ebouriffe

For muddy faces... Braise recommends this triple-milled soap from Provence! Thanks for ordering some savon here.

ébouriffé(e) (ay-boor-ee-fay) adjective

    : tousled, disheveled, rumpled

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A Day in a DOG'S Life...
featuring a letter from Carol Donnay, writing in from Belgium.
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Note: you may listen to Jean-Marc read Carol's letter in French: MP3 or Wav

Cher Smokey,
Dear Smokey,

Qu'est-il arrivé à ta maman?
What has happened to your mom?

1) A-t-elle pris un bain de boue pour lutter contre les rhumatisme?
    Has she taken a mud bath to combat rheumatism?

 

2) Est-elle tombée dans la mare aux canards?
     Did she fall into the duck pond?

 

3) A-t-elle mis sa patte dans la prise de courant?
    Did she stick her paw into the light socket?

 

4) Son salon de toilettage s'appelle "Chez Emile Pétard" puis, après le brushing explosif, son esthéticienne a forcé sur la crème bronzante? Her grooming salon is called "Chez Emile Firecracker" and, after the explosive blow drying, her beautician was a little heavy-handed with the self-tanning cream?

 

Pauvre Braise! Elle a l'air bien penaude dans son manteau "cinquième-patte" (seconde-main) et toi Smokey Joli, un air bien fiérot dans ta fourrure immaculée. Poor Braise! She looks so sheepish in her second-hand coat et you, Pretty Boy Smokey, proud in your immaculate fur!

 

 

Bisous les chéris,
Kisses dears,

Carol

     

:: Le Coin Commentaires ::

This forum is open to your thoughts about today's edition. Thanks for taking a minute to thank Carol for her delightful story-letter. You may also pose questions about France, the French language and similar topics. By helping each other we enrich this community, educate, and inspire one another in all things French. Click here to comment.

 

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***

 

Garden Update

 
Yahoo! Just learned the word "biennial" which means that the hollyhocks I planted two years ago just may bloom after all! They'll soon join the Lily of Spain and the poppies (pictured) that grow like giggles in our garden.

Tigue Update!!!
I received a note from Rhiannon, and this letter, below from Rowan -- with some good news!

Dear Kristin

Just a quick note to say thank you for publicising Carcassonne Spa on your blog. People are so wonderful. Also I wanted to let you know that Tigue has been found a home! A British couple is collecting him tomorrow, and I couldn't be more delighted for him! Perhaps you could pass on the good news to your readers.
 

Still lots more dogs needing homes, but with the help of people like you and your readers hopefully things will gradually start to improve.

Many thanks again.
Rowan

 
Here is a photo of the latest save. She is called Diana, rescued just hours before she was due to be put down last week and now living with me for a couple of weeks before going to her final home in the Lot. She is only 2 and half! Still plenty of time to enjoy life and put all the horrible SPA experience behind her

The Red Balloon: a French film classic. Order it here.

 
Cheery kitchen canisters, classic country French. Also in blue, here.

 
French Retro 1940s Flash Cards for Children or Nostalgic Adults

Comments

[Geneviève radel]

Je sais pourquoi: Braise a voulu se faire belle avant sa rencontre de demain avec Allia!

Sorry not to be able to tell correctly it in English!

Geneviève

[Pat Cargill]

So much to comment on aujourd' hui! Carol, love your story of Braise's rumpled, muddy-faced (or perhaps overly-bronzed!) visage. Pauve, Braise, indeed. Je pense que Brase a passe un bon journee! Sort of the way I look when I have been happily "lost" in my backyard, digging (read: playing!) in the dirt, which I did yesterday.

Kristin, your garden is beautiful! And cheers and amens and alleluias for the adoption of Tique and all others who are waiting for homes and loving hearts! Mille mercis for les chiens who teach us a thing or two about the meaning of love. God created dogs to teach us the meaning of love, sans doubte!

I heartily endorse Pre de Provence my current soap of choice with the nice scrubbies embedded in it...mais j'ai lemon verbena, pas lavande. All are good. Maxine, my 4-legged Love, enjoys baths w/it aussi. Ah, Maxine. Ce matin I removed a tick from her belly--remember to check your pet for ticks as the season changes and critters abound.

