Poppies in Wallingford

Today is Remembrance Day. I commemorate with a picture I took recently in Wallingford. They had figures like this of soldiers with a poppy at the breast. Simple, beautiful and touching.

Poppies at the Gate

 Today is Remembrance Day. To commemorate, I am sharing a picture of the poppies on the fence at the entrance of the biggest local park. Every november they put it by the gate of the park, since at least 2020. This picture dates back from 2021, as we haven't been to the park in a long while. But anyway, I thought it was the proper way to commemorate the 11th of November.

La guerre de 14-18

Parce que nous sommes le 11 novembre, Jour du Souvenir, je partage blogue La guerre de 14-18 de Georges Brassens. Je l'ai déjà fait en 2015, mais bon... Je crois que je peux me le permettre à nouveau.

La tasse des coquelicots

Ma femme a reçu en cadeau de fête de ses parents l'année dernière cette tasse artisanale en céramique, avec des coquelicots dessus. Et avec un sous-verre (sous-tasse?) assorti. C'est une tasse parfaite pour le Jour du Souvenir. Elle l'utilise rarement d'ailleurs, sauf au mois de novembre, notamment à cause des coquelicots, mais aussi parce qu'elle est assez imposante et qu'elle ne peut pas juste placer ça dans un coin étroit. On ne veut pas la perdre comme on en a perdu tant, c'est une tasse des grands jours.

The 11th Hour

I left the blog about Remembrance Day to the eleventh hour, when the Armistice was signed. I was idle and I procrastinated, however to my defense I would say that this is a fitting time for this post. And to commemorate, I share this picture taken from the Facebook page of the British Museum. They shared it today to commemorate Remembrance Day. It was made back in 1779by British artist Mary Delany (I know nothing about her). I have more poppies to share, but these ones will do for now.

Poppies without needles

 I went to buy poppies a few days afo, as soon it will be Remembrance Day. You may know that I have an issue with poppies, or more precisely the pin used to hold them. But this year, I did not go for the traditional paper poppies, even though I am a traditionalist at heart. I went for two that can be pinned and one that can be hooked on a coat's zipper or something like that. It is much safer, especially for someone with hands full of thumbs like myself. So I can finally wear the darn thing.

"Lest we forget"

Today is Remembrance Day. So I am sharing a picture of the gates of our local park, covered with poppies. "Lest we forget." I will not say more. I don't think it is necessary.

Gate of poppies

 We had a walk recently and we visited the biggest (and nicest) park of our town. This time of year, its gate is always covered with poppies, which I find really cute. They are crocheted or knitted and they look lovely. They give colour to dreary days. And it is a reminder (if one needed reminding) that Remembrance Day is imminent.

Purple Poppies

I mentioned yesterday that we took a walk in the local park, where the fences have been covered by poppies. Red poppies and blue poppies. Being a bit short on time when I wrote the post and horribly lazy, I published the picture of the wall of poppies without checking what the blue poppies meant. Rachel Lucas (AKA Mozart's Girl) commented that the blue poppies are to commemorate the work and sacrifice of the serving animals in wartime. A very kind and thoughtful gesture, as animals have been used and are still used at war and have been the victims of wars. My wife also told me that I should have asked her before posting, because she knew already. Anyway, I managed to do a bit of research after publishing the post and it appears that the colour is not blue but actually purple, it is a purple poppy. For more information on the various remembrance poppies seen on Remembrance Day and their significance, please read this article from the BBC. And I hope you will all commemorate today.

A wall of poppies

There are poppies everywhere these days, which put some crimson colours in November and it is quite pretty. We went to a walk this weekend to a local park, and its fences had been covered by poppies, mostly red, but one row of blue ones (I am sure it means something, but can't be bothered to look it up right this minute. This small English town, like many English towns, take Remembrance Day very seriously.

Mademoiselle from Armentières

Today is Remembrance Day and I wanted to commemorate it here on the blog, not knowing exactly how. I have done so in the past, pretty much every year, and I have said pretty much all I could say. Then it struck me that since I watched the documentary They Shall Not Grow Old, there is a song that is sung in the closing credits and that I now associate a lot with World War 1 and army life (which I know nothing about). It is of course Mademoiselle from Armentières. It is a raunchy song, but it also shows a certain camaraderie in war and a certain fondness about army life that is quite heartwarming. It is, in any case, a very catchy tune.

100 years of World War I

As you most likely all know (or I sure hope so), today is the 11th of November, thus Remembrance Day and it is also the 100th year anniversary of the end of World War I. That day of the year when I struggle to keep a poppy on, to reduce something very solemn to something very trivial. To commemorate this very important anniversary, I have decided to upload with this post this poppy made by my wife and my son in his art class recently. A large paper poppy on display in the house in a pot, it is far better than wearing it and losing it due to my ineptitude to use a pin. Anyway, this is my way of commemorating. For a thoughtful post about war and the sacrifices of men and women who fought in it, please read this post from 2008. As for WWI itself, I have little to say about it that is really profound and I don't like spouting commonplaces if I can avoid it. I will just say here that it was meant to be the last.

