And so, effective immediately, you’ll find my photos, book comments, rants, obsessions and imaginings at the following address:

http://deleilan.blogspot.com

It will be my very great pleasure to welcome you for a cup of tea, a plateful of freshly-baked scones and a cosy chat in my new home. Just make sure you don’t brush against the mouldings, I’m afraid the paint is still wet.

Please be warned: due to my hopelessly mercurial nature (and to the extensive free customization possible on Blogger), the wallpaper may undergo frequent changes and the furniture may be moved at any time. I may also sometimes post in French, if the occasion warrants it.

In spite of the bitter wind and stinging snow, I went out early this morning
and walked down to the river’s edge, just a few minutes from my apartment.
I took very few photos, but couldn’t resist capturing the birch branches wrapped with lights.
It must look absolutely magical at night!
(The real reason for venturing forth was to get a baguette from the nearby bakery.)

This morning I went through my photo archives
and uploaded a few things to my Flickr page.
(The photo of RD was taken recently with my new camera;
he looks very annoyed because I accidentally woke him up…)

There’s something funny about winter weather:
when the sun comes out, temperatures plumet!
In other words, you have to deal with either dreary but reasonably cold days
or bright but horrendously cold days.
Today was one of the former, and RD could barely hide his surprise
at the reappearance of that shiny object in the sky.
(I think he was made most happy by the fact that he could chase his shadow again.)

In celebration, I donned my trusty apron and made a batch
of Mexican Hot Chocolate Snickerdoodles
(doesn’t that name alone cheer you up?)
which bring together the flavours of chocolate, cinnamon and cayenne
in a mouth-watering, body-warming chewy/crispy cookie.
Just what’s needed on a chilly day, with a cup of tea or coffee or a glass of almond milk.
Should you wish to try them for yourself, you’ll find the very easy recipe here.

I’m having a relaxed weekend, spent for the most part in reading and writing.
My downstairs neighbours have been absent since yesterday afternoon,
so I’m enjoying the silence while it lasts…

I’m not certain whether the Holiday season is to blame
or if the winter is hitting me particularly hard,
but I’m finding it very difficult to shaking off
this dark mood that’s hanging over me.
I suspect that the prolonged absence of the sun may be a factor.

But it appears that there are small glimpses of hope to be found everywhere;
this morning I unexpectedly came upon this delicate flower as I rather energetically worked
to clear my balcony of its hard-packed accumulation of frozen matter.
It was carefully rescued it from its fate and brought inside to rest on a bookshelf,
where it now sits in the distinguished company of Agatha Christie and Colin Dexter.
(The balcony, alas, remains partially covered in alternating layers of ice and snow
from which only an ice-pick could free it.)

The sun may not have made an appearance in what feels like aeons,
but something yellow certainly brightened up my day when I collected today’s post:
a large envelope containing this most adorable of photos by Castle Cat Studio.
Merci beaucoup Nathalie et Tim, je l’adore!
(I love cat toes — they’re my one weakness!)

After returning photography books to the library at lunch time,
I decided to treat myself by browsing my favourite section, at the very back of the second floor.
From what I can deduce, it consists of the original contents of the municipal library,
onto which later acquisitions were simply grafted, leaving it intact,
an incongruous and mostly neglected appendage attached to a much larger body.
A very basic classification system seems to reign here:
all books in a given division have a point in common, but otherwise there seems to be no coherent order.
For example, on the shelves dedicated to French literature, obviously the best stocked,
the more than casual observer will notice some authors’ names repeated here and there for no apparent reason.
It is above all this cahotic aspect that attracts me and keeps me coming back.