Best wishes for another April day from sunny Roanoke, VA, 70's -- but hoping soon for showers to rinse off the pollen. Bisous.

[Kristin]

Rebonjour Geneviève! Et oui! Demain les "filles" vont pouvoir partager les secrets de la beauté. (On a beaucoup de bonne boue ici :-)

Tomorrow the "girls" are going to be able to exchange beauty secrets (we have a lot of good mud around here :-)

à demain.

[Eileen]

Je suis souvent ébouriffé.
I love the story-letter Carol!
So happy for Tigue and Diana.

[Bill in St. Paul]

Great post today, Carol and Kristin. As is usual for Goldens, there's no hint of guilt in either face for digging in the garden (I was just trying to help) or reshaping the furniture (rounded legs on the chair look so much better)! The garden looks great. Here in Minnesota I think we're a month ahead of schedule with trees and flowers and everything coming up, and no chance of snow! And how great that Tigue and Diana have homes. We're still working on Julius the Cat to give us permission to get another Golden. He gets all bent out of shape when our grandson comes over and keeps asking "he's not going to stay, is he?"

[Kristin]

Pat, I often think of you when I am in the garden!

Bill, thanks for the "thrice-weekly" laughs. Re the garden that Pat also mentionned: I forgot to note that it is not, hélas, my own. (It is located near the town of Roaix).

[Kathryn in Rockville, Maryland]

Je l'aime beaucoup Carol. Tres, tres mignon, ce dialogue! Merci beaucoup pour me donner des rires!

[Daryl in Houston]

An utterly charming letter! Thanks for sharing it. I would have expected Smokey to be the one covered in mud.

I just saw a wonderful French film--Seraphine, available on netflix as an instant watch. I knew nothing about this French painter whose work is utterly amazing.

[Kristin Espinasse]

Daryl, glad to see the film recommendation! Just read the Wikipedia bio:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%A9raphine_Louis

Cant wait to see the film or read the book.

[Kristin Espinasse]

Thanks again, Daryl. Just saw the trailer, it gave me chills. Cant wait to get hands on this film!:
http://www.seraphinemovie.com/

On Mon, Apr 19, 2010 at 3:37 PM, Kristin Espinasse [email protected] wrote:

Daryl, glad to see the film recommendation! Just read the Wikipedia bio:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%A9raphine_Louis

Cant wait to see the film or read the book.

[Leslie]

Carol
Your comments, illustrated by those great photos, are tellement drole. I learned some new words, fiérot and prise de courant, and foncer sur. Merci bien !

[Christine in Salt Lake City]

Delightful story. I smiled all the way through it. Merci Carol!

[georgie]

What a beautiful story, photos and garden update. Georgie and Gordy use dog shampoo but would much prefer the Pre de Provence that the humans here use.

[Newforest]

Moi, j'ai les cheveux ébouriffés tous les matins when I get out of bed - and whenever the playful wind decides to mess about with “ma chevelure”.

Hi Braise, L'esthéticienne "allant un peu trop fort" avec la crème bronzante? Yes, Carol has some amusing ideas, hasn't she?
No doubt your face is dirty but the rest of your body is simply wet ("n'est-ce pas"?). I'm wondering whether you might have been chased by “un tuyau d'arrosage”. As for your dirty face, I suppose you may not want to reveal your own little secret concerning your digging in the soil.
I like Carol's idea of a mud bath used as a natural remedy “pour tes rhumatismes”... (brilliant idea, but I wouldn't like to think you're suffering from rheumatism at your age)

Nice to see you having a rest next to a pot of fresh wallflowers ... so, un grand merci à Kristin for the “giroflées” and “merci aussi” for the garden photo full of valerian flowers and poppies, dropping a hint about the joys of Summer.
Sharing your hope to see your hollyhocks in bloom this Summer - and wishing your biennials -and your annuals & perennials- to grow happily and profusely in your garden!

Catching up with last week Tigue's story and pleased to hear he found a home.

[Mary]

Very cute story--almost a children's book.
But what really happened to le visage de Braise?

[Daryl in Houston]

Thanks for the wiki link, Christine. The acting in this film is consistently good but the lead actress Yolande Moureau is beyond good. Her performance is itself an act of grace.

