New sign of Halloween (and a Pumpkin Festival)

We went to a local petting zoo this weekend and something I saw made my day: there was that sign advertising the upcoming Pumpkin Festival in October. With pumpkins (but  strangely no jack o's) and friendly looking scarecrows. This is the very first local sign of Halloween I have seen. When the time comes, we are most definitely going there, especially since the place is going to be decorated for Halloween. I am so very glad they are already advertising seasonal activies in late August. It is most definitely not too early. For Halloween, I tend to think it is never too early. In any case, I hope the spooky readers among you enjoy.

Les noces de crystal

Aujourd'hui c'est notre anniversaire de mariage. Ma femme et moi sommes mariés depuis quinze ans, ce sont donc selon ce que j'ai lu des noces de crystal. Je n'ai pas de photos de quoi que ce soit en crystal qui ferait l'affaire pour souligner, alors je partage une autre photo du bouque de fleurs que mon père a acheté à ma mère pour leur propre anniversaire de mariage il y a quelques jours. mettons que le vase est en crystal. Nous allons sortir en couple ce soir alors que Wolfie se fera garder par ses grand-parents, l'une de nos rares sorties sans lui. Je trouve ça un peu étrange, parce que toutes nos célébrations, nos fêtes et nos anniversaires sont centrées sur lui d'une façon ou d'une autre, depuis qu'il est né.

A portrait for Mary Shelley's birthday

Today is the birthday of Mary Shelley. I try to celebrate it every year, as she wrote the classic horror (and proto scifi) novel Frankenstein. Her birthday is one of the stepping stones in my countdown to Halloween. So this year, I am sharing this picture of a bust of her. I found it on the Facebook page of the Shelley Trust, a total random. I find it absolutely beautiful. A sculpture is kind of fitting, as in the novel the Creature was a sculpture of sorts, one made of flesh (but not human limbs, that is an inaccuracy brought by the movies).

Des bénévoles pour le Salon du Livre

 Petite annonce d'intérêt public saguenéen que je partage ici, au cas où: on recherche des bénévoles pour le Salon du Livre du Saguenay Lac-Saint-Jean. C'est un évènement vraiment plaisant et mon Salon du Livre préféré. Dans une autre époque, j'aurais aimé y travailler rien que pour le plaisir. Alors si vous êtes saguenéen et vous pouvez donner de votre temps, allez-y, vous ne le regretterez pas.

Wallingford Railway

 I try not to judge a book on its cover. A magazine, even less. Then I stumbled on a copy of the September 2022 edition of Window on Wallingford and I got all excited. No but seriously, look at it! There's a freaking steam train on it! It is most likely from the Cholsey & Wallingford Railway, which we haven't visited yet. We will try to do it in the upcoming months. Be that as it may, this looks like one hell of a cover for a local community magazine.

Un bouquet d'anniversaire

 Mes parents ont récemment fêté leur 46e anniversaire de mariage. Ce qui ne rajeunit personne. Mes parents ont célébré assez modestement, cela dit mon père a acheté ce bouquet d'anniversaire. Il y a d'autres anniversaires de mariage à célébrer ce mois-ci, dont celui de ma femme et moi, quinze ans. Août, c'est un peu le mois des mariages et des anniversaires dans nos familles. Je ne crois pas trouver un bouquet qui a autant d'allure pour Veggie Carrie, mais on va sans doute trouver une façon de célébrer, même si c'est en semaine.

Writing about witches

I took this picture a few days ago. You may recognise the ensign of a nearby village hall. It fascinates me. I am uploading it today because it is fitting for this post's subject. I have been wanting to write a horror story about witches for ages and I might have finally found the opportunity to get myself into it. At the end of my last creative writing workshop, we decided of the date for our next meeting and the general theme we'd go for. As it will be a few days before Halloween, we decided to write Halloween stories. Ihave done this before for fun, on this very blog, but I just thought: that will be the opportunity to write proper horror. And you may remember that I thought about a way to move the witch as an antagonist into a modern setting (read my post from the 15th of October 2018 on the subject). Well, my very first proper horror story will be a story about an evil witch. And I already have a pretty good idea of how it will start and how it will end.