Les coquelicots

Ce sera bientôt le Jour du Souvenir, ce qui veut direqu'on verra des coquelicots partout, pour marquer la fin de la Première guerre mondiale, qui aura cent ans cette année. Dans la classe d'art plastique de petit loup, on a d'ailleurs fait des coquelicots pour le 11 novembre, notamment comme ça, avec une roche. Je dois dire que je trouve ça assez mignon et j'ai donc décidé de partager la photo de son oeuvre sur le blogue ce soir.

The Day of the Pin

It was Remembrance Day today, which means making sure one has a poppy on display. I have issues with poppies, or rather with the needle: I cannot keep the darn thing on. I blogged about it back in 2014. So in many ways, it becomes for me the Day of the Pin, where I try to fix it on my jumper or coat, prickle myself and lose the darn poppy. Then I buy another one, until I lose it, then another one, and so on and so forth. Today, my wife and I discovered that we had forgotten to buy one, we quickly did at the earliest occasion. But I decided against taking pins with them. We have a very young child who puts everything in his mouth after all, and I'd rather be careful. And that was an excuse not to be forced to fix it on. Now all I need to do is find a way to put the poppy on display without the pin. Any suggestions?

La Guerre de 14-18

Nous sommes le Jour du Souvenir. Afin de le souligner, je mets ici sur ce blogue La guerre de 14-18 de Georges Brassens. Parce que j'en ai un peu assez parfois des élans de patriotisme intempestif et que, même si je ne suis pas un pacifiste (loin de là), je trouve que certaines chansons, comme celle-ci, disent la guerre sans hypocrisie, avec juste ce qu'il faut d'humour noir et d'ironie.

Un mardi comme un autre

C'était le Jour du Souvenir aujourd'hui. On le commémore beaucoup ici, enfin surtout le dimanche. À la onzième heure, j'étais au travail comme d'habitude et je n'ai même pas songé à la minute de silence, même si j'avais le droit de l'observer. Et je n'ai même pas porté de coquelicot (parce que). Alors voilà, c'était un mardi comme un autre. Même si nous sommes le centième anniversaire de la Première guerre mondiale. J'ai un peu honte de dire que c'était un mardi comme un autre.

The poppy and the needle

This is a trivial post about a non trivial subject. For something more thoughtful, you might want to read this post from 2008. Today is/was Remembrance Day. It is actually Remembrance Sunday, as it is Sunday. And like most years, while I had a poppy, I did not wear it. I know I should, but at some point something happens and I lose it or it drops or out of frustration I stop wearing it. It is very simple really: it is all the needle's fault. Every year, I buy a poppy, sometimes more as I lose the first one, then I struggle to put it on. I am rubbish with that darn needle: it does not hold the paper poppy very well, or at all, then it does not stay on me anyway. So the needle ends up prickling my skin and letting the red flower go. They should invent something else to hold it, some pegs or something of the sort. So my respect towards the sacrifices of a dead generation is thwarted by a stupid needle and my own clumsiness.

Le temps mort de novembre

On sera le Jour du Souvenir demain. Dans moins d'une heure en fait. Ca m'est venu à l'esprit: je porte un coquelicot pour les circonstances. Au Québec, je ne le soulignais même pas, à croire que c'est un truc que j'ai adopté, ou dont j'ai été imprégné ici. À part cela, c'est le calme plat. Ce qui m'a fait penser: novembre, c'est aussi un peu beaucoup monotone. Il ne s'y passe pas grand-chose. Même ses fêtes sont plus souvent qu'autrement austères. C'est un mois de temps mort. Suis-je le seul à le penser?

I almost forgot Remembrance Day

It was Remembrance Day yesterday, I thought about it during the day at some moment, but it was in the back of my mind and I didn't blog about it. I blogged about oysters, a most profane subject. Last week I bought a poppy, lost it, bought another one, lost it. I will need to buy another one. I find it difficult to remember Remembrance Day, as I never grew up observing it. Maybe it is because I never been in a war and what I know of war is through the TV screen. But now that I have a number of friends in the army, I try to at least remember it. And until tomorrow, I will buy poppies again.

De la guerre et des loisirs

C'est le Jour du Souvenir aujourd'hui. J'ai presque tendance à l'oublier. La température est de circonstances, grise à souhait. Je dis des clichés. J'ai souligné le jour l'année dernière avec un billet sur l'esthétique de la guerre. Je me demandais s'il y avait un plaisir esthétique à la guerre, citant Apollinaire. Récemment, un ami que j'ai dans l'armée a écrit sur facebook qu'il s'ennuyait à attendre son départ pour l'Afghanistan et en avait un peu assez de jouer sur son Wii. Il semblerait qu'à défaut d'être jolie, la guerre peut à tout le moins être une forme de loisir. Loisir dangereux, mais loisir quand même.