typique de la saison. Et tout le monde aime la tarte aux pommes. Sauf moi. Enfin, je peux en manger si on m'en offre, mais je n'ai jamais envie de manger plus que ça. J'ai déjà blogué sur le sujet ici. Or, j'ai pris la résolution de l'apprivoiser, ou de me laisser apprivoiser par la tarte aux pommes cet automne. Je ne sais pas trop comment faire. En fait si, ou bien trouver une recette que je en trouverai pas fade, ou bien en acheter une dans une pâtisserie ou un commerce quelconque qui changera mon avis sur la chose. On a bien des résolutions de nouvel an, on peut avoir des résolutions de nouvelle saison, surtout que septembre c'est un peu une nouvelle année qui commence (année scolaire, nouvel an juif, et tout et tout). Mettons que c'est une résolution d'équinoxe.

All Hail Autumnal Equinox

Well, nobody can deny it now: we are the equinox, so however you want to split it, autumn is here. For me it starts with September, but some people want summer to overstay its welcome and make it last until, well, today. So I wanted to find an image to celebrate today and I found this meme, which isboth hilarious and represents everything I am feeling about right now: Halloween is getting closer and I'm feeling spooky. I don't know which artist draw this image, but I want to find him or her.This is just so deliciously spooky, with its Pagan imagery and the Jack O'Lantern as a sort of living idol greeting his children. If there is a scary story associated with this picture, I want to read it. If there is none, somebody please write one! On a side note, that might be a challenge for our countdown to Halloween.

Un 22 septembre...

Plus personne ne peut le nier aujourd'hui, nous sommes en automne, parce que c'est l'équinoxe. Alors donc, je partage cette chanson de Brassens, qui est délicieusement mélancolique.

A Princess Party

Having a young boy of school ages brings a lot of new things for a family. For instance, a new kind of social life for both the child and parents: Wolfie has new friends, or at least knows more children his age who will become his friends, and we have started knowing their parents and hanging out with them. Well, hanging out might be taking things a bit far: we had a few meetings in a public park and we are members of an online chat group with parents whose children have started reception at the same school. So anyway, we have now been invited to the first birthday party of the year. A little girl who is turning five will have her birthday this weekend and all the children in her class AND their parents are invited. And it will be a "princess party", where girls are coming disguised as princesses (talk about gender stereotype), but boys are thankfully invited too. Wolfie was not thrilled. Then we managed to convince him that there will be plenty of food (i.e. cake), so he warmed up to the idea. And there will be food and drink(s) for the parents, so I won't complain.

Couleurs automnales (encore)

Bon, c'est l'équinoxe demain, alors je partage encore une fois des photos prises par mon père sur le lot de mes oncles, dans la forêt. Vous ne viendrez pas me faire croire qu'avant le 22 septembre, c'est encore l'été. Ici, ce n'est pas aussi coloré, mais le fond de l'air est toujours frais, baptince!

September VS October (in a nutshell)

Well, we are two thirds our of September already, so I thought this was a good excuse as any to share another comic strip from Sarah's Scribbles. I love both September and October a lot, they are both autumnal months after all, but it is true that October just has an edge. I do think she is a bit mean to September though:autumn has to start somewhere and it has to build momentum. Maybe we should not compain so much about it and enjoy it for what it is. (On a side note, it is Wolfie's birthday month, so it has that extra special place in my heart).

Fougères automnales

Mon père est allé dans le bois récemment et m'aenvoyé des photos. La forêt a pris les couleurs de l'automne, au moins un peu.

Wolfie's bookmark obsession

Recently, for some reasons which I haven't quite understood yet, Wolfie has become fascinated by bookmarks. He noticed them on my books first, he asked me lots of questions about it, what I do with them, why use them, etc. Then he started asking to have some himself, for each and everyone of the big books he likes to read before bedtime. And he insists for the top of the bookmarks to be very visible, so he can find his page easily the next evening. Recently, he received as a gift from his maternal grandparents a very generous present: a subscription to a local bookshop. He will receive a book every month, for six months. He also got a free bookmark from the bookshop. His very first bookmark. Well, that got him over the moon with joy. So yes, that's the story here: Wolfie really loves bookmarks.