Un épervier

Mon père a trouvé sur le lot de ses frères une caméra de oubliée, avec des photos datant d'il y a quelques temps. Dont celle-ci, d'un ayant dans la gueule une souris ou un mulot. C'est un beau rapace. Je partage rien qu'à cause de ça.

Amazon World's Bookmark

 During our time in the Isle of Wight, we went to Amazon World, where we all had a lovely time (read this post for instance). We bought a few souvenirs of course, we always do when we enjoy a place. And we try to buy practical things, not merely things that look cute. But they do look cute all the same. Anyway, you know I am always on the lookout for new bookmarks, especially when I visit a place, for the reasons I mentioned a few days ago: we never have enough of them, they're always very useful and they are easy to carry back home as they don't take much room. And this is not counting their sentimental values. So I bought this new bookmark in Amazon World. I cannot remember if it was my wife or Wolfie who found it. But it made perfect sense for all of us to buy it, because among all the animals you see on it, there is a lemur, Wolfie's favourite animal (and green is his favourite colour on top of that). In fact, this is as much Wolfie's bookmark as it is mine.

L'histoire du Manoir du Saguenay

Depuis quelques temps, Wolfie a une obsession: les manoirs, enfin les "mansions" comme il dit. Je lui ai appris que lorsque j'ai grandi,il y avait un manoir, le Manoir du Saguenay, sur lequel j'ai blogué en 2013 et en 2018. Voulant lui donner des détails, je suis tombé sur cette vidéo sur YouTube, que nous avons regardée attentivement. Il a été très déçu (et moi donc) que le Manoir soit devenu un édifice à bureaux. Tout en espérant qu'il retrouve une vocation publique, nous irons peut-être le visiter de l'extérieur lors de notre prochain séjour au Saguenay. D'ici là, j'espère que vous aimerez la vidéo:

Long John Silver

There are many things I really enjoyed in Blackgang Chine on the Isle of Wight, the oldest theme park in the UK. Among them, the pirates section (I cannot remember the real name it had right now). A lot of what I saw there seemed to have been taken directly from my childhood's imagination, but there was at least one classical character. You probably have recognised Long John Silver from Treasure Island. Although I always imagined Silver to look far more cunning. This one looks a tad dumb. I showed himto Wolfie, who did not seem impressed. All the same, it was pretty cool to meet him there so to speak and I wished I could have been a child again just for that afternoon.

Bock, bière et moutarde

Ma femme a acheté de la moutarde parce qu'elle en avait besoin pour une recette, autrement elle n'en achète pas. Elle déteste la moutarde. Moi, j'adore, dans à peu près tout. Quand elle achète de la moutarde, elle a donc toujours en tête que j'en serai le principal consommateur. Alors elle a acheté celle-ci. Une fois que le pot de outarde sera terminé, j'aurai alors un nouveau bock de bière. Bon, pas un gros bock, genre une demi-peinte, mais quand même. C'est la marque Kühne, si vous tenez à le savoir ou si vois voulez en acheter aussi.

Monstrum on the Cthulhu Mytho

They are a little bit behind, but I thought I needed to share this video from Monstrum at some point. As you know, it was the birthday of H.P. Lovecraft a week ago. So Monstrum made a video on him three days after, showing why his work is important. They even mentioned the RPG. Well, we can't get enough Lovecraft in the months and weeks leading to Halloween, so here it is:

Les récoltes

Photo envoyée par mon père il y a peu de temps. Je la partage pour vous rappeler que l'automne est pour bientôt (oui, oui) et pour faire un peu de food porn, rien que pour le plaisir. Morale de l'histoire: je suis fébrile.

Seafood Dipping Platter

During our time on the Isle of Wight, I wanted to enjoy as much as possible the products of the sea, as you know. As I could not always go for fish and chips, I tried to vary my meals a bit. One dish you often find in pubs on the Isle is the seafood dipping platter, which I tried once. It was exactly what I wanted. This one had salt and pepper squid, scampi and blanchbait. Deep fried of course, so I guess it was not really different from fish and chips, especially with the Tartar sauce, but all the same, it felt very right. It's like something you eat when you are famished, yet it is almost fancy.

