Sunday 5 October 2008

Gerbil-esque

started sunny, now clouded over. temps 14

Turns out, it's a mouse. Feel almost as stupid as when we called the electrician because a lamp wasn't working and he put a new bulb in and turned it on. To be fair, I'd also tried a new bulb and nothing had happened - so perhaps it was an old bulb I'd put in. Either way, he gave me 'the look'. I shrank.

I wonder if that's what gives women osteoperosis? Years of 'that look'. Diminshed.

I got it again today from Tony. He and Pat came up for tea. He also checked our mouse traps and announced we'd caught one. So we had a dead one in the basement (killed by us) and a live one in the mudroom - saved by us.

Discuss.

Made Michael a pot roast using the slow-cooker the other day. First time I'd (or anyone) had used it. Put it on then went to Knowlton for breakfast - this was Friday. Tried to banish image of it bursting into flames while I was gone. Happily the pear, melted brie and spiced blueberry crepe banished all bad thoughts. It was a transcendental experience. I'd like to buy the world a crepe.

Have to release the mouse into the wild. Preferably far enough from the house so that it doesn't come back and we end up doing something terrible to it. Strange how we bond with things we save...or imprison. This is sort of the Stockholm syndrome, in reverse.

Nice, quiet day. Reading by the fire and having tea with friends. Tomorrow Nancy comes to fix the computer - it will receive but won't send emails...have an interview with a newspaper and I think that's all so far. Trying to settle a time to do narration for a film on literacy. They want to do it this coming week but I have to do a CBC interview Wednesday then fly to Baltimore early Thursday, so will see. Perhaps Wednesday afternoon.

Michael's reading THE BRUTAL TELLING. So far so good.

7 comments:

Moon and Sparrow Sandy said...

Louise!!It has been way too long. I am newly addicted to your blog. Forgot how great it is!
HOW ARE YOU GUYS!?! My mom has been following you through your blog as well and let me know that you will be in Toronto again at the end of the month. Of course we are coming to see you (likely at Harbourfront)! Is Michael coming? We think of you often and have your lovely home never far from our plans to get away. One day.
P.S. When I read your post, I thought about this FANTASTICALLY creepy film called Lemming, with Charlotte Gainsbourg, about a mysterious little rodent that shows up.
xo
Sandy

Louise Penny Author said...

Hi Sandy,

this is so funny but I was thinking of the two of you as well! And it will be fantastic to see you at Harbourfront - yay. Will your mother be there too? Sure hope so. Such fun meeting her at Casa Loma.

See you then and thanks for writing. Love to you and Sylvain.

humble_pie said...

a bit OT, but louise left an exquisite joke couple days ago about her mother coughing audibly late at night out on her little island.

it's october, hallowe'en approaches, so perhaps one can be excused for rabbitting on about the spirits of mothers hovering near their remains.

no one was as peripatetic after her demise as mother d'Youville, founder of the Grey Nuns, who's interred in the gigantic grey stone mother house that sprawls between guy & st-mathieu in montreal.. it's been sold to concordia u, so i don't know what the sisters will do with their crypt below the chapel.. a lot of digging may be involved.

why digging? the crypt was the original burial ground.. more than 200 sisters are buried there, although the site hasn't been used for this purpose in nearly a century.. in its final years as a last resting-place, the crypt was only used for a head gal, a being known as le Général, ie a lofty status far above that of a mere mother superior.

in this crypt there used to be various caskets, empty now save for her burial garments, that at one time or another had housed the mortal remains of the late mother Marguerite.. in recent decades the founder of the order wound up in the base of a modern altar built for her on the main floor, but in centuries past mother d'Youville had bopped restlessly around in the crypt, periodically being dug up to be re-clothed in new attire & stowed away again somewhere else, in a different coffin.

with the sale of the venerable heap to concordia, no doubt mother Marguerite will be on the move again.

Louise Penny Author said...

Dear Hum,

You do know your nuns. Now, did you know the Grey Nuns is actually a misnomer? It's a poor translation of the original name given to them - Soeurs Grise. Which in old french means both grey, but also drunk. It was the latter that was actually meant - though I can't remember why. Not sure if it's because they looked after drunks, or appeared drunk. Or where.

Of course, this might just ba legend and not, gasp, fact.

Nice to hear from you, Hum. Now, what can you tell me about Champlain's tomb?

humble_pie said...

hélas! have nothing to offer on champlain's tomb, it's an unknown subject for me, i see from quick internet peek that location of the tomb is still unknown.

but it occurs to me - if you are researching this early period in the history of new france, there is a now-elderly retired U de M historian who might be a wondrous source, if you can manage to get him to talk. he's old & frail, doesn't like to speak to strangers any more, his scholarship has been controversial, so i'll write you privately in an email if you like. also, i'd have to re-gather my information as it's more than a decade old.

i'm not an academic person, but i happen to believe his historical research is impeccable. i've always been sorry he never got his due, so to speak, as an elaborator of the dark side of the early history of new france. although he speaks to few nowadays, it occurs to me that you might be the right one to receive the torch.

ps your blogspot is giving me a political message. it wants me to repeat the letters, right? and they are LBJXSXX.

i know you're not a palin pitbull, maybe your computer lady can fix this prob too.

Louise Penny Author said...

Hi Hum - but never Ho Hum.

Your man sounds amazing...if you don't mind passing on the informatiuon to me I'll give it my best shot. He sounds a wonderful source.

with many thanks - for this and the cryptic message.

Louise

Anonymous said...

Interested at Champlain's tomb researches. Find out at
http://webhome.look.ca/~pdubeau1/maison.html

Pierre