Is there someplace in your blog where your readers and you could list favorite French films? I didn't mean to hijack this comment section and turn it into a film discussion but I was not sure where else I should post something of general "Francophile" interest.

[Mona]

OMG, such cuties...I imagine you are all smiles all the time! I hope you made the appointment with the spa...

xoxo

[joie]

So cute, but what really did happen to Braise....she is muddy all over! It's like she crawled under/through something! So glad Tige found a home.! I saw a couple that I was taken with....but I don't live there yet. I am about ready after losing mine last July.

[Sheila]

Thanks so much for all the doggie stuff; both yours and others. Love them so much.

[Joan Linneman]

To Daryl in Houston My absolute favorite French movie is the 1995 Claude LeLouch version of Les Miserables. The main story takes place in WW II France with Jean-Paul Belmondo as an illiterate truck driver who helps a Jewish family escape the Nazis. Belmondo plays the truck driver, his father and Jean Valjean in flashbacks to the Victor Hugo story. The connections of Les Mis to life and its continuing stories is awesome. Joan L

[Don Dwight]

I like the format even though I do not expect to be with dogs and doggie salons and duck ponds in France.

Don Dwight

[Susan]

Love the pictures of Braise and Smokey Dokey--it always makes me smile to see them. Please share with us how Braise got so wet and muddy. Sunny and warm here in Southern California today.

[Julia]

Congratulations on helping this deserving dog find a home. May his mates at the Carcassonne SPA and SPAs around the world find homes as well.

Another beautiful day here in Paris!

[Suzanne, Monroe Township, NJ]

Carol,
Your story is as wonderful as the photos. Have you ever noticed how superior a dog can look when she's been into something she shouldn't? It is as if the superior look and attitude will cause humans to overlook the mud ... the torn shoes ... whatever the dog has been into. I have a photo of our Westie, Bijou with half her body covered in black mud and the other half pristine! She'd laid on her side trying to dig in the mud under the front gate! She looked just like a Domino for a fancy dress ball. Planning my first trip to Belgium in July ... 6 days in Brugge and 2 in Brussels.

Kristi,
Loved the garden photos.

[Suzanne, Monroe Township, NJ]

Forgot to say how happy I was to learn that Tigue has found a home. Let's hope someone in Provence can open their hearts to Diana.

[Amanda]

I just want to let you know that is a wonderful thing you are doing helping out your SPA. I was so happy to read that Tigue,found such a good home it made my morning, and I hope many more cats and dogs find the same good homes, I live in Sydney Australia, so I urge the wonderful people from Provence to look after Diana (and others) now !!!

[Leroy Ryan]

Carol is very nice looking, as is Kristi. Love seeing you both and reading the wonderful stories. Those cool dogs are the greatest, too. I live in California and have been reading "French Word a Day" for many years. Thanks for it all...Love, Leroy

[Anne Chase]

I really loved Carole's letter and I was able to use ébouriffé in my french lesson today - we all take turns to write something and so I was able to share this word with everyone.

[Esther]

Wonderful story, and such funny doggies! I am also curious what Braise really did to get so muddy! In reference to favorite French films, today I ordered The Red Balloon. I remember it from when I was in elementary school, and have loved it ever since. The other film I long to see again, is Les Parapluies de Cherbourg - which I first saw in high school in the early 70's.

[Christine in Salt Lake City]

Carol must be a fun person (I can tell from her darling pictures)! Is she a reader?

[Daryl in Houston]

To Joan: Thanks for the film reference. I'll check it out. I also enjoyed the French films Ridicule and The Return of Martin Guerre.

[Daryl in Houston]

Kristin, sorry for misspelling your name. I teach and have several Kirstens, Cristians, Christines, Christinas, etc. in my class and sometimes confuse the spellings!

[Kristin Espinasse]

Newforest, I wonder if your tuyau darrosage is the answer to the question we all want to know: how did Braise get that way? I think you are correct about her digging a hole with her nose, then getting chased by our hose! And happy to learn giroflées (Smokey thought they were snapperdragons!

Daryl, No worries about the name and thanks, everyone, for the film recommendations. (Joan, Im putting Claude LeLouchs Les Miserables on my list!

