Farewell to the local WHSmith

 Sad bit of local news: our WHSmith branch is going to close down soon. Now, I was never really that much into the business:it is meant to be a bookshop, but in reality it's a glorified stationary shop. Be that as it may, while I don't buy books there, I find it useful for everything else: presents, greeting cards, wrapping paper, pencils, the odd chocolate bar. So yes, that's not good news. Apparently, it may survive as a much smaller WHSmith, like the one you find in airports, so with far less choice. Except books, ironically. But I already have a local bookshop for that. So yeah, it's not great and to my surprise I think I will miss it.

Dernier jour de janvier

 Je prononce ici une évidence: nous sommes le dernier jour de janvier. Comment a été le vôtre, de janvier? Le mien n'était pas génial, mais il se termine mieux qu'il a commencé. C'est dommage, parce que c'est l'un des mois de l'année que j'ai appris à apprécier. Je dirais même que je l'aime pas mal plus qu'un mois d'été, par exemple. Je sais, je suis bizarre comme ça, mais je déteste la chaleur et les journées longues, alors un mois long, sombre et froid, je trouve ça relaxant.

Elmore Leonard on my TBR list

As I was checking my to be read list recently, something struck me: I have no title from Elmore Leonard. Worse: I haven't read him since, well, a long time ago. I think the last time was circa 2020 or 2021, so a long time ago. And that is terrible. So I will need to sort this out and maybe include one title or two of him. Now, it will not be Cat Chaser, because I read it back in 2007. The second Leonard novel I read, which cemented my interest in him.I have been wanting to revisit it, but I have too many unread novels of his to discover to have time for revisiting any one of them. I just put its cover because I like the look of it, I find it atmospheric. So yeah, If you have any suggestions, please let me know in the comments.

Les promenades en forêt...

Photo prise en... janvier 2023. Je la partage ici car elle sert mon propos, même s'il se peut que je l'ai déjà mise sur le blogue. Il y a un boispas loin de chez nous. Du temps de la pandémie, nous allions y marcher assez souvent, en famille, ça nous faisait quelque chose à faire. Même si c'était parfois boueux, c'était assez plaisant: de chez nous à travers le bois, en s'arrêtant à un hôtel, puis de l'hôtel à travers le bois, ou simplement à travers le voisinage jusqu'à chez nous. Parfois, je n'étais pas d'humeur à marcher, à cause de la boue justement. Mais ces temps-ci, je crois que ça nous ferait du bien de faire revivre cette tradition familiale.

Ironic Weather

 It's been kind of stormy these last few days, because of, well, this. So yeah, Herminia has given us rain, wind and even a bit of hail. On Monday, during the school run, it was pouring, windy and hailing when I walked with Wolfie to school. At the moment he walked it, it suddenly stopped and everything went calm. The parents were all dumbfounded. One of the mothers said how typical it was that now the weather was calm. I said: "Don't worry, when it is time to pick them up in the afternoon, of course it will get stormy again." She laughed. And I think it deserves to be a great new unknown line. That said, in spite of my pessimistic views, the afternoon school run was much quieter: no rain, no hail and barely any wind to speak of. Still, walking to the school felt like an epic journey that morning.

Flétan géant au Saguenay

Mon père m'a envoyé cette nouvelle régionale, qui aurait pu être une histoire de pêche: un flétan a été capturé dans le fjord du Saguenay. Jusqu'ici, rien à dire, c'est banal. Mais c'est un flétan de l'Atlantique et un flétan de l'Atlantique, ben c'est gros en tab... Et bon, c'est le premier flétan de cette taille pêché cette année. Je ne suis pas amateur de pêche, je n'ai pas de patience pour la pêche, ni l'habileté, mais je vais quand même donner une morale à cette histoire véridique. Il n'y a rien de petit au Saguenay.

PTO: please turn over

I feel terribly silly. My wife was helping Wolfie to do his homework last Sunday and, as there was no more room on the page he was writing on, she told him to write more on the other side. Shethen told him to write PTO, for "please turn over", so the teacher would know there was more written. And that's why I feel silly. Because I didn't know. I mean, I heard it, I had seen it, but I never pay attention to what PTO meant in that context. So yeah, anyway, PTO is the word (abbreviation?) of the day.

Porc-épic flou

Photo prise par mon père en juillet 2023 lors d'une promenade. Un porc-épic, qui ici a l'air flou. J'ai retrouvé les photos dans des archives et j'ai pensé à en partager une.

Happy Birthday Wolferl!

