Wax Anniversary

Today is our 16th wedding anniversary, for my wife and I. It is what we call a wax anniversary apparently, or so I read online. Traditionally, you must give like presents made of wax, which is pretty reductive: that means you must give candles. And the stone that represent it, again according to a quick Google search, is the peridot. I know nothing about that stone, though I do like its green colour. But my wife does not like green things. Anyway, all this musing about wax and stones are pretty pointless: how you celebrate a marriage is truly determined by whether you have children or not. Since Wolfie entered our lives, he became the true reason for celebrating. Last year we went to a restaurant as a couple while he was babysat by his grandparents and it just felt wrong. We still don't know how we will mark our wax anniversary (we are still tired after our holidays), but we know he will be part of the celebration. Maybe by drawing us a card with wax crayons or something.

L'Îlot Pirate

Près de la plage de Weymouth dans le Dorset, il y avait un manège. Comme ceux à la Ronde, que j'adorais quand j'étais jeune. C'était un genre de petites montagnes russes faites de bateaux. Mais ce qui m'a frappé, c'est le nom du manège: L'Îlot Pirate. Bon, les pirates viennent toujours avec les villes balnéaires, je veux dire dès qu'une ville est proche de la mer et veut attirer les touristes, elle sort le Jolly Roger et le met partout, on dirait. C'est du moins mon expérience. Mais ce manège-ci avait un nom français. Ca a fait ma journée. Ah oui, mais nous ne l'avons pas essayé. J'ai passé l'âge et petit loup est encore trop jeune.

Autumn Lights

This post is a quick followup to this Monday post. This evening, shortly before dinner, Wolfie and I went to the home of Blonde Tickler and her family to pay her for cat sitting Domino while we were away. It was around 5:30. The air was cool and for a moment I wished I had put a coat and given Wolfie a hoodie. It felt really nice otherwise. And it struck me getting there and back, after a few minutes of chit chat, the light were already getting dim. Oh, not much, but the sun was not nearly as high. An hour later, we could already see evening was falling. So yes, that was just it, I just wanted to let you know that where I am, autumn lights have started showing up. So yeah, that was another autumnal chronicle.

Phare

J'ai pris cette photo au Sea Life Centre (donc l'aquarium) de Weymouth. Nous n'y sommes restés que quelques heures, notre dernière journée de vacances, mais nous avons adoré,surtout petit loup, bien entendu. J'y ai pris beaucoup de photos, des photos que je veux partager ici. Dont celle-ci. Ce n'est bien entendu pas un vrai phare: il était au milieu d'un étang artificiel où il y avait des bateaux de pirates que l'on pouvait contrôler par le biais d'une télécommande. C'est je crois le seul phare que j'ai vu durant nos vacances, ce qui est ironique puisqu'on était au bord de la mer. Enfin bref...

Celebrating Mary Shelley

Today is the birthday of Mary Shelley. The author of Frankenstein and the famous monster's true mother. During my personal countdown to Halloween, which I start in August, I always observe her birthday as if it was the one of a saint, a saint of horror literature, if you will. I also try to write at least one post per year about her creation during the proper, official countdown to Halloween. Last year, I even went to a special event, "Mrs Shelley in the Library, with a Candlestick" organised by Mary Does Marlow. It was done in the Marlow Library, which was very fitting: Mary Shelley finished writing her most famous novel in the town of Marlow, where she lived for a year. I didn't have time to blog about it, but I intend to this year. I hope the modern Mary will organise something similar round Halloween which I can attend. Anyway until then, happy birthday Mary, wherever you are, you made me a horror fan and send my regards to your monstrous offspring and his daddy.

Vent d'est...(encore)

Après celle de dimanche et celle d'hier, voici une autre photo du vent d'est sur La Baie. Parce que.

