Hooray! I said I’d share the first green blades of grass when they appeared, so here we go, from earlier this week:
Green! Just…
Ok, so we had to look hard, but it was there! Since then, with a morning of sunshine and a few more heavy showers, it has been greening up nicely. Spring! Boing! May! Phew!
Finding and fixing a puncture – the bike would be enormous!
Now our thoughts can turn to camping, so much so, I finally repaired a puncture in the inflatable tent yesterday, and next week we’ll be uncovering the trailer and seeing if any small critters need rehousing before giving it all a general spring airing. A riverside site in mid May is booked and beckons… Yup, it’s May! Hooray!
Sunny on the plains
Short this week, rather like the stretch of sunny spring days so far… Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
… of joy. An unexpected gift (thank you, Mrs. PC!) arrived in the post the other day, “A Thousand Feasts” by Nigel Slater. As the cover blurb describes it, this is a memoir of sorts, and, if the first few chapters are any indication, an utter delight.
I really enjoy reading Slater even if he can (sometimes) come across as slightly fussy. I prefer to think he is simply being particular. I would say that, as I’m certainly particular about particular issues. But never fussy, oh no…
Can we all agree that strong, black coffee should be just that, and if a warmed croissant isn’t served with an offering of apricot jam on the side (ok, or strawberry at a pinch) then it probably isn’t (another) sign of end times? No need to fuss. Although, if we are going to hell in a hand basket at ever increasing speeds, surely apricot jam isn’t too much to ask? Anyway, I’m not fussy, oh no…
Small cups for a small moment, and just right! Not that I’m fussy…
Back to small moments of joy. I often recall a favourite breakfast we shared with friends on the road many years ago. We’d taken the overnight boat to France, and (some of us, no names) had probably explored the outer limits of how many pints a person should consume in a ferry bar on a choppy cross-channel trip.
Designated drivers aside, we were feeling a little worse for wear as we rolled up to a small railway station cafe somewhere in Picardy. It was just as you might imagine – wicker cafe chairs, red check cloth covered tables, and a dapper waiter. The waiter was poised in every sense, happy to take our breakfast order, and never mind our mangled French.
Rural QC, not rural France, but just as one might hope?
Petit déjeuner? All the essentials – strong dark roast coffee, chewy country bread with a firm crust, and warm flaky croissants. Oh those croissants! I get warm and flaky just thinking about them. (And yup, for the children, they were served with apricot or strawberry jam on the side!) How I enjoyed that restorative spring sunshine breakfast – nothing fancy, and a perfect meal!
Warm and flaky, coffee and pastry
Right, enough with the reminiscing, I’ve got to go make a cup of strong coffee and get back to reading “A Thousand Feasts” – both are recommended! I’ll finish by saying this is a splendid book if you enjoy wonderfully descriptive writing on people, places and cuisine. It’s often amusing, very observant and it celebrates the joy found, home or away, in small moments. For me, that’s most welcome in these broadly troubling times!
“That’s right, Scout! Strong and dark!”
Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
As winter retreats and spring gains something of a foothold, Scout and I have been searching for that first blade of green grass in the backyard, a sign of warmer and sunnier days ahead. We know those days are coming, but they are elusive, like that first green blade…
Look closely and you’ll find… brown grass!
The thaw and recent rains all point to things greening up soon enough. With glass half full, looking out at our miniature prairie (as well as trawling through photos the past couple of weeks to search out some prairie car treasures mentioned last week) reminded me that these dun colours have a certain attraction:
“You bet they do – look at me! – in the right light, dun is golden!”
A friend of ours back in Alberta (originally from Australia) used to describe the early spring prairie colour as “that f#*king brown grass” – I think she didn’t love it? – but we always enjoyed her forthright commentary, and, when rolling through Alberta and Saskatchewan we’ll call out to the grasslands (windows up) “why, here’s some more f*#king brown grass!” always meaning it affectionately.
Love it, love, love it!
Back in not always so sunny Quebec, we have had one or two hours of spring sunshine, occasion enough to dust off a chair brought up from the basement and spend a moment or two basking.