Today is the birthday of of Wolfgang Johannes Chrysostome Amadeus Mozart, aka Trazom when he signed his documents, aka Wolferl as he was called by his family, aka that kid from Salzburg, aka the greatest composer who ever lived. And my favourite. I have been listening to his music all weekend and will obviously listen to his music more today, non stop. To celebrate on this blog, I have decided to share the sextet from Cosi fan tutte. I came to Mozart through his operas, so it makes sense that I use them toc elebrate him. I think this one shows very well Mozart's virtuosity and art. It's dynamic, it's funny, it's joyful, it's gorgeous, so it should put you in a dreary January Monday.

RIP, Cherry Blossom (billet nostalgique)

Je blogue souvent sur les chocolats on dirait ces temps-ci, mais c'est juste d'adon. Ma mère m'a envoyé ce dossier de la grosse Presse sur la mort du Cherry Blossom. Il y a quand même de quoi se consoler dans ce que j'apprends. D'abord, certaines confiseries et chocolateries font déjà des versions gentrifiées ou abâtardies du Cherry Blossom, alors tout ne sera perdu. Ensuite, le dossier nous donne une recette de Cherry Blossom. Je ne suis pas assez bon pour oser tenter de la faire, mais au moins, si je suis désespéré, je peux bien essayer. Alors voilà, Hershey nous a tous fait un coup de cochon, c'est pas la première fois depuis qu'ils ont acheté Lowney's, mais il y a une résistance de la part de leurs clients. J'espère qu'ils vont s'en mordre les doigts.

Stocking on Mozartkugeln

As tomorrow is the birthday of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, I bought some Mozartkugeln from the local sweet shop. Toshare with my family, maybe, perhaps, as long as they listen to Mozart with me. This weekend has been one listening to a lot of Mozart music, I mean more than usual. But I learned some sad news: Salzburg will no longer be producing the famous chocolates since the factory got bankrupted. This is a bloody shame. Fearing of losing the chocolates forever, in a panic, I bought two boxes instead of one yesterday. Anyway, it's not about the chocolates, it's about the music, so I am sharing here a duet from Cosi fan tutte. Because it premiered on this date. Enjoy.

Guédille aux oeufs

 Des fois, on achète pas mal d'oeufs, alors je fais de mon mieux pour les passer. Longue histoire courte: on avait des oeufs, des pains à hot dogs, alors au lieu de faire des sandwiches j'ai fait... des guédilles aux oeufs. Un peu gentrifiées: j'ai ajouté des olives pour faire plus élégant. Et puis, le mélange oeufs et olives, ça torche pas mal, comme je l'ai découvert il y a plusieurs décennies déjà (une inspiration de ma mère, ou de notre aide familiale). Ce fut un succès: petit loup a maintenant un nouveau menu pour le lunch.

"Contessa, perdono" (Mozart)

This blog needs more music, so I decided to share something today. As it will be the birthday of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in two days and this is just a good excuse as any, I am listening to a lot of Mozart. This is taken from the finale of Le Nozze di Figaro. I will blog more about Mozart in the upcoming days. It puts me in a good mood (and Wolfie too). If you find this time of year dreary, think that it gave us the most joyful of all musicians.

Le Palais Garnier a 150 ans

 Bon, ben, comme le dit le titre, le Palais Garnier a 150 ans. Il fêtait son anniversaire hier, je crois. Mon père m'a envoyé un article/vidéo sur le sujet. Mais je le savais déjà, car je suis la soprano Lisette Oropesa sur les réseaux sociaux et elle l'a mentionné. Garnier, c'est pour beaucoup de monde qui ne sont pas amateurs d'opéra une fiction, un roman qui est lui même dans l'ombre d'une comédie musicale que l'on confond avec de l'opéra. C'est d'ailleurs à cause de ladite fiction que j'ai fait la connaissance du lieu d'abord, avant de visiter Garnier à Paris moi même. Jamais vu de représentation là bas, malheureusement. Avoir fait autant de séjours à Paris, et je n'ai pas passé une fois à Garnier comme mélomane. C'est malheureux. Mais l'architecture est magnifique, bien que faut aimer la lourdeur. C'est imposant, mettons. Il y a de quoi cacher un fantôme ou deux, mais je garde ça pour un autre billet.

Labyrinth (the beer)

I try as much as I can to drink products from Rebellion Beer, as it is one of the closest mocrobreweries I have from home and because they brew some really nice ales. And I didn't want to end January without trying their beer of the month. It's called Labyrinth and it is inspired by Greek mythology, like every beer of the month in 2025. I guess I will have to buy one every month. Anyway, Labyrinth is the kind of dark, flaboursome ale I enjoy and has a cool Minotaur on its label.

Amaryllis (3)

 Je partage encore une fois une photo des amaryllis chez mes parents. Parce que...