The Haunted Hotel (with elusive ghosts)

As you may know, I have started my officious countdown to Halloween already. I do this from at least the beginning of August, sometimes more. I watch horror movies and read spooky stories. These days, I have been reading The Haunted Hotel by Wilkie Collins. I am not saying that I have been influenced by its cover, but yes, I bought the book in part because of its cover and the scary pale female ghost cloaked in black. And because Wordsworth Editions generally deliver when it comes to classic scary stories. But so far, I must confess that I have been finding the whole experience somewhat disappointing. Not because it is not good, but because the supernatural elements come rather late in the narrative around page 80 something of a 150 pages novella. I was half-expecting it: XIXth century ghost stories can often have corner of the eye, blink and you've missed kind of apparitions. Everything is rather subdued and very, very, very subtle. Nothing wrong with that, but I will soon need something meatier and more obviously horrifying. There are other stories of Collins in the book, but once I've checked out of his Haunted Hotel, I will not read them and switch to something a bit more blatantly spooky.

Le Train de Charlevoix

Je viens d'apprendre une nouvelle que je ne connaissais pas: la région de Charlevoix a un train qui est paraît-il assez écolo, fonctionnant à l'hydrogène vert. Il s'appelle le Train de Charlevoix (comme de raison). Ca fait des années que je ne suis pas allé dans la région de Charlevoix, ça fait des années que je veux y retourner en famille. Maintenant j'ai une nouvelle raison pour vouloir le faire: prendre ce fameux train. Si vous l'avez utilisé, veuillez me faire part de vos impressions dans les commentaires.

Doe, a deer...

We spent the afternoon yesterday at a petting zoo, where Wolfie met one of his best friends from school, a little girl of Chinese origins who adores him. I will probably blog about her one day, but this post is about something else. As we were driving home, in a nearby small town not far from our own, I saw a fawn. Maybe it was a doe, but I think it was a fawn, as it was quite small, so much so that at first I thought it might be a fox and a dog. It was walking at a brisk pace on the pavement by the road, looking scared, then stopped in an alleyway further down. It only lasted a few seconds. We parked nearby and we decided to call a wildlife hospital. They could not do anything, not unless it was injured and the fawn didn't seem to be, or unless we had visuals on it. We did not, so we drove back, trying to find it, to no avail. There was a good deal of woodlands and fields nearby, so we hope it managed to find a way back to the wild. We will also keep eyes on local social media, in case the deer has been spotted by others. I just hope the animal is okay.

Vent d'est...

 Après celle de dimanche, voici une autre photo du vent d'est sur La Baie. Rien que parce que.

Autumn Air

Autumn is coming. I could feel it today. It may be a cliché to say it, I mean it obviously is coming, but some year it is more obvious than others and some moments you can just feel it more. Like today. Or rather, this evening. In the very late afternoon, there was not even a breeze, yet the air was cool and smelled of wet wood and old leaves. It is difficult to describe, like a bittersweet smell, but is felt definitely autumnal. Even the fading lights had this autumnal look, something always a bit eerie. We won't have to wait much longer now. And I am very glad.

C'était un jour férié aujourd'hui...

 Bon, le titre dit tout: c'était un jour férié aujourd'hui. Parce qu'ici, il n'y a pas de lundi de congé le premier lundi de septembre, mais il y en a un le dernier lundi d'août. J'avoue que je préfèrerais l'avoir en septembre, mais un jour de congé c'est bon à prendre et ça rend endurable la mélancolie qui me prend toujours à la fin août. et puis je me console en me disant que la semaine n'aura que quatre jours...

The oysters of Billy Winters

As I blogged yesterday, we are back from a holiday in Dorset. I promised I would share some pictures. I'm afraid a lot of the ones you will see are of food: this trip was for me a gastronomical experience. So anyway, we went to Billy Winters and, as they had oysters, I had some as a starter. I know they are out of season, but I hadn't eaten any since, well, years, so I decided to correct this, especially since they pride themselves to have their own oyster farm. I just could not pass on this opportunity. They are served with lemon and their own house Shallot vinaigrette (a first for me). It grossed out both my wife and Wolfie, but even the smell of it made me feel blissful. There is something so... marine, about oysters, which I always loved. And they were not even in season.

Le passeport du Salon du Livre

Petite annonce concernant le Salon du Livre du Saguenay Lac-Saint-Jean:il y a un passeport en prévente. Pour la modique somme de 12$, vous pourrez y rendre les quatre jours de l'évènement. Moi, je n'y serai pas, mais si j'y étais, je n'en aurais pas besoin: j'ai mon passeport permanent, catégorie cégep.

