Volcano Mash

Sometimes, we want Wolfie to eat something else than pasta, which is his main diet. And it has proven to be quite hard. He used to like mashed potatoes in the past, so my wife had a great idea: turn the meal into a display. So she bought some Quorn Roarsone Vegan Dinosaur Nuggets (something Wolfie was quite curious about). I made a mash with it, then I created an image just like on the box: nugget for the dinosaur, brocoli and green peas for the prehistoric jungle and in the centre a potato mash in the shape (sort of) of a volcano, with lots of keptchup for lava. Wolfie really liked it. He ate  about half the nugget and most of the mash. I suspect it was because of the ketchup. And of course the next day, it did not work out so well: Wolfie didn't want that meal anymore.

Les Bouquinistes deviennent une coop

Ma mère m'a annoncé la nouvelle hier: la librairie Les Bouquinistes (LA librairie de Chicoutimi et sans doute LA librairie du Saguenay) devient une coopérative. C'est sans doute la bonne chose à faire. La librairie indépendante locale (quand on est chanceux pour en avoir une), c'est un centre essentiel de la vie culturelle de la communauté. Transformer les Bouquinistes en coop, je crois que ça va resserrer les liens entre la population et "sa" librairie. Si je vivais encore à Chicoutimi, je deviendrais sans doute membre. Je le ferai peut-être lors de mon prochain séjour au Saguenay, si je peux le faire même en expatrié.

Mister X

 I blogged before about Scotland Yard,one ofmy favourite if not y favourite board game. When I was a child, it solidified my love of England and developedy love ofcrime fiction.In it, you play either a detective from, well Scotland Yard (aka the London Metropolitan Police, or the Met, but Scotland Yard sounds way cooler) orthe mysterious and elusive criminal Mister X. He is described as a criminal mastermind, but we don't know the nature of his crimes,or indeed his background. In the games' images, he's depicted as a man in a trenchcoat, wearing a hat and shades. Well, of course. I always quite liked this aspect of the character: we could imagine anything about him. Both the game and Mr. X made a strong impression on my imaginative mind as a child: my brothers and I invented a make belief game based on the board game (it often happened during my childhood) and Mr. X was one of the first villains we hunted down. I think I even invented some specific crimes for him to commit, some involved blackmail, some other industrial espionage, there might have been weapon trafficking and luxury goods too. Because he was at the start a blank slate, he developed into a memorable villain.

Un 'tit avion

Si vous vous en souvenez, j'ai blogué en avril sur des petits avions en foam que j'aurais bien aimé recevoir pour ma fête. J'ai été très gâté, mais je n'en ai pas reçu, alors j'ai décidé d'en acheter moi même. Au prix qu'ils sont, c'est presque donné. Et ils sont basés sur des vrais avions de la Deuxième guerre mondiale, autant dire que ça a une valeur éducative. Celui-ci est un Hawker Hurricane. C'est le seul que j'ai déballé et monté: je veux faire durer le plaisir, car ils sont peu solides. Wolfie a adoré et a passé la soirée à jouer avec. J'ai bien fait de n'en déballer qu'un: il va les maganer vite. Comme je le faisais à son âge.

Meeting with future friends?

Today, right after we picked up Wolfie from preschool, we went to a meeting in the park with parents who have children the same age as our son, children who will go to the same school next year. I say "meeting", but it was not very formal and there were not many people: two mums my wife had met online in a Facebook group, and their two daughters, as well as a little toddler, the brother of one of them. We could only arrive late, so maybe there were more before. I wonder if the girls will become friend with Wolfie in the coming year, and if we will become friends with the parents we met today. Wolfie is not really into girly activities and interests, he's very much into stereotypically boys stuff (trucks and trains), but he does have his chivalrous moments. Last week, when a little girl at preschool was crying because she missed her mummy, he tried to cheer her up by bringing her lots of toy animals. It didn't work, she kept on crying, but he was really committed to make her happy. Anyway, I just thought that this all seems new and strange to us and him now: a new school soon, new people to know, but soon it will become familiar to us and part of everyday life and conversations.

Vacciné bientôt

Petite nouvelle pandémique et médicale personnelle: comme maintenant on permet de vacciner les plus de quarante ans, j'ai réussi à prendre rendez-vous afin de me faire vacciner contre la COVID-19. Je le serai la semaine prochaine pour une première dose, puis plus tard en juillet pour la deuxième. Et les vaccins sont donnés à cinq minutes de marche de chez moi. Je ne sais pas quel vaccin ce sera exactement, ma femme croit que ce sera AstraZeneca (mais ça ne me dérange pas du tout). Enfin bref, tout ça pour dire que je serai vacciné très bientôt.

