Geese in the morning

Last Saturday in the morning I had a little moment of pure autumnal bliss. I woke up to the sound of geese flying. A skein of geese. I can recognise their cry anywhere. Well, it could have been ducks, but I think they were geese. Anyway, there's no sound more seasonal in September. It's not autumn without them. So it made my day, or at least my morning, and it got me in a great mood from the moment I got up. Oh how I love this time of year, even when it is too warm.

Autumn Person (in a nutshell)

 I hope you don't mind me blogging so much about autumn, but it is my favourite season and I found this meme a few days ago which I wanted to share. Because this is me, in a nutshell. I love reading like this, on a late September day. And I try to do it every day in the afternoon. Although the temperatures are too warm for September, when evening falls it does get considerably cooler. And the colours are changing. The cozy spot I choose is generally the bed. I keep the windows open and it's blissful.

Automnal Train

I recently read this article from TimeOut Montreal, about scenic train journeys in Québec during autumn. And it makes me both proud of home and sad that I live so far away. Québec is the most beautiful place to be in autumn, it's where the season is at its most colourful and most beautiful. I have been in a train in Québec only once in my life, given that railway services are borderline inexistent, although I am aware of the existence of the Train de Charlevoix mentioned in TimeOut. I love train travel, for me it's the most comfortable, the most atmospheric, the most exciting means of transport, so I would love to take this journey at least once in my life. And taking this train in autumn would just be perfect. It would be mixing two of my favourite things, in the best place to enjoy the season.

Champignon orange

 Je partage une autre photo mycologique de ma cousine Amy l'artiste-photographe. Je crois que jusqu'ici, c'est ma préférée. Vous savez que je suis fasciné par les champignons. Dans l'assiette, pas tant. Enfin, la plupart du temps, je n'aime pas les champignons. Cela dit, même si je ne suis pas amateur, j'aime les champignons comme des éléments de l'automne. J'aime l'esthétique des champignons. Et ce champignon orange est sans doute le plus automnal, plus coloré que les autres et d'une couleur typiquement saisonnière. Je n'en trouve pas des comme ça ici.

Une souche et des champignons

Nous avons fait une promenade récemment, une promenade automnale comme j'aime les faire. Il ne faisait pas assez frais, mais nous sommes passés par un coin boisé avec une souche d'arbre mangée par des champignons. J'ai trouvé cette photo automnale, très début d'automne en tout cas (les feuilles sont encore trop vertes), alors je la partage. Le blogue prend les couleurs de la saison.

"It's that time of year..."

I found this meme online and I had to share it. This is of course very me. The books, the warm clothes, the blankets, the tea especially. And soon I will be buying pumpkins. Now if only the weather could be cooler, so I could wear said warm clothes all day...

La tarte aux pommes

Je partage une nouvelle photo de la tarte aux pommes de mes parents, rien que parce que c'est l'automne, c'est septembre, je fais donc dans le partage de photos saisonnières.

Tarte aux pommes

Petit billet de saison et gastronomique à la fois. C'est l'automne, c'est donc le temps des pommes, son fruit le plus emblématique. C'est par conséquent, aussi, le temps de la tarte aux pommes. Je vais faire un aveu: je ne suis pas un fan de la tarte aux pommes. Mais mes parents oui, fa que... Enfin bref, mes parents ont donc cuisiné une tarte aux pommes. Rien que parce que c'est ma saison préférée, j'en aurais pris une pointe. Ma femme a suggéré que si j'en mange, je la préfèrerais avec de la costarde anglaise ou de la crème glacée. Qu'en pensez-vous?

The Equinox At Last!

Today it's finally the autumnal equinox. Or, to be precise, it happened in the little hours of the morning. Read this BBC article for more details. It means that nobody, absolutely nobody, can claim that we are not in autumn now. Even if the weather is too warm, we are in autumn. For me, the season starts with the month, as you know. The first of September should be the benchmark for the beginning of autumn. It is the case, I think, for many people. It is in our psyche, so to speak. That said, the equinox is a special day for all autumn lovers and I always celebrate it on the blog.

The Golden Hour

 Okay, so it's the equinox tomorrow, it's too warm for September, but all the same, I want to say two things as a preamble to this post: 1)I have been enjoying this month tremendously so far and 2)I consider it to be autumn already, because yes, I may sound like a broken record, but autumn starts with the month. Anyway, so here is something I have been focusing on in my autumnal mindfulness: the golden hour, this period of daylights right before sunset. Autumnal evenings are the best evenings. The dimming, warm, soothing lights are simply the best this time of year. So I spend this time of the day/evening reading spooky stuff or just looking at the skies, getting in the atmosphere. Am I the only one having the same feeling this time of year regarding the time right before dusk? Do you enjoy the golden hour?

"Un 22 septembre..."

Bon, paraît que l'équinoxe c'est demain matin, dans les petites heures du matin en fait, mais je m'en fous. Je partage comme à chaque année Le vingt-deux septembre de Georges Brassens, parce que c'est officiellement l'automne pour tout le monde, bon.

Le jeu des écureuils

 Il y a maintenant plusieurs semaines, nous avons visité une amie de ma femme et sa famille. Une grosse famille de quatre enfants. Petit loup a joué avec une de ses filles à ce jeu-là. Il faut que les écureuils rentrent leurs provisions dans les trous, selon ce que j'ai compris. Et je ne sais pas, mais j'associe les écureuils à l'automne, surtout lorsqu'ils vont faire des provisions pour l'hiver. C'est donc un jeu automnal, le genre que j'aurais aimé avoir quand j'étais jeune. Et ça s'appelle Squirrels Go Nuts! (Oui, avec le point d'exclamation, pour faire plus dramatique). Comme petit loup a beaucoup aimé, je compte le lui acheter un jour.