Hunting the Loch Ness Monster

 Some longtime readers may remember that when I was a child I used to be fascinated by the Loch Ness Monster. As an adult, I don' believe anymore in its existence, nevertheless I still have an interest in him, if only because of its place in the Acottish folklore. Well, Nessie may not exist, but its legend is certainly not dead: a new hunt, the biggest in the last 50 years, has recently been organised. Nearly 300 volunteers will monitor the lake and its activities. I don't think they will find anything, sadly, certainly not a long believed to be extinct dinosaur (when I was a child my money was on the plesiosaur), nevertheless it is kind of nice to know that people still chase monsters, mythical or not.

Vent d'est sur La Baie

Mon père m'a envoyé cette photo d'un voilier à La Baie, tiré par le vent d'Est. Rien à ajouter.

Back from Dorset

If you were wondering why I was not blogging and were getting worried, I thought I would reassure you: we are back from a holiday in Dorset. Weymouth, to be more precise. I am glad we are back, but I am back we went there: I needed holidays. It is a terrible cliché to say, but it is true. I will share more of our time there in the next few days, maybe show a few pictures too. That should help me catch up with my absence from the blogosphere. Otherwise, how are you guys?

Champignons forestiers

Mon père m'a encore une fois envoyé des photos de champignons, le titre du courriel était "champignons forestiers". Tout ça pour dire que l'automne arrive...

Woodland Trust's Swatch Book

I got so happy a few days ago, when I stumbled on something I thought I had lost: rummagning through one ofmy drawers, I found this Woodland Trust's leaf identification swatch book. It was a gift from Mozart's Girl, I cannot remember why, but nevertheless it was a sweet gesture and a generous present. It is one of those little things you don't need, yet when you have them they are so darn fun to use. I used to carry it with me every time we went on a walk. I used to stop at the trees and see if I could identify them with the booklet. Then after we moved house and Wolfie came into our life, I lost sight of it. Well, not anymore. And I can't wait to learn about trees again thanks to it.

Les champignons

Autre signe de l'automne qui s'en vient: mon père m'a envoyé cette photo de champignons. Je sais pas où il l'a prise, mais c'est indubitable: quand il y a des champignons comme ça, c'est que l'automne n'est pas loin.

Cryptid Cats

You may remember this post from March 2023, about a mysterious picture of what appears to be a panther in the wild. Taken in England. Well, I recently read an article in the Bucks Free Press mentioning 10 places in Buckinghamshire where you can find big cats. You gotta love old local newspapers, sometimes they get into paranormal or cryptozoology, and it fires up my imagination. No, I don't believe there are big cats the size of panthers or pumas dwelling in the UK. But one can dream, even a skeptical mind like me. Oh and the article mentions a "self-proclaimed expert" (their word), who has a website called Big Cats of the Chilterns. But all skepticism aside, I love the idea of the huge but elusive felines roaming the countryside.

Tarte Bourdaloue modifiée

Mes parents ont fait une tarte Bourdaloue. Je ne connaissais pas. Mais elle est différente de la vraie Bourdaloue: au lieu des poires de la recette originale, ils ont mis des fraises et des bleuets. Pas grave, j'essaierais bien cette tarte Bourdaloue "mutante".

Time for Cosmic Horror

 I mention it every year on this blog, or at least I try to, but anyway, here it is: today is the birthday of horror writer H.P. Lovecraft. Not only is he an unavoidable writer for whoever loves horror stories (whether cosmic horror is your thing or not), but his work also inspired the role-playing game Call of Cthulhu, also a favourite of mine. This time of year, a few decades ago, being a game master at Call of Cthulhu was one of my greatest source of fun and it constantly fuelled my imagination. I consider Lovecraft's birthday one of major the milestones of the countdown to Halloween. And I have been wanting to play a game of Call of Cthulhu again since I last did.

Le Salon du Livre 2023

Annonce d'intérêt public pour les lecteurs du SagLac ou ceux qui y seront le prochain mois: Salon du Livre du Saguenay Lac-Saint-Jean aura lieu du 28 septembre au 1er octobre cette année. "Nouvelle affiche, nouvelle édition", comme le dit la page Facebook, où j'ai pris cette image. Ladite nouvelle affiche est vraiment superbe, je sais pas pourquoi mais je trouve qu'elle a beaucoup d'atmosphère. J'aimerais pouvoir y être, car j'ai d'excellents souvenirs du Salon.