"Le Salon s'invite"

Petit rappel pour ceux qui lisent ce blogue dans ma région: le Salon du livre du Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean aura lieu dans un peu plus d'une semaine. Il sera semi-virtuel, alors je me demandais s'il n'y a pas un oyen pour moi de le "visiter" d'ici, virtuellement. Si je dois payer quelque chose, j'ai une passe gratuite à vie, que j'ai utilisé genre une fois ou deux max. Mais enfin bref, une autre observation comme ça: l'image de promotion cette année est vraiment cool, avec la bibliothèque et le chat noir couché dans le coin.

Black Bear

 My father sent me these pictures that dates back from a while, of a black bear caught by the cameras on my uncles' plot of woodland. I love black bears, always have. I have been fascinated by them since childhood. So Inever get bored watching photos of them, especially if it's a good snapshot like this one. And I know black bears can be very dangerous, but they look so darn cute!

Escoufle en vol

Il y a un milan royal (mais je préfère les appeler escoufles, de leur ancien nom) qui aime se percher sur la branche en haut d'un arbre pas loin de chez nous, surtout tard en après-midi et le soir. Je ne m'en lasse jamais. J'ai réussi à le prendre en photo hier à quelques reprises, dont au moment où il prend son envol, et c'est pas si mal comme cliché (enfin pour un amateur comme moi). Je le partage donc aujourd'hui.

Our Halloween Gnome

Well, I don't care if some people might say it's still too early: for me countdown to Halloween is already started and has been for quite a while. So it means that I started looking for and buying decorations. And I stumbled on this one online, which I bought recently. It's our new Halloween gnome. You might remember that I had wanted to buy a Halloween Garden Gnome last year. Well, this one is a Halloween House Gnome, with Jack O'Lantern hood and Jack O'Lantern on a stick. My wife was not too happy, but Wolfie absolutely loves him. He said the gnome will chase nightmares away, which is a very fitting duty for a gnome clothed in the coloursof the season. Wolfie has already christened him "Spooky Spooky". I wanted a bit more time to find him a name, but Spooky Spooky will do.

Fleurs Maltais

 J'ai demandé à mon père qu'il m'envoie des photospour mon blogue, il m'en a envoyé quelques unes, dont celle-ci, prise aux Fleurs Maltais. Connais pas, mais c'est un fleuriste de Chicoutimi. Ils ont aussi une page Facebook. Saguenéens, achetez régional.

The family's rowan tree

My dad sent me a few pictures tonight, including some of the family's rowan tree. I blogged about it before. When its fruits get fiery red like this, it means that autumn is here, or at least near. I love rowan trees for other reasons, many linked to the one of our childhood. It is situated at the faraway corner of our garden, at the meeting point of two pathways longing the swimming pool. That part of the garden was therefore often used as a secret hideout in many of our games. This rowan tree often felt magical (kind of fitting given the significance in folklore), especially in autumn when it had all these fiery colours. I often miss our big family garden, these days most of all. I hope I can show this tree to Wolfie, although it is more difficult to access it now. Maybe I should buy a rowan for our own garden.

Champignons

Mon père m'a envoyé ce soir des photos, dont celle-ci, que je partage ce soir. Comme vous le savez, j'aime voir des champignons sauvages pousser, ils sont pour moi l'un des signes de l'automne. Alors voilà qui devrait donner à Vraie Fiction une couleur de saison bien appropriée.

Bentley

Last weekend, we went in the local "carnival", which is more like a fayr done in September. It is one of the big events of the year, which we did not have last year, for obvious reasons. But this year it was held, in the biggest park of our little town. There were food and drinks, lots of places to buy things and a display of old army vehicles, motorbikes and vintage cards. Including this Bentley. At least I'm fairly sure it was a Bentley, I saw what looked like the Bentley logo on its hood. I am not a connoisseur of old cars, but I kind of love everything vintage or almost, so I decided to share it here. Gotta love the sleek elegance of the thing, if nothing else.

