Greek Nativity Scene

After becoming the cradle of cilivilisation and of maybe the coolest mythology ever, Greece became the cradle of Christianity and maybe its true developer. Which is true also of its imagery. I found this picture on the Facebook page of the British Museum. It is of course a Nativity Scene. I found it quite interesting: the Virgin Mary (in traditional blue clothes) is at center stage and looks like she is resting after giving birth. I think it is a very naturalistic depiction of her and of a family when a newborn has just showed up.

Sentier de neige...

Mon père m'a envoyé cette photo hier. Un autre sentier de neige pris dans le lot de mes oncles. Je ne m'en lasse jamais, surtout dans le temps de Noël, surtout quand je ne peux profiter de l'hiver et de la neige (donc du vrai hiver) qu'en photo. Je suis expatrié dans un pays où l'hiver est pluvieux plus souvent qu'autrement et où une image comme celle-ci est exotique. J'ai comme hâte de pouvoir revoir le vrai de vrai hiver.

Balder and the Mistletoe

'Tis the season to be reading and troll the ancient Yuletide carols, and so on. It is not Christmas without a healthy dose of Norse mythology, so every year I try to read at least one story from Gods & Heroes from Viking Mythology, usually more. I did not have the chance to read one so far since the beginning of December, but I intend to do it soon. There is one in particular, the story of the death of the god Balder (or Baldr, or Baldur, but the book uses the spelling Balder), which is particularly appropriate for Christmas as the mistletoe is instrumental in Balder's murder. Not exactly cheerful, but the Season does have a dark side.

L'arbre de Noël décoré

  

Mes parents ont monté le sapin et l'ont décoré... Avec le train électrique et le village.

Tea's the season to be drinking

I know David's Tea has been struggling these last few years and even more so these last few months. I was not sure if I wanted to blog about it, but it made me sad, as I really love their accessories and the fact that they made tea cool and trending again. Or at least they had until they started getting into financial trouble. They did not seem to be doing much except surviving, then I saw on their Facebook page that they had new mugs for Christmas. They look absolutely lovely. Of course I cannot buy any now, but I hope they get back on their feet and I can purchase a Yuletide Christmas mug from them one day, because they sure look gorgeous.

L'arbre de Noël familial

Mon père m'a envoyé des photos de l'arbre de Noël familial. Je dis "familial", mais comme mes frères et moi ne serons pas là à Noël cette année, pour des raisons évidentes, c'est plutôt l'arbre de Noël de mes parents. Et c'estun arbre naturel, pas un sapin en plastique. Ils l'ont décoré depuis, et il paraît que c'est de l'ouvrage à deux sans les enfants (et sans Wolfie, qui aide quand même pas mal). C'est dommage que l'on ne puisse pase réunir en famille cette année, mais au moins on a les photos.

Sadie When She Died

'Tis the season to be reading and, while I blogged about it a few days ago,  have decided to properly give as a reading suggestion for the Season Sadie When She Died by Ed McBain. Which as you may have guessed features the cops of the 87th Precinct. Mainly Steve Carella and Bert Kling. Sarah Fletcher is murdered in what appears to be a burglary turned horribly wrong. A junky suspect is quickly apprehended and accused and it appears to be an open and shut case, but quickly you see that nothing is quite as it seems. Her husband is openly glad she is dead and it turns out that Sarah had lead a double life as serial adulteresss and borderline nymphomaniac Sadie Collins. While Carella is playing a strange cat and mouse game with the not grieving widower, Bert Kling, still heartbroken from a recent breakup, is trying to flirt with a new girl...whose mysterious and unseen boyfriend seems to be te jealous type. And with connections to the underworld to boot. This is dark, bloody, Hitchcockian by moments (something to expect with McBain) and it's the perfect Christmas crime read.

Qu'est devenue la 'tite hache des bûches?

J'en ferai peut-être une question existentielle bientôt, mais une chose m'a frappée il y a quelques jours en pensant aux bûches de Noël, en particulier la Vachon: qu'est-il arrivé des petites haches en plastique qui allaient sur les bûches? J'ai cherché tant et tant en ligne et n'ai rien trouvé, la hache en plastique semble avoir disparu des accessoires. Mauvaise pour l'environnement, peut-être? Enfant, je l'aimais quasiment autant que la bûche elle-même: j'en faisais une arme ou un outil pour mes petits bonhommes, ça devenait un jouet de Noël. Je sais qu'on peut les acheter à part dans certains commerces en ligne, pour utiliser avec les bûches faites maison, mais je me demande quand la décision a été prise de les enlever et s'il y en a encore avec les bûches du commerce.

The family train on social media

'Tis the season to be... playing with model trains. And to be proud of a family tradition. I posted this picture of our family train at the base of our Christmas tree on this blog before. I also posted it a number of times on various social media, including on the Facebook page of LGB. Well, last year, the Facebook page actually used it in one of its posts! It was an honour. I think they did this because this picture and our train as well as our tree (or rather my parent's tree) perfectly embodies the spirit of the Season and of model train lovers during the Christmastime. In any case, I am sharing it again today.

Les lumières de Noël

Je partage aujourd'hui des photos de Noël chez mes parents. Ils décorent toujours le devant. C'est simple, mais je crois que c'est plus beau que des décorations élaborées. Ici, il y en a beaucoup aussi, mais sans la neige, ben ça n'a pas la même atmosphère.

