Shiny Gems

A few weeks ago, Wolfie and I went to the local toy shop. Not to buy anything, just to see what there was available, see if we could find as a present idea for the next birthday, or just the next special celebration. Every time we stop, I get a few pictures, as a reminder for the future. And this is one of the things that caught Wolfie's attention: a bag of "shiny gems". I can see rubies, emeralds, sapphires, and diamonds. All in plastic. They'd make for great MacGuffins in some of our games, especially our Secret War Game. And for props at D&Dr. But the nicest thing about these shiny gems is that, unlike real ones, they're quite cheap.

Precious Stones

Something the simplest and most primitive things can make a little boy happy, when he is inquisitive. Since he received this issue of Aquila, and maybe before that, Wolfie has been fascinated by rocks. Gems especially: diamonds, emeralds, rubies, etc. But also semi-precious stones, such as jade, and other stones of lesser value, like quartz. Anyway, we visited a friend on Easter. She had chocolates for Wolfie, but also gave him a bag full of crystals. She is a bit into New Age, so she has loads of crystals she keeps in a drawer and plenty to spare. So Wolfie is now the happy owner of a loot of crystals. He was more grateful towards these stones than the chocolates he received, and that's saying something. In fact, he finds the stones more interesting than many of his toys.

Playing with Trains

 I found this old fashioned engine driver hat in the online shop of the National Railway Museum in York. You may remember that I have been wanting to have a railway themed birthday. I have been wondering if I should not add this hat to the present wishlist, even though it's a children item. I guess Wolfie would wear it. But now, at leas half the presents I receive are truly for my son's enjoyment as well. And I love to have train themed games with him. And yes, I am living another childhood thanks to Wolfie. But playing with trains never gets old.

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.

Brio's Haunted Train Station

I blogged before about Brio's  a Spooky Train Station. Well, I bought it for Wolfie's last birthday. My wife said I really bought it for myself, but it's not true. I mean not really: I truly, genuinely thought Wolfie would love it. And he does. He has his first Brio toy about five years ago, but he hasn't stopped playing with them since, although he plays less often.

All the same: he loved the Spooky Train Station, even though we don't, I mean he doesn't have the train that goes with it and has it doing spooky noises. My mistake, I should have thought about it. It's still fun and he made a display in the living room. I particularly like the ghost conductor. I thought he was a zombie at first, but he really looks like a ghost and a Gothic one at that. But a friendly ghost, most definitely. I love the mix of old fashioned horror and railway, as it is a staple of modernity and technology meeting the supernatural. Trains and train sations make for great settings for horror stories. Anyway, Wolfie wants to play with his set, however he said that once Halloween is over, this is it: the train station and its ghost will not show up until the next countdown to Halloween.

Wolfie's New Grey Hoodie

My mum bought a grey hoodie for Wolfie's birthday. She gave it to him in advance, when she last saw him. Well, I say my mum, it was both my parents, but buying clothes as presents is kind of my mum's thing. Anyway, Wolfie loved it right away. I was kind of surprised, as it isn't colourful. But it's apparently very comfy. Wolfie has been wearing it almost ever since and it has already been yogurted. It reminds me of a wooly grey jacket I received as a present from my godmother when I was five or six, maybe even younger. I disliked it at first, it was just a boring grey thing that felt scratchy on the skin. Then as soon as the first cold autumn days were coming, I was wearing it and it became one of my favourite piece of clothes. It was just comfortable and comforting. Maybe that's why Wolfie loves it so much. I feel a pang of sadness when I see him wearing it: I outgrew my wooly jacket, I know he will outgrew this one and way too quickly.

Jólabókaflóð

I know about this before and I know we are not Christmas Eve yet, where it happens. But I did want remind you all of this Icelandic Christmas tradition of giving books on Christmas eve. I don't celebrate it, ironically enough, for a simple reason: I have enough books to read at the moment! Like a lot. Not to mention those to reread. I intend to do this until Christmas, between  all the preparations. And you, do you celebrate Jólabókaflóð? If so, please comment below. Maybe I have some Icelandic readers, who knows.

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.

Le Polar de l'Avent (chapitre de quête)

J'ai blogué par le passé sur ce roman publié par Série Noire. Le polar de l'Avent, donc lecture parfaite pour ce temps-ci de l'année. Je ne l'ai vu qu'une seule fois à Olivieri et j'ai commis l'erreur de ne pas l'acheter. Je ne l'ai toujours pas et donc je ne commencerai pas à le lire cette année, ça ira à l'an prochain au plus tôt. Cela dit, j'ai fait quelques progrès dans ma quête. les Rois Mages ont suivi l'étoile, moi je google. Enfin bref, je sais qu'il y en a au moins une copie sur Amazon.ca et quelques unes usagées sur amazon.uk. Je vais voir si je veux prendre le risque d'en acheter un de seconde main. Si cela était, je le lirais pour l'Avent 2023. Enfin rbef, je crois que ma quête touche peut-être bien à sa fin.

Brio's Spooky Train Station

For today's countdown to Halloween post, a toy I wish I had bought me... errr, I mean, for Wolfie. Anyway, you know our son loves train sets, especially Brio designs. My wife found a few weeks ago that they sold a Spooky Train Station, with a zombie action figure (they say ghostly conductor, but I think he looks like a zombie, albeit a more gothic one), ghostly sounds and all. We didn't buy it, for some reason, but I have been kicking myself since then. It could become a new Halloween tradition for next year. I keep thinking trains and train stations are pefect settings for horror stories. We could create our own spooky stories, we'd have our inspiration and prop.