The heroic squirrel

I found this meme rencently on social media. It is utterly stupid. Ridiculous. But it made me laugh oh so much. So I am sharing it here.

Le retour de la St-Ambroise à la citrouille

Nouveau signe de l'autone qui arrive, en tout cas au Québec: la St-Ambroise à la citrouille de McAuslan est maintenant en vente. Pas que je la trouve si tant bonne que ça, mais on s'entend, c'est une bière d'automne et c'est suffisant pour être aimée. Et en août par-dessus le marché, j'aime l'attitude de McAuslan.

Adders in Bucks

Here is a bit of news that might be useful to some of you: a higher number of adders has been sighted in Buckinghamshire. Enough so that the RSPCA has issued a warning to down walkers. If you go in long grass, an adder might be hiding there. As you may know, especially if you have been following this blog, adders are the only poisinous snakes in the UK. Dangerous animals, such as venomous snakes, both frighten me and fascinate me. So I get a bit of a shiver of excitement reading about this... shall we say resurgence of adders? That said, I will of course remain careful when we walk. Especially since the article reminds us that there has been recently incidents of snake bites.

Je vivroie liement (Guillaume de Machaut)

Je suis tombé sur cette vidéo par hasard sur YouTube il y a quelques jours et ça m'a frappé: je n'ai pas blogué de musique médiévale depuis un bail. Et maintenant j'ai cette chanson de Guillaume de Machaut en tête, alors autant la partager ici. Je suis médiéviste de formation après tout...

The helicopter

Last weekend, we went to a fayre, or a "summerfest" as it was called. Among the many attractions there, they were offering helicopter rides. No, we didn't go (it was costly) but we saw the helicopter going back and forth every now and then. We saw it from very close, it was very impressive. Wolfie and I felt like in a Bond movie (although he has yet to see a full Bond movie). Now I tried time and again to take a good snapshot at it, but I failed miserably. There were often too many people, or I was at the wrong angle, or it flew away too fast. This is the best close(ish) shot I could get.

Gelée de pommettes

Je blogue sur les pommettes pas mal ces temps-ci et pour cause: leurs récoltes marquent l'arrivée prochaine de l'automne. Il y a autre chose que j'aime des pommettes, c'est leur gelée. Mon père a d'ailleurs fait de la gelée de pommettes récemment. L'odeur de la gelée de pommettes en train de décanter, ça aussi ça me fait penser à l'automne qui arrive.

How to hunt an invisible man

As you might remember from one of last month's posts, I have rediscovered H.G. Wells' The Invisible Man, a classic of science-fiction. Something that struck me in the novel is how meticulous Wells is about showing what would happen if it was possible for a man to turn invisible. And, if he had decide to turn evil (as of course he does), what would he do, and finally what would need to be done protect people against him and to hunt him down. One of the novel's chapters is titled The Hunting of the Invisible Man and explains exactly how to, well, hunt the Invisible Man. Among the tricks, use dogs, as they can smell him and detect him, even though they cannot see him. Keep in mind that his digestive system will remain visible for a while after he consumes food and drinks. Hide weapons and anything that the invisible man could use as a weapon. And also, as he goes around naked, put powdered glass on the roads. Learning about the last one, one of the characters, a police officer, gives some protest: "It's unsportsmanlike." That made me laugh when I reread it. I thought it was the Englishest thing someone could say. You have an homicidal maniac running wild, and the police officer worries about being unfair to him. Anyway, thanks to Wells, we now know what to do if an invisible man goes on a rampage.

Des requins blancs dans le golfe du Saint-Laurent

Une bonne nouvelle que j'ai voulu souligner: j'ai appris il y a deux jours dans un article de La Presse qu'il y a d'avantage de requins blancs dans le golfe du Saint-Laurent. C'est une bonne nouvelle, parce que c'est une espècemenacée, cela voudrait donc dire qu'il y a peut-être plus de requins blancs qu'il y en avait auparavant. Dans cet autre article, on nous dit d'ailleurs que la population de grands requins blancs pourrait être en hausse. Remarquez le conditionnel, mais quand même, il y a de quoi se réjouir, pour peu qu'on aime la nature et les animaux, même ceux qui sont dangeureux.