That Mysterious/Scary Door at School

 I saw this meme recently, which got me thinking and sent me straight down nostalgia lane. Because this trap door in the ceiling looks awfully familar to me. My memory is not perfect, but it's very good and I am sure there was a door like this in my primary school, which both scared and fascinated me. Was it the hiding place of some demonic creature, a gateway to hell or another dimension? I think there is a scary story to be written about it. Maybe for Halloween. But does anyone has any idea about these doors in the ceiling that you can find in schools? My old primary school isn't that old, by the way, but it did have an old school feel, like it was carrying secrets from the past.

Pour les amateurs de brouillard

Y a-t-il des amateurs de brouillard parmi vous, chers lecteurs? Moi si, ce qui fait que j'ai déjà blogué il y a quelques jours sur notre dernière nuit de brouillard. C'est beau, c'est relaxant, c'est mystérieux, ça arrive torp rarement. Mais enfin bref, nous avons aussi eu une journée de brouillard par après. Enfin,un mtin, puisque vers midi il n'y avait plus rien. Mais j'ai eu le temps de prendre cette photo. Je ne m'en lasse pas.

Black Holes?

I recently found this comic strip by Tom Gauld. It made me laugh.January in a nutshell. I say this, and I generally don't dislike January as a month, I find summer months far worse (it's true), but this year so far it has been a difficult one.

Mafalda siempre!

Lundi dernier, la page Facebook officielle de Mafalda a partagé ce gag. Je me demande bien pourquoi...

Foggy Nights

Sign that I am becoming a bit of a Brit after years living here: I am obsessed about the weather. Well, sometimes. At least sometimes, when I love or hate it. So anyway, we had fog and mist recently. I took this picture on Monday night, when it started. It looks beautiful and eerie. I don't feel very cheerful these days, for a lot of reasons, but I love atmospheric weather and I always loved fog, so seeing it makes me feel better about things. Fog is calming.

"Viking aux fruits"

Photo trouvée sur la page Facebook de Première Moisson. Je suis en retard dans les nouvelles, mais je voulais le dire: la boulangerie a un nouveau pain disponible, le Viking aux fruits. Comme un pain au raisin, mais avec des sultanas, des canneberges, des figues et des abricots secs. Je sais pas pourquoi c'est viking, mais je veux essayer.

Lego Magazine

 Boy the things Wolfie receives by mail. I mean, we don't get all that much mail, but when we do, it is often for Wolfie and, in any case, he receives the coolest mail. So anyway, he received at the beginning of January a Lego magazine. This issue covers January, February and March. Enough, one would hope, to keep him interested for the next two months. But I just like that my son keeps the old and kind of forgotten tradition of receiving a magazine in the mail. It's just nice, you know.

Amaryllis (2)

Je partage une autre photo des amaryllis chez mes parents. Faut bien mettre un peu de couleur au blogue, et puis je suis peu inspiré pour bloguer ces temps-ci, alors je partage des photos.

THE Blue Monday

Today is Blue Monday. Usually, I wouldn't care less. Because it's pure pseudoscience to begin with. Because there are worse Mondays than January Mondays and the first working Monday of January is worse than any other in the month anyway. However, not this Blue Monday 2025. This is a proper, genuine, bona fide Blue Monday,the Blue Monday to end all Blue Mondays, THE Blue Monday. There are two reasons for it. The first one, you can probably guess. Yup, the Swine is back. The other reason is that my current job sucks. And things are probably going to get worse before they get better. To a point where pretty much every working day for me will be Blue Monday, until further notice. So yeah, I'm not in a very good mood.

La mort du Cherry Blossom

 Bon, ben c'est pas pour vous rendre la journée plus morne qu'elle ne l'est déjà, mais j'ai appris une triste nouvelle en fin de semaine: Hershey met fin au Cherry Blossom. En d'autres mots: phoque. L'une de mes friandises préférées quand je reviens chez nous disparaît. Ma femme aime les Cherry Blossoms aussi, les Cherry Blossoms ont inspiré un surnom (stupide) que m'a donné une amie quand j'étais à peine majeur. Le Cherry Blossom, c'est beaucoup de souvenirs chez moi, un peu ma madeleine de Proust. C'est vraiment une très, très, très mauvaise nouvelle. Hershey avait déjà scrappé les oeufs de Pâques Lowney's quand ils ont hérité de la compagnie dans les années 80. Mais mettre fin au Cherry Blossom, c'est cynique et mesquin, surtout dans un temps où on fait beaucoup dans la gastronomie nostalgique.

The Orient Express Puzzle

During my Christmas shopping last year, I went to a local gifts shop. I was happy to find the jogsaw puzzle of the Orient Express I once saw in the local bookshop. I didn't buy it, because I was busy buying presents to others, but I put it on my list for the future. Maybe I will receive it on my birthday.

