The visiting wasps

As I work from home, I like as much as I can to keep the window open. It makes me feel close to the outside world and to nature, if that makes sense. I love to hear the wind blowing in the trees and the occasional red kite. But recently, I have been receiving some unexpected visitors which I could really do without: some wasps show up, generally in the middle of the afternoon. They fly through the open window, fly around the room, then leave... or not. They can stay quite a while. It once happened in the middle of a meeting, which startled me. I generally get rid of them quickly enough. They are a very minor nuisance for now and they only show up occasionally, nevertheless I hope they don't have a nest nearby.

Marcher sous la pluie

L'un des avantages de travailler de la maison, c'est qu'on peut vraiment décrocher lors de la pause du dîner du midi: on n'est plus entouré de collègues et on sent moins la présence du bureau, même s'il est tout proche.J'en profite parfois pour faire une promenade de quelques minutes. Un quartier résidentiel avec de la verdure, c'est aussi plus beau qu'un quartier industriel. Il a plu aujourd'hui, mais pas des trombes, juste une pluie fine. Je crois qu'un jour de travail, je préfère qu'il pleuve et je préfère marcher sous la pluie que sous le soleil. C'est plus reposant sous la pluie.

Proper Tea

Like I said yesterday, last weekend we went to our first family gathering (on my wife's side) since lockdown. It was nice to see everyone again. Of course, this being a (mostly) English family, we had tea in the grandparents' garden. My mother-in-law knows me well, so she served me tea as I prefer it and as it should be done: no barbaric milk, no sugar, brewed juuust dark enoughto be strong but not bitter. I call this sort of tea Proper Tea. Which mean it is not done the English way.

Les Jardins du Casino

J'ai pensé mettre un peu de musique sur le blogue, rien que parce que j'avais cette chanson en tête (allez savoir pourquoi) et que je ne mets pas assez de Jacques Brel. Pas ma préférée ou sa plus célèbre, mais parfois la mémoire musicale a de ses caprices.

A crash course in rugby

Yesterday, during our first family gathering for the first time since the pandemic (and before), I had the priviledge to receive my first ever crash course in rugby since I have been living in this country. My father-in-law is South African, thus his son, my wife's brother, is half South African, and they are both rugby fans. For them, rugby is serious business. As there was a game between South Africa and Britain, they of course decided to watch it. Both, of course, support the Springboks. It makes sense that Wolfie and I do too (to my wife's dismay, she remains, in this sport and others, loyal to England). I cannot say that I remembered all the terminology and would understand all the rules, but I could sort of  follow yesterday's game between the Springboks and the Lions. I didn't watch it all as we had to go, but it was really entertaining. I wish I had tried to watch rugby years ago, because this was exciting to watch and, as brutal as it was, kind of elegant. I'm really glad Wolfie has some South African blood and has access to this culture through his mother's family. Oh and in the end the Springboks won. Go Bokke!

Des canards et des hommes

 Nous avons une petite réunion en famille (la famille de ma femme) hier, la première vraie de vraie en deux ans. Que faire quand on se réunit tous ensemble, à part manger? Ben on va se promener, pardi. Et on va observer les canards. Je ne sais pas pourquoi, depuis que je suis dans ce pays (et même quand je l'ai visité pour la première fois), on finit toujours par aller voir des canards. Je ne sais pas non plus pourquoi j'aime ça. Tout le monde semble aimer ça, en fait. C'est qu'ils ont une gueule sympathique? Qu'ils sont des oiseaux fascinants, vivant sur terre, sur l'eau et dans les airs? C'est peut-être qu'ils ne sont ni timides, ni agressifs? Dans tous les cas, tout le monde voulait voir les canards.

Heralding autumn?

I am being careful, as I know August is still very young and it is a long way until next month. But all the same, my instinct (and I know it can be wrong) tells me that we might just have an early autumn this year. The temperature is overall cool for August, but more precisely there is just smething in the air that smells of the coming season.There is also something in the light of day that is almos autumnal. We're not there yet, but this year's August seems to be heralding autumn.

Question existentielle (372)

 Une question existentielle théorique plus que pratique, car je sais ce que nous ferons aujourd'hui:

-Quoi faire lors de notre première vraie réunion familiale depuis le début de la pandémie, avec les grand-parents, les petits-enfants et tout le monde?

The green jumper that was not green (or was it?)

 As I had mentioned a bit less than a month ago, I need new clothes, so I finally ordered them online. Not many, just a few articles. Among them, a green(dark olive green or forest green, or whatever kind of dark green it was jumper which I thought looked nice. A bit of context of anecdotal importance: I love green clothes, Wolfie loves green clothes (green being its favourite colour), but my wife hates green clothes, or the green colour in general. So I received the clothes yesterday and... The jumper was not green. It looked either black or navy blue, but certainly not green. I checked on the receit and it said I had purchased a green jumper, so it was not my mistake. My wife was quite happy as she thought it looked much better than she feared, but I wanted my green jumper, not a navy blue or a black jumper (I got enough of those), so I tried to get in touch with the shop via their chatline. As I was waiting for someone to answer me, Wolfie said: "But daddy, daddy, it IS a green jumper." And under a certain light, it actually was green. A very dark shade of green, but still. So in the end I went off the chat before someone could answer and I will not try to return the jumper. Wolfie was happy, I was happy, my wife was less happy. And I am now the proud owner of a green jumper that is not always green but really is green.

Mille-feuille ou mille-feuilles?

