Oat Milk in Tea?

For a few months now, my wife has switched from milk to, well, oat milk and various vegan alternatives. But it is mostly oat milk. Not so much for ethical reasons as because it's meant to be healthier. Now, she does not drink milk by itself anyway, but she pours oat milk in her coffee and in her cereals. You know how I feel about milk substitutes. Read this post for more details. Well anyway, I noticed something on one of the oat milk bottles sh bought. The brand is Oatly, if you are curious. Something that shocked me and left me speechless. On one of its sides, it says: "It works in tea". And no. Just no. Hell no. This is a lie. Oat milk does NOT work in tea. Real, proper milk does not work in tea. Tea and milk don't work together. Tea stands on its own. Milk, or any milk substitute, poured in tea, is barbaric.

Tempête de neige

Il a neigé sur le Québec récemment et mon père m'a envoyé des photos... Ici, il tombe un centimètre de neige et tout ferme. Mais ça, c'est un blizzard en bonne et dûe forme.

The Sad Ghost Club

Sometimes, I find useful books in the local library, books I wouldn't buy otherwise, but they come in handy at a certian point. So yeah, during our last visit, I stumbled upon The Sad Ghost Club (subtitled: A Hopeful Guide to Getting Through Bad Days) and I had to borrow it. Don' worry about me: I'm not depressed or anything like that. It's just that my job has been rough as of recently, I have been going through a lot of bad days, I know there will be more, and I thought I needed something to help me keep my head above water and focus on the good things that I have. I have been in worse situations, job wise, but I don't want to have the feeling of dread I used to have a few years ago, so I am using this guide. It's quite cute, full of of good, simple advices to follow. And sad ghosts. I'm good with melancholy, I even thrive through it. However, I don't like gloom and doom.

Gâteau

Samedi dernier, ma femme était allée voir une amie dans la journée, alors petit loup et moi on a décidé de faire un gâteau avec les restants de sucre, de farine et d'oeufs qui étaient sur le bord de passer date. Des fois, rien que pour le plaisir et rien que pour manger un dessert maison, je fais du gâteau, que j'improvise tout le temps un peu. Avec petit loup, l'impondérable c'est souvent le sucre: il y met tout ce qui reste. Il n'y a que le glaçage qui est préfait (Betty Crocker, je crois). Sinon le gâteau lui même est à la vanille. Enfin bref, je suis assez fier du résultat.

A Railway Themed Birthday?

My birthday is only in April, but I know for a fact that my wife and Wolfie are already preparing for it and have already bought at least one present. So I thought it is not too early to start planning for it and giving some presents suggestions. Which should not be too difficult. I learned on the Facebook page  of the National Railway Museum in York that they have lots of new (and old) nice things in their the online shop. Last Christmas, I got spoiled by my wife who got loads of cool things from there, I think this might be the case this time too. This First-Class Seat Retro Cushion would be quite handy. But maybe we could be even more daring and take a quick holiday to York and make a day trip to the NRM to celebrate. Okay, so anything train related is not Veggie Carrie's idea of a good time, but she is outnumbered and she would love to get out of the house in any case. Or I can just stick to railway memorabilia for presents.

Presque la Relâche

C'est la semaine de Relâche cette semaine pour petit loup. Mais pas pour moi. Il est avec ses grand-parents maternels et je m'ennuie déjà. Je n'ai pas eu de vraie semaine de Relâche depuis que je ne travaille plus dans le merveilleux monde de l'éducation. Cela dit, comme je n'ai pas besoin de préparer mon fils pour aller à l'école, j'ai presque une semaine de congé. Je dis presque: je peux me lever plus tard le matin avant de travailler. Les avantages d'avoir une job qui me permet encore de travailler de la maison. J'ai pas mal eu toute ma vie adulte des presque Relâches: à l'université je devais souvent terminer mes travaux, au cégep ma semaine de Relâche ne tombait jamais en même temps que les autres. C'est encore un peu le cas aujourd'hui, j'imagine.