Don Giovanni au Royaume

Annonce d'intérêt public pour les gens du Saguenay: Opéra du Royaume va produire Don Giovanni de Mozart en avril cette année. C'est une grande, grande, grande première régionale. Mon opéra préféré de mon compositeur préféré, dans ma région. J'en aurais rêvé enfant. Que ce soit aussi accessible de nos jours, dans une production de qualité, ça me remplit d'une fierté toute saguenéenne j'envie mes compatriotes.

Train Holidays

 I receive lots of news reading suggestions online, thanks to algorithms. So an article from Euro News recently caught my attention, about the best train journeys in the world. Some I knew about, some I did not. If time and money were no objection, I would so go to one of these journeys for a holiday. Taking the train can be in itself a holiday. My favourite would probably be the Orient Express. But I am curious about Rovos Rail and the more I learn about the Glacier Express, the more I want to try it. I have been to Switzerland only once, and very briefly, so I would love to revisit the country. And I know even their ordinary trains are absolutely brilliant, so imagine the Glacier. Anyway, I really want a train holiday when the journey would be more important than the destination. And you, what of all these train journeys would you like to experiment?

Boudin de sanglier

 Bon, c'est samedi, c'est tranquille, faisons un billet bouffe (et food porn): mon père m'a envoyé des photos d'un repas qu'il a fait récemment. Du boudin de sanglier. Avec des patates et de la compote de pomme, je crois. Je mange très peu souvent de boudin, ici en Angleterre on en mange surtout pour les déjeuners. Je me suis surpris à aimer ça et c'est le genre de repas que j'aime un jour froid.

To revisit Isola

 "The city in these pages is imaginary. The people, the places are all fictitious. Only the police routine is based on established investigatory technique."

 No, no, this post's title is not referring to our next holiday destination. I'm referring to the setting of Ed McBain's 87th Precinct series. Isola is imaginary, but it's a stand-in for Manhattan, the imaginary city being a thinly disguised New York. In August last year, I was lamenting that I hadn't read McBain since 2021. It hasn't changed, in fact I didn't even buy a new book from the crime fiction series. I want 2025 to be different, but I have a lot of books on my TBR list and I am reading very slowly. That said, I still hope to find time to slip one title or two from the 87th somewhere in the coming months, after I finish the next two or three unread  books on my shelves. I mostly read crime fiction until August anyway, so I think I can find the opportunity.

Le raton enragé

 Bon, je blogue beaucoup sur les bêtes ces temps-ci, mais c'est un hasard. J'ai appris qu'un premier cas de raton laveur enragé a été signalé au Québec. Bon, ce n'est pas la peste, mais c'est pas jojo non plus. Notre expérience avec les ratons laveurs lors de notre promenade sur le Mont-Royal (où j'ai d'ailleurs pris cette photo) aurait pu prendre un tour plus angoissant. Ils sont tellement mignons, c'est difficile de les imaginer enragés.

Adopting a Pound Puppy?

I went to the local toy shop this weekend. I was happy to find the Pound Puppies. I hadn't spotted them before. I blogged about Pound Puppies twice already. We have plenty of plush toys here, but I would not mind adding one of these pups or two to our family's menagerie. Because I wouldn't adopt a real dog. But so far, Wolfie has been lukewarm at best about the idea. I'm not sure why, because he loves cuddly toys. I might buy one just for myself, for nostalgia's sake. He'll take it anyway. So yeah, I am pondering about adopting a Pound Puppy.

Amaryllis

 Mon père m'a envoyé des photos des amaryllis. Je partage parce que ça donne des couleurs au blogue. C'est aussi le mot du jour.

Lynx in the Scottish Highlands

I just learned that four lynx have been illegally released in the Scottish Highlands. Of them, two have been recaptured. Releasing them was of coursea terrible idea, as the article explains. That said, I hope they release legally and responsibly lynx in Scotland in the future. Because it struck me that the land and the animal go well together. And this bit of news made me think of something else: I wonder if the many tales and sighting of cryptid wildcats that abound in the UK are not caused by such illegal release, accidental or intentional, of wild animals like these lynx.

Coriandre

 Ma femme cuisine du Hello Fresh et elle ne trouve pas la coriandre fraîche pour la recette. Tragédie. Non, je plaisante, mais je suis devenu amateur de coriandre depuis qu'ils en mettaient (de la coriandre sèche) dans les falafels du défunt Folie en vrac. À chaque fois que je goûte de la coriandre dans un repas, c'est comme ma madeleine de Proust, je me rappelle de Folie en Vrac. C'est vraiment triste que ça n'existe plus. Y a-t-il un comptoir sandwich semblable à Montréal? Des magasins en vrac, oui, il y en a pleins. Mais pas avec un comptoir sandwich qui fait des falafels assaisonnés de coriandre.