Tarte aux framboises

Mes parents ont fait une tarte aux framboises et mon père m'a envoyé cette photo. Je la partage parce que food porn et aussi parce que je trouve que comme dessert, surtout aux alentours de maintenant, ce serait bien une tarte aux framboises. Je fais souvent des gâteaux, à peu près jamais de tartes. Faudrait que je corrige ça.

About Big Ben

 Here is a bit of very English news which I read recently: Big Ben is being renovated and the refurbishing works revealed an old St George's flag. Now, Big Ben has always fascinated me, since I became an Anglohpile. The tower, the clock, the chimes of Big Ben especially, I always thought they were as cool as they were impressive. True story: my parents' doorbell has the same tune as Big Ben, except slightly out of tune for some reason. I only discovered this during our first visit to London back when I was eleven, the first time I ever heard Big Ben. So yes, long story short, Big Ben is one cool bell.

L'araignée près de la remise

Nous avons parfois des visiteurs dans la maisons, enfin des squatteurs que je m'efforce de chasser, parce que ma femme en a une peur maladive. Je parle bien entendu des araignées. Mais il y en a une qui a décidé de tisser sa toile juste à côté de la remise. Enfin, pour être exact contre la remise. Elle est assez volumineuse et elle est plutôt jolie, je trouve, mais bon, c'est rien que moi. Il faut que je fasse attention à chaque fois que j'ouvre la porte de la remise pour ne pas l'avoir sur moi.

The Gruffalo Cake

 I blogged a few days ago about The Gruffalo Cookbook, a cookbook made for children and their parents so they can cook together. Or for children so they can ask their parents to cook something from them. Which is what happened on Wolfie's birthday: he asked me to bake a Gruffalo cake. I did it and I think the result isn't half bad. It looks like a Gruffalo, only slightly deformed, but then again, I don't think Gruffalos are meant to look neat and symmetrical. Anyway, the cake itself is a bit too dry, but the icing is yummy nand I am surprised at how well the marzipan mixes with the rest, so it was a success. And Wolfie loved it anyway.

Les feuilles en septembre

Bon, ce n'est pas jusqu'ici le mois de septembre idéal, j'entends par là que ce n'est pas très frais. En fait, il a fait trop chaud il y a une semaine. Je considère que l'automne commence avec septembre, pas à l'équinoxe, mais c'est plus ou moins manifeste selon les années. Mais il y a au moins un signe qui ne ment pas: les feuilles. C'est encore très vert dans les arbres, mais comme ça a changé depuis août (voire avant), il y a quand même beaucoup plus de couleurs et puis il y a beaucoup plus de feuilles sur le sol. Je regardais ça hier en amenant Wolfie à l'école (une nouvelle réalité pour nous que la saison nous apporte désormais): l'automne est encore discret, mais il est bel et bien arrivé.

Permanence

I wanted to mention some good news on the job front, which I learned on Friday (and which brightened my day): I was formally informed by HR that I successfully completed the probationary period of four months. So I am now permanent. Well, not that it means anything nowadays, but at least it gives me some financial and professional stability for a little while. After last year's turmoils, I think it deserves to be mentioned and celebrated.

La petite école de petit loup

 Photo prise parmon père à l'école primaire de mon enfance. Ils ont fait des rénos et je ne la reconnais plus. Enfin bref, je partage car cette photo sert mon propos: notre petit loup est à la maternelle depuis une semaine déjà. À mon grand soulagement, l'adaptation se fait très bien jusqu'ici. En fait, Wolfie a été le seul à ne pas pleurer la semaine dernière. Pas un seul matin. Oh il était hésitant à devoir y entrer et à nous voir partir, il est toujours un peu timide, mais il n'a pas versé une larme ou même rechigné. Je suis vraiment fier de mon fils.

This September so far, in a nutshell

 I was wrong to be optimistic about autumn being early and cold. This September has been hot, way hotter than August, we even had a bit of a heatwave last week. Thankfully, it does get cooler in the evenings and we have some colours showing up in the trees. Still, I feel like this strip of the comics Sarah's Scribbles, who seems to love autumn as much as I do, and like me considers September to be the beginning of autumn. In any case, this comics resumes my state of mind right now.

