Phone Booth Book Share

Today, we were going to the local carnival today, when I saw that one of the disaffected red phone booth was turned into a library of sorts. It is literally filled with books, as you can see on the picture. Although we were late to the event (we missed the parade), I decided to take a moment to take this quick snapshot. Not the best photo, but it gives you an idea. Now I had heard of this phenomenon which has appeared all around England and the UK, about old phone booth, the typically British ones that are all red, that had been filled with books and where people can take one and leave one. I didn't know we had one here. I think this is a great initiative to promote reading and enhance cultural life in a community. I intend to participate.

Le 21 septembre (Svampa chante Brassens)

Demain, comme le veut la tradition, je devrais partager sur ce blogue cette chanson de Brassens.Je partage plutôt ce soir l'adaptation de l'Italien Nanni Svampa. Dans cette version italienne, le 22 a été troqué pour le 21, pour une raison que j'ignore. Cela explique bien entendu que j'ai avancé la date de publication d'un jour. Les traductions de chansons, surtout celles de Brassens, sont souvent hasardeuses (au mieux), mais je dois admettre que parfois Brassens me parle plus en italien. C'est le cas pour cette chanson-ci.

Getting ready for Halloween yet?

I know I am. And no, this is not the front door of my home, although I wish it was. One of my friends shared it on Facebook and I decided that it was so good I had to share it here. Decorations, pumpkins, Jack O'Lanterns, I cannot take them out just now (my wife would not let me), but I am getting ready for my favourite holiday of the year and have been for quite a while. Early August, to be honest (that's how obsessed I am about it). I have seen early signs of Halloween already (more on that in future posts) and I have started reading horror stories. I will blog more about them when the official countdown to Halloween starts in October. You will find quite a lot of reading suggestions on this blog come next month.

Un "carnaval" pour l'équinoxe

À chaque année dans la petite ville anglaise/le village où nous demeurons, il y a un "carnaval" aux en général et si je ne trompe pas le samedi le plus proche, ou le troisième samedi d'automne. C'est donc demain. ce n'est pas lié à l'équinoxe, mais ça tombe aux alentours de l'équinoxe, je le considère donc comme la première célébration automnale. Il y a une procession avec des chars allégoriques dans la rue principale. Celui que vous voyez ici était l'un des chars de l'année dernière (et il fait très saisonnier avec son renard, son hérisson et ses champignons). Ensuite il y a des kiosques dans le parc et pleins d'activités amusantes. Vous comprendrez que ça va se passer demain et que notre petite famille a très hâte.

Autumn barbecue

This is a new post for my autumn chronicle. Our hosts during our stay in Derbyshire decided to do a barbecue one evening. It was a cold evening, as it often is the case this time of year in this region of England. You can see on the picture what we had: burgers, hot dogs, jacket potatoes, grilled corn on the cob(mostly burned sadly). There was also salad, wine, it was a great meal and especially a great time to enjoy it. And we all did, even though by the time we started eating it, it was pretty cold outside. As I explained to our hosts (and like I mentioned in a post back in 2016), my grandfather loved to eat outside at almost any time of year, until the first snow at least. So eating out in autumn is something that runs in the family.

Les chats du Derbyshire

Comme vous le savez, nous avons rendu visite à des amis dans le Derbyshire. ils ont deux chats: Fiero et Bustopher. Le premier est de couleur orange et l'autre est noir et blanc et ressemble un peu à Domino. Ils ne nous ont pas lâchés de notre séjour ou presque. Les minous nous demandaient constamment des minouches, de l'attention, ou alors prenaient leurs aises en nous utilisant comme sofas humains. Leurs propriétaires croient que depuis qu'ils ont un enfant, ils demandent plus d'attention aux invités. Je crois que c'est une bonne explication. Dans tous les cas, ils sont plus affectueux que Domino.