New Sign of Halloween

I got so very happy from our last shopping trip to Asda. Which is ironic, because of all the shopping centre, it might be the one that I dislike the most. And I really hate shopping. But my wife pointed out a few autumnal items, like candles and cushions, and also this throw. With a winged cat, bats, a pumpkin... This is the first genuine Halloween thing on sale I have seen this year. Well except the Reese's Jack O's, but I'm sure that was old stock. It should not surprise me: Asda is owned by Wal-Mart after all. For the record, I didn't buy it. We were in a rush and I'm not sure I like it enough. Nevertheless, it's nice to see a new sign of Halloween.

Le pommetier (encore)

Je partage encore une fois une photo du pommetier de mes parents. Parce que c'est le temps de cueillir les pommettes et parce que l'automne arrive.

Daredevils on quad bikes

We went to a fayre last weekend, a "summerfest" that thankfully did not feel too summery, because of cool weather. Among the attractions, there were a number of shows, like some daredevils on motorbike, then on four wheelers, or quad bikes. Or ATVs, as they are called where I am from. They did a few stunts, pretty impressive, but I must confess I quickly got bored. Maybe because I am not a big fan of the all-terrain vehicles that we sometimes see (or hear) on the main roads of our little town. I blogged about it before. It's all right to be a professional daredevil on a show, in a controlled environment, but I suspect those driving these things on the main roads to be a bit too keen to play amateur daredevils themselves.

Arbre tordu

Nous sommes allés à une foire (je ne sais pas si on peut parler de foire agricole, mais c'était une foire) en fin de semaine. Nous avons dû nous stationner dans un grand champ, mais pour se retrouver, c'était assez facile: il y avait cet arbre tordu, avec la branche qui pointait dans la direction de la rangée où la voiture était stationnée. Outre cela, je trouve l'arbre assez singulier d'apparence, alors je l'ai pris en photo. Il a l'air un peu sinistre, surtout avec le ciel nuageux derrière.

A red kite up-close

 We went to a fayre yesterday, or a "Summerfest" as it was called. Lots of fun things to see, a few interesting shows, among them a falconry display from Millets Falconry. I lvoe birds of prey, so we spend a few minutes there, it was quiet and we could really see them up close. My favourite was maybe the red kite. We see plenty of them flying around, so much so that I called them my neighbours. But I don't think I have ever seen one from so close in the wild. He looked absolutely magnificent.

Le pommetier

Mon père m'a envoyé hier, à ma demande, des photos du
pommetier, avec les fruits mûrs. Autre signe de l'automne qui s'en vient, les pommettes prêtes à être cueillies. Je m'ennuie beaucoup d'ailleurs de la cueillette de pommettes à chaque année, c'est une des activités que j,adorais faire quand je vivais au Québec. Mes beaux-parents ont un pommetier, mais je ne suis pas certain que les pommetes soient propres à être tranformées en gelée. Je demanderai à ma belle-mère. Dans tous les cas, à chaque année j'aime montrer le pommetier de mes parents sur le blogue, rien que pour le plaisir.

Autumn Teas

I know David's Tea is not what it used to be, but they did something yesterday that got me in a good mood and reminded me why I still love the company. So yeah, they launched their fall collection. It's not so much their range that got me excited but the fact that they launched it so early. I love how they contribute to get myself and others in that mood. Oh and on a side note, if I cannot get David's Teas here, I have some good home brands that will do just as well when the season comes.

Le 12 août...

Petite plogue ici de l'expatrié que je suis: nous sommes le 12 aût. Vous connaissez sans doute le mouvement "le 12 août, j'achète un livre québécois." J'y participerais avec plaisir, si je n'étais pas loin pour en acheter, ne serait-ce qu'un seul. Mais je le ferais et j'en achèterais sans doute plus qu'un. Il est rare que je n'achète qu'un livre. J'avoue que je lis très peu de littérature québécoise, il faudra sans doute me rattraper à mon retour.

Magpies and penguins (a Wolfism)

 Wolfie said another Wolfism a little while ago which I have been wanting to share since. Today is as good as any. So anyway, there were some magpies in the garden and he said: "Magpies look like penguins." It is funny, because I never noticed and it is kind of true. Anyway, I love magpies, so there you go, now I will never be able to look at them the same way.