Le "Carnaval" local

Hier, nous sommes allés à un "carnaval" local, en fait une sorte de foire qui se tient chaque septembre pour un samedi. Sauf l'année dernière, pour cause de pandémie. J'ai déjà blogué sur le sujet en 2019. Cette année ils l'ont fait un peu (trop) tôt durant le mois à mon goût, mais nous y sommes allés rien que pour voir du monde et pour nous dégourdir les jambes. Après les mois de confinement, ça nous a fait un bien immense, même si nous ne sommes plus habitués de marcher autant.

9/11, 20 years after

Today is the 20th anniversary of 9/11. The terrorist act that truly kickstarted the century and the millenium. Our share of Apocalypse, so to speak. For my own experience and my reflection on 9/11, I recommend that you read this post from 2008 and this one from 2009. In my years of blogging, they are the posts I am most proud about. I am thinking about twenty years ago and I am worried about how things might turn out in the future, because I feel like little has been done. I'm glad Bin Laden got killed, but Islamofascism is still very storng indeed. Maybe worse, in the US they are stuck with their own brand of talibans in the guise of Christian fundamentalism. Now these fundies existed before 9/11, but they grew stronger due to the attacks of twenty yers ago. So yes, I'm worried and disappointed about the human race.

54,50$ de chocolat noir

 Photo prise par mon père à Eddy Laurent. C'est une grande bonbonnière faite en chocolat noir. Elle coûte 54,50$. Je ne sais pas si c'est avec ou sans les bonbons dedans. Mais dans tous les cas, malgré mon goût du chocolat noir, je n'oserais pas, je crois. À ce prix-là, il est mieux d'être bon.

Todd the Toad

I don't know if you remember that last year, we had a toad who visited our garden. We hadn't seen him in a while, until a few days ago, when I saw him. I took a few good snapshots, including this one. I don't know if it is the same toad, but it might as well be, I understand they can live beteen five to ten years, which isn't bad. We named him Todd, as in Todd the Toad, which is a pretty cool name for a toad. Anyway, Todd is a pretty cool fellow and I hope we see him more often.

Rosa

Je partage encore une fois la chanson Rosa de Jacques Brel, pourla simple et bonne raison que petit loup termine aujourd'hui sa première semaine à l'école primaire et qu'il a très bien fait ça. Il n'a pas appris le latin, il n'aura pas une éducation catholique comme ce fut mon cas et je ne crois pas qu'il ait de Rosa dans sa classe, mais il peut être au moins aussi espiègle que Brel.

Longing for the Orient Express

My readers know my love for trains in general and for old steam trains in particular. I read recently this article from the Financial Times about the most famous train of all, the Orient Express. It is 100 years this year and it still provides services. I knew it, nevertheless this feels surreal. It seems to be pure railway journey porn, mixed with nostalgia porn, nevertheless it would be my dream holiday. Probbly because it sells luxury, decadent railway travel and nostalgia. And at a very high price: a one day initerary from Paris to Venice starts at £2,750 per person, which is waaayyy above what I can afford. All the same, I would really love to try it just once.

Mystérieux p'tits gâteaux

Des fois je regarde de vieilles photos et je trouve des choses. Celle-ci date de 2008, lors d'un séjour chez mes beaux-parents.Je crois que ma femme a fait ces cupcakes avec sa mère, qui pourtant n'est pas forte des desserts. Ou alors ils ont été faits par une amie de ma femme, qui parfoisbloguait avec elle. Elle faisait beaucoup dans la pâtisserie. Dans tous les cas, je suis curieux: j'aimerais savoir si nous avons quelque part la recette de ces p'tits gâteaux. Et ils sont à quoi? Au café, au caramel, au chocolat? J'aimerais savoir aussi.