Two guys and a gal

You may remember, a month ago or so I blogged about Five Guys. I have been curious about the one we have nearby and last time we went to the cinema we pondered about going there for lunch. In the end we didn't, mostly because there is little if anything that is vegetarian, so my wife cannot really eat anything there. Not that she like fastfood all that much to begin with. But Wolfie was quite curious about it. My wife explained the conundrum in these terms: "The problem with Five Guys and us is that this family is made of two guys and a gal and the gal is vegetarian." Which I found very funny and deserving to be a new great unknown line. Wolfie and I share a lot of things, but he got his wits from his mother's side.

Cymbidium (2)

 Encore une photo des orchidées de mon père...

The 87th Precinct, in order

I blogged about a month ago about my wish to continue reading Ed McBain's 87th Precinct series, which I haven't done in a long while. Even though my TBR list is quite long. Be that as it may, I thought it would be nice to read more McBain, especially since it has been a long time and the books tend to be quick reads anyway. And it struck me: I should read them (as much as possible) in chronological order. Something I haven't really done so far. So it means my next entry would be The Mugger, the second novel of the series, as I already read the first one. So I am very tempted to buy it. And if my wife thinks it's too many books, I can give it to her mother once I am done with it, as it is a sort of family tradition to read McBain.

Cymbidium

Mon père m'a envoyé des photos de son cymbidium en fleurs. Il cultive les orchidées et il en est très fier.

Amadeus for Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day everyone. As it is sometimes a tradition on Vraie Fiction, I celebrate by sharing some love songs and I usually go for classical with Mozart. Because nothing ever put love in music as well as he did, whether it was its ideal and idealised aspects or its more problematic ones. So yeah, here is one love duet that is also a duet of deceit and unrequited infatuation, with Miah Persson and Gerald Finley. This is taken from Le Nozze di Figaro. For those who do not understand Italian, there are subtitles.

Dites-le avec un chocolat chaud

Tout d'abord: joyeuse Saint-Valentin à tous. Cette photo a été prise de la page Facebook de Première Moisson: un chocolat chaud choco-framboises. Vendu bien entendu pour la St-Valentin. Ils offrent vraiment des belles affaires pour la journée. Ma femme est une chocolique avouée et je trouve qu'ici le choix pour la Saint-Valentin n'est pas vargeux. Il faudrait vraiment que je célèbre à Montréal un jour.

Preparing Saint Patrick's Day

 I took this picture last time we went to Marlow. One of their high street's pubs, the Duke of Clarence, was already advertising for Saint Patrick's Day. Now that's a pub after my own heart! Preparing for Saint Paddy's more than a month in advance. And it looks like they are starting the celebrations with a brunch, so they will start drinking before noon. How perfectly Irish. I am not sure if I will be around there come the time, but short of a typical Irish pub (how I miss the one we used to have), this might be the next best thing. Time to start planning, anyway.

Se pourvoir en cidre

J'ai pris cette photo l'an dernier dans un centre de jardinage. Il y avait pleins de trucs intéressants, franchement je préfère aller dans les "gardens centres" anglais que dans des centres d'achat pour me pourvoir en quoi que ce soit. En alcools aussi, bien entendu. Toujours est-il que mon bar est pas mal aride ces temps-ci, pour ne pas dire à sec (ou presque). Je corrige ça dans les plus brefs délais: j'ai déjà commandé de la bière et je compte m'acheter du vin en fin de semaine. Mais j'y pensais et je me suis dit que ce serait bien de m'acheter quelques bouteilles de cidre quand j'en aurai l'occasion, histoire de varier un peu. Et puis le cidre est un des rares alcools que ma femme aime bien.