L'été: la revanche

Bon ben, mauvaise nouvelle: il fait chaud depuis avant-hier. Ce n'est pas la canicule, mais il fait trop chaud à mon goût. Après un mois de températures froides, c'est la revanche de l'été. Je déteste. Je déteste encore plus le jovialisme de certains avec le retour du soleil: ce fut l'enfer sur le continent et au Québec, avec les feux de forêt et tout, mais les Anglais prennent des airs de cocus contents rien que de voir le soleil se pointer. Cela dit, si c'est la revanche de l'été aujourd'hui, ils prévoient un retour à des temps plus frais dès demain. Je l'espère. Je compte bien rire le dernier.

The horses of Ascot in the window

I blogged before about the hat shop in Wallingford that has special displays. Last time we went there, the display represented the Ascot Racecourse.Well, we went back there not long ago and sadly there was no display anymore. It was also closed, so I could not get in and check for their men's hats and ask when the enxt display would be, well, displayed. And what would it be. All the same, here is a picture of the last one. Looks pretty cool.

Le franglais de Wolfie

Bon, ça faisait un bail que je n'avais pas partagé de franglais donné par petit loup. Il a dit quelque chose d'assez amusant hier, avant de manger. Il se lavait les mains quand il a dit: "Look daddy, I am mouilling the sink." J'ai trouvé ça pas mal cute. Ou mignon.

Of geese and gulls

Yesterday afternoon, I heard a bird cry in the sky and I thought for a moment they were geese flying. But no, I checked in the garden and they were seagulls. It got me quite sad. Because I think geese are birds that herald autumn: you see them flying south, you know autumn is on its way. See this post for more musing about them. But with seagulls, it's entirely different: they are the birds of summertime, of beaches and holidays. And as temperatures have become more typically summery again, the sight of seagulls did not fill me with joy.

Trouvez l'hélicoptère

Lors d'une visite chez les beaux-parents, j'ai vu parun après-midi cet hélicoptère (je crois que c'est un Chinook) voler. Le voyez-vous? Je n'ai pas pu le prendre de manière satisfaisante en photo. Le voyez-vous? On dirait un moustique. Il avait l'air tellement plus impressionnant en vrai.

Carrot cake and tea

My mother-in-law knows my love for carrot cakes, so during our last visit she bought one at Waitrose. I had it with tea. Very dark, the tea, and not even a splash of milk. I felt very spoiled. That is for me the ideal afternoon dessert.

Épluchette de blé d'Inde

Annonce d'intérêt public: du 11 au 13 aoùt il y aura une épluchette de blé d'Inde à la Terrasse St-Ambroise. Éplucher du maïs en buvant des bières de McAuslan, c'est pas mal le paradis pour moi. Je croyais que l'épluchette était une tradition québécoise morte, je me trompe peut-être et j'en suit heureux. Sans farce, c'est quand la dernière fois que vous avez participé à une épluchette? Moi ça doit dater d'au moins 40 ans.

A walk-round Crowmarsh(?)

 I stumbled upon this leaflet at my in-laws place. You may remember from this post dating back to 2017 that I have been wanting to properly visit the village of Crowmarsh Gifford, or Crowmarsh for short. Just because I find the village's name so darn cool. I have only walked in Crowmarsh once and only briefly, when rain was pouring and visibility was thus not brilliant. Now maybe one day I could borrow that leaflet, which has a map and everything, and we could explore this place with a very evocative name.

Les chocolats aux bleuets, 2023

Annonce d'intérêt public et je sais que je suis en retard dans les nouvelles: ainsi qu'annoncé sur la page Facebook des Pères trappistes, leurs chocolats aux bleuets sont en vente. Un ami m'a mêmeenvoyé des photos et c'était le supplice de Tantales de voir ça.

The apple tree by the pub

We went to a pub recently (no, not this one, sadly) and on its grounds there was an apple tree. Now, maybe this is wishful thinking from my part, but I noticed that the apples were very red, as if ripe and ready for the picking. Which I think could maybe, just maybe, indicate an early autumn to come. It might be the variety of apples, it might also just be that we have had a cool summer, nevertheless one can dream. And I know the temperatures will get warmer this week, so I can take at least some comfort into the sight of ripened apples.