45

I'm 45 today. Half my way through my forties. Time runs so fast. Okay, so enough of clichés, commonplaces and banalities, but it does feel like time is slipping through my fingers. Thankfully, I have a little boy who makes everything worth it, even getting old(er). As an adult, I enjoyed my birthday less and less, until he came into my life. Now, he is an enthusiastic party organiser and party guest, getting excited about everything regarding today's celebrations. Most of the presents I will receive I am sure, are going to be enjoyed by the two of us equally, and it is all right like this. I said it often before and I will say it again here: being the father of a boy gives you a second childhood. And I am grateful for it.

Un chocolat chaud, avec le sourire

Ma femme s'est acheté une machine à café avec l'argent que lui ont donné mes parents pour sa fête. Cette machine peut aussi faire des chocolats chauds. Je lui ai également acheté en cadeau à Noël des trucs pour faire des motifs avec du cacao saupoudré sur la tasse. Quand petit loup a vu ça, il a voulu boire sa tasse de chocolat chaud avec un motif dessus. C'est ce que ça a donné. Pas mal, pour une première fois. Ce qui est bien, c'est que la machine à café sert maintenant deux membres de cette famille.

First coffee

No, no, I haven't changed my mind. I still hate, hate, hate coffee. But yesterday was a special day all the same for the one coffee lover in this household: my wife. She tried for the very first time the coffee machine she bought with the oney my parents had given as a present. She did a simple latte, nothing too fancy or elaborate, but she did it like a pro. I guess I will have to learn to be a barista too, so I can prepare coffee for her. As long as I don't have to drink it.

First ever Christmas present from Wolfie

A few weeks ago, at his school's Christmas fair, Wolfie bought me his very first Christmas present. There was a section with gifts for daddies and mummies, where a teacher would help children choose something they would then wrap. So Wolfie got me this book: True History of the Kelly Gang by Peter Carey. I know nothing of the Kelly Gang, but just by the cover I can tell it is going to be a great read, the kind of stuff I would have bought for myself had I seen it in a bookshop or a thrift sales. I am amazed at how well my son knows me: just a look at the cover and he knew that was a good gift for daddy. Of course this is the best Christmas present this year, bare none.

Jólabókaflóð

I blogged about it last year. I made it a word of the day then, I will do the same now. So Jólabókaflóð is an Icelandic term meaning "Christmas Book Flood" and it is the word given to their tradition of giving book on Christmas Eve and spending the rest of the night reading it. I think it is a great tradition which I haven't quite done as of yet, except for the reading book part. This is how I spend myfree time waiting for Christmas to arrive. 'Tis the season to be reading, after all.

All I Want for Christmas is a Book (or Twelve)

I found this online and thought it was very funny and very "me", so I decided to share it here. It is both funny and kind of deep at the same time, if you think about it. Also, my wife has been struggling to find me presents recently, so this might come as a sort of source of inspiration, but it can also be useful to you if you are wondering what to buy to your loved ones. Or how to explain to them in an easy to follow graphic what present you want.

Minnie Mouse and Brio train

It was the birthday of my wife recently, which is always a bit of a challenge for me. Because it is fairly difficult to find presents for my wife. But I got pretty inspired for one of them. As anyone with young children knows, the birthday of a parent is truly all about their kids. So I found out that Brio was selling a Minnie Mouse figure with a pink steam engine. I bought it so she could play with Wolfie and his rather impressive Brio train set. I'm quite proud of my discovery. My wife loves pink and everything Disney. And she will feel less out of her depth when Wolfie spends ages showing her his elaborate railroads.

A Railway Book

My readers know my love for National Railway Museum of York. It is literally my favourite museum ever. I want to go back there with Wolfie as soon as possible. Anyway, I saw on their Facebook page that they are selling a book in their online shop: Railways: A History in Drawings. It looks gorgeous. At £50.00, it is not cheap, but Wolfie's birthday is coming soon and I was tempted to buy it as a present. Then again I thought it was probably for much older kids, kids in their forties like myself. So I will not buy it, but I might ask for it on my own birthday.

Le cadeau de Wolfie

Je reviens encore une fois sur ma fête, même si elle date un peu, parce que je voulais montrer lecadeau que Wolfie m'a donné. En fait, il l'a même fabriqué lui-même, de ses propres Duplos. Les Duplos sont des Legos, mais pourles moins de cinq ans ou quatre ans, enfin pour les moins de l'âge requis pour jouer aux Legos. Il a des Duplos neufs et des Duplos de seconde main, achetés dans des marchés aux puces et des ventes de charité, ainsi que données par des amis et de la famille. Enfin bref, il a fait ceci, un petit bonhomme qui tient des ballons sur un piédestal. J'ai trouvé ça très mignon et je l'ai mis sur mon bureau.

A birthday wish from Malcolm McDowell

I come back on my birthday, which was a week and a half ago already. My brother PJ got me a very special birthday present: a birthday wish told by actor Malcolm McDowell. If you don't know who he is, he playedthe Alex DeLarge in A Clockwork Orange. Incidentally my favourite movie. My bro managed to do this through Cameo, which provides the services of celebrities or semi-celebrities for birthday and special celebration wishes. I won't get into details of what he said, but he was very funny. It is kind of strange to think he knows I exist (although he'll have forgotten before long I'm sure) and to hear him speaking of his iconic role to me. Anyway, that was one of the most original birthday presents I ever had.