December, in a nutshell

 Before the end of the year, I thought I would blog one last time with a silly meme I found  few days ago. This is december in a nutshell for me and it is so very accurate. Before Christmas Day I am in a festive mood and it is all about the anticipation. Then right after the 26th, it hits me like a brick wall and I lose track of time. I don't know what date it is, what time it is and what day of the week it is. And yes, cheese seems to be my main diet. This meme is as funny as it is scary.

Le casse-tête des Fêtes, 2022

Nouvelle tradition familiale depuis l'année dernière: mes parents font un casse-tête pour Noël, avec mes frères s'ils sont là. Ils en ont fait un l'an dernier, un puzzle que j'avais acheté pour mon frère PJ. Qui a récédivé cette année avec un nouveau casse-tête, plus compliqué à faire. Mes parents l'ont terminé hier. Nous tentons de créer la tradition ici aussi. Je crois que l'on devrait avoir un casse-tête pour chaque saison, voire chaque célébration.

Snowy Train Station

My brother PJ went to visit my brother Andrew recently and he thus had to take the train from Montreal to the suburbs. Travelling by train is a fairly rare occurence in Quebec, which is a shame as it is the coolest way of transport (and my favourite). So I envy him for having done it, but mainly for travelling by train on a snowy day. And he took this picture as evidence. I have never been to De La Concorde for a train journey, however small. This looks like the dullest train station there can ever be, yet adding the snow gives it a certain charm. And at least in Québec trains run when there's snow.

Butte

 Photo prise par mon père le lendemain de la tempête. Les Fêtes achèvent, mais c'est toujours l'hiver, du moins au Québec, alors je partage une autre photo hivernale, celle d'une énorme butte de neige. La butte de neige, c'est LE monticule hivernal québécois par excellence, LE signe de l'hiver. Quand il a assez neigé pour faire des buttes, c'est qu'il a assez neigé.

A Forgotten Monopoly Rule

The Christmas holidays is for many the time to play board games with the whole extended family. It used to be for us, anyway in our family gathering. And if there is something that irritated me when we played board games with our family, is people making up rules or ignoring them altogether because they did not know any better. Like, for instance, having whoever has the highest roll of the dice starts in Cluedo. (It's Miss Scarlet who does.) But anyway, I wanted to point out to a forgotten rule in Monopoly which has got some public attention recently. Read this Daily Mail article. So basically, if someone lands on a property and they don't buy it, the property goes to auction and it goes to the highest bidder. Moral of the story: read the complete rulebook thorougly.

Le Couche-Tard disparu

 Photo prise par mon frère PJ, à Chicoutimi coin Bégin et Champs-Élysées. Il y avait un Couche-Tard là, pendant des années. Il a disparu, mais ma question est: pourquoi? Qu'est-il advenu du Couche-Tard? Non mais sérieusement, il était pratique en mozusse. Je dirais donc que c'est une grosse perte. Et il était plus vieux que moi, je crois. Alors ça me fait quelque chose de le voir disparu.

Post. Christmas. Blues.

 It might sound early, but I'm already feeling the post-Christmas blues, even though there's plenty of holiday left. Christmas has come and gone and after the 25th, it really go downs quickly. It may be earlier this year because I was sick on Christmas day and the days leading to Christmas. On the plus side, I have been relaxing and enjoying the quieter days. So yes, I have the post-Christmas blues, but I can live with my melancholy, as long as I acknowledge it. And you, feeling bluesy now?

Résidus de tempête

 Mon père m'a envoyé des photos après la tempête de neige qui est tombée sur le Québec. Chicoutimi semble ensevelie par endroits.Mon père a appelé son email "résidu de tempête", j'emprunte le même thème pour ce billet.

Good King Wenceslas

No, no, this is not Boxing Day. It is Saint Stephen's Day and that means I am listening to and sharing the carol Good King Wencesla. So yeah, enjoy.

Bûche de Noël

 Voici la bûche de Noël que ma famille de l'autre côté de l'océan ont mangé hier. Avec un nom pas PC pour deux cennes: c'est pas une bûche des Fêtes, c'est d'ailleurs écrit clairement sur son glaçage. Nous, on a mangé hier une bûche du commerce.

