Time for crab apples jelly

My parents made these jars of crab apples jelly, from the crab apple tree they have, which produces a lot of fruits. It is harvest time now. The jelly will last for the rest of the year, easily. This pic just shows a small part of the production. I love crap abble jelly, but also what it represents: as you know, it is for me one of the first autumn harvests. When we start making the jelly, or spread the content of a new jar on our toasts for breakfast, it means autumn is either here, or at least very, very close.

Le ciel se marie avec la mer

Aujourd'hui, c'est notre anniversaire de mariage. Nous n'aurons guère l'occasion de le célébrer aujourd'hui, mais nous avons pris le temps de le faire hier, avec les grand-parents maternels de petit loup et petit loup lui même (quand on a des enfants, les anniversaires tournent autour d'eux, forcément). Sur Vraie Fiction, je partage cette chanson de Lucille Dumont. Je l'ai toujours beaucoup aimée.

One observation about walking with a young child

We went on a little family walk in the evening recently, with Wolfie's maternal grandparents and us. Something struck me about it, which I wanted to share here: Wolfie, who is nearly three, ended up in our arms for most of the walk. He does not always do that, but for some reason was eager for us to carry him.

Les champignons sauvages

Photo prise par mon père, encore une fois sur le lot de mes oncles. Il faut peut-être chaud, mais c'est un signe indubitable que l'automne est en chemin. J'ai hâte.

Meatloaf

Sorry I could not take any better picture, but this is the meatloaf my mother-in-law made for us a few days ago. My wife is vegetarian, so she had something else. I suspect my in-laws to think that I am being deprived of meaty food all year round. Wolfie and I loved it. Before last year, when Wolfie's maternal grandmother made me rediscover it, I hadn't had meatloaf since childhood and I had forgotten how good it was. In fact, I don't remember the meatloafs my babysitters made tasting as nice as this one. I kind of wonder why it took me so long to rediscover it, because mhis is the kind of hearty dish which I love to have. I think it is becoming some kind of tradition for our visits here. I will not complain.

De l'eau au moulin

Photo prises il y a quelques jours, au début de nos vacances en Bretagne. C'est bien entendu la roue d'un moulin à eau qui est encore utilisé (enfin parfois utilisé). On a eu droit à une démonstration et c'était très impressionnant. J'aime bien les moulins, je ne sais pas trop pourquoi. J'aime plus les moulins à vent que les moulins à eau (allez encore savoir pourquoi), mais quand même, j'ai vraiment aimé voir la machine fonctionner et surtout cette grande roue activée par l'eau. Petit loup a aussi été très impressionné. Il a même déduit que c'était l'eau du lac qui faisait fonctionner le moulin. J'étais fier.

A visit to the dolmen

I haven't really shared any "typical"picture of Brittany since the beginning of our holiday. Here is one of a nearby dolmen. We had visited it before (and you probably saw a few pictures of the dolmen if you have been visiting this blog in the last few years), but this time it was with little Wolfie. I had wanted to show the dolmen to him for a long while. I try to explain to him what it was (well, what little we know about it) and its folkloric aspects (mainly that it is a gathering point for korrigans). What he got from it is that it was "a big rock". And he really was eager to walk in the surrounding woods. It was a short visit, but a lovely one and I hope a memorable one for our little Wolfie.

Un castor est passé par là

Photo prise par mon père dans le lot de mes oncles. Je n'ai jamais, autant que je me souvienne, vu de castors dans leur habitat naturel. Je n'en ai jamais vu sur leur lot, mais je savais qu'il y en avait dans le lac. C'est la première fois que je vois un signe de leur présence et je trouve ça très impressionnant.

Wolfie the barista

Unlike my wife, I hate coffee, but today I will have to blog about coffee and with a good dash of paternal pride to top it up My mother-in-law received yesterday some coffee making machine. Little WOlfie was really curious about it, asking the machine to be unwrapped and taken off its box asap. When the machine was out, he was absolutely fascinated by it. So his grandmother decided to make coffee for herself and her daughter and had her grandson participate in the process. Safely of course. Wolfie is the one who poured the milk in this mug for instance. So what you see on this picture is the first cup of coffee prepared by my son. I guess that is the first step for him to become a barista. I am a very proud dad.

Le sorbier en fruits

Mon père m'a envoyé cette photo du sorbier familial. Les feuilles sont encore vertes, mais les fruits sont mûrs. Autre signe de l'automne qui s'en vient. Ces temps-ci, ce n'est pas trop automnal là où nous sommes, alors je me mets dans l'esprit de la saison qui arrive comme je peux, avec cette photo par exemple. Et dans tous les cas, c'est beau un sorbier.

