Coffee at The Mixing Jug?

 No, no, do not worry, I have no intention of drinking coffee. I think it tastes like it looks like it smells and I think it is borderline poisonous. For how I discovered that I dislike coffee, read this post. That said, while I dislike coffee, I love a nice coffee shop. I love spending time there with my wife, who loves coffee, and my boy, who always enjoy something there.  I was walking in Marlow a couple of weeks ago and saw this ensign advertising The Mixing Jug. I had heard about it, but we haven't been there yet. According to one TripAdvisor review, which has to be true, it is the best place for coffee in Marlow. I wonder if the review meant for the drink itself or the whole coffee shop experience. I am more interested in the latter. In any case, I checked their website and it looks likea nice place. Furthermore, it is in Liston Court, a nice atmospheric little spot in Marlow, a town full of atmosphere it itself. So for our next family visit there(whenever that may be), I think The Mixing Jug is on our bucket list.

Les Bouquinistes: vente d'inventaire

Pour mes lecteurs du Saguenay (surtout mon père et ma mère donc), petit rappel pour vous dire qu'il y a une vente d'inventaire aux Bouquinistes. Les détails ici. La vente se termine demain. les Bouquinistes, c'est ma librairie préférée de mes années saguenéennes, qui vont de mon enfance à l'âge adulte. Alors allez-y en grand nombre et faite une razzia.

Owning Up, Owning It

I mentioned last week that, to my great surprise (and happiness), crime writer George Pelecanos had finally written more. It was about time. I had been desperate it for something, anything from him. The book was going to be released yesterday, so I pre-ordered it right away and I got it on its release date. It was a long wait: it arrived to my door in the evening. So yes, I am the new happy owner of Owning Up. I'm owning it, sorry for the pun... I will tell you more about it in the near future, because this is not on my TBR list, it is on my currently reading list.

Question existentielle (386)

 Une question existentielle inspirée de mon billet d'hier. La voici:

-Aux échecs, préférez-vous utiliser les pièces blanches ou les pièces noires?

The Sydney Opera House

 My wife often tells me that her ideal holiday would be in Australia. Not sure why, but she finds it very exotic. And she spent her teenageand young adult life watching Australian soaps, which I think has something to do with it. For me, Australia means two things: it's where my favourite actress is from (guess who?) and the Sydney Opera House. Not so much for its unique architecture than for the fact that it's a freaking ultra modern, gigantic, cool, majestic opera house. I'd love to visit it of course, but also and especially buy tickets for a performance of something. Preferably Mozart, although it does not necessarily  have to be Mozart. I have no idea if it is going to be possible in the forseeable future, but if one day we can afford to go to Australia we will have to go there. For those among you who have been to the Sydney Opera House, please leave me comments and tell me of your experience.

Apprendre les échecs

La fin de semaine dernière, Wolfie est allé voir une amie pour une "play date". Elle a une fascination pour les échecs, allez savoir pourquoi. Elle s'est entiché du jeu il ya quelques mois à l'école et maintenant, elle les apprend avec application et discipline. Par conséquent, Wolfie a commencé à apprendre à jouer aux échecs. Je suis heureux, il fût un temps où j'adorais jouer aux échecs et j'aime quand Wolfie apprend des jeux éducatifs et intelligents. Je crois comprendre qu'il ne joue pas en suivant les règles rigoureusement comme son amie, mais ça fait partie de son apprentissage. Son amie va dans un club le samedi et je sais qu'elle aimerait que Wolfie aille avec elle.

An observation about full fat milk

A couple of days ago, we made a food order. We rarely o to the shops anymore for groceries, except for quick top ups. My wife buys stuff online, it gets delivered to us, that's it. And we started doing it way before the pandemic. We just did it more often once the pandemic happened. Anyway, in the order, there was a substitute we did not notice: full fat milk instead of sem-skimmed milk. My wife only drinks semi-skimmed, but we kept it anyway, because I am okay to drink full fat milk. ButI hadn't done for a few years. So when I tried it again, it came as a shock. It really tastes of cream. So that was my observation. I drank full fat milk and really, it is like drinking cream, isn't it? Your thoughts in the comments.

Un bouquet de fleurs de givre

 Je partage encore une fois une photo des fleurs de givre que mon père m'a envoyées. Extasiez-vous.

Heart of the Hunter

Some good news for the crime fiction addict that I am: one of Deon Meyer's novels, Heart of the Hunter, has been adapted into a movie. Well, it's not the first time that it happened, in fact a lot of his novels have been adapted, faithfully or not, in a film or a tv series. And that is not counting the original screenplays he wrote himself. But the difference here is that it will be available on Netflix in March. So I will be able to watch it. Unless there is some kind of stupid regional restrictions, which might happen, who knows. I hope this will not be the case. I have a lot of screen time to catch on when it comes to Deon Meyer's work, but at least it means I will have the pleasure to rediscover it.

