Hunting the Loch Ness Monster

 Some longtime readers may remember that when I was a child I used to be fascinated by the Loch Ness Monster. As an adult, I don' believe anymore in its existence, nevertheless I still have an interest in him, if only because of its place in the Acottish folklore. Well, Nessie may not exist, but its legend is certainly not dead: a new hunt, the biggest in the last 50 years, has recently been organised. Nearly 300 volunteers will monitor the lake and its activities. I don't think they will find anything, sadly, certainly not a long believed to be extinct dinosaur (when I was a child my money was on the plesiosaur), nevertheless it is kind of nice to know that people still chase monsters, mythical or not.

A girl named Autumn

During our time in the Isle of Wight, we went to Amazon World, a rescue centre for exotic animals (we visited plenty during our holiday), which also has lots of special activities for kids. Wolfie loved it. Among them, there was a sand square with "dinosaur bones", where kid could make "fossil excavations". Wolfie played there for a while, alone but for a little blonde girl about his age, kind of tomboyish I think, who was very into excavations. They got on like a house on fire. They were very cute playing together and digging these bones like a team. I took the liberty to ask for her name and she said: "I'm Autumn".  I looked at my wife, as if destiny had manifested itself: here might be Wolfie's future wife. No, I jest of course, but I think she has such a beautiful and that original name, for one, and hearing it reminded me of the season to come. I did not dare to give her mother, who was watching her, our contact details, just in case they don't live too far (you never know) and I feel like we might have missed an opportunity for the development of a beautiful friendship. (On a side note, it might remind you of a scene in a certain romcom, but more of that in another post, maybe.)

Le gâteau préhistorique

J'ai fait la semaine dernière un gâteau avec un glaçage vert, à la demande de Wolfie. Enfin, le gâteau, c'était pour passer des oeufs et de la farine, mais quand je faisun gâteau, c'est Wolfie qui décide de quoi il va avoir l'air. Enfin bref, il a choisi la couleur du glaçage et pour faire bonne mesure a voulu y ajouter des dinosaures. C'était pas trop mal je dois dire. Le goût n'était pas fameux, mais le gâteau avait de la gueule. Un gâteau préhistorique.

The Dinosaur Chair

Our old Mountain Warehouse garden chairs are all falling apart, so we have been looking for new ones, both for my wife and I and Wolfie. I went last weekend to Mountain Warehouse and found this one, which I thought looked very cool. I took a picture and showed it to Wolfie, just to make sure he'd like it and would not be scared.Like his dad, he thinks that a dinosaur on a chair is very cool. So I just might purchase it next weekend for him, although my wife is far less ethusiastic about it.

Volcano Mash

Sometimes, we want Wolfie to eat something else than pasta, which is his main diet. And it has proven to be quite hard. He used to like mashed potatoes in the past, so my wife had a great idea: turn the meal into a display. So she bought some Quorn Roarsone Vegan Dinosaur Nuggets (something Wolfie was quite curious about). I made a mash with it, then I created an image just like on the box: nugget for the dinosaur, brocoli and green peas for the prehistoric jungle and in the centre a potato mash in the shape (sort of) of a volcano, with lots of keptchup for lava. Wolfie really liked it. He ate  about half the nugget and most of the mash. I suspect it was because of the ketchup. And of course the next day, it did not work out so well: Wolfie didn't want that meal anymore.

Ankylosaure ou Tarasque?

À la garderie, petit loup a reçu ce dessin. Ma femme est certaine que c'est un ankylosaure. C'est possible, mais je crois que c'est une version modernisée de la Tarasque. Ou alors la Tarasque est, a été, aurait pu être, un ankylosaure, ou une cousine du dinosaure. Je ne sais pas, mais dans tous les cas, je dirais que c'est la Tarasque, même si je ne sais pas trop où ils ont trouvé l'image.

The T-Rex on the street

I was walking in the street doing some errands two days ago, when I saw this plastic dinosaur on the ground, just by a fancy furniture shop. This is of course a tyrannosaurus rex, the most fearsome of all dinosaurs. And he was lying there, rather vulnerable looking and not terrifying at all. I did not touch it, but I took this picture. It made me a bit sad, as this probably belongs to a little boy (or a little girl who knows) who might miss his (or her) scary little t-rex, maybe the prize of a large collection of dinosaurs. I hope whoever lost the t-rex will find him again. I might put this picture on social media, just like my wife did with that plush mouse. I'm not really present outside this blog, but it might be helpful.