Harvest Spirit (September Ale)

As you may know, I love the products of Rebellion Beer, the brewery from Marlow. I love most of their beers, but I particularly enjoy their monthly beers, especially of course during the autumn months. And I got lucky this September, as the monthly special all about my favourite season. It is aptly named Harvest Spirit. It is meant to celebrate the harvest and the season, with a corn doll on its label. It's just the perfect autumn beer.

Santon Chasseur

J'ai trouvé cette photo sur la page Facebook des Santons de Charlevoix. Elle date de... mai 2019. Je ne sais donc pas si ce santon est toujours en vente. Mais enfin bref, je bloguais il y a environ un mois que certains santons feraient de bonnes décorations pour l'automne. Comme l'automne est aussi la saison de la chasse, comme j'ai toujours associé la chasse à l'automne, ben ce santon ferait bien l'affaire. Je le verrais sur un rayon de bibliothèque, même si je doute que ma femme, qui est végétarienne, apprécierait.

"Pain saveur d'automne" (Première moisson)

Photo prise sur la page Facebook de Première Moisson. Je la partage rien que pour dire que leur pain saveurs d'automne est de retour. Il y a des saisons comme ça où je voudrais vraiment être à Montréal.

Spices Chai at Coffee #1

Sometimes, we visit the town of  Wallingford. This is what we did last weekend. It has a lot of lovely places to stop by, but my wife and I have a special spot for Coffee #1. Like other cafés, they have their seasonal menu available, so of course we stopped there to order something. Pushed by my wife and even though I don't like milk in tea, I decided to try their Spiced Chai. I suspect it was because she wanted a sip or two. Even though my wife is not a tea drinker, she loves a chai latte, especially if it's spiced. It was too sweet and it had too much milk for my taste, but I did enjoy it, if only because it tasted autumnal. I guess I can take it off my bucket list.

Mycologie (mot du jour)

 C'est pas parce que ma cousine Amy m'a envoyé des photos de champignons que je cherche un prétexte pour bloguer sur le sujet (et partager ses photos), même si c'est un peu le cas. Enfin bref, la mycologie est l'étude des champignons et notre mot du jour. C'est un terme que je connais depuis le primaire. À l'école, on nous donnait des cours à n'en plus finir sur les champignons et il y avait une randonnée par année, durant les mois d'automne, où l'on allait les cueillir. J'adorais. J'ai toujours été fasciné par les champignons, lisez ce billet de 2010 pour les détails. Les sorties en automne me faisaient toujours plaisir, en plus de stimuler mon imagination.

Autumnal Chronicle

I thought it was time for a new autumnal post, this time a generic post about how autumn is so far. Because yes, it is autumn, because yes, the season starts with September. So here are my observations about autumn here:

• So far, it's not ideal, as it is a tad too warm. Yet, after the ridiculous and never ending heatwaves of summertime, it's still enjoyable. (More on this below.)
• Morning and evenings tend to be cool, so I can wear a light jacket or coat. It's lovely.
• While it's not cold enough yet to wear thick jumpers, at least I have been able to wear long sleeve shirts for the first time in months.
•  Trees have started showing some colours. Not much, but still.
•  There is often a nice, cool breeze that makes even warmer days tolerable.
•  For some mysterious reason, we can often smell bonfire when we step outside.
• The sun goes down earlier. Yeah, I know, it's supposed to, but it's more noticeable and every time the dimming light is just lovely.

So that's my pre-equinox autumn so far, how is yours? I will write more in the upcoming days.

Halloween and a September Memory

I found this meme online, at the beginning of the month. I wanted to share it today before it gets too deep in the month. My wife would agree that this is very me. It also reminded me of an anecdote from my childhood. My brother PJ's birthday is in October. Because of this, we prepared his birthday during the month of September. When we went to the shop to buy decorations and accessories for his birthday party, we often took the opportunity to check and buy Halloween decorations too, as they had starting getting on sales. One Saturday after lunch, around mid-September, before going to the shops, my brothers and I first stopped to talk to my best friend, who lived on the same street as me. I was all enthusiastic about the afternoon's plans, so I told him we were going to go Halloween shopping. My friend looked at me disdainfully and said: "It's way too early for Halloween!" His father had the same disdainful reaction, using the exact same words. I changed the topic, but the conversation felt awkward and my friend remained cold and aloof, borderline rude at times. After a few minutes, we excused ourselves and went shopping. Years later, we ended up growing apart. It's nothing dramatic, it happens to a lot of childhood friends, they rarely all survive teenage and adulthood. But I always suspected that it had started that day. My friend had no interest whatsoever towards my favourite holiday. Fair enough, but he didn't have to be so dismissive about it.

Tarte aux pommes (parce que septembre)

Mon frère PJ a cuisiné une tarte aux pommes il y a peu de temps, "parce que septembre" (je le cite). Je partage la photo ici. La pomme, c'est le fruit de l'automne, c'est le temps des récoltes de pommes, donc c'est le temps de la tarte aux pommes. Je vais faire un aveu: je n'ai jamais été fan. Pour PJ, c'est je crois sa tarte préférée. Moi pas. Oh, je peux en manger! Mais ce n'est pas mon premier choix de dessert. Je ne sais pas trop pourquoi. Cela dit, j'essaie autant comme autant d'apprécier la tarte aux pommes un peu plus.