The Christmas Train

 First and foremost: merry Christmas everyone! Been quite busy today so I haven't had time to blog until now. Although we had a fairly quiet day, as both my wife and I are sick. But Wolfie enjoyed himself a lot and made our Christmas joyful. But I don't want to be all gloom and doom, so I'm sharing a picture of the LGB train my parents have at the foot of their Christms tree, which for me is the Christmas family tradition. Wolfie saw it yesterday via Facetime. Even via video, it is still an experience. He remembers it vividly from his Christmases abroad. My wife summed it up perfectly: "It's three generations on the same train." (One of her great unknown lines by the way). So yes, this is truly for all my family, the Christmas train.

La dinde de Noël

 Tout d'abord, je souhaite à tous et à toutes un joyeux Noël! Que nous avons passé ici malades. Enfin, Wolfie était correct, mais ma femme et moi toussions comme des pneumoniaques. Mais ce fut quand même plaisant. Ca fait une semaine à peu prèsque nous sommes souffrants. De l'autre côté de l'Atlantique, mes parents ont fait une dinde avec leur première farce maison depuis des années. La Boucherie Davis ayant changé de proprio et de recette de farce, ils n'ont pas trop aimé celle de l'année dernière, alors ils ont décidé d'en faire eux mêmes. L'originale de Davis me manquera.

Christmas Thrillers

 'Tis the season to be watching and I thought I would share something with you today, if you have time to read this blog preparing for Christmas. Anyway, I stumbled upon this article giving ten thrillers set in part or in full during Christmastime. I watched most of them, so will try to find the other ones to enjoy this season or the next. They are not exactly Christmas movies, but there is enough Christmas elements in them to give them a Yuletide feel. In any case, I prefer to watch thrillers to romcoms, migh as well make them seasonal.

Tempête de neige sur le Québec

 Pas de chance pour moi: une tempête hivernale a frappé le Québec récemment. Il neige, il vente, c'est la totale. Ce genre de tempête que je n'ai pas vécu depuis que je suis ici. Ce qui veut aussi dire que le Québec aura un Noël blanc. Je sais que beaucoup de foyers seront privés d'électricité et que c'est vraiment difficile pour bien du monde et je ne veux pas minimiser ça. Cela dit, dans le confort de la maison de mes parents, une tempête de neige, c'est toujours joli.

A Bookshop during Christmastime

I found this picture on the Facebook page of the Wallingford Bookshop. I had to share it here, just because this window is so gorgeously seasonal, with the fox, the robins and the rabbit. The bookshop always makes wonderful window displays, but their Christmastime one is particularly gorgeous. I haven't been to Wallingford in months, haven't visited its bookshop in ages and I really regret not going there for Christmas shopping. We have a local bookshop which I love, but the Wallingford one always had a special place in my heart, as it made me discover indie bookshops in England.

"J'ai dans la tête un vieux sapin..."

C'est le temps de 23 Décembre de Beau Dommage. C'est tout.

The Haunting Season

 'Tis the season to be reading and also 'tis the season to be spooky. Because, as you may know, Christmastime is indeed traditionally a time when ghost stories were told, read and set. So anyway, I stumbled upon The Haunting Season: Ghostly Tales for Long Winter Nights on my bookshelves. I don't know if I will have time to read it before the end of the year, my to read list is already pretty full, but I will try to get started, so I can review it for next Christmas. I mostly read crime fiction and Norse stories this time of year, this would make for an interesting change.

Le marché de Noël

 Je partage encore une fois une photo du marché allemand de Noël que mes parents ont visité à Québec. Avec des chandelles géantes. Pas mal mieux que le marché de Noël que l'on a visité la semaine dernière et qui était d'une laideur...

A Storm for Christmas

 'Tis the season to be watching and I surprised myself in that regard recently. I wanted to watch something Christmassee but not silly and stumbled upon A Storm for Christmas, a Netflix miniseries. It is set in Oslo airport right before Christmas, when a snowstorm forces the flights to be cancelled and the passengers to be stranded. It follows an ensemble cast of characters who must face their own demons through the crisis that the storm brings. I started watching it not expecting much (it is usually the case when I watch something on Netflix) and I think I fund my ew Christmas classic. Julestorm, as it is called in Norwegian is touching without ever going soppy, people earn their happy endings, although for some they are bittersweet. I finished it today after binging it.

Voyez-vous le geai bleu?

 C'est le solstice d'hiver aujourd'hui, je le mentionne et le souligne avec une jolie photo hivernale prise par mon frère PJ chez mes parents. Voyez-vous le geai bleu?