Arctic Explorer Ship (Lego)

There is one of Wolfie's Christmas presents he received last year which I have been wanting to blog about for a while: this Lego Arctic Explorer Ship.  We didn't get nice toys like these when I was a child, not even Lego toys. I mean it has everything in it: action figures of various professions, a Viking sunken ship, a helicopter, a crane, a little robotic submarine and a killer whale. It can even float on water, like a real ship. It's maybe the best Lego set we ever had (well, as a family, I mean, I know it's not mine) and it really stimulates imagination. But what got me happy about it, more than anything else, is that Wolfie finished it in two days, all by himself. Except for the string on the crane, which mummy helped setting up (because you have to put the string in a tiny hole). But otherwise, it is all my son's natural engineering skills and patience. Two things I am utterly devoided of. I am a very proud father.

Guille siempre!

 Je ne crois pas avoir partagé ce gag, pris de la page Facebook officielle de Mafalda. Son petit frère est mon personnage préféré de toute la série. Enfin, en Argentine et dans tout l'hémisphère sud, c'est l'été et les vacances, voici donc un gag bien estival. J'adore l'attitude de Guille. Il me fait souvent penser à mon fils.

Forever Autumn?

 There are some memes which I find on the internet which capture perfectly my state of mind. Like this one, for instance, which I found recently. Now, for the record, I love winter, but I wouldn't mind to skip summer entirely. I know that's not something common, but there you go. So yeah, why isn't there a place where it is always autumn?

Un renard dans la neige

Je partage encore une fois une des photos des caméras de surveillance sur le lot de mes oncles, envoyées par mon père. Rien que parce que c'est vraiment beau, un renard dans une forêt enneigée. J'en enverrai d'autres dans les prochains jours.

The arsenal in crime fiction

 Okay, so I don't ave a gun fetish, or a weapon fetish, but there is one little thing I like in crime fiction: it's how some weapons reveal something about characters, whether they are good guys or badguys. I love signature weapons in crime fiction. South African crime writer to Deon Meyer is keen on this trope, as I blogged here. He does it again with Leo, when police officers Vaughn Cupido and Bennie Griessel do the inventory of the arsenal of a murder victim, a mercenary with a shady past. I love Cupido's connoisseur appreciation: "Number two, the cute but deadly little Heckler & Koch 416. (...) This time the elegant but deadly G36, in mint condition.(...)the very sexy bad girl of assault rifles, the AR-15. (...) Glock 17. Impeccable taste." It's a least a page of exposition, but Meyer reveals a lot about the victim and Cupido and makes it engaging. I found it really neat storytelling. So yeah, read the book.

Chevreuil ou orignal?

Je partage une photo prise par une des caméras de surveillance sur le lot de mes oncles. Est-ce un chevreuil ou un original? Quelqu'un qui s'y connaît parmi mes lecteurs? Je crois que c'est un orignal, parce qu'il semble un peu gros pour un chevreuil, mais je peux me tromper.

A fox in the snow

My father sent me pictures from the surveillance cameras on my uncle's allotment in the forest. There are some really nice snapshots of a fox. I love foxes, especially on a snowy background. Anyway, I am sharing it here, because it's a really nice picture.

Hello Moineau

Billet nostalgique pour ce dimanche,souvenir des fins de semaines de mon enfance. Quelqu'un se rappelle d'Hello Moineau? Une obscure émission pour enfants datant du début des années 80, je l'aimais beaucoup. Elle était amusante et irrévérencieuse, avec une grosse, grosse, grosse dose d'humour absurde. Il y avait une famille, la famille Moineau, autour de laquelle gravitait des animaux anthropomorphiques. Ils combattaient des adversaires aussi bêtes que méchants. J'ai retrouvé les épisodes sur YouTube, quoique je ne sois pas certain que toute la série y soit. Mais bon, on ne boudera pas son plaisir. Suis-je le seul à m'en rappeler?

