Brio Snow Plow Train

 Sometimes, my wife buys presents to Wolfie and she makes two men happy instead of just one, because I enjoy it just as much. This was the case when Wolfie got the Brio World Snow Plow Train among his gifts. Coming with its own set of snow and snowbound track. Now I love trains and Brio sets have been a great way to bond with my son over the years. But this may be his coolest train yet, one that is a snow plow as well. I think I like it even more than he does.

Neige

 Photo prise par ma mère, celle des neiges d'antan. Enfin non, celles des neiges du mois dernier, juste après Noël. Il a finalement neigé à Chicoutimi, je crois comprendre que c'est toujours l'hiver au Saguenay. Ici, c'est l'hiver anglais, donc dans les tons de gris et brun. Je partage parce que l'image est jolie et ce genre d'hiver me manque beaucoup. On prévoit de la neige ici, mais comme je le mentionnais hier, je suis sceptique. Mettons que je l'ai entendu avant. Dans tous les cas, ça ne ressemblera pas à cette photo.

Polar Blast?

Apparently, winter is coming to the UK. And I mean proper winter: the one with snow. My wife told me so. I checked the news and apparently yes, in the coming weeks there might be a Polar blast hitting us. She is dreading it. I am torn between hope and dread, as I know this country does not cope well with snow. But I am mostly skeptical: snows have been forecast in the past and we got nothing. And from what I can see in the forecast of the upcoming days, it is weather as usual: rain and little else. In other words, I will believe it when I see it, but we will get ready should it come.

La galette des Rois digne d'un roi

Aujourd'hui c'est le douzième jour de Noël, le dernier. C'est donc l'Épiphanie, ou "les Rois" comme on l'appelait quand j'étais enfant. C'est aussi sans doute mon dernier billet qui porte sur Noël jusqu'à au moins novembre. Afin de souligner, je partage ici la vidéo d'hier du Chef Michel Dumas. Pas que j'aie l'intention ou capacité de cuisiner ça, mais si jamais ça vous tente d'essayer.

Crime books to read

As a new year starts, I am starting to plan what I will read in the upcoming weeks and months. More specifically, what crime books I will read. I mostly read crime fiction all year round, except from August to October inclusively. A quick search on my shelves made me discover that I don't have so many unread crime novels. And I promised my wife I would not hoard books this year. So I will behave. Or will try to. Worst case scenario, I borrow from the library or reread some titles, like D.C. Noir, an anthology of short stories edited by DC local (and one of my favourite crime writers) George Pelecanos. Apparently they adapted it into a movie. I must find it and watch it too. Anyway, any suggestions are welcome, please comment.

Galette des Rois décadente

 Demain, nous serons le jour des Rois, ou l'Épiphanie, comme je l'appelle maintenant. Pour moi, ça a toujours été "les Rois". Le dernier jour des Fêtes. Quand je vivais à Montréal, j'achetais une galette des rois de Première Moisson, même si on ne célébrait plus depuis notre enfance. Or, j'apprends via la page Facebook de la boulangerie qu'ils ont une version "signature" choco et canneberges de la galette, en plus de la traditionnelle. Mêmesi je suis traditionaliste de nature, j'avoue que je l'esaierais bien, rien que parce que ça a vraiment l'air décadent. Et le mélange chocolat et atocas, que j'ai pu apprécier dans une autre de leurs oeuvres, est vraiment quelque chose.

Next Greggs' sandwich?

Sometimes, just to spoil myself and the family, I buy us some sandwiches from Greggs.With a few extra bits and bots: a dessert for Wolfie, a coffee for my wife. Greggs is not really healthy, but it is the epitome of everyday comfort food. I usually go for a baguette, chicken most of the time, even though they go heavy with the mayonnaise (see the picture). But I don't mind, I guess I got used to the quantity of mayonnaise and it is just part of the excesses. I blogged in 2017 about my history with Greggs. We ate plenty of it for lunch last month (last year). Now that the holidays are practically over and that people are returning to normal, I think we need a treat for get us through, well, normality. My wife will probably think I'm exagerrating, but she will come round to it.

Feu et mélancolie

 Autre photo du feu de foyer que mon père m'a envoyée. Et puis rien d'autre, ça n'a aucun rapport, mais c'est le dernier jour de mes vacances (enfin, sans compter la fin de semaine qui s'en vient) et ça me calme de ma mélancolie.

Jiu-Jitsu, Kickboxing (and Krav Maga?)

 We got a leaflet through the door today, for a local business. It was advertising Brazilian jiu-jitsu (or jujutsu, or ju-jitsu) and kickboxing classes. One side for the martial art, the other for the contact sport. No, I'm not interested into doing either. Too old, too out of shape, too sendentary, not really into sports or martial art. But it reminded me that I have long stopped training in Krav Maga. And that's not good. Now, why would I still do Krav Maga and not kickboxing or a martial art? Because KM is completely a self defence and this is what I would need in a threatening situation. Maybe it should be a new year's resolution: go back into training.

L'hiver de retour?

Ma mère m'a envoyé cette photo. Après un Noël pratiquement sans neige, une première de mon vivant (enfin de mémoire), il semblerait que l'hiver soit de retour timidement au Québec, enfin au Saguenay. Je l'espère dans tous les cas.