A vision in beige and brown
Scout wasn’t complaining, although as I write this on Wednesday morning she isn’t too impressed with the sleety rain falling right now…
Tuesday was pretty good…
Rest assured, if we spot a blade of green grass in the backyard we’ll let you know – now isn’t that something for us all to look forward to?!
I like it, even if there isn’t a patch of green to be seen!
Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Last Sunday afternoon was cold and grey, so we opted to stay in and watch a movie, finally catching up with Spielberg’s loosely semi-autobiographical family drama The Fabelmans. What a treat it turned out to be!
If you like a Spielberg movie – and I definitely do – then you’d probably enjoy this movie. His trademarks are all there. Child actors with acting ability? Check! A sense of wonder? Check! Threats to everyday life, seen and unseen? Check! A carefully constructed sense of time and place? Check! Subtle and not so subtle emotional manipulation? Of course – this is Spielberg – check!
Drive in? Drivable?! Maybe…
Spielberg has created a quiet marvel, a nostalgic movie on movies combined with a coming of age story about a young boy confronting internal family dramas, external societal prejudices, and all the regular pressures of growing up in a fast changing world. The story isn’t over the top adventurous in the manner of the Indiana Jones films, or harrowing like Saving Private Ryan and Schindler’s List, or as scary/heart-stopping as Jaws or Jurassic Park, but it has moments of (small scale) peril, as well as many moments of warmth and humour – that distinctive and special Spielberg sensibility!
Special!
Yes, there are slightly cloying and schmaltzy moments, and one or two eye-catching/eccentric cameo turns, but it all adds up to a very satisfying experience. The best elements (for me) were the ones where the young boy is figuring out how to be a moviemaker, and the sheer delight he has in making his images work, figuring how to tell a story, and yes, discovering the power he has in moving an audience. Long and leisurely, I’d say watch The Fabelmans if you get the chance – highly recommended, and a feel good winner, rainy afternoon or not!
Widescreen!
On top of what I’ve written above, I particularly enjoyed the period detail cars used in The Fabelmans – they weren’t especially flashy, mostly station wagons and other regular vehicles, but I loved them seeing them. Goodness, do I love old cars! And that makes for a good excuse to dot a few old car photos throughout this piece! Rust buckets or shining restorations, I just can’t resist.
With just a little work…
Yes, we all know only too well how polluting cars have been, and yes, one day in the not too distant future they’ll likely all be electric and that’s very good – but will they be as thrillingly stylish as earlier eras? Fossil fuels bad, but (many, not all) old fossil fuelled cars had great design. I mean, c’mon, and with apologies, (and commiserations to current owners) but Teslas aren’t too much fun to look at, are they? Not even (or especially) when hawked from the White House lawn. Those cyber truck thingies? Yikes…
Yup, not boring
Anyway, I’ll drive off now, happy to have shared a movie recommendation, and happy to hear back from you if you’ve seen TheFabelmans and choose to share a comment – is it a winner? Do you have a favourite Spielberg movie? (Hard to pick, not that it really matters – I love ET, Jaws, Duel and Bridge of Spies, parts of Close Encounters are amazing… the Indiana Jones movies are, mostly, so very entertaining, and I really, really enjoyed The Fabelmans – yup, hard to pick!)
Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Yeah, it’s not going anywhere anytime soon, but it’s definitely stylish!
Scout here. He’s not looking, so I’ll type this real quick. Yeah, of course I know his username and password (*OldGitindenial25 and Scoutisthebest if you’re wondering, but don’t share these top secret details on Signal or anything, ok?) Now, let’s get this done before he’s back from the fridge.
I won’t say we’re in deep midwinter ‘cos I can read a calendar as well as the next dog, but don’t tell me it’s spring:
Yeah, right
I’ve been pacing the deck, listening to the birds, searching for a dry patch to warm my bones – and also for a gap in the fence to make my escape. No luck there. Spring you say? That’s for the birds…
Spring? Hmm…
So I’m indoors more often than not, stuck with the old fella, and who wants that? He might not be ranting on here, but trust me, he’s ranting. Wake me up when warmer days get here.