"Restless pillow"

I think I might start reading Charlotte Brontë. I never did, I only read one book from the Brontë sisters and it wasn't Charlotte's. So yes, I just learned that she once said (or wrote): "A ruffled mind makes a restless pillow". In a nuthsell, this is the very essence of insomnia. She was a wise woman indeed.

La Raisonnable?

J'apprends via la page Facebook de La Voie Maltée qu'ils ont une bière sans alcool, la Raisonnable. Joli nom pour une bière sans alcool, mais j'avoue que les bières sans alcools, je suis encore dubitatif.

Chicago Crime

 I thought about it recently, somethign struck me checking my TBR list: I haven't read a single novel from crime writer Theresa Schwegel since 2008... In fact, I only read one novel of hers, her acclaimed debut novel Officer Down,which I had borrowed in the local library. Whatever happened to her? It seems I cannot find her novels anywhere here. It is a shame, because I really loved her first novel and I had been wanting to read more since. One of the things I loved about it is that it was set in Chicago, a city I don't know well, but which is a perfect setting for crme fiction, due to its history of violence. So I have a new reading objective (another one!): find more of her books.

Faux Cherry Blossom

 Y aurait-il de l'espoir pour les amateurs de Cherry Blossoms? Non, pas parce qu'Hershey a changé d'avis, mais parce qu'une version québécoise de la friandise vient de quintupler ses ventes en trois semaines. Ca s'appelle Berry Blossom, c'est fait avec des atocas au lieu des cerises, mais c'est le même principe. et c'est tant pis pour Hershey s'ils vont perdre au change. Ils avaient juste à ne pas se fourvoyer ainsi en insultant leur clientèle.

Japanese Crime

Every time of year, or almost, is a good time to read crime fiction for me. Except between August and October, when I read horror. Anyway, I recently started reading Three Assassins by Kotaro Isaka. I last year for various reasons, one of them being that I have never read Japanese crime fiction. I am expanding my horizons. So far, so great: it's smart, witty, suitably dark and it has heart too. I should probably add exotic, at least compared to what I am used to in crime fiction. It makes me want to visit Japan one day. In some way, maybe I am already visiting it, through the pages of this novel. In any case, if I carry on enjoying it, I will read more Japanese crime fiction.

Olivieri (In Memoriam)

 Triste nouvelle apprise par hasard et vraiment, mais vraiment en retard: je cherchais des infos sur la librairie Olivieri, je trouve leur page Facebook, j'apprends sur celle-ci que la librairie a fermé ses portes en 2020. Parce que pandémie, bien entendu. J'étais déjà pas très heureux qu'Olivieri ait dû vendre son âme au diable. Maintenant elle n'est plus. La mort d'une librairie, c'est toujours tragique.

Navy Blue Coats (a trend)

 One thing I observed recently during the school run: it seems that about half the boys in Wolfie's school wear a navy blue winter coat. Wolfie has one, brnd new from last year. His friends have one, many of them anyway. And the younger kids at school also have the same kind of coat: navy blue, with faux fur on the hood. It reminds me of the orange coat trend of 2022. I must say, I far prefer Wolfie to wear more colorful clothes, especially on a cloudy day or at night. But this year it's all navy blue. Which is quite elegant, if nothing else. I always loved navy blue clothes, to my wife's great disappointing. She prefers more colourful stuff.

L'outarde

 Je faisais du ménage dans mes photos quand je suis (re)tombé sur une photo de la bernache, aussi appelée outarde, de mes parents. Pas une vraie outarde, bien entendu, mais une outarde en bois. Que j'adore. J'en achèterais bien une pour ici, si on avait de la place.J'aime les outardes, à mes yeux elles annoncent l'automne, alors cette oie me fait penser à ma saison préférée.

Take the Cannoli

 "Leave the gun. Take the cannoli."

You know where this quote comes from. Recently, WOlfie was asked in a homework to try Italian food. Could be anything: pasta, goat cheese, figs, olives, artichokes, etc. There was a list of suggestions, but I decided to be original and I bought two packs of cannoli. Because why the heck not. After all, it was an educational project. I had cannoli in the past, very rarely. Funny how the dessert is now associated with a classic movie.