Fleurs de givre

 Des fois, mon père m'envoie des photos du givre. Le titre de son courriel était d'ailleurs "fleurs de givre". C'est d'une beauté délicate et j'ai donc voulu partager.

Mouse Trap(?)

 No, no, do not worry,we do not have a mouse in the house. Touch wood. It is just that I saw Mouse Trap recently in our local toy shop. And if all the many classic games I played as a child Mouse Trap... isn't one of them. I knew about it of course, but for some reason we never got it. I think my parents had read bad reviews about it, that the traps were not working well and were easy to break, or something like that. But my wife played with it as a child and had fond memories of it. So I might buy it for Wolfie, or put it on my list of birthday presents.

Un printemps hâtif?

 Nouvelle assez désagréable pour moi, si elle est vraie: Fred la marmotte prévoit un printemps hâtif, ils semblerait. Le nouveau Fred, celui qui a été entraîné pour commencer cette année, pas l'ancien Fred, qui est décédé l'année dernière et est donc une marmorte. Bon, cela dit, ce qui m'ennuie, c'est je n'ai pas très hâte au temps trop doux ou au printemps hâtif. Alors je ne suis pas très enthousiaste à cette prédiction. Bon, je sais, c'est au Québec, mais comme il fait doux ici aussi, j'ai peur que la prophétie vaille pour tout l'hémisphère nord.

Play Date

 Today, Wolfie is going to a play date with a friend from school. The first proper play date in a year and the second one since he started school. Not the same friend with whom he had a play date before, but another. She is a girl who was new at school, she arrived in the middle of the year last year. She sat next to Wolfie and she got quite fond of him. Anyway, long story short, she is his best female friend(albeit he finds the attention a bit much sometimes), sometimes I joke that she is his first girlfriend. And she has been wanting for a play date for a looong time, or so says her father. I hope everything goes well. I was never so keen on play dates as a child, I used to end up disappointed at them more often than none. But in any case, it is very cute.

Pelle mécanique

 Autre photo prise par mon père pour Wolfie. Rien à ajouter.

Scotland Yard... Junior?

I found this at the local toy shop. You know of Scotland Yard, my favourite board game of all time. I didn't know there was a Junior version of it. I can only imagine how watered down it is from the original, but Mr X sure does not look as mysterious or scary on the box. I might buy it for Wolfie, as he is getting into board games, but I still want to get the real thing.

Grand-pères à l'érable (encore)

 Je partage encore une fois une photo prise par mon père des grand-pères à l'érable.  Rien que pour faire de la food porn, même si ça a l'air d'un gros blob. Le grand-père n'a jamais été mon dessert préféré, mais c'est le seul que je sois capable de faire sans le rater. Je sais que le sirop d'érable n'est pas.. tiré? extrait? cueilli? Enfin, ce n'est pas le temps des érablières, mais le sirop d'érable, une fois dans sa bouteille ou sa canisse, c'est bon pour toutes les saisons.

Wolf-like Cryptid

 Something caught my attention in the local news recently: a dead "wold-like" creature was discovered in Henley. Now, as usual, I am very skeptical about this news. For all I know, there may not even be a corpse available to prove it. The article remains very shady about it in any case. In fact, a lot of it is just a reminiscence of sighting of other creatures, some of which I blogged about back in August 2023. It seems that the local press enjoys its cryptids. I might sound sarcastic, but I found the news entertaining all the same. I actually love a bit of cryptozoology, if only as a sort of speculative fiction mixed with legends. And I love wolves, so the more wolf-like critters, real or imagined, the better.

La Chandeleur

 Bon, c'est la Chandeleur aujourd'hui... L'hiver passe ou prend vigueur... selon le proverbe. Qu'en est-il chez vous? Ici l'hiver passe et prend vigueur, parce que c'est souvent, sinon toujours, entre deux eaux. L'année dernière, l'hiver avait duré jusqu'en avril, voire mai. Mais c'était un hiver assez doux, comme la plupart des hivers anglais. Je ne célèbre guère la Chandeleur, mais j'essaie de la mentionner sur le blogue chaque année.

Britain's Landmarks and Legends

I went to the bokshop recently, looking for a specific book. As I could not find it, I bought another one with a fairly similar subject, the National Trust's Britain's Landmarks and Legends. I love finding books like that one at random, just finding something that you may not need, but think it is worth owning. I love myths and legends, especially when you can associate a specific place to a specific myth. So I don't know when I will read it, having a lot on my TBR already (and currently reading a few books). But hey, I'm glad of my new purchase. Or rather my new discovery.

Le long mois de février

Nous sommes le premier février aujourd'hui et ce sera un long mois de février. Enfin, je parle ici en des termes relatifs: cette année étant bissextile, il aura un jour de plus. Même si le mois est court, je le trouve souvent un peu long. Suis-je seul à le trouver (la plupart du temps) morne et ennuyeux? Cela dit, je vais me répéter: je le préfère aux mois d'été. Toujours est-il qu'un jour de plus à février, ça me permet de vieillir un peu moins vite, alors c'est déjà ça de pris.