I have been sporadic at best in this blogging biz. It’s that whole trying to find balance thing and I’ve been having a bit of trouble getting it all in, so to speak.  Hell, it’s taken me three days to actually get this going!!

Today is Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day in Québec, so I am off work (yay!).  There was a time when I celebrated this day with friends and family but I guess those days are gone.  Anyway, it’s hotter than Satan’s Armpit out there and I am sans pool (still).  I’ve been waiting for a new liner since May.  Long story, short… if all goes well, I’ll be swimming by June 30.  Doesn’t help on a day like today where the temps are at a lovely 33°C (91°F) with a humidex that makes it feel like 44°C (111°F).  Thank Bob for A/C, is all I can say!

So I am inside, listening to good Québécois music that brings me back to my days in high school.  On this day I am always pulled towards my French Québécoise roots.  Harmonium, Beau Dommage, Plume, Robert Charlebois, Offenbach, Paul Piché and many other wonderful singers from Québec are my soundrack today.  This following piece of music, no lyrics, is just so beautiful and should not disturb you as you keep reading, if you were so inclined.  And I just found out one of the founders of the group, Serge Fiori, died today.  Very à propos dans he die on this holiday, being a voice for a québécois generation, but way too young at 73… 😦

So, anyway…. back to why I’ve been only half-assed blogging and falling way behind on all your wonderful posts… And it’s taking me forever to write this as I get up and dance and sing along to some tunes before coming back to my computer.

I want to read more – books that is – so that means reading less blogs.  Then I feel guilty. Which I know is silly because bloggers are not sitting by their computer waiting for my comment.  Still.  As you know, I like to be a good blogger, meaning I don’t write and run nor do I read and run.  I overwhelm my own damn self in the process.  Ridiculous, I know.

And, I AM reading more.  I am rather pleased with myself thus far.  I have read (and listened) to 19 out of the 30 books I am aiming for.  I’m five books ahead of schedule!  Woot!

Right now, I am delighting/torturing myself reading the most delicious A Thousand Feasts by Nigel Slater.  Not only can the man cook and take beautiful photos (I follow him on Instagram) but his writing skills are wonderful and evocative.  This one I read at lunchtime and/or, when I decide to sit, at home.  I am listening to The Dutch House by Ann Patchett, wonderfully narrated by Tom Hanks (so glad it’s not Ann reading because she can be rather monotone, as I learned with These Precious Days) during my walks, mostly on my lunchtime walks.  On my Kindle, so before bed, I am reading The Boys of Summer by Roger Kahn because B waxed poetic about his writing.  He is not wrong.  Considering I feel pretty neutral about baseball, I am pleasantly surprised with reading about it and about the sports journalism business.  Almost as good as baseball movies, which I bizarrely love.  As well, I have The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien that I am (re)reading with Sammi and friends.  We already read all three Lord of the Rings books and why not?  One chapter per week and then we discuss them.  Fun stuff.

In April, I went with a couple colleagues, to Toronto and then the Muskoka region in Ontario.  We have an extension programme for Viking ships and had to go check out the suppliers and venues (how sad 😉 ).  What a gorgeous area!  Lake Muskoka was still partially frozen in many spots.  I loved our visit with Sainte-Marie-Among-the-Hurons and picked up a puzzle.  Erm… Rog, you don’t DO puzzles!  Well, maybe I should start!  So, yes, this is also how I spend some of my time.  Emptying my mind of all the stuff and piecing the puzzle together.  Just one-fifth left to do.

I planted my garden.  Got me some raised beds – so there Mrs. and son Groundhog!  Course, they ate all my shoots because I had left them on the deck for a day… Anyhoo.  Planted in the four nice tall bins plus some pots on stools only to find that now the squirrels?  I’m guessing… are not too shy either!  Sonova…

What else?  Oh, I have managed to start running/walking again.  Going quite gently and so far so good.  Have to get up stupid early with these temps, though:  5:30 in the a.m.!  I’ve also started a mobility programme and it’s quite different from other exercise programmes I have tried before.  This one really focuses on the joints and a mix of flexibility, strength and overall mobility – hense the name.  I am liking it so far.  Plus, there are no promises of a “flat belly in six weeks”!  It’s an overall wellness programme that I can get down with.  Because I just want to feel like I can keep going well into my eighties!  Plus, whenever I can, I walk during my lunch hour – even went on Monday when it was stupid-hot!  Here’s a few pics of the many, MANY I take 🙂

I have also been baking (every couple of weeks) as well as cooking myself some delicious meals.  I signed up for “Odd Bunch” – they deliver a box once per week and I love the surprise of discovering what’s inside.  These veggies can be odd-sized and rejected by stores for it but honestly, after two deliveries?  I cannot see what’s wrong with any item!

I’ve kept you long enough 🙂  By the end of writing this, the following song came on and I felt a sort of melancholy.  All in all… a decent day.

Translation (by Deepl because I was too lazy to do the whole thing myself!)

Frédéric