 Photo prise par mon père à Eddy Laurent. Je songeais à la mettre ici en parler du mille-feuille plus gentrifié que celui de Vachon, puis ça m'a frappé: c'est écrit mille-feuille et non mille feuilles, comme j'ai l'habitude de l'écrire. On l'écrit mille-feuille ou millefeuille en un mot dans l'article de Wikipedia. Mais chez Vachon, c'est mille feuilles, avec un s mais sans trait d'union. Va falloir que j'apprenne à réécrire mille-feuille. Morale de l'histoire: argh!

About crab apples

My dad sent me pictures of the family's crab apple tree. I don't know if you can see it, but there are lots of fruits on it and they have started reddening (is that the right word?). I love crab apple trees, I love picking up the fruits by the end of the month. The harvest of crab apples is a sure sign that autumn is on its way. I found some crab apples trees nearby, their fruits are still quite green. I don't think I will pick up their fruits, but it's nice to know we have them in this country too.

Image allégorique de Piloé

 Photo prise dans Les dires de Piloé, le livre de quatrième année de français que j'ai beaucoup aimé, assez pour demander à mon frère PJ de me l'acheter. C'est une image allégorique de la Justice, bien entendu, et je me rappelle encore que l'on en avait beaucoup discuté en classe. C'est beaucoup pour ça que j'aime ce livre et qu'il m'a autant marqué: on n'y lisait pas que des bons sentiments et des platitudes, c'était un livre vraiment éducatif et j'ai appris pas mal grâce à lui.

The reading owl

This weekend, we went to Cliveden, a National Trust property that is not too far  from home. There is a lot to see and enjoy for the whole family and I was happily surprised to see Wolfie being enthusiastic for even the least children oriented attractions. But I digress and these are for other posts. There is one section of Cliveden that is both fun for kids and seemelessly educational. It's a small playground with wooden sculptures of characters from children fiction. At its entrance, there is this owl, sitting on a pile of classic books, eading one of them. There is a squirrel (I think) next to him, a hedgehog on the cover of one of the books and a toad (or a frog?) underneath. I'm not sure if these are animal characters from a specific book (tell me in the comments if you know), but I find it a subtle and intelligent invitation to literacy. And there is nothing cooler than a wise old owl reading books.

Poisson de bois

En fin de semaine dernière, nous avons décidé de passer un après-midi à Cliveden, parce que ce n'est pas trop loin. C'est un vaste domaine avec beaucoup à voir et j'ai donc pris beaucoup de photos. Lors de notre prochaine visite, j'en prendrai encore plus. Enfin bref. Parmi les nombreuses attractionsde Cliveden,il y a des sculptures en bois et des sculptures tout court. Celle-ci a été sculptée du bois d'un arbre encore enraciné. Je ne sais pas trop c'est quoi l'idée d'un poisson (nous étions proche d'une fontaine et d'un étan?), mais je l'ai trouvé très réaliste.

Preparing for school

I often say that having a boy as a child allows me to live a second childhood. Which is geat. But being a parent, I discover it these days, also means that one must live again, through your child, the anxieties of childhood, topped up with your own parental concerns. Case in point: my wife and I are working very hard to get Wolfie ready for his first year at school. Which means buying lots of official school clothes and lots of school stuff, all the while trying to sound enthusiastic to him.But I cannot help feeling that time is flying way too fast and that things were simpler when he was a litle baby.

Déjà le temps du bouilli

 Nous sommes dans ce moment où l'été commence à se terminer et lautomne est déjà en chemin. Enfin du moins en principe. C'est aussi le tout début des récoltes. Enfin bref: mes parents ont fait un bouilli avant-hier. Et j'ai reçu cette photo pour preuve. Le bouilli, c'est pour moi le met du début de l'automne, ou alors son précurseur et c'est la meilleure manière de manger certains légumes, comme le maïs en épi, le chou ou les haricots. Il faudra bien que j'apprenne à en cuisiner un jour.

Tea, no milk

 We have a newbie at work in our team since last week. She is from Poland, so that evenly put our team to two Brits and two foreigners, including yours truly. But I digress. In our first webcall with her, I saw that she was drinking tea from a gigantic cup. Like a bowl of soup with a handle.But what truly caught my attention is that it looked like tea, and not like tea blurred with milk. She confirmed that she htes milk in tea, as it spoils the taste. So I am glad I am not the only one thinking that. As milk in itself, let alone in tea, is utterly barbaric. Not it feels like I am not the only civilised person (or at least the only person with taste) in the office.

Ah! Les fraises et les framboises...

Mes parents, lors de leur séjour à Québec, ont acheté des fraises et des framboises, comme dans la chanson, au grand marché de Québec. Et ils en ont acheté autant que ça. Je regarde cette photo et je me dis que les portions anglaises sont faméliques.

August's spooky reads

 It's the first of August and that means... Well, that means a lot of things, which I will touch upon in future posts. For many, it means there is still one month of summer. For me, it means that there is only three months left until Halloween. See this post for my current state of mind in a nutshell. It means also that I have started reading horror stories. I have a lot of books to read, so I started a few weeks ago. I always thought that the horror you read in August, or before autumn needs to be a bit different than what you'd read in October. Somewhat more summery. For instance, I just finished The Monster Club by by Ronald Chetwynd-Hayes. It has a lot more humour than your usual horror story, so it sort of fits the lighter season. It is nevertheless much darker and scarier than its cult movie adaptation. In fact, the film comes off as clumsy and lacklustre compared to the source material. But I digress. If August is for many a time to make the best of what's left of summertime, it is for me a time to prepare myself mentally for Halloween.

L'horloge du Jura

Mes parents m'ont envoyé pleins de photos de leur séjour à Québec (même s'il fut bref), y compris de l'horloge du Jura, cadeau de la Suisse à la ville de Québec pour son 400e anniversaire. Nous sommes le premier août, le temps passe, alors c'est une raison comme une autre pour partager cette photo.