Anti-Terror Forces

 We went to the local May Fayre yesterday and Wolfie played one of these special games when he needs to catch a rubber duck to win a price, a toy of his choice. He chose this "Anti-Terror Forces" toolkit, basically police equipment (a gun, a knife, handcuffs, a badge, etc.) Wolfie is getting obsessed with the police these days, he even told us he wants to become a police officer when he grows up. So his games have become more brutal as of late, involving police officers (himself and mummy) and badguys (me). It makes a change from the vehicles he still obsesses about from time to time. And it also reminds me of my own childhood games. At his age, I loved police and robbers type games, I was also fond of such cheap toys, especially weapons, that usually didn't last long. This kit was very cheap, £3.50, and already the gun's trigger has broken down. Oh well, it can still be of use. Anyway, I hope Wolfie's choice has nothing to do with the rather, *ahem*, interesting looking policewoman on the top right corner of the packaging.

Premier burger sur barbecue

Nous sommes allés au May Fayre hier et ce fut pour moi l'occasion de manger pour le lunch un burger sur barbecue. Le premier de l'année, si je ne trompe pas. C'est une tradition pour moi lors des foires: je mange un hamburger. En fait un cheeseburger avec oignons frits en veux-tu, en voilà, moutarde "américaine", et sauce barbecue. Des fois il faut savoir se faire plaisir. J'ai mangé de meilleurs burgers, mais juste le fait qu'il soit sur barbecue, ça le rend spécial.

Plants for Adoption

I don't like all my neighbours (being generally rather antisocial), but some of them are rather nice. So I was walking yesterday and say this in the common area of our street. Somebody is giving their plants for adoption. I'm not much of a gardener, but that is the only reason why I didn't pick one of them. That and I have no idea what to do with these plants or what they are. But that is a sweet and quirky gesture, giving free plants for adoption. I don't know who the neighbour is, I suspect it's not the first time he/she is doing this (see this post), I hope to see more things offered for free in future months.

La maison des hérissons

J'ai pris cette photo chez mes beaux-parents. C'est une cabane à hérissons, afin de leur trouver un abri s'ils en ont besoin. Il y a beaucoup de hérissons dans notre coin de pays et ils ont parfois la vie dure. Alors on essaie de leur rendre la vie facile en leur donnant des demeures comme celle-ci. Je songe à en acheter une pour ici aussi,parce qu'il nous arrive d'avoir des hérissons qui visitent notre jardin. Pour les moment, mes parents n'ont pas de locataires, mais ça ne devrait pas trop tarder.

Dracula in Whitby

On the 26th of May, it will be the 125th anniversary of the publication of Dracula by Bram Stoker. It is my favourite horror novel. I learned on t the Facebook page of English Heritage (where I found this picture) that they are organising an event to celebrate: a gathering of vampires (well, people dressed as vampires) in Whitby Abbey. A large portion of the novel is set in Whitby and the abbey is featured. It is a perfect place for a vampire to dwell. I have been wanting to do my vampiric pilgrimage to Whitby for years, I don't think I can get holidays on such short notice and it is not during my son's midterm in any case. Neither would it be a suitable event for a young child, come to think of it. Even if Wolfie has a spooky mind. That said, I might make it a holiday destination one year. Nearer Halloween, perhaps, say the autumn midterm? It would be fitting. I will do my pilgrimage there one day, in any case. It's long overdue.

Le campus de mon alma mater

J'ai trouvé cette photo sur la page Facebook de l'université où j'ai fait mes études supérieures en Angleterre. Celle où j'ai rencontré ma femme. L'université n'était pas belle de partout (les édifices ici sont assez moches d'ailleurs), la ville encore moins (lire: la ville était pas mal laide), mais le centre du campus pouvait être joli à certains endroits. Cette photo avec les marguerites me rappelle bien des bons moments.

My name at work

 We had a meeting today at work (a virtual meeting of course) and one of the seniors asked me: "Guilly, do I pronounce your name right?" I made the mistake, when I started working there a year ago, to give them the name I received during my Krav Maga training, because they could not say Guillaume to save their life. So now I'm Guilly at work too, which I don't hate, but I don't like either. I said: "You can pronounce it the way you want, it's not my name." People thought it was quite witty (the senior laughed anyway). And I tink it deserves to be a new great unknown line.

Le retour de la foire

Après deux ans de pandémie, la foire du mois de mai, appelée "May Fayre", est de retour. Bon elle était de retour l'année dernière aussi, mais cette année ça risque d'être plus imposant. C'est un festival local qui dure toute la fin de semaine et qui est vraiment l'un des plaisirs du mois de mai ici. Pour petit loup, qui est maintenant conscient de ces évènements, ça devrait être très excitant. J'ai aussi très hâte. Les foires locales, grandes ou petites, surtout celle de mai et celle de septembre, font parties de ces nouvelles traditions que j'aime beaucoup.

Boat cleaning services

Boy the things you discover during a school run. Last week it was the sight of a coffee van that caught my attention. Yesterday in the morning we were behind a van and I noticed that it was a... boat cleaning company. Call me silly, but I didn't know there was such a thing. I thought boat owners cleaned their bot themselves. But hey, it makes sense that some don't. After all, there's car wash, so why not boat wash? We are relatively near the Thames, so there must be plenty of occasions round here for this van to do business. But it's the very first time I have seen a boat cleaning service.