Le nouveau logo des Bouquinistes

Je bloguais assez récemment sur Les Bouquinistes et leur nouveau logo. J'apprends via leur page Facebook qu'il a été créé par LUM Design. Et j'y repensais et c'est en fait assez ingénieux, avec les pages qui s'envolent et le phylactère. C'est sommes toutes évocateur. Je crois que je devrais m'y faire. Et j'ai hâte d'y retourner.

Bokke supporters in the park

Last weekend, we went with my wife's family in a local park. So we were our family, her sister, her sister's partner and Wolfie's cousin and of course the parents/grandparents. As the children were playing, I saw a little boy and her dad. The boy was about three or four and I recognised right away that he wore a Springbok shirt. The Springboks are of course the South African rugby team. As you may remember, my father-in-law is South African and a big rugby fan, he is also of course a Springboks supporter. I sitll know zilch about rugby and never watch it, but I have decided that South Africa is "my" team. I was tempted to say a word to the father of the boy and see the reasons why they are Bokke supporters, but I did not in the end. Still, I find it a bit strange that I can now recognise a rugby jersey.

Opossum

Je partage à nouveau une photo prise lors de notre séjour à l'Isle of Wight, plus précisément dans la section d'animaux empaillés à Amazon World. Je ne sais pas grand-chose sur les opossums, sauf qu'ils viennent d'Amérique et qu'ils peuvent se pendre aux branches des arbres par la queue, ce qui est quand même impressionnant. Pour un animal qui vit sur le mon continent d'origine (bien que je ne crois pas qu'il y en ait au Québec), c'est un animal assez exotique. Je ne savais pas qu'ils pouvaient être aussi grands que celui-là. La photo ne lui rend pas justice: il avait la taille d'un petit chien. Dans tous les cas, comme tout animal empaillé, cet opossum a l'air plus vrai que vrai.

Stocks of Welsk Cakes

 When we got back from our last holidays, we stopped at my wife's parents. We needed to, as we were exhausted, thirsty and famished. Her mother was ready: she had prepared a fresh supply of Welsh cakes. As I blogged before, Wlfie loooves Welsh cakes. He wolfs them down, no pun intended. I love them too, especially fresh like these. So we had a few as a snack, and we brought the rest of them home, where they didn't last a week. We should bake them ourselves.

Le Moulin en Lego

 Bon, pour la petite histoire,toujours est-il que petit loup a construit, avec l'aide de sa mère mais de sa propre initiative, un moulin à vent fait de blocs Lego. Sans plan ni rien, devrais-je ajouter. Il est vraiment fier du résultat, avec raison. Moi je suis vraiment fier de mon fils. C'est quand même admirable qu'il soit aussi compétent comme architecte et ingénieur et qu'il soit aussi créatif pour penser à faire un moulin à vent en Lego.

Moby Dick's Revenge

One of the many cool atractions of Blackgang Chine on the Isle of Wight was a place called Moby Dick's Revenge. It had Moby Dick, strangely turned blue, next to the Pequod (hey, they did their research, at least sometimes) and you could enter by his mouth. You'd get sprayed by water jeysers, otherwise okay. It was just a cool place that got Wolfie quite amused. For me, it was an opportunity to tell him about the novel, which I first read when I was 12. My very first work of serious, classic literature, which fascinated me for years. It still does. I need to reread it one day.

La tente de petit loup

 Parmi les nombreux trucs achetés à IKEA il y a quelques mois pour la maison, il y avait une tente pour petit loup, qui est maintenant montée dans sa chambre. Il ne peut pas vraiment l'utiliser pour faire du camping, mais elle est vite devenue son repaire secret, ou en tout cas son nouveau quartier-général. Il l'adore. Jusqu'ici, il n'a pas encore invité d'amis pour y jouer, mais j'imagine que ça ne saurait tarder.

