One of our Downy Woodpecker friends that visit every day for some peanut or berry suet. Also quite partial to the peanut butter and mix of peanuts and seeds on offer or sometimes just a sip of water from the birdbath. This is the female. The male has a red cap on his head.

In 1766, Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus formally identified, included the downy woodpecker in the 12th edition of his "Systema Naturae", coining its binomial name 'picus pubescens'. 🇸🇪

New blog post:
"Ramses II and Colossal Egos"

If you're a tyrannical leader (or "leader-elect") of a country, and if you maybe can't stop invading your neighbours and think you're invincible, a word of caution to you...

https://open.substack.com/pub/philvasquez/p/ramses-ii-and-colossal-egos?r=r9f9y&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

Staples.

For daily cuppas.
For late night after dinner teapots.
For help with amateur detective analysis through year after year of Midsomer Murders episodes.
For watching classic films with.
For accompanying mid afternoon DIY projects and balcony gardening.
For a relaxing moment when coffee takes too long.
For working through video games with.
For studying recipes with next to a sous-chef cat.
A tea home is a tea home. Even when it isn't British.

#tea #cuppa #midsomermurders #brew

Sicily in Montreal.

#sicilianfood #sicilia #food #cucinapovera

Our now 7 year old 'levain mère' or sourdough starter. Still enriching every bread we make. This time a rye slow fermentation dough. Tart, dense, a fantastic tartine bread made with lovely local Meunerie Milanaise flour.

Bread is never 'just bread' anymore when making it has become a routine for so many years. It may be old fashioned but as the song goes, "I don't mind it, it's how I want to be..."

#sourdough #ryeflour #baking #painaulevain

Baking day, again. I love the smell of home after a bake.

#baking #sourdough #pain #bread #boulangerie #cookinginmontreal #bakery

Omelettes are lovely.

I don't think there is another breakfast food I love more. Classic and perfect when done right. This one is perhaps the way I most like to make them.. parsley, dill, spring onion in the egg, and before being rolled up, a long slice of gorgonzola or another cheese with boisterous personality and attitude. Dry on the outside, rich and creamy on the inside.

#eggs #oeufs #breakfast #homecooking #cookinginmontreal #omelette