Do not disturb
When it isn’t snowing it seems to be raining – yeah, ok, slightly warmer, but who thinks a walk in freezing rain is fun? Do I look like I had fun?
Fun?
That’s enough from me. Maybe I’ll post again, some other time when he’s distracted by the fridge? Perhaps after we’ve had a few sunny days out and about? On those future sunny day plans, I should say yeah, he can whinge too much, and don’t we all know he’s an old git in denial about his real age, but on the plus side he did get me that new dog bunkhouse on wheels:
I usually let them bunk down with me
Scout signing off. Shh. Tell no one. I was never here, right?
Nope, not doing anything, just waiting for you, old fella. Hehehe…
If we’re looking ahead with a sense of optimism, then in terms of light and dark we’ve tipped towards the former having passed the vernal equinox in the northern hemisphere. Spring has arrived!
Mmm, spring
Well, sort of… Scout and I enjoyed a lazy hour with that all important second cup of coffee on a sunny deck yesterday morning. Birds were singing, we could hear the tapping of a busy woodpecker in the nearby woods, a fly or two buzzed past, and there was the steady drip, trickle and gurgle of snowmelt from roof tops down drainpipes and along pathways. So, it is spring then – why only sort of, OPC?
Could that woodpecker keep it down? Some of us are drowsy…
The deck may be clear (for now) but the grassy parts of our back yard are yet to reveal themselves, and the medium range forecast suggests another bout or three of snow. Still, until those last blasts of northern winter arrive, we’ll take a sunny almost spring morning each time we’re treated to one! Vernal if not yet verdant, with our glass, oops, too early, I mean coffee cup half full and all that. Onwards!
Oh spring, you tease us with this glimpse of grass (all three blades!)
Let’s keep this short but happy enough, like a first false spring before the real thing. Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Let’s hope so! ACI mentioned that I hadn’t been on much of a rant recently. She’s right, and I don’t know about you, but I really do (I mean, who doesn’t?) enjoy the occasional state-of-the-world-today rant. The thing is, given the current global situation, if I started, I might never stop and just repeat myself on a boring doom loop. You know, like delivering an interminably tedious monologue to Congress…
So instead, let’s keep it light with a bit of this and a bit of that as we head towards spring. Those clocks spring forward this weekend, and that’s a pleasant switch, from dark days to somewhat lighter, isn’t it?
From dark to light (colour if not ABV)
I was chatting with my brother on the phone the other day, covering this and that, and he was sceptical about the amount of snow I was shovelling, so I sent him this from Sunday morning:
Next door mountain – you can see where an attempt on the summit failed
I didn’t mention the use of snow moving machinery – if he thinks it was all my own work, well I don’t want to correct him… Maybe we’ll try for the summit again another day, using oxygen tanks and a snow dog to haul us up?
“That mountain? Forget it! In other news, did I just hear a can of hoppy IPA popping open?”
That Scout – what is she like? We’re easily distracted around here. Where were we? Snow? Springing forward? We’ve kept most of the snow off the back deck, often wondering if it was going to be me or the deck collapsing first. Scout says me. She is hopeful she’ll be sunning herself outside very soon, what with the clock change. I’ve just seen the two week forecast, and I haven’t the heart to tell her…
“Let me know how your mountain trip turns out when you get back. I’ll be out here waiting…”
So, no rant, not from me, and instead, plenty of other stuff to be getting on with or looking forward to! In fact, let’s finish on a very positive, even hoppy, note:
Hoppier news? Glass half full? I sure hope so…
Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
After our desert wanderings last week, it’s back to our more usual everyday northern style for this one. No lemons and lots of snow. This means that we were able to get into the woods and plod along – gracefully, of course – on our snowshoes through the deep snow. Splendid!
Splendid
With daylight hours lengthening, and occasional almost warmth when the sun reveals itself, we’re seeing some of the small changes that add up to the approaching new season. Realistically, it is distant yet, but we sort of fooled ourselves that spring is (almost) in the air! Yes, the snow was deep, and yes, we were on snowshoes, but we could see change coming in the hints of new buds, birdsong above, and in the slight thaw after a period of deep freeze.
Not spring – but brighter!