The Gruffalo Cookbook

You may know (especially if you have children) of the Gruffalo, this creature who may or may not exist. The books of his adventures fascinated Wolfie at a young age and sometimes it also terrified him. Be that as it may,I bought him for one of his birthdays The Gruffalo Cookbook, a family cookery book which has recipes based on the characters and elements in the famous book. We haven't make one recipe from it yet. But we rediscoveed it recently and Wolfie and I checked through it to find something we could make. There is a Gruffalo Cake, which is basically a big, rich, decadent chocolate cake with the head shaped like the Gruffalo's. And now Wolfie wants it for his birthday cake. I don't know what I got myself into. It does not seem too complicated, except for the carving of the head. I'm afraid it might end up as another catastrophy cake and a very mutated Gruffalo. Anyway, we'll see.

Oursons à la guimauve

À l'épicerie fine française locale, qui vend surtout des vins, on y vend aussi de la bouffe fine, enfin un peu. On y trouve peu de desserts, mais j'ai quand même fait la découverte de ces oursons à la guimauve, de Sophie M. (connais pas). Le proprio m'a dit que c'était comme sa madeleine de Proust. J'en ai acheté un sac pour récompenser Wolfie de sa première journée à l'école (ou sa première semaine). Au moment où  j'écris ces lignes, il n'en a pas encore mangé un. Il ne m'en a pas encore demandé un, en fait. Ce qui m'étonne beaucoup. Peut-être que l'adaptation se fait bien, s'il n'a pas besoin de renforcement positif.

The Autumn Garland for Wolfie

As you know if you have been following this blog for a hile, both Wolfie's grandmothers do knitting. And my wife's mother also does crochet. So she recently made this garland of leaves, berries and other autumnal things. Not for me, but for her grandson, to put on his new bed when it will be built. Until then it is in the iving room. An it looks gorgeous. It does not feel very autumnal these days (the weather beingtoo hot, but that's for another post), but at least we have this garland to remind us of the season.

Le Salon du livre (plogue)

Petit billet rapide pour ploguer le Salon du livre du Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean, qui cette année sera semi-virtuel, selon ce que j'ai compris. Je m'ennuiedu Salon, il me manque, ma région me manque aussi. Et un petit mot sur le design de ce dessin (logo?): c'est pas mal l'un des plus cools que j'aie vus, parmi toutes les éditions du Salon du livre du Saguenay et d'ailleurs. La bibliothèque, avec le chat couché sur une étagère... Juste parfait.

First Day of School

I will be short as I already blogged about it in my French post, but today is Wolfie's first ever day of school. He is going into reception class. I am not prepared for it. I mean yes, we prepared for it, I mean he has all his school stuff and everything (at least I hope, what if we've forgotten something?), but I still feel like I'm not ready emotionally. it feels that not so long ago, he was a little baby. I also think of all the moments he spent carefree in the house or in the garden, on a week day like this one. Well, now things will be different, and I feel a bit sad about it.

Fête du Travail et rentrée scolaire

Nous sommes la Fête du Travail aujourd'hui,mais ici en Angleterre elle est fêtée en mai, donc nous sommes un lundi comme un autre. En fait non, ce n'est pas un lundi comme un autre: Wolfie entre à l'école pour la première fois. Et je ne me sens pas prêt du tout à cette nouvelle réalité. Je préfèrerais avor une fin de semaine de trois jours en septembre (surtout que c'est un de mes mois préférés) et pouvoir me préparer mentalement un peu plus avec un lundi de congé. Morales de l'histoire: 1)il y a des lundis pire que d'autres, 2)le temps passe trop vite et 3)je goûte les côtés aigre-doux de septembre, pas vraiment déplaisants, mais douloureux.

Very first sign of Halloween

Yesterday I went dowtown to run a few errands and guess what I saw in an outdoor's flower shop? Pumpkins! Small pumkins, pumpkins a tad toosmall to carv Jack O'Lanterns, but still. It is an undeniable sign of Halloween coming. In early September, it is about time, I think. It cannot come too early for me. I did not buy any. At £5.00, I thought it was a tad much, but I absolutely had to take this picture.

La femme au manteau bleu

Petite nouvelle (en retard) et suggestion pour les amateurs de polar: mon auteur sud africain préféré, Deon Meyer, a eu un livre sorti le 12 août en France, courtoisie de Série noire: La femme au manteau bleu. C'est une novella qui se lit très bien.