Cadenhead's whisky

As I mentioned yesterday, we are back from a stay with the oldest friend of my wife and her family. They live in Derbyshire, where my wife and her friend grew up. On our first night, as our wives were putting the kids to bed, the husband offered me Candenhead's whisky as night cap. I hesitated at first: we had been through a long journey and I had already had taken alcohol at suppertime. Then it was a fourteen years old single malt whisky and, while I am no expert in spirits, I know it could only mean that it is good stuff, so I had a glass. Straight. And it was indeed very tasty, although pure fire. I believe it is 54.9% alcohol, just to give you an idea. Did I enjoy it? Yes. Did I regret it? No, even though it did gave me a headache and a dry mouth afterwards.

Sur le 55e Salon du livre

Je reviens encore sur le Salon du livre du Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean, lequel se tiendra du 26 au 29 septembre cette année. Dans à peu près une semaine, donc. Ça va me manquer, comme à chaque année. Enfin bref, je plogue, je plogue et je partage un article du Quotidien à ce sujet. Petit détail amusant: Marjolaine Vézina est présidente de la corporation du Salon du livre. Elle a été ma prof au cégep, il y a de cela environ 25 ans, ça ne rajeunit personne. Selon mes souvenirs, je n'étais pas l'élève le plus facile, mais a eu d'excellents rapports et je garde d'excellents souvenirs de ses cours. Et je crois qu'elle a dû m'apprécier un peu, malgré mon arrogance de (souvent) premier de classe, parce j'étais motivé. Enfin bref, lisez l'article et surtout allez visiter le Salon si vous le pouvez.

The return of the train travelers

I took this picture at the National Railway Museum in York and as usual I put it here because it goes with tonight's topic. And incidentally, we did go to Yorkshire briefly. So we renewed with train travels again last week and just got back from a lovely short holiday, where we stayed with a childhood friend of my wife (her very first friend) and her family (her son and her husband). I will blog more about it, but let's say now that little Wolfie is getting a taste for train journeys and he is a pretty good traveler, although he does get sometimes a bit hyper. But he was very good and overall very patient. Both journey there and back have been exhausting, but I can't wait to do more train journeys as a family.

Septembre, donc huîtres

Comme septembre est un mois qui se termine en "bre", c'est un mois où on peut manger des huîtres. Mon père m'a d'ailleurs dit que c'est en septembre qu'elles sont à leur meilleur. Il a par la même occasion fait un party d'huîtres et m'a envoyé des photos de celles-ci. Rien de très léché, mais les huîtres se mangent bien dans la simplicité, voire de façon primitive: on ouvre, un peu de sel, un peu de citron, on avale tout rond et surtout tout cru. Ah oui, et mon père a un joli couteau pour les ouvrir. Ça pourrait même être une arme blanche, mais ça, c'est une autre histoire.

"Happy Birth Dya"

Finally, this is the cake which Wolfie had for his birthday. A chocolate cake, but not my mother's family recipe. It is something my wife found on BBC Good Food, an easy chocolate cake with some coconut in the icing. Wolfie did the baking of the cake with his mother, then his mother and I did the icing. Then finally, Wolfie himself added the candles. He insisted on doing it. You might now see it, but some of the candles are letters, meant to create a "happy birthday" message. Wolfie got creative putting them on, so the message says: "Happy Birth Dya". I thought it was too cute to put the candles in the right order.

Vendredi 13

Nous sommes le vendredi 13. Le premier de l'année, ce qui est assez tardif. Je tenais à le souligner.

The Star of Cate Blanchett

My borther is on holidays and he is spending some time in Los Angeles and Hollywood. And he took a few pictures and shared this oneon Facebook. I know I am silly, because it is just a star on the pavement and the person it pays homage to is not, was not nearby, but I was still dying with envy. As the regular readers of this blog know, Cate Blanchett is my favourite actress, bare none. So not many starts in Hollywood impress me, but this one does.

Les cadeaux cette année

Voici tous les cadeaux que l'on a emballés pour notre petit loup cette année pour sa fête. C'est sans compter ceux que la Chatouille Blonde et sa mère nous ont apportés. Je crois que l'on a su modérer nos transports, comparativement aux années précédentes. Je vous jure.