Le "bob" à la mode

Mon père m'a envoyé cet article sur le bob, qui paraît-il revient à la mode, avec une photo du sien. Première chose: je ne connaissais pas le nom du chapeau en question. Pour moi, c'était un chapeau de Gilligan. Enfin c'est comme ça qu'on l'appelait il y a au moins une vingtaine d'années. Sinon, quelle horreur que le bob, dans tous les cas. Il a beau être pratique, même moi, je le trouve affreux. Ou peut-être suis-je trop sévère, dites-le moi dans les commentaires.

August: a spooky prologue

I love the comic strip Sarah's Scribbles and every August she publishes something that just strikes me as very, well, me. This is, in a nutshell, my relationship with this month. My mind is on something else, you will have guessed what. So yes, I am already thinking of Halloween to come. August is a long, long, spooky prologue to my favourite holiday.

Le temps des baies

 Ces temps-ci là d'où je viens, c'est le temps des récoltes de bleuets, notre fruit régional, ainsi que des framboises. C'est le tempsdes baies, en quelque sorte. Mon père a donc fait un dessert très simple, improvisé je dirais: bleuets et framboises frais, dans de la crème fraîche, sous du sucre et du sirop d'érable. C'est vraiment délicieux et ça a presque l'air santé. Enfin, il y a du sucre naturel, des fruits pleins de vitamines, de la crème pour les protéines... Je dirais que c'est assez santé.

GrailQuest (The Den of Dragons)

A couple of weeks ago, I paid myself another trip down nostalgia lane and it only cost me £0.99. You may remember on this blog a few mentions about  J.H. Brennan, a writer of, among other things, gamebooks. I was quite fond of his work when I was a child. Well, I found on a charity shop the second bok of his GrailQuest series. I bought it on the spot. As the name indicates, it is freely inspired by the Arthurian legend, although the tone is mostly parodic. You play a young man transported magically by Merlin into the reign of Arthur through a spell, the book being a sort of "portal", as well as into the body of a young knight named Pip. It is pretty smart in a meta way. The medievalist specialised in the Arthurian legend will probably recoiled at the amount of silliness (you use a sword called Excalibur Junior, or EJ), but I do remember Brennan being capable of adding pretty dark touches here and there, as well as a few gory moments. I'm looking forward to revisiting the book in any case.

Une gargouille

Mon père a pris cette photo d'une gargouille. Une gargouille qui a toute l'apparence d'un griffon. Je ne sais pas où exactement il l'a prise, mais elle est cool.

There is a Full Moon Pub

There is something I recently learned from this book and which I cannot get out of my head: there is a pub called The Full Moon in Cholesbury. Now let's just that sink in. I know there are other pubs named like this one. I mean a quick Google search can easily help you find more. But this specific Full Moon is fairly close to us. And, from the pictures I could see, it looks absolutely lovely, an old fashioned pub like I love them. And of course there is the name. That's why I want to visit it one day: how cool is that name? I don't now how accessible it is from where we are, but I want to visit it very badly now. And have walks nearby of course, but this is now my new quest: to visit it. Let's say instead of a pub crawl, it is a pub quest.

Un champignon

Signe que l'automne s'envient, même au Québec: mon père m'a envoyé cette photo d'un champignon. Je n'aime guère les champignons dans un repas, mais j'aime leur apparence et je les considère comme l'un des signes annonciateurs de l'automne.

Devil's Peak: from page to screen

I am getting very excited: as I mentioned last year, there is an adaptation of South African crime writer Deon Meyer's Devil's Peak in the making. In fact,the TV series (miniserie?) is pretty much wrapped up at this point and there is even a teaser trailer. It will premier in South Africa, but as from what I understand the BBC funded it in part, therefore it should be available here at some point. I can barely wait, I loved the novel. So I hope I can watch it and that there will be more adaptations of Meyer's work in the future.

Wolfie construit des monstres

Nouveau passe-temps de petit loup, parce que ses parents sont occupés à travailler toute la journée, ce qui n'est pas toujours facile pour lui: il construit des monstres avec des pièces de couleur. En voici un exemple. Il est très fier de ses créations. Enfin, je devrais dire ses créatures. Ils ont tous une certaine ressemblance avec le monstre de Frankenstein façon Hollywood ou le Golem. Enfin vous me direz ce que vous en pensez dans les commentaires.