Ninja Gun

Sometimes, I buy magazines to Wolfie, with toys in it. These toys are often what he asks for, Legos and more Thomas the Tank Engine toys for his railway networks. Sometimes, I buy him a random magazine with a random cheap toy. I used to like them a lot as a kid, sometimes more than fancy and expensive toysThey rarely lasted long, but I enjoyed them a lot, especially plastic guns for a reason, such as water pistols. So anyway, in one of them bought recently, there was this "ninja gun". Basically, a plastic gun with disk projectiles(they are meant to be shuriken I believe) and targets. The projectiles don't work, or rather the trigger on the gun does not. You press it and nothing happens. But it is a cool gun, it's a ninja gun. With a ninja on it. Apparently, such things do exist. Even though it does not work, it looks so cool that we'll keep it until it breaks. Which hopefully won't any time soon, as it feels quite sturdy.

Les grêles de mai

Des fois, il fait beau en mai. Des fois, il fait moins beau. Cette année, jusqu'ici, c'est assez ordinaire. Pas que je m'en plaigne. Mais enfin bref, on a eu une bonne chute de grêle il y a deux jours, la première grêle depuis très longtemps. J'ai pris cette photo, qui ne rend pas justice à la scène. D'ordinaire, mai est moins traître que mars ou avril. Pas cette année. Je relis les billets de l'an dernier et il semblerait que ça ait été la même chose.

The stocks of Second Cup's hot chocolate

 I don't know if it is because she is an Englishwoman, but my wife really fell in love with Second Cups when she visited them the first time she came to Montreal. So when I traveled home and she had to stay at home, circa 2015-2016, I bought her not one, but two tubs of hot chocolate. I think I made one of the tubs a birthday present. I was all happy about it, but there was just one problem: my wife loves the coffee of Second Cup.It's chocolate, not so much, especially if it is not prepared and drunk there. I guess most of all, she loves the Second Cup experience. So I recently found out the two tubs in our cupboards, one of them unopened and... both out of date. I checked if we could still drink it, apparently not after more than a year, especially if you see small white grains in the mix (which I did). Moral of the story: I won't bother stocking on them, but we will visit one of their coffeeshops when we are back in Montreal.

Un véhicule jaune

Mon père m'a envoyé des photos de balayeuses de rue qui passaient dans le rond-point. Je dis "m'a envoyé", mais les photos étaient pour petit loup. Wolfie aime vraiment beaucoup tous les véhicules lourds. Je crois aussi qu'il aime la couleur jaune. C'est drôle, parce que quand j'avais son âge, ce sont justement les véhicules jaunes que j'aimais le plus regarder. J'étais aussi très impressionné par les balayeuses de rue comme celle-ci, bien que de mon temps elles n'étaient pas jaunes, enfin pas selon mes souvenirs.

Highland Cattles

A week and a half ago, we went to a local farm, one of Wolfie's favourite places. They have lots of animals to see, including Highland cattles. During my first trip to the UK, back when I was a child, we visited Scotland and the Highlands. We were very impressed to see the cattles, with their long shaggy coats. They look so exotic and so typically Scottish. I never get bored to see them.

Passer le pont

Des fois, on demeure des années dans un coin de pays et on découvre un endroit charmant pas loin de chez soi. C'est ce qui nous est arrivé lors de notre dernière promenade il y a quelques jours. Nous avons trouvé dans un village à cinq minutes de voiture de chez nous un sentier fort joli, avec en plus un pont presque neuf. Le temps était mauvais, mais la marche était très agréable. Je me suis dit qu'il faudra la refaire en automne, quand les couleurs seront là. On le fera sans doute avant, bien entendu.

Screaming like a banshee

A few days ago, we received the visit of a friend of my wife and her daughter (we saw them in the garden, respecting social distancing, etc.) Her friend is half Irish on her mother's side, but she considers herself English. "The better side of me is English", she told us when we discussed this. Later on,when we said her daughter seemed all right and happy at the idea of going back to school, she said: "Right now she is, but soon I will be screaming like a banshee for her to wake up and get there on time!" I said: "Screaming like a banshee? See, that must be your Irish side." She thought it was quite funny, I think this deserves to be a new great unknown line. On a side note, I love Ireland and Irish folklore.