Yes, it all points to the same eventual outcome even if it sometimes seems like it’ll never arrive. Our northern winter will end, in snowmelt, and we’ll begin to enjoy the pleasant anticipation (no matter how much I love a proper winter) of bright green days ahead. No, not yet, not yet, and not until we’ve finished playing in the snow, but spring is coming!
The right direction
Until it does, we’ll continue on skis and snowshoes, and I’ll complain about (but secretly enjoy) shovelling snow, so we can reward ourselves with an almost well earned dark beer or two at the end of the day – they go so well with the season! (Don’t worry, pale ales, I’ll get back to you soon enough. Another small change…)
A cheery beery reward
I think that is a cheery enough note to end on this week. Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
“Spring is just around the next bend? Nope! But maybe the one after?”
Where’s Part 1? That was last week (I just didn’t call it Part 1…)
So, to continue with the self indulgent and congratulatory tone sparked by my amazement this blog has lasted ten years, here are a few more photographs that prompt happy (for me) memories. I seem to have chosen quite a few warm and sunny ones this week, probably in response to how snowy it has been here – our snowiest QC week yet – hooray!
Mrs PC and Junior taking in the sun and looking out towards the San Andreas Fault somewhere in sunny CATough, weathered, a touch gnarly, but isn’t the Joshua Tree NP a delight?Cool off here – West Coast Vancouver IslandMountain cabin high shared with friends near Pagosa Springs, COMy favourite classroom – Wizard Islet, Deer Group Islands, Barkley Sound, BCFavourite view with a pint – cheers! (Eagle’s Nest Pub, Ucluelet, BC)
Enough for this week – there’s always the archive button if you’d like to see more! Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Favourite totally quiet camping spot in QC (somewhere in QC – top secret location…)
Not that much. Certainly not on Monday. An alleged billionaire started a new job, a second attempt at a position he has held before but mostly failed at. Maybe he’ll do better this time? I’m not sure he really wants it, since he keeps going on about Canada, something about wanting to join? I can understand that, as it’s pretty great here for all sorts of reasons. Maybe he can apply for citizenship after he’s finished/washed up once more? Don’t tell him – he’ll pout – but I doubt he’d get the warmest welcome…
Pretty great
Speaking of warm – what’s so great about the True North that causes the tangerine hued chap to cast covetous eyes on it? Could it be our wonderful winter? Maybe! We certainly have real winter at last – woo-hoo! Cue a Scout-like jump for joy – the end photo this week, one of our favourites!
A wolf in real winter (Scout, but you knew that)
Last Monday was quite cold, the sort of day that could frighten a wannabe strongman, send him scurrying indoors. (It takes more than a bit of chill to keep a real Canadian from heading out, so if he’s so keen to be a part of Canada, he’s going to have to toughen up…)
Troll hideout
Anyway, enough of avaricious/needy populists, wherever they might be lurking. On to more pleasant things. We enjoyed our Monday excursion into the woods, the first properly cold day of the year. Other than pausing for a photograph or two, we kept perfectly warm by keeping moving. It helped that the sun was out, with the winds fairly calm, so we could concentrate on admiring a sparkling white and blue day.
Winter! Woo-hoo!
The cold snap, or real winter, has stuck around and promises to be with us through the weekend and beyond. The windchills will diminish enough to make xc skiing a comfortable prospect – I like the cold, but didn’t want to let winter scour a layer of skin from my face as would have happened if we’d tried to ski this week. I’d end up looking like I’d had work done, some sort of weird face peel requiring orange makeup to plaster over the cracks. I don’t know about you, but I can’t quite imagine the necessary vanity to attempt that failed strongman look… Perhaps I could ski later today, another cold one, see what happens? Nah, we’ll stick to hiking speed for now, and embrace the bracing conditions.
The peeled look – ouch!
A big thank you to Jet for reminding me of the woo-hoo feeling winter can provide – it’s more than a simple distraction from what’s (not) going on more widely in the world – it’s actually the real stuff, the everyday delight that is there when I look for it, right where we are, right now. Shall we say it one more time? Why not – woo-hoo!
Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
OldPlaidCamper 