"Back to School"

As we were walking on the high street last weekend, I saw this at the entrance of the local Mountain Warehouse. I knew it already, but I don't like being reminded. I never liked seeing such sign, not when I was a kid, not now that I am a father. I always looked at the ending holidays with some dread, except when I started college, when I really looked forward to it. But as a child, I guess I was like just any other child. As a father, it might be even worse: what this sign is telling me is that Wolfie is growing up way too fast. On the plus side, children clothes at Mountain Warehouse are discounted.

Raie Manta

Je partage ici une vieille photo d'un de nos séjours en Bretagne. Je ne crois pas l'avoir mise sur le blogue avant. C'est une sculpture de sable représentant (je crois) une raie manta. Bien des licences artistiques ont été prises, je ne crois pas qu'elle devrait avoir la bouche et les dents d'un requin.

A "false autumn"?

 My wife found a BBC article regarding the effects the latest heatwaves and the drought had on the environment here. Apparently, in some places the leaves are already changing colours in the trees, even falling, as they are already in survival mode. Hence the term "false autumn" Which is obviously not a good thing. I haven't seen major changes in the trees around here, so I hope they have been spared. But I find it sad that I cannot associate the colours change to a most welcomed seasonal change. Not just yet anyway. Otherwise, and that said, I have been looking and seeing signs of autumn to come: the air is cooler and there is something in the light that is no longer summery. One can hope.

Tarte cthulienne

Mon frère PJ a fait hier une tarte aux bleuets en l'honneur de l'anniversaire d'H.P. Lovecraft. La tarte aux bleuets était le dessert préféré de l'auteur. C'est donc une tarte aux bleuets cthulienne. Pouvez-vous reconnaître le Grand Ancien?

A Rocket in our Garden

A few weeks ago, I found this rocket in the front garden, right in the lavender plant that belongs to our neighbour, but on our side. It was coming from the foam rockets launcher of our neighbours, a little boy who is a few months older than Wolfie. He sometimes plays with it and it ends up everywhere, including our front lawn. Thankfully it's only in foam. Wolfie's grandparents have a similar toy for when their grandchildren visit them, but I think it might be nice if he had his own at home. Although we can easily lose the missiles, Wolfie really playing this and it is just great fun. I must confess, I enjoy playing with rocket launchers too.

"Temps des Moissons"

 Mon père m'a envoyé cette photo. Comme sujet du courriel, il a écrit "Temps des Moissons". Je crois que, comme moi, il sent l'automne approcher. Même si les fraises et les bleuets ne sont pas des fruits automnaux, avec les pommettes, les carottes et les autres légumes, ça demeure une photo qui nous rappelle que justement c'est (ou ce sera) le temps des récoltes.

Cosmic Horror Mood

 Today is the birthday of H.P. Lovecraft. The father of cosmic horror, a whole sub-genre of horror I used to be very fond of when I was a teenager. I prefer smaller scale horror now, but I always loved Lovecraft nevertheless and still enjoy his universe, whether I read his original stories or the one of his continuators. But how I truly enjoyed Lovecraft some more than twenty years ago is via the role-playing game Call of Cthulhu, based on his work. I had read fairly little of him when I bought the game around 1994. You can see here the cover of the French translation of the 5th edition. I only have good memories of it. As Halloween is slowly approaching, I wish I could play a few games to get myself in the right mood. I think Halloween always needs a bit of Lovecraft.

Le cidre

 Photo datant de 2008, prise en Bretagne, lorsque mes beaux-parents y vivaient. Vous voyez du cidre être fait à l'ancienne. En Bretagne, le cidre qui est en train de se faire fin août était pour moi un signe de l'automne qui s'en vient. La pomme étant un fruit automnal, bien entendu. Alors bon, tout ça pour dire qu'il serait peut-être temps que je m'achète du cidre.