Substituts

Bon, dans le même ordre d'idées qu'hier, voici une liste de substituts québécois et parfois régionaux aux produits américains qui risquent de devenir prohibitifs.

"Wolfie, my man..."

 My wife went to volunteer at Wolfie's school recently, to help children read. I envy her for having that extra time with him, and in his every day environment. But anyway, the kids were supposed to read a bit of a book, then pass on to the next kid so he would read the next few pages, etc. And whoever read the pages chose who was supposed to read next. So one of Wolfie's friends, when he had read his bit, said: "Now I will pass it on to Wolfie, my man!" I find it cute, and that's it really.

Passé la Chandeleur...

 D'habitude je le mentionne le jour même, mais j'ai négligé de le faire cette année. Enfin bref, c'était la Chandeleur dimanche dernier. On a mangé des crêpes en dessert, petit loup et moi, et il a fait assez froid. Je dis ça à cause du proverbe: "À la Chandeleur, l'hiver passe ou prend vigueur." C'était un peu des deux, alors j'espère qu'il va prendre vigueur pour un mois ou deux. J'aime l'hiver et je n'ai pas trop envie d'avoir du temps trop doux, surtout pas trop tôt. Je sais, je suis bizarre.

Valentine's Day from the Bookshop

 It might be a bit early to think about it, but Valentine's Day will be here soon. During my last trip to the local bookshop, I noticed a fewromcom books on display. I could buy one for my wife, although I know she thinks we already have too many books. That said, I still encourage you to express your love with a book, purchased at your local bookshop.

ALMArique

J'ai trouvé ça sur les réseaux sociaux. J'ai bien ri. La réponse saguenéenne aux tendances hégémoniques d'un certain voisin du Sud. Ou l'SUDE, comme on dit chez nous.

Ciao Caffè Nero

Well, here's some good local news for a change: we learned that there will a Caffè Nero opening soon in the town centre. No, I am not a coffee drinker, but of all the coffee chains in the UK (not counting the independent coffee shops), Caffè Nero might actually be my favourite. I'm not sure why. Because it's pseudo Italian, perhaps? Because I always find something I really like there (see this post)? Also, it's oneof these underdog chains, not nearly as big as Costa or Starbucks. But mainly, I think I like Caffè Nero because I like the look and feel of their places, the general atmosphere. It just feels nice there. Anyway, many cafés have closed down in the near 20 years we have been living here, so I welcome a new one, even from a chain. So it is on our to visit list, whenever it opens and when there aren't too many customer cramming it.

Pâté à la truite

 Mes parents ont fait du pâté à la truite il y a quelques jours. J'aime le poisson en général, la truite en particulier. J'adore le pâté à la truite, même si je trouve que c'est peut-être un repas pour du temps plus doux. Dans mon souvenir, c'est surtout quelque chose que je mange au printemps ou vers la fin de l'été. Je n'ai pas mangé de truite depuis quelques années déjà, sauf en terrine, pour le pâté à la truite, ça doit bien faire vingt ans. Mais enfin bref, c'est bon en tab.

Aquila and Sherlock

I said it before and I will say it again: Wolfie receives the best mail. A few days ago, he got the latest edition of Aquila Magazine, the magazine with "big ideas for inquisitive kids". So yeah, the February issue is all about forensics, crime investigation and, well, crime fiction, with  Sherlock Holmes on the cover (because well of course). I need to teach him about Sherlock Holmes, by the way, he barey knows him. But anyway, it has lots of fun stuff and it's a pleasure to read together.

Pain aux trois chocolats

Petite nouvelle bouffe et amoureuse sur la page Facebook de Première Moisson: ils ont un pain aux trois chocolats pour février et la St-Valentin. C'est décadent en tab...

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.