Canards de bois

J'ai déjà je crois partagé cette photo il y a dix ans, mais je suis retombé dessus hier. Les canards de bois de notre foyer.

Railway "Action" Figures

 Every Christmas at home, since I am a child, we have the LGB model train at the foot of the Christmas tree. We have been having it for more than thirty years. We also have from early on LGB train figures. This is the very first set we've had: the 5045 one. It consists of a mechanic, a hot dog/burher salesman, a waiter and a signalman (I thinik?). When Iw as a child, the waiter was my favourite figure, for some reason. These people lived many adventures on the railway, fighting villains and spies, going from place to place, they really are adventurers as much as railway or train staff. We still play with them from time to time. Sadly, we lost the waiter and we cannot find him anymore. If I can find an affordable one second hand, I might buy a new waiter one day.

Christmas Daze

Quick blog post to wish you all a merry Christmas! I am celebrating at home with my family, feeling very much like in a daze: I am spending the 25th as I did as a child and a teenager, playing with the model train, reading by the Christmas tree. The whole family is here, this is three generations now that contributed to this Christmas and the village at its base. Grandparents, parents, our children. My feeling is a cocktail of pride and nostalgia.

Christmas in the Jewellery

Is it too early to talk about Christmas? I guess not, although I try to avoid the topic until December, or at least until very late November. Well, it gets hard, as Christmas comes earlier and earlier. So anyway, you may remember that I blogged last year about a jewellery in Marlow that had really nice decorations. They did it again this year, with this big teddy bear and sort of slide of presents. It's very cute. Last time we went into Marlow, I took this picture so I could share it here.

Novembre: trop tôt pour Noël

J'ai lu un débat dans la grosse Presse hier: Pour ou contre: les lumières de Noël dès le 1er novembre. Entre Stéphane Dompierre et Rose-Aimée Automne T. Morin. Je ne connais aucune des deux personnes. Et ce n'est pas une question existentielle pour moi, alors je ne la poserai même pas. Pour moi, ça tombe sous le sens: je suis contre et c'est encore l'automne, alors non, non et non. Je suis donc fermement dans le camp de Dompierre. Néanmoins, faites-moi part de votre opinion sur le sujet dans les commentaires.

Le portico et les chauves-souris

 Photo qui date de l'an dernier, c'est le portico chez mes parents. Comme quoi ils décorent pour l'Halloween eux aussi.

Le clown sinistre

 Je partage une autre photo prise par mon père l'an dernier, celle d'un clown diabolique. Enfin, un clown normal. On voit son visage plus en détails et j'ai remarqué que ses boutons de chemise avaient l'apparence de citrouilles.

Clown diabolique

Photo prise l'an dernier par mon père. Le clown démoniaque est maintenant une figure incontournable de l'Halloween, tant dans ses histoires que dans ses décorations.

Araignée géante

Photo d'une araignée géante (je crois) prise par mon père l'an dernier. Ce n'est pas l'Halloween sans quelques araignées.

Christmas Night Train

 First: Merry Christmas everyone. I am sharing today a picture taken by my brother PJ of the family's Christmas at night, with the train running at night. It's just so magical. I promised Wolfie we will be there next year.

Model Trains And Christmas (a brief history)

This YouTube video is about a year old, but I only found it yesterday. It is about the history of model trains and Christmas. It's a big part of my own family history and our LGB train (sadly LGB isn't mentioned in this video) is by far the greatest Christmas present my brothers and I ever received. We are now three generations of boys in it. I say boys, because when it comes to trains, we never really grew up. (And the outnumbered women in the family never really understood our fascination for it). Be that as it may, I found this video fascinating. Oh, and Lionel is often mentioned. That was my father's favourite brand when he was a kid.

The family's Christmas Tree

 I shared it in a post in French yesterday, but here it is today, night time version. My parents' Christmas tree. With the train and the Christmas village at its foot. The greatest Christmas tree. Wolfie and I really want to go there next year.

L'arbre de Noël, 2024

Mes frères et mes neveux sont chez nos parents (et leurs grand-parents) depuis hier. Le sapin familial est donc monté et je partage une photo ici. Wolfie et moi nous aimerions y être.

Our Christmas Wreath

 It is turning inti a new Christmas tradition in this family: like last year, my wife made a Christmas wreath at a craft workshop. She says she finds it rather average looking, at best, but Wolfie and I are proud of her. My father always put a (huge) wreath on display outside the family home. I thought it would be fitting to have our own. It brings the Christmas spirit outside the house. And it smells nice too, as it's real greenery.

Gingerbread Jewellery

 It is sitll far too early for Christmas, but I hope you won't mind me publishing of Yuletide today. Anyway, we went to the little town of Marlow recently and its main street was already full of Christmas decorations. Some businesses were rather impressive. This was the case of a jewellery shop. I could not resist and I had to take a picture. I am not a big fan of gingerbread as food, I mean I can eat it, but it is not my go-to sweet. But I love the atesthetic of gingerbread men, gingerbread houses and the likes. It's old-fashioned and not tacky. Anyway, here it is, I hope you enjoy.

Noël en novembre?

 J'ai lu hier un article dans la grosse Presse, appelé: Pourquoi Noël arrive si tôt? C'est une excellente question. Dès novembre, les commerces prennent les couleurs de Noël. Quel'on commence à magasiner des cadeaux pour les Fêtes, passe encore. Je le fais dès que la fête de ma femme est terminée, et elle arrive au début du mois. Mais est-ce bien nécessaire d'en faire autant déjà? J'en ferai peut-être une question existentielle, mais mettons que ça m'agace.

Les chauves-souris

Mon père a décoré le portico avec des chauves-souris, pour quand les enfants du quartier viendront passer l'Halloween. Ce n'est pas l'Halloween sans quelques chauves-souris.

Les fantômes et les araignées

 Autre photo prise par mon père lors de ses promenades. Avec l'éclairage orange, c'est sans doute plus effrayant encore.

Countdown to Halloween!

 Today we are the first of October, so it is our official Countdown to Halloween, b! So happy countdown everyone. I took this picture in August, in the Dollarama on the Plateau Mont-Royal, in Montreal. I was so happy to see that they were already in a Halloween mood. It may the official countdown, but of course I had started preparing for it since last Halloween or so. My personal countdown to the spooky season starts in August, sometimes even in July. Be that as it may, watch this space, I should post daily, mostly but not exclusively about horror stories.

New Signs of Halloween at Dollarama

Sometimes happiness come in the most unlikely place. A few days ago, we were checking into a Dollarama (which is the Quebec equivalent of a Poundland or a dollar store) when we saw an entire aisle full of Halloween stuff. Decorations, disguises, some treats too, the lot. Roght in the middle of August. I was not surprised, Dollarama is often early with holiday displays, but it was lovely to see all the same. We bought a few things. The funniest thing was that I did not even have to convince my wife, she was as enthusiastic as the men in the family. ANyway, I bought a lot of Halloween related things at dollarama over the years, it was nice to renew with this tradition.