18 years of 9/11

Today is the 18th anniversary of 9/11. When the new century in which we live in truly started, in blood, fire and death and history was made and more importantly lived. I will not say that I remember it like it was yesterday, that would be a cliché, but I do remember it vividly. I guess it is difficult to avoid commonplaces when one talks of such event. For my own experience and my reflection on 9/11, please read this post from 2008 and this one from 2009. They are the posts I am most proud of of all my years as a blogger. Talking of years, 18 is, in man's age, the one when he reaches maturity. I know at least one child the daughter of my friends (the big sister of my godson), who was born late in August and was actually on the 11th of September. Strange to think of her as an adult, stranger to think of her as having spent the first weeks of her life among the chaos and horror of that time. Thankfully and of course, she was oblivious to it. And on a sadder note, I don't think we matured much as a species, if at all, since the 11th of September 2011.

"Social traître" (cocktail)

Mon frère Andrew a inventé un cocktail, qu'il a appelé "social traître", allez savoir pourquoi. Il l'a fait pour le lundi, ce qui ne serait pas dans mes habitudes (je ne bois pas les soirs de semaines). À caue de cela, je voulais bloguer la recette lundi, mais finalement je n'ai pas eu le temps. La voici:

"Cocktail bourgeois du lundredi:
1 once (ou deux) de vodka
1 cuillère à soupe de crème de cassis
Le jus d'un quartier de lime
3-4 glaçons
1/2 canne de soda
J'appelle ça un social traître."

Je ne sais pas si j'aimerais ça, mais je suis curieux d'essayer. Dans tous les cas, la recette et le nom, ainsi que l'allusion au "lundredi", tout cela mérite d'homologuer la citation plus haut en nouvelle grande réplique inconnue.

An almost perfect September

This post is of course part of my autumnal chronicle. I have been quite happy since the beginning of September, mainly because it has been so far almost perfect for the autumn lover that I am. I am counting my blessings:

-We've had a few cold days where I could wear warm clothes. For the first time in months I have been able to wear my thick jumpers that are so comfy.
-Even when most of the days so far have been warm, it is always quite cool in the early morning and in the evening. And it has that kind of chill that you can only feel in autumn.
-The trees are still quite green, but some leaves have started changing colour.
-The ground is often already covered with leaves in any case.
-Sometimes in the evening, you can already smell bonfire.

So yes, not the ideal September, but has been a very pleasant one so far. The temperature should go up in the upcoming days, but given how the month started, I am fairly confident that it will not last. And for you, how is the month so far?

Cabane à oiseaux

Je partage aujourd'hui une nouvelle photo prise par mon père dans le Vieux-Montréal. C'est bien entendu une cabane à oiseaux, mais pas mal plus belle que celles qu'on trouve d'habitude. Elle est artisanale. Je ne sais pas si on peut dire ça d'une cabane à oiseaux, mais elle a pour ainsi dire un charme rustique. En tout cas elle a beaucoup de personnalité. J'aimerais en avoir une pour ici, on pourrait attirer de nouveaux voisins. Mais bien entendu, allez trouver quelque chose de joli comme ça pour des oiseaux ici...

What cake for Wolfie?

For some unknown reason, my father sent me pictures he took at a Première Moisson, one of the most famous chain of bakeries in Montreal. Including this one, of very decadent cakes. And it reminds me that the birthday of Wolfie is going to be very soon and that we haven't decided yet of what cake to give him. We will most likely bake it ourselves, based on one family recipes, but we are not sure of which particular sort of cake to have. We showed a few pics to Wolfie, asking him to decide, he seems to like them all. Any suggestions, please let me know in the comments.

5$ pour entrer au Salon du Livre

Comme ça se rapproche, je pensais faire un rappel:le Salon du Livre du Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean se tiendra du 26 au 29 septembre. Et ça coûte rien que 5$ l'entrée, une véritable aubaine. Du temps que je vivais encore au Saguenay, c'était mon moment fort de septembre et je m'en ennuie encore beaucoup. J'ai retrouvé mon laisser-passer catégorie cégep parmi mes cartes récemment, rien que pour retourner le fer dans la plaie. Je crois qu'il a dû me servir une fois. Enfin bref, à 5$ l'entrée, vous n'avez pas besoin de laisser-passer.