Domino à la porte

L'ennui avec les chats, surtout les chats qui sont encore un peu sauvages, c'est qu'ils prennent souvent la maison pour un long corridor avec toit. Donc, Domino, qui est encore très sauvage (et pas rien qu'un peu), passe beaucoup de temps dehors, puis il rentre de manière impromptue, puis il traverse la maison... pour ensuite se planter devant l'autre porte. Et il miaule de façon plaintive, jusqu'à ce quelqu'un décide de jouer le portier. Moi, plus souvent qu'autrement. J'ai immortalisé le moment dans une photo.

Checkers

During one of our last time with Wolfie's maternal grandparents, our son found a game of checkers (or jeu de dames as we call it in French) and he received his first lesson in the game. I think he got the gist of it. I did not play much checkers when I was a child. My brothers and preferred chess, even then. Checkers was more a game played at school, during break time when it was too rainy to go out, or near the end of the year, when we had lots of free time. I was never a big fan of checkers, that said I think it's good that Wolfie can learn to play it and hopefully it will develop his interest in other games as well.

Boudin noir en tranche

Mon père m'a envoyé cette photo d'un repas que mes parents ont pris il y a peu de temps. Je sais, je sais, mon père m'envoie de la food porn rien que pour le blogue. Mais enfin bref, c'est du boudin noir, comme ils aiment en prendre parfois, mais celui-ci coupé en tranche comme un pain de viande. Et puis? Et puis c'est pas mal tout, je n'ai rien d'autre à dire, sauf que ça a l'air mieux que le dernier boudin noir que j'ai mangé ici, qui était très sec.

Majestic Griffin

Monstrum has released today a video on the ancient, mythical, majestic, magnificent creature that is the griffin. I have nothing more to say, enjoy, it's really fascinating:

Le 3 mai 1992

Voici un souvenir saguenéen d'avant les réseaux sociaux. Et c'est pour tester et je l'espèredémontrer que j'ai bonne mémoire. Alors donc, le 3 mai 1992, il a neigé au Saguenay. Je m'en rappelle encore. Je pourrais même vous parler de ma journée du 3 mai 1992, mais je vais laisser ça pour une autre fois (il se fait tard). Si vous vous rappelez du 3 mai 1992, surtout (bien entendu) si vous êtes du Saguenay, laissez-moi un commentaire.

Where to go in Liverpool?

 I recently stumbled on this article about the places to go when you are in Liverpool. I found it quite interesting and in a way a bit surreal, for one reason. As those of you who have been following this blog for a while, I lived in Lovverpool for about a year (well, nine months), before getting married. It was for professional reasons: I workedt here. I only returned there once, for a day. But living in a city for nine months leaves a certain impression in one's mind, and while I never felt like a local, I still have a certain affection for the city. Yet, I never truly experienced it as a tourist. In fact, I have barely been in the city's main tourists attractions. So I am neither a Scouser nor a complete stranger. I don't think we will go there for our holiday, but I would like to revisit it again and see how much the city changed. I do miss it, sometimes.

La nouvelle clôture

Nous avons fait refaire la clôture du jardin, qui état tombée en mars à cause du vent. Je suis heureux que ça soit enfin terminé: les rénovateurs étaient difficiles à trouver, parce que nous n'étions pas les seuls à avoir besoin de travaux de réparation après la tempête. Le travail a fasciné Wolfie: il a passé l'après-midi à regarder ce qui se faisait dans le jardin. Bon, maintenant, la bonne nouvelle dans tout ça, outre que c'est moins embarrassant pour nous, c'est que l'on a enfin accès complet à notre jardin. En plus, comme la clôture est plus haute, on ne verra plus la vieille grebiche d'à côté.

Clue: The Great Museum Caper?

As my long-time readers know, one of my favourite board games is Clue. Or Cluedo as it is called on this side of the pond. I have played the classic version more time than I can even count, it was my go-to game as a child. Now I have here one variant of it, the Game of Thrones one, but I want one day to get my hand on the classic version. The original one of course, but also some of the variants. I know among them of The Great Museum Caper, which I once saw in a shop years ago. That would be right up my alley: a game set in a museum? Involving burglaries, fine art and antiques? And it's in 2D as well. That is like a dream board game which I sadly never played yet. I hope they are still publishing it, or will release it again one day.

Portrait de Domino

Mon fils m'a dessiné ceci (avec l'aide de sa maman) pour ma fête: un portrait de notre chat Domino. C'est je dois dire assez ressemblant, même si Domino n'a pas l'air d'une humeur aussi souriante. Enfin, en général. Ce n'est pas le premier cadeau que Wolfie me fait, ni le premier dessin, mais c'est le premier dessin qu'il a pris le temps d'emballer comme cadeau de fête. J'ai trouvé ça assez émouvant, je dois dire. Mon fils a le don de me faire plaisir et il prend déjà plaisir à donner, pas seulement à recevoir.

May Day, Maypole and Snoopy

 Today is May Day. And what better way to celebrate it than with a Maypole, albeit a virtual one (and a drawn one at that) and of course Snoopy and the Peanut gang. I got this image from Charlie Brown's Fourth Book of Questions and Answers. They have a short entry on May Day, giving little info, but the sweetest image to go with it. You just can't go wrong with a cheerful Snoopy.

Une Perdriole (qui va, qui vient, qui vole...)

Parce que nous sommes le premier jour de mai...