RC Cola - Why It Failed

I don't know if you ever drank RC Cola. I did, I used to do back in my twenties in Montreal, particularly when I was at uni. With my brother PJ, it was one of our weekend treats, we used to buy at the nearest dépanneur, it cost $0.95 or something for two litres, far cheaper than Pepsi or Coke. It also felt nice to give money to the underdog of the Cola Wars. But I don't see it anywhere anymore. This video I found on YouTube explains why:

Le nettoyage du Kanuk

 Signe que je me prépare à l'automne: aujourd'hui j'ai nettoyé mon vieux manteau Kanuk. Je me suis dit qu'autant il fallait le faire pendant que j'y pensais et que je n'en avais pas encore besoin. Je dis vieux, mais il n'est pas si vieux que ça: je l'ai reçu de mon père en 2013 parce qu'il était trop petit pour lui. C'est un gilet de demi-saison qui est trop léger pour les hivers québécois, mais ici je le porte d'octobre à avril environ. La première fois que je le mets sur le dos, j'ai comme un agréable frisson, c'est l'un de mes nombreux rituels automnaux. Plus je commence à le porter tôt, mieux c'est.

Fish & Chips in the Isle of Wight

During our stay in the Isle of Wight, as we were by the sea, I of course wanted to try the local fish and chips. In fact, I was thinking to have an almost pescetarian diet. If I'm not mistaken, I hadn't had fish and chips since Good Friday. So it was long overdue. I had it on our second night, in the hotel's restaurant. I was not disappointed. It was more expensive than the local chips shop and, to be honest, maybe not quite as good or the portion as generous, but it was filling enough and delicious. So that was my first fish and chips, but I actually had the same meal another evening.

Pour qui est ce serpent?

Quand Blonde Tickler est devenue la gardienne de petit loup lorsque nous travaillons l'après-midi, elle a apporté un truc ou deux en cadeau pour lui, des jouets ou des bibelots pour passer le temps et le garder intéressé pendant quelques heures. Dont ce serpent. Pourquoi un serpent? Aucune idée. J'ai trouvé ça drôle, parce que la toute première fois que j'ai rencontré Blonde Tickler, il y a plus de dix ans, elle s'amusait avec un serpent-toutou. Celui-ci, elle ne l'a pas ramené chez elle après sa première journée (demi-journée en fait) de travail. Il semblerait que le serpent soit la propriété de petit loup.

Poncho

Something came to my mind recently: is it me, or are ponchos back into fashion or something? You are going to tell me that I know nothing about it and they never were out of fashion to begin with, but I have seen them more, I think, in shop windows and catalogues and so on. Or maybe it is just a false impression I have. I never wore a poncho, except those throwaway plastic ones you can scrunch into a tiny bag and you use when you travel somewhere in case it rains. When I was a child I remember my mother wearing one that looked like an old rug. It was the seventies. Not even a hipster would want to wear that. But my mum always told me it was a great piece of clothes, both comfy and warm. I'm not sure I would like to wear one myself. First, because I think only Clint Eastwood in his prime can look good in it and because I read somewhere that it's not really practical. Anyway, what are your thoughts on ponchos?

Mafalda, Manolito et l'argent

Je publie encore une fois un gag de Mafalda. Parce que je lisais toujours Mafalda ces temps-ci de l'année afin de chasser la mélancolie. Voici justement un gag où elle fait avec un brin de mélancolie quelques observations de nature philosophiques à propos d'une colombe. Et Manolito lui donne une observation... errrmmm... on va dire matérialiste.

A Lighthouse(?)

 Here is another picture from our time in the the Isle of Wight, taken from the beach at Sandown. It's a lighthouse, or at least I think it is. It might be a landmark for all I know. I don't remember seeing it lit at night, but then again we didn't really go out when it was pitch black outside. It's not a great picture (might not even be a good one, I'm afraid I am a terrible photographer), but you can see the very English white cliffs. Maybe it's a lighthouse that is no longer in use, it does look quite old.

Le pommetier chez mes parents

Mon père m'a envoyé cette photo hier. C'est bien entendu le pommetier familial. La récolte est pour bientôt. Je m'ennuie de cueillir les pommettes (bien qu'on le fera sans doute cette année, mais sur un arbre plus modeste). Ce que j'aime dans la récoltes des pommettes, c'est que, comme bien des récoltes, c'est un signe que l'automne n'est plus bien loin.

"Yellow warning of thunderstorms" (at last!)