Le drame de la bouteille d'eau

 Gros drame hier pour Wolfie au retour de la garderie: un autre enfant est parti avec sa bouteille d'eau, celle avec des dinosaures qu'il aime tant. Il en a d'autres, mais c'est sa préférée. Bien entendu, c'était la seule qui n'était pas identifiée à son nom. Nous avions collé une étiquette dessus, mais elle n'a pas duré longtemps avec les lavages répétés. Il était très triste et inquiet à propos de sa bouteille. Nous ne sommes pas certain de la personne qui l'a "volée", mais selon notre petit loup c'est une fille, qui portait un gilet rose et portait des souliers de fille. Ce qui ne nous avance guère. Wolfie bien entendu ne veut pas de nouvelle bouteille avec des dinosaures, c'est celle-là ou rien. Alors j'espère que l'on pourra la récupérer.

Chocolate cake (and dinosaurs)

I baked this chocolate cake last week, just for kicks. Well, in fact, no, it was also to celebrate something. It is my grandmother's recipe. I did it fairly well, although the icing as usual was a tad too liquid, so it got quite wobbly. But it stood and it was delicious, just decadent enough, as chocolate cakes should be. On top of it, there are sugar sprinkles on top of it. You might also have noticed that some of the sprinkles are dinosaurs shaped. This was my wife's idea. Of course, Wolfie added the sprinkles, as he's the assistant baker. He sprinkled generously. In fact, he poured them right on top. That's his signature.

Un dinosaure, mais lequel?

Mon père a pris cette photo à Montréal, dans le Vieux-Montral je crois. Un faux crâne de dinosaure. Je ne sais pas lequel, je soupçonne que c'est un t-rex, ou alors c'est une représentation fantaisiste. Dans tous les cas, c'est impressionnant.

Is the Loch Ness Monster real?

I blogged a few times before (the last time in March 2015) about my childhood fascination for the Loch Ness Monster. Well, I recently read some news about it, as there are some claims that he might be real after all. Or he might have existed at some point in our human history, in some form or another. The claim is as vague and cryptic as the evidence brought forward, which is apparently based on DNA findings. Two things about this: 1)I am extremely skeptical. It could be another hoax, or simply a botched research done by some self-proclaimed scientists and experts. 2)I still wish I had got such news when I was an impressionable child who believed in Nessie and who would have really enjoyed it.

"Wolfiesaurus"

Yesterday, my wife and my son went to his creativity/art class for toddlers, where the woman organizing it absolutely adores our little Wolfie. You need to see the way she behaves with him, hear her tone of voice when she talks to him to to understand. She is like a loving young auntie. Anyway, he was wearing a tshirt with dinosaurs printed on it, which he was showing to her and talking about eagerly. She nicknamed him on the spot "Wolfiesaurus". And that's it. However brief this was, I think it qualifies as a great unknown line. It is very sweet of her in any case.

Un ankylosaure (et un souvenir)

Je partage à nouveau une photo prise à Tropical Parc (quel nom horrible, soit dit en passant). Vous voyez ici un ankylosaure. Enfin, une reproduction en plastique d'un ankylosaure. Les photos de "dinosaures" prises au parc m'ont rappelé des souvenirs d'enfance. Mes frères et moi avions, comme sans doute beaucoup d'enfants à l'époque et maintenant encore, reçu des figurines de dinosaures que l'on adorait. Les représentations étaient classiques et inexactes: des monstres brun-vert assez balourds ayant plus à voir avec l'image qu'on s'en faisait à l'époque. Je me rappelle d'un en particulier, qui .tait peut-être un ankylosaure difforme, mais ressemblait à un crocodile avec des pattes surélevées. Cela dit, nous adorions nos dinosaures et les avons utilisés pour bien des jeux. Parfois ils étaient seuls et se battaient entre eux, parfois on leur faisait tourmenter nos figurines Playmobil ou Lego. Je me demande si mon petit loup aura l'imagination aussi élaborée.