Duck Down Village from above

You may remember from this post that when we visited Robin Hill, one of the theme parks on the Isle of Wight,one of our favourite place was in Duck Down Village. It was like a mansize, or at least childsize, playset, like a real timeless village, except run by kids. Wolfie really enjoyed it. I took quite a few pictures there, including this one from one of the building's attic rooms. You can see the village clock and the cute duckling on it. I just loved it.

Le mois doute (#calembouratroce)

Voici un calembour atroce commis par mon frère PJ sur sa page Facebook. Il me fallait absolument le partager. Alors voici:

-Question: Quel est le mois de l'année le plus sceptique?

-Réponse: Le mois d'août.

Notez qu'il faut le prononcer à la française. Mais enfin bref, c'est vraiment atroce.

Will it storm?

Sign that I might be getting British: I check daily on BBC Weather what temperature we are meant to have. And today, it is supposed to be cool (yay!) and they are forecasting a storm. Betterthan that: there is a yellow warning of thunderstorms from 09:00 to 19:00. We will stay indoors all day, so that is no problem. I just hope we will have a proper thunderstorms, because I love them. That is the single thing I genuinely love about summertime.

Pouding au bleuets

Bon, c'est le temps des bleuets, alors donc, je partage encore une photo de bleuets. Vous m'en voyez désolé. Ou pas. Enfin bref avec les vrais de vrais bleuets sauvages du Lac, mes parents ont fait un pouding aux bleuets. Pas mon dessert ni mon pouding préféré, mais c'est quand même quelqu'un si tu le manges chaud avec de la crème dessus. Et avec des bleuets frais sur la crème, mais je crois que ça, c'était pour faire une belle photo.

Why Sharks Attack

I watched recently a BBC documentary, called Why Sharks Attack. I love sharks, or rather, they fascinate me. I used to binge on sharks documentaries when I was a child, I never missed one on television. So I watched this one eagerly and really enjoyed it. I learned a lot about different species of sharks and their interaction, so to speak, with humans. It didn't make sharks less scary, but it did make them less monstrous. I also found out quite a few documentaries about sharks on BBC iPlayer, including some that are designed for a younger audience, so I can watch them with Wolfie. Cool. In any case, I heartily recommend Why Sharks Attack, if you can watch it. I mean if you can access it because you are in the UK, or find it from another source. And if you are not scared of sharks, of course.

Comment appeler ses grand-parents

 J'ai parlé à mes parents ce soir, via Facetime. Ma mère me racontait que ses amies se font souvent appeler "mamie" par leurs petits-enfants. C'est une mode qu'elle déteste. Elle est je crois assez récente: j'appelais mes grand-parents grand-papa et grand-maman. Petit loup fait d'ailleurs de même. Il a grand-papa et grand-maman de mon côté, et grandma et daddad de l'autre. Ma mère est bien contente. Mais enfin bref, comment appelez-vous vos grand-parents, ou comment vos enfants les appellent?

Observations about August

It is the first of August today, my apologies for stating the obvious. At every start of the month, I generally muse about it on the blog. So August has started. I used to really dislike August, only because of the blues it gave me, but not anymore. I made peace with it, although I still feel a bit of melancholy when August comes. But it is more due to a sort of impatience. I mentioned it last year. August is a transitional month, being set between the heart of summertime and the beginnning of autumn. As a month, it can go either way: still summery or almost autumnal. I hope it will be the latter. In any case, I am longing for autumn and have started looking for its signs, which I will share here. August is also the time of the countdown to the countdown to Hallowen. I can't put decorations up as of yet, but I am getting into a Halloween mood. So watch this space, the blog should get more and more autumnal as well as spookier as the days go on.

Le temps des bleuets

Mon père m'a envoyé cette photo (entre autres) d'un panier de bleuets. Parce que c'est le temps des bleuets au Québec. Ce sont des vrais bleuets sauvages du Lac. Il n'y en a pas d'aussi bons. Mes parents ont fait plusieurs desserts avec ça, je vais partager d'autres photos dans les prochains jours. Comme vous devez le savoir si vous me suivez depuis longtemps, le blogue prend les couleurs du temps de l'année et ces temps-ci c'est le temps des récoltes de bleuets.