Shadow of a Panama hat

Well, summertime is back and with a proper heatwave. I hope it does not last long. So to try to endure the hot weather, we all wore hats yesterday. I borrowed from my in-laws a Panama hat. I know it's a Panama hat because it says so on the label. With shades, it makes me look properly badass, like a character from a spaghetti western or something. Well, maybe not that much, but it does look cool, even for me who does not have a "suitable" head for hats of any kind. So anyway, I took this picture of my shadow yesterday. I couldn't resist. This gives the most mundane setting and circumstances some sense of drama.

Coucher de soleil sur le Lac-St-Jean

Autre photo envoyée par mon père, d'un coucher de soleil sur le Lac. Je la partage ici juste parce que. J'espère que vous ne faites pas grand-chose et que c'est beau comme ça aussi par chez vous.

Seasoned travelers

We are on holidays to visit my wife`s parents and Wolfie`s grandparents. Yesterday evening, after hearing the story of our long journey to them, with three changes of train until we reached the airport, my mother-in-law said the sweetest: "You are now seasoned travelers, taking very long journeys with many connections and all this with a little boy." This was very kind, although I don`t find us that admirable: we only have one child, some families have to take the same kind of journeys with a whole troop of children. Nevertheless, there is some truth in what she said and I wanted to share it here as a new great unknown line.

En direct de Bretagne

Comme le titire du billet l'indique, nous sommes donc en Bretagne, pour la première fois depuis un an. Au moment où je tape ces lignes, petit loup est en train d'accaparer l'attention de ses grand-parents maternels, ça me permet quelques minutes pour bloguer. Je ne suis guère imaginatif en accompagnant mon billet de drapeau de la Bretagne, mais je le trouve plutôt joli dans sa simplicité (le noir et blanc) et puis je n'ai pas encore de photos de notre séjour ici. Je compte bien entendu partager nos découvertes et expériences sur Vraie Fiction dès que je peux.

How far is Winnipeg from Montreal?

The answer is 1424 miles. At least according to Alfred Hitchcock's The 39 Steps. Something we learn on the very first scene, set in a music-hall. In the movie adaptation, Richard Hannay is no longer a Scottish returning to the UK from South Africa, but a Canadian, probably because John Buchan who of course wrote the original novel was then General Governor of Canada. It felt strange and actually quite pleasant hearing my city being mentioned (I mean Montreal of course, not Winnipeg) at the start of the film, and in a Hitchcock movie on top of that.

"Patience dans l'azur..."

"Patient, patience,
Patience dans l’azur!
Chaque atome de silence
Est la chance d’un fruit mûr!"

Je cite Paul Valéry. C'est mon frère PJ qui m'a rappelé ces vers, pour me dire de patienter sur certaines choses qui n'arrivent pas. Je mets la sagesse de Valéry à l'épreuve et je n'en dis pas plus pour le moment. On verra bien à quel point c'est véridique.

Mushrooms

Here is another post in the autumnal chronicles that is my blog. I saw these mushrooms recently in the park near my work. It is a new sign of the upcoming autumn. I am not saying it arbitrarily, it is true: read this article from the Woodland Trust for evidence. Mushrooms grow more when autumn comes. So every time I see them, especially when I see a lot of them and often in places such as this park, I get excited. Apparently, unlike what I had predicted, we are soon going to have one last blast of summertime and I don't know for how long. But at least, mushrooms are already here and they are already plentiful. Now if only the rest would follow and follow quickly.

Aller-retour au grenier

J'ai assez souvent blogué sur les greniers en général et parfois sur notre grenier en particulier. J'ai mentionné dès 2008 à quel point j'aimais les greniers. Maintenant, nous en avons un bien à nous, mais j'y vais peu: c'est un espace de rangement. J'y vais pour y ranger des choses (livres, décorations) et pour y ranger ou chercher la valise avant et après les vacances. Quand c'est avant des vacances, j'ai toujours un moment de trépidation quand je vais chercher la valise. Le grenier, c'est peut-être un coin isolé de la maison, il est rempli de choses que l'on n'utilise plus ou pas, mais je trouve qu'il a le charme d'une caverne d'Ali Baba et qu'il est le point de départ de bien des aventures.

It's No Time to Die

Well, I had stopped hoping that Bond 25 would get any kind of title, but here it is, it has been revealed today: it's No Time to Die. And that is a great title. I love it. Far better than most of what I have seen in rumours. It has a ring of urgency and menace to it, it is also a neat little allegory of what a secret agent's duty is in a nutshell. When you work for Queen and Country, you literally have no time to die. Anyway, here is the title reveal. I'm very excited:

"C'est fête aujourd'hui..."

"C'est fête aujourd'hui
Pour tous les amis
Qui ont répondu
À l'appel de Cthulhu"

Comme j'ai gaffé hier avec la date de sa fête, j'ai voulu au moins fêter l'anniversaire de naissance de Lovecraft avec cette chanson parodique sur laquelle j'ai déjà blogué. Je l'ai eue en tête toute la journée, sans rire. Enfin oui, en riant.