"Autumn Story" (Brambly Hedge)

I don't know if anyone of you have heard about this book or its series. Anyway, I was in a local shop, ironically not the bookshop, when I saw it. Jill Barklem's Autumn Story, from the Brambly Hedge series. I know it is probably too young for Wolfie, it is definitely too young for me, yet it's my favourite season and it looks quite cute. I try to read within season, but when I long for autumn and/or when it's too hot outside, I like to read something autumnal to soothe my mind. So I might buy it for a sunny day or put in on my birthday presents list. Could be fun to read with Wolfie, it's the kind of old English classic we like to discover together.

NIMH (a childhood classic)

 Oh the treasures you find in charity shops! This is what I found last time I went to one: the novel which inspired The Secret of NIMH, a chilchood classic which fascinated me when I was a kid. It was surprisingly dark for a children movie. I first watched it in English, when I could not understand a word of it, but the imagery and the aesthetic kept me interested. Then I saw it dubbed in French a couple of times. I haven't watched it in years. I understand the source material considerably differs from its adaptation. The name Brisby was switched to Frisby, for instance. I'm not certain to read it with Wolfie, as I fear it might be a tad dark for his taste. But I'm looking forward to it all the same.

Mouse Trap(?)

 No, no, do not worry,we do not have a mouse in the house. Touch wood. It is just that I saw Mouse Trap recently in our local toy shop. And if all the many classic games I played as a child Mouse Trap... isn't one of them. I knew about it of course, but for some reason we never got it. I think my parents had read bad reviews about it, that the traps were not working well and were easy to break, or something like that. But my wife played with it as a child and had fond memories of it. So I might buy it for Wolfie, or put it on my list of birthday presents.

Les créatures de l'Halloween

Nouvelle photo de la visite de mes parents à Eddy Laurent.  L'Halloween et ses créatures, ici en version mignonne. Bon, on ne peut pas toujours être macabre.

Un épervier

Mon père a trouvé sur le lot de ses frères une caméra de oubliée, avec des photos datant d'il y a quelques temps. Dont celle-ci, d'un ayant dans la gueule une souris ou un mulot. C'est un beau rapace. Je partage rien qu'à cause de ça.

Birthdays, books, cats and cards

M parents-in-law send me a birthday card every year. This is the banal, mundane part. What is worthy of mention and of a blog post, is that they send me a birthday card that is always very thoughtful and even more inspired. You may remember the one from last year. Well, this is the one they sent me this year, with cats, books, old stuff, everything I love. There is even a teapot. Okay, so there are mice, but they look kinda cute and even friendly with the cats. I showed this to my wife, syaing this was very me in a nutshell and she said: "Oh my God! You're like an old lady!" A bit cruel, but not untrue. In any case, it deserves to be a great unknown line. Anyway, can you identify everylittle thing that is adorable in this card? The picture is called Kitty Curiosity Shop.

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.

Of mice and cats

I took this picture in the Natural History Museum and I am uploading it here as it suits my topic. It was a display representingsomething like the relation between animals and men in the food chain. A stuffed cat and stuffed rats, in what was meant to be a basement or an attic, full of bags of grain. The rats eat the grain gathered by men, the cat eats the rats, thus serving men, etc. I blogged about it here. This weekend, Domino created quite a commotion by bringing a mouse home. It was not the first time he did such a thing, but this time the mouse was alive. Our cat had decided to have a play with it in the living room. Long story short, I managed to move Domi away and save the mouse. But it really freaked me out, as I hate rodents. So whatever I said then about how great cats are for getting rid of vermin, I don't have this opinion anymore, unless they have the courtesy to kill their prey.

Angelina's Halloween

For today's (first?) countdown to Halloween post, another book I suggest you to read for the season, but this time not a scary story, although it is a story that talks a bit about fear. It is Angelina's Halloween and it is a children book. I bought it the year Wolfie was born, kind of hoping we'd read it together at some point if it was any good. Apparently it is part of a series. Angelina is a little white mouse who wants to celebrate Halloween and go for trick or treat but has also to accept that her sister Polly tags along. It's a sweet little story about the Halloweens of childhood. The characters end up having one or two good frights, but only for a moment. This book can easily become a family's favourite.