What to Look For in Autumn

I blogged early this year about a series of Ladybird books about the seasons, that looked both educational and beautiful. A few months later, I found them in the local bookshop and bought all four of them. So sicne the beginning of the month, Wolfie and I have been reading What to Look For in Autumn together. It is now one of his bedtime books, at least the ones he reads with daddy. And it is indeed educational and beautiful, with lovely pictures that renders perfectly the seasonal atmosphere.

Refaire le barbier

Bon ben faut se rendre à l'évidence: tout le monde dans la famille en ce moment a les cheveux trop longs. Wolfie, ma femme et moi. Wolfie ne s'en plaint pas, mais il a quelques couettes qui dépassent et qui lui donnent un air d'enfant sauvage (ce qui est cute, mais pas toujours pratique). Comme depuis le début de la pandémie, je suis le barbier officiel de la famille, il me faudra remettre ça bientôt, sans doute aujourd'hui. Pour moi c'est simple: clipper. Pour ma femme, c'est aussi assez simple: je ne suis un coiffeur sophistiqué, mais un coup de ciseaux et elle a les cheveux à l'épaules. Pour petit loup, ça dépendra de sa bonne volonté et il se peut qu'il ait les cheveux rebelles pour un temps. À moins que l'on décide de retourner dans un salon de coiffure, mais franchement je trouve depuis un an que c'est jeter de l'argent par les fenêtres.

No Time to Die, final trailer

Well, well, well, look what we have here. I'm a bit late commenting on it, but here is the last International trailer of for No Time to Die, the latest James Bond movie, released here at the end of the month. This looks very promising and I can barely wait.

Un dessert au... basilic?

 Photo prise par mon père à Eddy Laurent. Parce que mon père prend en photo des gâteaux et d'autres trucs de bouffe, rien que parce que. Et celui-ci est au citron et au basilic, alors je partage parce que, ben, c'est au basilic.

Say it with a lemur

 It was our wedding anniversary two days ago and my wife's parents sent us this card to commemorate. With, as you can see, a lemur on it. Well, flowers too, but truly it's a card with a lemur. Why did they give us a card with a lemur, you may ask? Because their grandson Wolfie loves lemurs. They are among his favourite animals. He also has a lemur plush toy, present from them, called Lemur, who is his favourite plush toy. So the moral of the story is: when you have children, every celebration is all about them. But I'm not complaining: I adore my son and what he brings in our life. And lemurs are really cool too.

La vieille école

Mon dernier billet sur mon école primaire m'a mis en tête cette chanson de Gilles Vigneault. Je me rappelle, quand elle commençait sur notre vieux vinyle, il y avait en préambule un poème qui commençait ainsi: "Dame nostalgie est une horlogère, qui n'ouvre le temps que pour voir dedans." Je n'étais pas encore nostalgique à l'époque et je ne savais même pas ce que c'était. Je ne me doutais pas qu'on pouvait un jour s'ennuyer de l'école. Enfin bref, je partage La vieille école aujourd'hui, un peu parce que petit loup va aller à l'école primaire dès la semaine prochaine. Je suis nostalgique parce que le temps passe trop vite.

Sweet September

 Well, I have been waiting for it for a while, and here it is at last :we are the first of September. Which means, the beginning of autumn. And what lovely start of the season it is: temperatures have been looking autumnal for a while and the colours are already here. As it is tradition on this blog, I start the month and the season with a picture of a sort of cornucopia celebrating autumn harvest: apples, crab apples and jellies made of them. In a basket. Happy September everybody and enjoy autumn.

Vieille école, nouvelle cour

Nouvelle locale (ou pas, car c'était local dans ma jeunesse): mon père m'a appris que l'école primaire de mon enfance, ou "la petite école" comme l'appelait l'une de mes grandes tantes, a complètement refait sa cour. C'est vraiment joli avec des aires de jeux que j'aimerais avoir ici et que j'aurais aimé avoir dans mon enfance. La petite école était un peu plus austère que ça.