The Night Agent Returns

 I blogged before about The Night Agent, a Netflix spy thriller series which I quite enjoyed. It was not a masterpiece, but it was fun to watch, if a bit derivative. Well, there is a season 2 of the series coming in a week. I wonder what it will look like. Since the first season was based on a novel, which I haven't read, I think this time the story will be new and only the characters will be the same, which would make the title a placeholder one. Unless the book has a sequel, which is also possible. Somebody in the known tell me about. I think it was freely adapted from the source material in any case. Anyway, I am looking forward to season 2.

Parlons du Cinéma de 17 heures

 Bon, l'année étant entamée depuis un petit bout maintenant, faisons un retour nostalgique dans ce qui me divertissait durant mon enfance les jours de semaine ordinaires. J'ai déjà blogué et re-blogué sur le Cinéma de 17 heures à Radio-Canada, sur lequel il n'y a pratiquement rien en ligne. Alors je songe à chercher dans mes souvenirs et les vôtres (si vous vous en rappelez) et faire une liste des films qui y passaient. Je la partagerai ici et bloguerai plus en détails. Certains lecteurs (pas des réguliers) ont commenté sur le sujet au fil de mes billets, alors je crois qu'on a un peu de matière.

Redbush Tea/Rooibos

Last time I went downtown to run errands, I stopped by one of the local cafés, in fact the café of a church (I kid you not). Not that I want to convert, but they serve really cheap food and drinks and service is just as good as in the big chains. I ordered rooibos, which baffled the young person at the till. They have it as redbush on the menu. I prefer the South African term. I hadn't had rooibos in ages and I had forgotten how nice and relaxing it was. I think I will make it a regular thing, when I want a hot drink in the afternoon but cannot have black tea. And you, dear readers, do you drink rooibos? How do you call it?

L'ancien logo des Bouquinistes

J'ai pensé à quelque chose depuis que la librairie Les Bouquinistes est devenue une coopérative: je préférais l'ancien logo, que vous voyez ici. Le nouveau est peut-être plus moderne et dynamique, mais justement, je crois que l'on s'attache plus à l'image d'une marque que l'on connaît depuis des décennies. L'ancien est plus traditionnel, plus simple, plus relaxant. C'est aussi et surtout celui de mon enfance et de celle de pleins d'autres lecteurs au Saglac. Qu'en pensez-vous?

Ronja, the Robber's Daughter

The things you find on Netflix sometimes. As I was browsing through it last week, I discovered that they had made a live action series adaptation of Astrid Lindgren's Ronja, The Robber's Daughter. Or Ronia, or Ronya, it depends of the translation and/or adaptations. I haven't read much Swedish literature, but I did read some of Lindgren's works, including Ronja. Not when I was a child, but when I was a teenager, the year a Swedish foreign student (my "Swedish sister" as I call her) lived with us. She had bought us a few classic novels from her country, translated into French, including this one. I enjoyed it enough and it was an easy read, but I had found it a bit kid friendly for my tastes. I had already started reading horror classics, as well as "proper" literature, so the kind of fairy tale medieval fantasy Lindgren had written didn't really connect with me as much as it would have had say, six or seven years earlier. 

And this is what I wanted to get at. I started watching the TV series with Wolfie. I wasn't sure it was proper for him, but he insisted that he wanted to watch it too. I had started watching in original Swedish, with subtitles, but I had to switch to the English dubbing. And then... then I didn't want Wolfie to watch it, because it turned out dark and scary. It has monsters, some level of violence I haven't seen very often in a children story and a very eerie atmosphere. I don't know how faithful the series is, maybe it was the translation I read that had been sanitized, but I know I did not expect it to be like this. Like what I had been wanting to read years ago, ironically enough. We watched until the end of the first episode. I will watch the rest by myself. Thankfully, Wolfie does not want to watch more. Oh, and one day I will revisit the novel, but in a different translation.

Les Catacombes: l'enseigne officielle

 Je blogue encore une fois sur les "Catacombes" du Cégep de Chicoutimi, lesquelles ne sont pas des catacombes (hélas!) et datent de l'ancien séminaire. Je dis ne sont pas des catacombes au sens propre, mais en regardant de plus près une photo envoyée par une amie et que j'ai déjà partagée ici, j'ai observé une chose: il y a une enseigne dessus nommant les Catacombes... Catacombes. Donc, même si ce ne sont pas de vraies catacombes, leur nom de baptême officiel est bien Catacombes. Et belle devanture de local, qui n'existait pas à mon époque, soit dit en passant. Sans dire que c'est un lieu touristique, ça leur donne plus de cachet et je les revisiterais bien un jour. Je crois qu'il y aurait bien une histoire ou deux à écrire sur elles.