[Merrie Dail]

Loved Carol's story and so relieved to hear Tigue has found a home. Also love that FWAD has many 'ageless' readers like moi - the number (age) really is secondary to the spirit. Well done, Kristin! Beautiful spring day, bit chilly, here in Annapolis, MD.

[Newforest]

Words and fleurs

Hi Kristin,
I just realised I wrongly named the flowers in pot! Toutes mes excuses! I saw them against the wall and without thinking any further, my mind called them 'wallflowers' (Erysimum) = “giroflées” in French. They are not “giroflées”... sorry, sorry! Totally different shape of petals... Anyway, let's put things straight.
The flowers in pot, next to Braise, are:
--> 'Antirrhium majus',
commonly called 'Snapdragons'.
In French, they are:
--> “Mufliers”, well known as “Gueules-de- loup” (or Gueules-de-lion)

More in English
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antirrhinum_majus
http://www.iflorist.co.uk/p-1424-snap-dragon.aspx

More in French
http://www.zoodecasteil.com/fiches_flore/muflier.htm
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muflier_%C3%A0_grandes_fleurs

[joanne nixon]

ah..such wonderful stories ! i am very happy that tigue has found a forever home....we have so many animals that have been abandoned here in our area,,,two of our dogs are rescues...the third was a gift from my daughter...we also have two other adopteds...a cat who decided to make our house her home and a green parrot who flew into the backyard and has now lived with us for seven years...

braise and smokey r...are beautiful children, mud and all....thank you for the beautiful photos and stories.....

[Jan, Colorado]

I received this email tale from friends in Wisconsin, one of those forwarded things I often don't take the time to read. Today's comments made me think of it, so I decided to share it. Sorry, it's a bit long but it makes a point we animal lovers can agree with.

A man and his dog were walking along a road. The man was enjoying the scenery, when it suddenly occurred to him that he was dead.
He remembered dying, and that the dog walking beside him had been dead for years. He wondered where the road was leading them.
After a while, they came to a high, white stone wall along one side of the road.
It looked like fine marble. At the top of a long hill, it was broken by a tall arch that glowed in the sunlight. When he was standing before it he saw a magnificent gate in the arch that looked like mother-of-pearl, and the street that led to the gate looked like pure gold. He and the dog walked toward the gate, and as he got closer, he saw a man at a desk to one side.
When he was close enough, he called out, 'Excuse me, where are we?'

'This is Heaven, sir,' the man answered. 'Wow! Would you happen to have some water?' the man asked.

Of course, sir. “Come right in, and I'll have some ice water brought right up.” The man gestured, and the gate began to open.

'Can my friend,' gesturing toward his dog, 'come in, too?' the traveler asked.

'I'm sorry, sir, but we don't accept pets.'

The man thought a moment and then turned back toward the road and continued the way he had been going with his dog.

After another long walk, and at the top of another long hill, he came to a dirt road leading through a farm gate that looked as if it had never been closed. There was no fence.

As he approached the gate, he saw a man inside, leaning against a tree and reading a book.

'Excuse me!' he called to the man. 'Do you have any water?'

'Yeah, sure, there's a pump over there, come on in.'

'How about my friend here?' the traveler gestured to the dog.

'There should be a bowl by the pump.'

They went through the gate, and sure enough, there was an old-fashioned hand pump with a bowl beside it.

The traveler filled the water bowl and took a long drink himself, then he gave some to the dog.

When they were full, he and the dog walked back toward the man who was standing by the tree.

'What do you call this place?' the traveler asked.

'This is Heaven,' he answered.

'Well, that's confusing,' the traveler said. 'The man down the road said that was Heaven, too.'

'Oh, you mean the place with the gold street and pearly gates? Nope. That's hell.'

'Doesn't it make you mad for them to use your name like that?'

'No, we're just happy that they screen out the folks who would leave their best friends behind.'

[Rose]

I live in an area where there is a major problem with stray dogs and cats, thus we created a voluntary shelter. Now many families around the area are happy and taking care of a dog or a cat or both!

[Lilly]

I take care of 3 stray dogs I adopted with a whole garden full of flowers. They lave learned not to destroy my garden, but only run where the grass is.

People, adopting is one of the best things I have ever done in my life! Go forwards and do it..