One day until the holidays

Tomorrow is the last day at work before I am on holidays. It will be a staycation, but I don't mind one bit: I haven't had time off since I started my new job and it's Christmastime, so I don't mind just staying in more. I have been really lucky with my job, this afternoon I had time off just because of the hard work we did. They are far more flexible far more welcoming an friendlier than in my previous job. So I will take my holidays in a much happier mood and will not have the same feeling of dread going back to work (still in my home office) come January. I know it is hard for many people out there, but this year has not been that bad for me and I'm really looking forward to Christmas.

Les bûches glacées de Coaticook

Petit moment food porn de fierté québécoise. Mes parents ont acheté il n'y a pas longtemps la bûche à la crème glacée et tire d'érable Coaticook. Celle-là sur la photo. Je ne sais pas si elle est auss bonne que celle maison que ma mère fait, mais elle a l'air excellente.

Il y en a une autre, la traditionnelle, que vous voyez sur cette photo. Je ne sais pas si mes parents l'ont essayée (ils sont plusportés sur les desserts à l'érabl en général) et je ne sais pas en quoi elle est 'traditionnelle" par rapport à l'autre, elle a plus l'air d'une version gâteau Forêt-Noire de la bûche de Noël. Dans tous les cas, j'espère pouvoir les essayer l'année prochaine.

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

'Tis the season to be reading and I might start this post with a confession: although I am a medievalist, specialized in Arthurian literature on top of that, I have never read Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, although I know the story. Mostly because I specialized in XIIth century French literature, but I digress. I bought this version of it some 20 years ago, in the previous millenium, when I did my MA. I found it on my bookshelves at my parents' place and brought it back here with me. The cover is horrid, but this is a proper academic edition, with original Middle English and the modern translation side by side. This is next on my reading list. And it is very fitting that I start it now: not only do I consider old myths and folklore an essential element of any respectable Christmas, but this particular story starts during Christmastime.

Parlons Ciné-cadeau

Comme vous le savez sans doute si vous êtes au Québec, Ciné-cadeau 2020-2021 (ou la cuvée 2020 comme je l'appelle) sera à l'horaire à partir du 18 décembre. Incidemment, c'est mon dernier jour de travail avant les vacances des Fêtes. Je n'ai pas accès à Télé-Québec, mais j'ai décidé de me faire un Ciné-cadeau de l'expatrié, en regardant certains classiques disponibles sur YouTube ou ailleurs. Certains qui repassent à chaque année, d'autres que l'on ne voit plus depuis longtemps. Je n'ai malheureusement pas Un Noël cathodique que j'aurais voulu comme guide: je l'ai laissé chez mes parents. Mais j'ai quand même assez de matériel et de temps libre pour me lancer dans les Fêtes nostalgiques.

Radio Times for Christmastime

Well, since we are going to be stuck here in England and sine 'tis the season to be watching, we bought the special holiday edition of Radio Times. THE edition of Radio Times, really, the only one we feel we must buy in the year. And we are not the only ones: when my in-laws were expats in France, before they decided to move back to be closer to their grandchildren, this is what they asked us to bring when we were to visit them for Christmas. It is a British cultural treasure. Even though I barely watch any tellie anymore, I still want to buy it, if only to enjoy the articles.

Le sentier enneigé

 Nouvelle photo de l'hiver envoyée par mes parents. Une allée piétonnière près de chez nous, je la reconnais à peine à cause de la neige qui tombe.

Swedish Lucia for Dummies

You may not know, or maybe you do, but today is the Feast of Saint Lucy, and it is an important day in Sweden. Almost 30 years ago, we had a Swedish foreign exchange student who came for a year in our family and she kind of celebrated it a bit with us: she made the safron buns and had some candles on or something. We ate the buns during our game of D&Dr and this was so perfect. Anyway, Christmas is on its way and I thought that Saint Lucy's Day deserved a post. So here is a crash course on how Sweden celebrates it:

Vent d'hiver

Mon père m'a envoyé des photos. Toujours est-il qu'il neige chez eux. Et il vente aussi, puisqu'il a titré ses emails "Vent d'hiver", comme dans la chanson.

No turkey for Christmas this year?

This picture was taken last Christmas at my parent's place, shortly after midnight. We had just unwrapped the presents and we were about to eat the the meal for the réveillon. It is a meal we take shortly after midnight, way too rich for the time of night, but we still eat it and we still enjoy it. This is the main thing, Christmas and stuffing. There is far more in a plate, see this post for the whole meal. Sadly this year it will not happen: I am on the other side of the Atlantic and my wife is a vegetarian. Also, there is no way my cooking skills are good enough to do such a meal. I might try to find some smaller piece of turkey for Wolfie and I, but I am not sure where to find it.

Un flambeau,Jeannette, Isabelle

Je partage aujourd'hui un des cantiques de Noël que j'aime le plus, mais seulement quand c'est bien chanté, ce qui n'arrive pas si souvent que ça. Quand ce sont des anglophones qui le font (et vous en trouverez pleins sur YouTube), Jésus devient rapidement "Jesusse", ce qui sonne exactement comme "je suce". Et ça change comme le sens de la chanson.