Dilophosaure

Photo prise au Tropical Parc lors de nos dernières vacances en France, ce que vous voyez ici est un dilophosaure, ou une reproduction d'un dilophosaure. Mon petit loup n'a pas eu peur, c'est dire comme il aime les dinosaures, parce que je le trouve quant à moi terrifiant. Avec sa crête, il a l'air d'un coq mal embouché et ses dents acérées n'arrangent rien.

Le terrible tyrannosaure

Photo prise en France dans un parc qui n'était pas jurassique et qui avait le nom très français de Tropical Parc. Il n'y a que les Français pour donner un nom aussi anglicisé à un endroit touristique. Nous y sommes allés parce que notre petit loup adore les dinosaures et qu'il y en avait des modèles grandeur nature et mécaniques par dessus le marché. Ils étaient parfois très convaincants, même si notre petit loup n'a pas eu peur un instant, pas selon mes souvenirs en tout cas. Et voir ce tyrannosaure de loin, dans le feuillage, bouger des mâchoires, c'est comme si c'était un vrai et qu'il allait à la chasse.

The Age of Dinosaurs

My parents, who are visiting us for their grandson's birthday, had the chance to be with little Wolfie in his art/creativity class recently. The class is organized by a young woman in her twenties who adores Wolfie. Like a lot. Her face lights up every time she sees him. Anyway, it was a fitting time for a creativity class: they were doing dinosaurs displays. Our son loves dinosaurs, it is one of his few obsession. Maybe he finds a kinship with them. Being in his terrible twos, he is, in effect, going through the Age of Dinosaurs. So he "made" this, or at least his mother did and he chose the dinosaurs. He was meant to choose only one big dino, but he decided to go for more than one, because he loves dinosaurs and because he knows he can get away with taking such liberties. My wife did not dare to ask for a second eye for the blue dinosaur. Wolfie is very proud of it and with good reasons. It looks very dramatic, with the volcano in the background. I had to share it. I hope he likes his birthday presents just as much.

Jouer dans l'eau

Notre petit loup a récemment pu s'amuser dans un jeu d'eau dans un centre d'activités pour enfants pas trop loin où ma femme a acheté un laisser-passer saisonnier. Bon, ce n'est pas une piscine, mais c'est plus prudent qu'une piscine à son âge. Il a vraiment adoré, comme il aime toujours lorsqu'il peut jouer dans l'eau. Il a pu utiliser à bon escient ses bottes dinosaures. Pour une fois, il les a portées ailleurs qu'à la maison (il aime vraiment ses bottes dinosaures).

The fox, the bee... and the dinosaurs?

I blogged before about the fox raincoat of Wolfie. Well, it turns out that the fox is not his only totem animal: he has a bee backpack (with that cord thing my wife forbid me to call a leash and allows her to keep a hold of him for more safety) and rubber boots (wellies as the British call them) that have a crest and sharp teeth of dinosaurs. Wolfie is fully equipped and ready to go on an adventure. He often does, in fact. It's a fitting uniform: the fox for cunning and naughtiness, the bee for his cheerful nature, the dinosaurs for his strength and fearlessness.

Est-ce extravagant?

Vous voyez ici sur cette photo tous les cadeaux pour la fête d'un an de notre petit loup. De la part de ses parents et ses grands-parents et de son oncle PJ, mais surtout de ses parents. Vous reconnaissez ces derniers (les cadeaux, pas les parents) à l'emballage avec des chats ou des dinosaures. Deux rouleaux au complet, un de chaque motif. Avec en prime le haut de la tête de notre fils en bas de l'image. Ça m'a tout pris pour ne pas lui faire déballer les cadeaux avant que les invités arrivent. Ma mère trouvait ça un tantinet excessif, mais on n'a un an qu'une fois.

Dinogoose?

This is an Egyptian goose. I took the picture, which is not great, by the Thames River. I had no idea what it was at the time, hence the picture. I thought it was a very strange goose in comparison to the other, more normal specimens of the species that we see on the Thames. Egyptian geese look very much like velociraptors, or some kind of predatory dinosaurs anyway. And according to the raptors' description in Wikipedia, they are about the same size and also have features, so they share more than one traits with them. I blogged last year about the opinion of my niece on geese, that they look nasty and creepy. I am starting to see her point. This goose truly is a dinogoose, at least in look.