Spies at The Compleat Angler

Quick post today, because I blogged on the very same topic yesterday. As you may know from John Le Carré's Call for the Dead, today is the day master spy George Smiley is supposed to meet (or was supposed to meet, as this was set in the early 60s) his colleague Samuel Fennan. As per the following letter:

"Dear George, 

    It is essential that I lunch with you tomorrow at The Compleat Angler at Marlow. Please do your best to meet me there at one o'clock. There is something I have to tell you.

Yours,

Samuel Fennan" 

Of course, The Compleat Angler still exists, it is a beautiful and rather expensive hotel which I visited a few times. Any Marlowian reading this blog and visiting it today: anybody noticed anyone looking shady? Although I guess spies would look just like anybody else. Good spies would, that is. All the same, I wish I could be there today at one. Anyway, next time I go there, I will take pictures, just in case there are fans of John Le Carré among you...

Les cafés de Chicoutimi

 Vous savez par mon billet du 2 janvier que j'ai appris avec tristesse la fermeture du Passion Café sur le très drabe Boulevard Talbot. Alors je me demandais si, parmi ceux qui me lisent et qui vivent à Chicoutimi ou le visitent, vous connaissiez d'autres cafés potables dans les environs? Bon, il y a Cambio sur la Racine, mais je veux dire dans le coin de l'ancien Passion Café. De préférence avec une sélection de thés et de menus végétariens. Ce n'est pas demain la veille que nous retournerons à Chicoutimi, mais quand même, j'aimerais trouver un endroit sympathique lorsque nous y serons.

Spy Meeting Tomorrow

"Dear George, 

    It is essential that I lunch with you tomorrow at The Compleat Angler at Marlow. Please do your best to meet me there at one o'clock. There is something I have to tell you.

Yours,

Samuel Fennan" 

I blogged about this before, back in 2019 and again last year. This quote is taken from John Le Carré's first novel Call for the Dead. The George mentioned in the letter is of course protagonist George Smiley and the letter being dated on the 3rd of January, tomorrow is, well, tomorrow. We don't live very far from Marlow or the Compleat Angler, but I doubt we will have the chance to go there at one o'clock. Besides, we are a few decades too late, the novel having been published in 1961. All the same, having been to that hotel, I get excited at the thought that I walked in the setting of a classic spy drama. Next time I go there, I take a few pictures.

Feu de foyer

Mes parents on soupé (un vin et fromages) au coin du feu de foyer récemment. Disons que ça termine bien les Fêtes. Et ça me rappelle queje m'ennuie des feux de foyer.

The search for AAA batteries

Here is a bit of trivial topic for you: I found out this evening that I need AAA batteries. The context: I bought some toys (will tell you what in another post) for Wolfie for Christmas and he thought he would try the toys tonight. But of course the batteries are not included. And to make matters worse, it needs AAA batteries. I thought I had bought some a few months ago, I either went through them already or I put the spare ones where I cannot find them anymore. Be that as it may, I cannot find AAA batteries in the house. So yeah, it is trivial, but very inconvenient.

Question existentielle (385)

 Les Fêtes ne sont pas encore officiellement terminées, cela dit pour beaucoup c'est le retour au travail et petit loup recommence l'école bientôt. Je me pose donc la question existentielle suivante (qui est assez proche de la question 277, mais un peu différente):

-Après Noël et le Jour de l'An, quand est-ce que nous sommes bel et bien, de facto, dans le retour à la normale?

Torch/Tuque

I blogged before about these Light Hat Torch. I bought one before for my wife, a pink one which she seldom uses. I found one in the neighbourhood, in a sorry state. I called them a torch tuque, because tuque is how we call beanie hats in Québec. Now last Christmas my wife decided to buy me one. I am not sure why. Maybe because I said we always need good torches (I seem to be using them faster than umbrellas), maybe because I like to keep my head warm, but anyway, she bought me one. It has a charger as well for the battery, pretty neat. Now, it does not look so good when you wear it, in fact it looks a bit silly, but it is oh so practical when you need to see and you want your hands free. So yes, great I love it, the great useful present this year.

Plus de Passion Café?

Triste nouvelle apprise par mes parents: le Passion Café de Chicoutimi est fermé de manière définitive. À chacun de nos séjours à Chicoutimi, on s'y rendait à pied ma femme et moi, puis petit loup aussi. Nous aimions l'atmosphère, le service, la sélection de cafés (pour elle) et de thés (pour moi), enfin tout. Le stationnement sur le Boulevard Talbot ne payait pas des mines, mais le café lui-même était très bien. Pour ma mère, c'était aussi un endroit où trouver des cadeaux pour Noël et pour les anniversaires. Enfin bref, c'est une bien triste nouvelle.

Auld Lang Syne (as always)

Happy new year everyone! As it is a tradition on this blog, I am sharing again the classic Auld Lang Syne. Which also reminds me that I have Scottish blood, so there might be something of me in this song, in a way. You tell me.

Mafalda et la nouvelle année

Bonne année à tous! Je la commence avec un gag de Mafalda. Elle a fait beaucoup d'observations très justes sur le nouvel an, celle-ci en est une autre, que je me devais de partager.