Des jours fériés et du vent

Hier, c'était un congé férié, le premier jour de congé du mois de mai, il y en a un deuxième à la toute fin du mois. C'est l'un des bons côtés de mai: deux jours fériés, le premier et dernier lundi du mois. On ne s'en plaindra pas, mais j'aimerais qu'il y en ait un autre à l'automne. Mais enfin bref, mai ne ressemble pas beaucoup à mai ces temps-ci. Il fait froid et il vente beaucoup. Alors comme il ventait très fort hier, nous ne sommes pas sortis. Ce fut quand même très plaisant. Je n'aime guère le temps trop doux ou trop chaud, alors je préfère mai quand il est comme ça. Je sais, c'est une hérésie pour bien du monde, voire du masochisme, mais au moins on ne se sent pas coupable de demeurer à la maison et de ne pas faire grand-chose. Et plus entendre le vent souffler dans le confort de la maison, c'est très plaisant aussi comme expérience. Quand le temps porte à la mélancolie, autant l'accepter et en faire son alliée.

Anybody read Beast Quest?

I bought this book second handed a couple of weeks ago. Not sure why. It was only £2.00. I guess that is why. I never read Beast Quest and Wolfie is still too young for it. I guess for two quids, it's in my price range. And it will remind of the time when I used to read gamebooks. I might be in for a treat, or I might feel stupid at every page and feel like I wasted my time and my money. All the same, I am curious. That's the kind of book I wish I had known when I was younger, it could have inspired me for our D&Dr games. Still, if nothing else, it has a cool cover, with what appears to be a nasty griffin, striking a young looking hero. Anyway, if anyone of you read Beast Quest books, please ell me in the comments.

Le vin rouge (cheap)

Il y a quelques temps, j'ai commencé à boire du vin rouge à nouveau, parce que je m'en ennuyais. Je ne suis pas un grand amateur de vin, je suis plus bière et puis le vin rouge me fait éternuer. C'est d'ailleurs pour ça que j'avais arrêté d'en boire. Mais j'aime boire du vin rouge avec certains repas, alors j'ai pris le risque d'en acheter une grosse bouteille et de voir si je souffrais encore d'une intolérance aux sulfites. Il semblerait que non. Même si j'ai choisi une bouteille cheap de vin australien. Je ne suis pas assez connaisseur pour apprécier autre chose que de la piquette. Mais quand même: j'ai bu sans en souffrir par la suite. Yé!

Bug Hotel

This is a picture of a bug hotel, taken last week at our visit to a local farm. They're also called insect hotels and insect houses, but I prefer the term bug hotel. Well, I don't know if you know about them, but it seems that they've been cropping everywhere recently around here, for environmental purposes. Bug hotels helppollinisation, you see. They also look cool and quirky. This is actually the first one I have seen so far, even though some have been built in our neighbourhood. We will try to find more and I will take pictures of them.

Un tamia glouton

Petit billet animalier pour ce dimanche. Je cherchais des photos pour ce blogue, n'en trouvant peu de récentes, j'ai trouvé parmi celles de mon frère PJ du temps qu'il demeurait à Gatineau celle de ce tamia. Ou un suisse, ou encore un "petit suisse", comme on dit au Québec. Selon ce que j'ai lu sur Wikipedia, il n'y en aurait pas ici en Angleterre.

A birthday wish from Malcolm McDowell

I come back on my birthday, which was a week and a half ago already. My brother PJ got me a very special birthday present: a birthday wish told by actor Malcolm McDowell. If you don't know who he is, he playedthe Alex DeLarge in A Clockwork Orange. Incidentally my favourite movie. My bro managed to do this through Cameo, which provides the services of celebrities or semi-celebrities for birthday and special celebration wishes. I won't get into details of what he said, but he was very funny. It is kind of strange to think he knows I exist (although he'll have forgotten before long I'm sure) and to hear him speaking of his iconic role to me. Anyway, that was one of the most original birthday presents I ever had.

Le Premier Jour Du Mois de May

Non, non, je n'ai pas commis de faute dans mon titre: c'est lemois écrit à l'ancienne. Comme c'est lepremier jour de mai, je partage une chanson de la Renaissance sur... le premier jour de mai. Je l'ai trouvée au hasard hier, alors que j'en cherchais une autre, mais celle-ci fera parfaitement l'affaire.