Domino le chasseur

Domino a décidé de chasser son déjeuner ce matin. Il s'est pointé devant la chatière vers 11 heures avec un rongeur dans la gueule. C'était une souris, peut-être un petit rat. J'ai pu barrer la chatière juste à temps. Il a donc pris son déjeuner dehors, en bon chat sophistiqué qu'il est. Non, mais c'est drôle de le raconter comme ça, mais notre chat est un chasseur méthodique et sans merci, diablement efficace, alors je me méfie toujours lorsque je le vois. Ce n'est pas la première fois qu'il tente de faire rentrer les rongeurs qu'il tue (quand ce ne sont pas des oiseaux) et il l'ai fait avec succès à quelques reprises déjà. Cette fois-ci au moins, je n'ai eu qu'à nettoyer les viscères du jardin. C'était dégueulasse, mais moins pire que de ramasser un cadavre de souris dans la maison, avec un chat qui te regarde comme si tu gaspilles de la nourriture.

Lost (and found) mouse

Last week, my wife was going back from a baby class with Wolfie when she saw on the ground this plush mouse from Jellycat. So my wife put it on the street sign where she found it and took a picture to share on social medias. She would have left it there but some teenage boys knocked it down. So she took it home and sent the picture on some Facebook community pages. Quickly enough, the mother of the girl who had lost it got in touch with my wife and soon the girl was reunited with her little mouse. So this was my wife's good deed of last week.

Domino the house cat (!)

I thought I would blog about Domino again, give you some updates about him (even though it was not long since I last blogged about our cat). Since his accident in January, we have not taken him out of the flat, out of fear that it would happen again. When we move house, we might change this if we can find a place where he can remain outside, away from the road and overall safe. Although I understand there is no completely risk free environment. Overall, he did not mind the change. First because he was traumatized by his accident, then because he ended up liking the place. He does ask sometimes to go out, but never insists much. He spends his time here napping, exploring and re-exploring the flat (his favourite spot changes regularly) and playing with his many toys. Because now that he lives inside, we want to keep him active, so he has many toys, most of them looking like mice and birds. I sometimes have the guilty feeling of keeping a predatory feline in a cage, but at least he does not massacre birds like he used to. He is safe for himself and others. And he does feel safer here too, I think, at least sometimes. Domino does not like noise, so when it was stormy again last night, he seemed grateful to be inside.

Of cats and trains

Recently, the Facebook page of the National Railway Museum (maybe my favourite museum in the world) brought my attention on two articles, one about the resident cat at the Hudderfield Station who "works" as pest controller and one about the cat of St Alban station who found his rightful owner after three years of squatting there. I had heard of station dogs, but not station cats. Cats and trains, what's not to love in these news? One observation: both cats are tuxedo cats, just like my Domino (pictured left). I observed cats dwelling in train stations myself, in fact I can see them daily, but none are sociable, not nearly as much as they two are anyway. And I love the fact that the Huddersfield cat Felix is used as pest control. Not only is he useful, but he must make the days pleasant for both travelers and staff.

Un piège à braconnier

On risque de trouver que je blogue dans la vie animale ces temps-ci, mais bon. J'ai pris cette photo au Totnes Museum durant nos vacances dans le Devon. J'ai pensé que c'était peut-être le bon moment pour la partager, comme j'avais déjà en tête la chasse comme thème à cause de mon plus récent billet en français. Bien entendu, je ne mets pas sur le même pied la chasse et le braconnage, mais l'un est relié à l'autre: toute chasse n'est peut-être pas braconnage, mais tout braconnage est chasse. Et les Anglais prennent très au sérieux la chasse illégale: d'où ces pièges afin de capturer les braconniers. N'aimant guère le braconnage, j'avoue ne pas complètement désapprouver ce genre de méthode, malgré sa cruauté. J'ai été frappé de voir l'outil au musée, de savoir qu'il existait pareille sorte de piège. Détail amusant (et ironique): il y a une souris sur la botte. Alors voilà, le mot du jour sur Vraie Fiction: braconnier. J'ai toujours aimé comme il sonnait, même si je trouve profondément répréhensible la réalité que le mot représente.

Cat Island in Japan

This picture was not taken in Japan, as I have never been there. But it illustrates the topic of this post. I learned tonight on BBC News that there is a Cat Island in Japan. Population: 22 humans and about 120 felines. The real name is Aoshima. The cats were introduced to fight an infestation of mice. Apparently, its unique population is attracting a great number of tourists, to the dismay of the human (and elderly) locals, who are afraid the tourists might disrupt the peaceful island. I can see their point, on the other hand I would love to go there for a holiday. Or live there, for that matter. Looks like heaven to me.