Mountain Warehouse for the cold days

Yesterday, as I had to go downtown to get my glasses fixed because of a loose screw, I decided that I would stop at the Mountain Warehouse. First, to see if there was anything interesting in the January sale, second, because we had a few very cold days and nights recently and I thought we needed a few warm socks. I almost always buy socks when I stop at the local Mountain Warehouse. Mostly because I lvoe warm socks, also because they get used very quickly (or they simply disappear). So I bought thermals and socks for Wolfie and an extra pair of socks for me. I keep finding it ironic: I don't really do outdoor, camping and hiking, the sort of activities Mountain Warehouse is there for, yet I am a very loyal customers. And I even enjoy going there! It was the highlight of my day yesterday. But in any case, I feel better knowing my son will be able to keep his feet warm.

Automne Boulangerie

 J'ai découvert par hasard, en écrivant ce billet, qu'il existe dans Rosemont une Automne Boulangerie. (Et en passant, ça devrait s'appeler Boulangerie Automne, non?) Je crois qu'elle a ce nom car elle a ouvert ses portes en octobre 2016. Un nom de baptême à la fois logique et original. Je ne vais guère dans Rosemont lors de mes séjours à Montréal, mais rien que parce que ce commerce a le nom de ma saison préférée, je veux le visiter. Je crois que c'est un nom prometteur. Sinon, quelqu'un ici a déjà fait l'expérience d'Automne Boulangerie? Et si oui, c'était comment? Des recommendations?

Cryptidcurrency

 I found this meme a few days ago and it made me laugh, so I am sharing it here. I don't understand or care about cryptocurrency either. But, although I don't believe in any of these cryptids, I used to believe bigfoot and Nessie were real as a kid, and I have been fascinated by these modern mythical monsters ever since. So yeah, I would love to have coins like these in my wallet. And I will learn more about the chupacabra and Mothman. I don't know all that much about them.

Pot de confiture inouvrable

Il y a quelques semaines, j'ai acheté un pot de confiture aux mûres, faite maison. C'était lors d'une fête de l'école de petit loup et j'ai pensé que ça serait bien d'avoir autre chose que des confitures d'épicerie. Mal m'en pris: je n'arrive pas à l'ouvrir. Il est scellé ben dur. Je songeais à en faire une question existentielle, mais je vais le demander ici: comment on fait pour ouvrir ça? J'ai essayé l'huile de bras, l'eau bouillante, taper dessus avec une cuillère, jusqu'ici sans succès.

Steam Train Candle?

 Facebook and other social media know me too much and it is scary. I was scrolling my Facebook feed recently and I came up on an advert for a Yorkshire local business, the Yorkshire Scent. They sell, among other things, candles. Including one, which they were advertising on Facebook: the Steam train jar candle. A candle that smell of steam train. What a strange idea. Who in the world would buy such a thing? Okay, Well me, that's who. Guilty as charged. Probably not online, I'm not that pathetic, and I'm not that uch into candles, but if I was to find one in a shop, yes. Like right away.

Il a neigé (un peu)

 Bon, c'est arrivé deux semaines trop tard, juste le jour du retour à l'école pour nous rendre les choses plus difficiles, mais il a neigé cette seaine et on annonce encore de la neige dans les prochains jours. Bon, je dis neige... Ce n'est pas les neiges d'antan, mettons. Mais ici, dans le sud de l'Angleterre, c'est vraiment un gros évènement, en tout cas une bonne bordée. Je ne bouderai pas mon plaisir, sauf que j'espère qu'une fin de semaine on en aura plus que ça.

January as an ice cream flavour...

I saw this meme recently and it made me laugh, so I am sharing it here. I must say, I don't mind January as much as I used to, but yeah, this January pretty much tastes like this.

Murale vandalisée

Triste nouvelle: j'apprends que la muralede la Bouquinerie du Plateau faite par Michel Rabagliati a été vandalisée. J'ai eu la présence d'esprit de la prendre en photo lors de notre dernier séjour. La murale a une ambiance des Fêtes et je pensais la partager Noël dernier ou le Noël prochain, mais qu'importe. Et j'espère qu'ils vont identifier et punir l'enfant de salaud qui a fait ça.

Fauda, Season 5?

