In 1982, just a few years after the children’s book “Masquerade” kicked off the first “armchair treasure hunt,” Byron Preiss released his own challenge to the treasurially-inclined: find twelve buried “casques” following the clues in his puzzle book “The Secret.”… [Read More]
It has been blazingly hot this week, and yet there’s snow:
No, Hell hasn’t frozen over. These floaty bits are part of the seed release strategy for the eastern cottonwood.
Each tree can release 40 million seeds per season, so even a few cottonwoods can create quite a show.… [Read More]
Given that the tulips are all gone, I thought the spring flowers were pretty much over with. I was wrong! The irises are taking their turn.
The neighborhood is iris-etic.
The Botanical Garden of Montréal is big and relatively expensive — $22.50 for adult admission, with a $5.50 discount if you live in the greater Montréal area. But if you get a $9 Accès Montréal card, you can have free access to the outdoor portions of the Botanical garden!… [Read More]
The breeze brings down clouds of these exquisite little helicopters. The sidewalks are strewn with them.
Maple samaraFor what it’s worth, the botanical name for this kind of seed is a “samara” or a “winged achene.”
The arrondissement of Rosemont La-Petite-Patrie had a promotion this morning, widely advertised, of a gardening give-away day.
Translated notice on FacebookOur neighbor in the condo organized a group to go and pick up some flowers and shrubs with the intent of creating another small garden plot in front of the building.… [Read More]
Yesterday, both Manon and I were just about to start meetings over the internet, when my notebook started throwing server not found errors.
Down in the data closet, the modem’s lights were all dark, except for the one, sad blinking “trying to sync” indicator.… [Read More]
Do you want the good news or the bad news first? Okay, here comes the good news: these cocoa truffles with a maple sugar dusting by Trufettes of France are phenomenally delicious.… [Read More]
Manon has written before about Montréal’s Bixi bike program. I’m a newcomer to the program this year, and have lots of not-especially-well-organized thoughts about it.
Today, I set out on a small expedition, starting at one of our nearby Bixi stands.… [Read More]
If you speak French (or know how it is pronounced) this is very cute. Just some guy being drôle, like guys often are here. Bon appétit, Hubert!