Kingston Calypso

I thought I would upload a song tonight, a summery song. I have actually uploaded it before, but the video disappeared from YouTube, beside this is the whole song. It is a song that obsess me from time to time, from the very first Bond movie. It is about three blinde mice, a pussycat and a rat, but in fact the three blind mice are three killers passing as blind men, the pussycat is James Bond and by proxy the British Empire, and the rat is of course the evil Dr. Julius No. Immortal Joseph Wiseman. But in the end, it is such a beautiful atmospheric song called Kingston Calypso. Which I hope you enjoy.

Les décorations de Noël mignonnes

J'ai blogué il y a deux jours sur les décorations quétaines pour l'arbre de Noël, ce soir je blogue sur les décorations mignonnes. C'est l'Avent, il faut bien que je blogue sur le sujet. Cette décoration-ci a à peu près mon âge, je ne me rappelle pas une année sans qu'il y en ait comme celle-ci. Des souris, des pandas, des écureuils, des koalas, des ours, tous portant les couleurs de Noël. L'un tenant une canne à sucre, un bas de Noël, ou comme cette souris portant le bonnet du Père Noël et tenant une chandelle à la main. Je ne sais pas ou mon père les a trouvées, mais elles sont là depuis très longtemps. Des décorations mignonnes qui étaient mes préférées enfant. Je ne sais pas trop pourquoi, j'ai pris cette photo l'année dernière. Moi qui déteste les rongeurs, j'aime tout de même bien cette souris.

A black cat for Halloween

This is my second countdown to Halloween post today, and of course it had to be about my feline friend Odin. Two days ago, when I reminded people on Facebook that there was only one month until Halloween, one of my friends mentioned: "And you already have a black cat". It deserved to be a great unknown line, it also reminded me that, well, he was right, as there is a black cat in my life and black cats do belong to Halloween lore. So it made perfect sense that I blogged about Odin in one of my countdown posts.

Of course, whoever says black cats and Halloween says witches. There is a witch in the neighborhood, however and ironically enough she hates cats in general and Odin in particular. She keeps on talking to people about that bloody cat, but she does not dare to confront me. I have heard that she thinks cats bring vermin. I had evidence to the contrary no later than tonight, and in quite a dramatic fashion, as I have a phobia of small rodents. Rats in particular, but to a lesser extend mice and whatever is their direct relatives. I was checking on Odin, when I saw him getting out of his dwelling... with a mouse in his mouth. It actually gave me a shock. Yes, I am that much of a wuss when it comes to mice, I am afraid of them, in a horrified way, even when they are dead and thus very much harmless, hanging down from a cat's mouth. You should have seen my friend's look of surprise when he saw me scared, there was something so ironic and mocking. He came back to me later, asking for cuddles. Anyway, this episode reassured me: Odin may be partially blind from one eye, he can still hunt. The vet had told me that, I had difficulties believing her.

Le Chat et le Vieux Rat

"J'ai lu chez un conteur de Fables,
Qu'un second Rodilard, l'Alexandre des Chats,
L'Attila, le fléau des Rats,
Rendait ces derniers misérables :
J'ai lu, dis-je, en certain Auteur,
Que ce Chat exterminateur,
Vrai Cerbère, était craint une lieue à la ronde :
Il voulait de Souris dépeupler tout le monde. "

Le titre du billet et la citation viennent bien entendu de cette fable de La Fontaine. C'est la seconde fois que je cite La Fontaine. On retrouve le nom de Rodilard dans cette autre fable. Je redécouvre les Fables de La Fontaine depuis un certain temps, et je me rends compte que souvent ce que j'aime le plus, ce n'est pas tant la morale que le début, toujours brilliant d'évocation et d'efficacité. La morale de cette fable est le fameux "Prudence est mère de sûreté". Mais le début, avec son chat sanguinaire, est bien meilleur.

A mouse and an apple

This is one of the mice my parents-in-law have in their garden. I usually dislike mice, as they are cousins of rats, but I don't mind this one. I loved the wildlife in their back garden, even though they will probably lose many apples because of their lodgers' ravenous appetite. They have small apple trees, this one was accessible to this mouse, who did make a good use of its skills. I found it really cute. An image like this is worthy of Autumnwatch. I wish I could have videoed it and send it to the program. We were not technically in autumn yet (and we are still not), but I still find the image autumnal: a wild animal filling its belly with the fruit of the season, making reserves for the long cold days ahead.