My reader knows that I love the Israeli crime/war/spy series Fauda, one of my favourite TV drama, for many reasons. And I have been waiting, waiting for any news about a future and still hypothetical season 5. Well, there is an intriguing short video I found a few weeks before Christmas on the official YouTube channel of the series. This video, titled Get ready. Obviously, you don't see much, except a few seconds series' creator and main actor Lior Raz training. With the hashtag #Fauda5. So yeah. Maybe it's just a tease. But I do hope that the series is out of development hell and the situation in Israel is now suitable for filming.

Le rasage irrégulier

L'un des avantages de travailler de la maison, c'est que je peux me raser la barbe beaucoup moins souvent que du temps de mon travail de bureau. Parce que je n'aime guère me raser, même si la barbe me donne un air un peu ours. Ma femme, cependant, me préfère rasé de près. Mais petit loup me préfère avec un peu de barbe. Gros dilemme, donc. Et ma mère est comme ma femme (voir ce billet): elle déteste quand son mari et/ou l'un de ses trois fils a de la barbe. Il va falloir que je me trouve une sorte d'horaire ou de calendrier de rasage, un moment dans la semaine où je me discipline et où je prends le temps de me raser.

My niece and tea

 It's been years since I spoke about my niece, the daughter of my wife's brother. I first met her she was like four, now she is in her twenties. We seldom see her, last time was during our family gathering in late November. And we didn't stay long. I learned from my mother-in-law that she has turned into quite a tea connoisseur. She always buys loose leaf tea and she knows a lot of brands. I am more of a tea amateur, but I would love to speak to her about it, especially if she has recommendations to make. I am lazier when it comes to tea, but I do prefer loose leaf tea to tea bags. And I'm proud that she is a connoisseur, and a proper tea elitist, or should I say tealitist? She has taste anyway.

RIP Julien Poulin

Je suis un brin en retard dans les nouvelles, mais je voulais rendre hommage au comédien Julien Poulin décédé récemment. Pour moi, comme dautres de ma génération, il a d'abord été Elvis Gratton, mais pas que lui. Voici le topo de Rad-Can, qui selon moi a été le meilleur:

Five Guys?

 We went to the cinema recently and found out that there is a Five Guys next to it. Now I have never been to a Five Guys restaurant, but I'm a sucker for a good hamburger and chips, especially the gentrified takes on McDonald's. And I have heard good things about it. So anyway, we did not really have the time to go there and we are trying to detox from all the rich holiday food anyway, but I think we might make a trip there at some point to spoil ourselves. I was wondering if any of my readers have been to a Five Guys and what they think of the food and the experience.

Le 7 janvier (une observation)

 C'est aujourd'hui le retour à l'école pour petit loup, qui a eu droit à un jour de vacances de plus que nous, le chanceux. Nous sommes aussi, incidemment, le 7 janvier, comme dans la chanson de Beau Dommage (vous savez laquelle) et comme, lorsque j'étais enfant, l'école recommençait (enfin, selon mes souvenirs). C'est une coïncidence, sans doute, mais je trouve que c'est assez d'adon que mon fils recommence l'école le jour même où son père et ses grand-parents la recommençaient. C'est une belle continuité.

Back. To. Work.

 I'm back at work today. First Monday of January, first day of a full week of work, and I must confess, I am already dreading it. Not the right attitude I know, but I will tell you a secret: I am a little bit fed up with work and have been for a few months. Nothing to do with my employer, it's the best I've had in years, and I love my colleagues, but I'm just not so happy anymore about the job itself. Maybe this year, or at least this month, will be better, however I am still dreading it. I'm really glad I am working from home, because I would really hate to commute on a daily basis right now.

Galette des rois

 C'est aujourd'hui l'Épiphanie, ou les Rois, comme on le disait dans mon enfance. En théorie le dernier jour des Fêtes, même si de nos jours, les Fêtes sont déjà terminées. Ce sera donc sans doute le dernier billet de "Noël" pour environ un an. Cela dit, même si je ne fête plus l'Épiphanie, j'en ai encore de bons souvenirs, surtout de la galette des Rois. La dernière fois que j'en ai mangé, c'était à Montréal, avec une galette de Première Moisson. Cela dit, j'ai trouvé un article en ligne sur les meilleurs endroit pour acheter une galette des Rois à Montréal. Si seulement je pouvais les essayer.

(Pale) Amber Warning

 I blogged yesterday about the snow that was meant to fall on our part of the world. We even had an Amber Warning, so it was supposed to be pretty serious snow falls, enough to disturb traffic and traveling. Well, snow did fall in the night, but it was melting snow and it was mostly gone by the morning. Maybe it's for the best, as this country does not cope well with snow. And I mean: not at all. All the same, I am disappointed. I needed, wanted a proper snow day. It's not going to happen. The Amber Warning was a pale one.

Les dernières heures...