Yesterday was the last day of a long heatwave, one of many we've had this year. Too many in fact. But now the temperatures have dropped significantly, it has rained regularly all day (not heavy rains, but still) and the BBC even gave a "Yellow warning of thunderstorms" for the area. We haven't had one yet, but I welcome it. I love storms, for one, and it is such a welcome change after the heated inferno of the last week. So bring on the storm.

Le Salon du Livre du SagLac, 2022

Je m'y prends d'avance pour faire une publicité régionale: le Salon du livre du Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean aura lieu du 29 septembre au 2 octobre. Mon Salon du livre préféré, le meilleur temps de l'année pour en avoir un et je m'en ennuie beaucoup.

A new bookmark

We buy all sorts of things when we visit places on holiday (or just on special days out). When we stop at the souvenirs shop, I often buy bookmarks. It might not be as complex as collecting stamps or butterflies, but bookmarks are very useful and from experience, one can never have enough (not in this household anyway). It also makes for nice souvenirs: every time you use the bookmark, you take a moment to remember your visit and unlike many other souvenirs, it barely take any space at all. So when we went to Wildheart Animal Sanctuary on the Isle of Wight, I bought myself this bookmark. I love the lush dark green colour with the gold lettering. Oh yes, and if you cannot see it: on top there is a heart and a lion. Very fitting because, you know, it's from Wildheart. Anyway, I lov my new bookmark. Now I need to find a book for it. If you have any suggestions, please let me know in the comments.

"L'Abuseur de Séville"

J'ai parfois des obsessions qui datent de longtemps et que j'approfondis année après année. Enfin bref, Don Giovanni est mon opéra préféré. J'ai lu la pièce de Molière il y a longtemps (elle m'a d'ailleurs un peu déçu), parce que je voulais en savoir plus sur la source de l'opéra, mais ce n'est que récemment que j'ai mis la main sur la version la plus ancienne de la légende. Il y a quelques mois, j'ai donc acheté en version bilingue espagnol-français El Burlador de Sevilla de Tirso de Molina. J'ai préféré cette pièce à celle de Molière: plus violente, plus brutale, plus explicite. Mettons que Tirso de Molina n'a pas mis de gants blancs. La pièce m'a fait voir Don Giovanni sous un jour nouveau et j'ai très hâte d'écouter l'opéra à nouveau et de l'analyser une autre fois à la lumière de cette expérience de lecture.

The Flying Scotsman Official Socks

 You know my love for trains. It is one of my obsessions here in on this blog. Not being able to travel by train is something I sorely missed during the pandemic and it is something I am glad I could recently rediscover duringour last holiday. I am really looking forward to travail again via railway, whenever that may be. And next time, I will have my special socks. Because recently, I bought myself the Flying Scotsman Official Socks. Not sure if they truly are the official socks, but I bought these anyway. I have never enough socks: they tend to disappear or get old very quickly. Now I have socks for every time I will take the train. Silly little ritual perhaps, but I love those silly little rituals.

Le Brochet empaillé

L'un de mes moments préférés lors de notre séjour à l'Isle of Wight a été la découverte de la section d'animaux empaillés à Amazon World. J'aurais pu y passer des heures. Il y avait entre autres un brochet monstrueux, que je partage ici rien que pour le plaisir. On dirait vraiment un monstre marin.

Wight Squirrel

During our time on the Isle of Wight, I had to try some local beauties. By that I mean local ales, of course. It took me longer than expected, actually, as we only went into a local pub a few days into our stay. On one of these occasions, I drank Wight Squirrel from Goddards Brewery. An aptly named red bitter. Red squirrels are apparently still fairly common in the Isle of Wight, unlike other parts of the UK, as it is an island and it kept the population of red squirrels isolated from competing species. But anyway it's a really nice beer, dark and full of flavour, just like I love them.

La paella annuelle

Une fois par année durant l'été, mes parents invitent des amis pour un souper de paella. Celle paella-ci (ou cette paella-la?), avec homards, moules, crevettes, pleins d'autres trucs. Et du vin rouge pour aller avec. Une tradition commencée en 2007, ironiquement quand je vivais déjà en Angleterre. Alors je manque la paella chaque année.

I'm a Bookaholic

I found this meme online and I thought what the heck, I must share it one day. I thought today was a good a time as any. I think this is very me. Today sadly I'm not going anywhere because it is too darn hot outside, otherwise I would be going to the local bookshop for a long overdue fix, errr..., I mean, errr... for shopping therapy. yes, that's it.

"Comme la BBC..."

 L'un de mes oncles a préparé des retrouvailles familiales en ligne sur une plateforme spécialisée dans ce genre de choses. J'en dirai sans doutes plus dans les semaimes/mois qui viennent. Toujours est-il qu'il a demandé à ma mère (sa soeur) de lui fournir les emails de tous ses fils et, comme je fus le plus prompt à réagir (une minute à peine après que l'invitation ait été lancée), il a écrit que j'étais "toujours premier sur la nouvelle, comme la BBC". Ma famille élargie fait souvent grand cas de mon statut d'expatrié. Dans tous les cas, c'est je crois une nouvelle grande réplique inconnue.

Books, bookshelves and personality

 I recently read this article from Penguin Books about bookshelves organisation (or lack of) and what it says about your personality. I have come across similar articles in the past and mentioned my own way of organising my shelves in at least one post. For the record, it is mostly by genre, which according to Penguin means that I am cultured, interesting and know about a lot. Well, of course. I also do it by value, i.e. according to how much value specific books have to me. Which means among other things that I am a touch sentimental. Again, that is spot on. But let's not forget that on top of that and to complicate things, I use liberally the "stack n' pack" method, which is just piling one book onto another. I do this especially and specifically for new acquisitions. Which means I don't believe in too much order. That is also a bit true. So anyway, you now know about my bookshelves arrangement approaches. What about yours?

Coaching pour offensés

C'est vendredi soir, rions un peu. J'ai trouvé ce gag dans les internets et je l'ai trouvé bien drôle, en plus d'être d'actualité.

An Outlaw from Blackgang Chine

During our time in the the Isle of Wight, one of Wolfie's and mine favourite places to visit was Blackgang Chine, the oldest theme park in the UK. They had an old Western town which really made me forget my age a moment (although Wolfie was less enthusiastic): I felt like I was stepping in an old western of spaghetti western I was so fond of as a child, which inspired many of our Western games. I found the bankrobber (pictured) particularly convincing. I envied the young kids who shot at him using toy revolvers and rifles, bought at the general store. They had everything there: (toy) guns (some very realistic), cowboy hats (well of course), bandanas, etc. I asked Wolfie if he wanted anything, he was not really interested. I guess I truly wanted one for myself. So we never captured the outlaw. Maybe next time.

Le 12 août...

Je veux simplement souligner ic que le 12 août, ben c'est la journée pour acheter un livre québécois. Si vous le pouvez, bien entendu, ce qui n'est pas mon cas. Mais je le ferais bien si je le pouvais. J'avoue que même quand je suis au Québec, j'en achète peu, mais j'essaie de me rattraper dans la lecture.

A girl named Autumn

During our time in the Isle of Wight, we went to Amazon World, a rescue centre for exotic animals (we visited plenty during our holiday), which also has lots of special activities for kids. Wolfie loved it. Among them, there was a sand square with "dinosaur bones", where kid could make "fossil excavations". Wolfie played there for a while, alone but for a little blonde girl about his age, kind of tomboyish I think, who was very into excavations. They got on like a house on fire. They were very cute playing together and digging these bones like a team. I took the liberty to ask for her name and she said: "I'm Autumn".  I looked at my wife, as if destiny had manifested itself: here might be Wolfie's future wife. No, I jest of course, but I think she has such a beautiful and that original name, for one, and hearing it reminded me of the season to come. I did not dare to give her mother, who was watching her, our contact details, just in case they don't live too far (you never know) and I feel like we might have missed an opportunity for the development of a beautiful friendship. (On a side note, it might remind you of a scene in a certain romcom, but more of that in another post, maybe.)