 Nous sommes le soir déjà, le premier dimanche de janvier et donc la dernière journée de mes vacances. La dernière journée qui se termine. Donc, j'ai la mélancolie de fin de vacances, la mélancolie du dimanche et la mélancolie du dimanche soir. C'est tout à la fois long, lent et précipité. L'horreur, l'horreur.

Winter Tea?

Not everything that is seasonal is actually enjoyable. I found it the hard way recently. We went to a local café, which I will not name, as I generally like their products. There was a seasonal food and drink menu. And one of the special drinks they had was a winter tea. Black tea with cinnamon, cloves and some other stuff. I thought I'd try it. This is what I got. Hot water with a cinnamon stick, some root stuff (ginger I think?), a slice of orange or other and cloves that I had to spit back every time I was taking a sip. Oh and there was some tea in it. Seriously, this was one of the most underwhelming tea drinking experience I ever had.

Feu de foyer (2)

 Photo envoyée par mon père. Je partage ici parce que. Il fait froid ces temps-ci et j'aimerais pouvoir profiter d'un feu de foyer.

Snow Alert?

Well, it's arriving about two weeks too late, however I will happily take it if it happens: there is a snow and ice alert for this weekend as I am typing this. The snow might even be there when you read this post. I say might, because I am always skeptical when it comes to snow forecasts in this country, especially here in the South. It rarely if ever happens, even though every year they say it will be cold and snowy at some point. Even though this year, it's an amber warning, so more serious. We are meant to stay in all day and avoid traveling. If it does snow, watch this space, because I will post pictures.

Question existentielle (392)

 Les Fêtes se terminent, de facto elles sont terminées ici, officiellement on attendaux Rois, mais quand même. Une question existentielle musicale m'est venue en tête:

-Quelles sont les chansons et les pièces de musique hivernales qui ne sont pas, directement ou indirectement, à propos de Noël?

Non sérieux, ce n'est pas si évident d'en trouver.

Spy Meeting at the Compleat Angler

 Today marks a special kind of anniversary, which I mention it every year as a sort of tradition. January is kind of an uneventful month, so this is a good excuse as any to give it a bit of atmosphere and mystery. Anyway, he following quote is from a letter you can read in John Le Carré's Call for the Dead and is addressed to George Smiley. It is dated on the 3rd of January:

"Dear George, 

    It is essential that I lunch with you tomorrow at The Compleat Angler at Marlow. Please do your best to meet me there at one o'clock. There is something I have to tell you.

Yours,

Samuel Fennan" 

I have been a few times to The Compleat Angler in the past, as we live fairly close to Marlow. I don't think I can be there tomorrow, but I so wish to make a pilgrimage of sorts there on that very date, at one o'clock sharp. I'm sure nobody else would think of doing this. But maybe, just maybe, there might be spies around.

Feu de foyer

Mon père m'a envoyé des photos du feu de foyer qu'ils ont fait le Jour de l'An. Une belle manière de commencer l'année.

Greenwich

 I recently made an observation about the new year. In fact, it is an observation I keep making every time we celebrate it in the UK, which is now pretty much my reality: living in England, we enter the new year at the same time as the Greenwich meridian. Which is of course historically THE standard prime time, THE staple to calculate time, so to speak. In a way, England is the center of the world when it comes to count time. It is purely anecdotal, but it always comes to my mind round the new year.

Casse-tête des Fêtes

Bon, petit billet pour simplement dire que mes parents ont terminé le casse-tête de Noël. C'est une nouvelle tradition familiale, ils en font un à chaque année. Celui-ci était paraît-il très difficile.

Bookshop(s) this January

 This imae is from Books Are My Bag. I share it here for two reasons: 1)I find it very cute, with the cat and all. And 2)I want people to remember to bookshop this January. In local bookshops. Make it one of your new year's resolutions. Oh, and another resolution of mine: I must read more books this year.

Nouvelle Galette des Rois

 Photo prise sur la page Facebook de Première Moisson. Une annonce en ce qui concerne les Rois, justement, qui va mettre fin officiellement aux Fêtes: Pemière Moisson a une galette framboises-pistaches. Si le coeur vous en dit...

For Auld Lang Syne...

Happy New year everyone! I am starting it with u Auld Lang Syne, as it is a tradition here in the UK and elsewhere.

Mafalda et la nouvelle année (siempre!)

Tout d'abord, bonne année à tous les lecteurs et toutes mes lectrices! Ensuite, afin de commencer l'année du bon pied, je partage un gag pris de la page Facebook officielle de Mafalda il y a quelques jours. Mafalda a souvent des pensées pertinentes pour le nouvel an, celle-ci est sans doute ma préférée. Et j'avoue que j'ai peu d'espoir pour 2025 en ce qui concerne la bonté des gens.