Un Traversier pour Wolfie

Lors de notre séjour à Sandown dans l'Isle of Wigh, nous avons acheté quelques souvenirs, surtout des jouets pour Wolfie. Ce n'est pas son premier bateau, mais c'est son premier ferry, enfin traversier comme on le dit au Québec. Il tenait beaucoup à l'avoir, moi je l'aimais bien, mais j'étais sceptique: un peu gros pour les valises et je craignais qu'il ne se casse. Finalement, il est intact, après des heures de voyage. Et j'avoue que je l'aime bien. Vous le voyez ici dans le bain de notre chambre d'hôtel, avec de l'authentique sable de la plage. Maintenant, je veux qu'il dise traversier et non pas ferry. Parce que.

Born to Be Wild

 Quick post which I hope will make you laugh. I found this meme online, cannot remember where. But found it hilarious and very "me".

Les Bouquinistes sont une coop

Je n'avais pas pris le temps de le noter le mois dernier: Les Bouquinistes sont maintenant une coopérative ("de solidarité"). Ils ont aussi un nouveau logo, celui-ci. Il va falloir m'y faire, je préférais l'ancien. Cela dit, j'ai hâte de remettre les pieds dans ma librairie québécoise préférée.

The Jolly Roger

One of the things I noticed on the Isle of Wight is the presence of the Jolly Roger. This picture was taken at Sandown, but you can really find them everywhere. It is as if the whole island had been taken over and run by pirates. I guess that it cannot be worse than being invaded by tourists all the time. And I'm not sure that the island has much if any history with piracy, it's just the romantic and exotic notions of piracy these flags remind us of. But I enjoyed their presence all the same.

Loutre empaillée

 Lors de notre séjour dans l'Isle of Wight, nous avons visité Amazon World, l'un des nombreux zoos que l'on fréquente, parce que petit loup. Mais moi, ce que j'ai le plus aimé je crois dans tout Amazon World, ce sont les animaux empaillés. Je ne sais pas pourquoi, mais je trouve que la taxidermie rend les animaux plus vrais que vrai. Comme cette loutre qui vient de chasser un poisson: j'ai vu des loutres vivantes, mais en captivité, j'en ai vu en vidéo, mais ici j'ai l'impression de voir celle-ci dans la nature.

First Sign of Halloween

One of the happy things I found during our holiday on the Isle of Wight is the very first sign of Halloween in the window of an antique or thrift shop in Sandown. A pear shaped Jack O'Lantern used as a sort of engine by a two ghosts, one of which has the head of a jack o'lantern and a pointy witch hat. Not sure how old that is, but it is very much second-hand and looks uber cool. I know it's just an old thing, but still, if it was worth putting on display on the shop window, it means Halloween is coming for other people too. Be that as it may, I like the way the owner thinks.

Le spaghetti tunisien fait les manchettes

Durant mesvacances, mon père m'a envoyé cet article du Quotidien sur le spaghetti tunisien. On y fait l'histoire du met. Mais grâce à un lecteur de Vraaie Fiction, je la connaissais déjà. La manchette n'est pas la plus récente, mais je me devais de la partager ici. Et ça me donne envie d'en manger un.

Beach Hut

Something struck me early on during our stay on Isle of Wight: the beach in Sandown had lots of beach huts. I have been to beaches before, in the UK and elsewhere, but never noticed them, or at least never noticed them that much. They seemed quite friendly, with their colourful, well, colours and their signs saying "Hire me!" (like this one). But we never rent one: Our hotel was right in front, so that would have been pretty useless (rather expensive too). Still, they looked quite cute.

Le chocolat aux bleuets... Lulu?

J'ai appris sur la page Facebook de la Chocolaterie Lulu qu'eux aussi offrent du chocolat aux bleuets. Je le savais déjà, enfin je savais qu'ils en avaient fait à une époque, je ne savais pas qu'ils en faisaient encore. Et j'avoue que je suis sceptique. Parce que c'est une copie d'un classique régional et parce que selon ce que je vois, Lulu utilise du chocolat au lait. Dans tous les cas, même si j'aime les produits Lulu, je n'aime pas trop l'idée de copier le produit d'un concurrent. Et vous?