FRENCH WORD-A-DAY

MAX !!! THAT IS "MY LITTLE COT IN YOUR MOM'S OFFICE" you must pay me one kiss a day to use it...I knew anyone who spent the entire night in that little 'dream-cot' would be hooked. Kristi's office is on the second floor looking over the creek, neighbors garden, and entire vinyard on to the beautiful Mt. Venteou (sp?). I have the little cot pushed right up to the wall of window, so as I lie there my arm brushes against the glass, therefore the stars at night shine down on my face. Early in the morning I can watch the little old man silently walk down the path to Mr. Delehome's garden to earn his keep by turning the soil and clearing the old tomato vines. As I lay there the familiar birds come and go from their nests in the giant trees that line the creek. I can hear the tap-tap-tap of Kristi's keys on the computer - I have been warned before not to interupt her in the morning as she weaves her way through the thoughts that fill her mind for the days 'word'. I can smell the drifting waves of coffee, but I pretend to be asleep....

Thanks Jackie, and Brian, for the information. I'd better get out and look at those stars! It's been too long. So watch out Max--and watch out Mom!--your favorite cot may be *mine* before long!

On donne le nom d'Ours à deux constellations de l'hémisphère boréal qui sont proches du pôle arctique, et dont une s'appelle La Grande Ours et l'autre, La Petite Ours..

The name Bear is given to two constellations in the northern hemisphere which are close to the North Pole, and which are named the Great Bear [Ursa Major] and the Small Bear [Ursa Minor].

Thank you, Jina! (Je veux dire: Merci!)

I love your bilingual comment. This is so helpful to all of us who are trying to improve our French. Here's to following your example! So how about it -- anyone else up to writing their comment in both languages? Thanks in advance (je veux dire: merci d'avance!)

Je pense que je vois a "dove-cote" in the upper left wall, oui? Three openings (doors). Aussi, I notice what could be an iron or metal cicada on the left shutter of the bottom window. Lovely picture (as always). Very different from the last few - makes me also think of a pebbled beach and days that cannot come soon enough for sun and sea and breezes...a la plage. I am up for bilinqual comments, mais je peux que my spelling will be so-so!

There is an old song that was created as the slaves of the South moved toward freedom in the North - "Follow the Drinking Gourd" which would be the same Big Dipper/Ursa Major, etc. as it also resembles a ladle that would be used for drinking from a well.

Il est possible de lire ton (SVP) blog avec des photograhs quand j' ouvre french-word-a-day, mais prendre un comment, il faut que j'ourvre cet site comme un paige de web. I'm not sure that this is totally correct, mais jai essayé.
J'habite en Madison, Connecticut ou il est possible voire les etoiles, particulirèrement "the Big Dipper" and the "Little Dipper" qui est 5 handles away from the "Big Dipper". Mais j'amie aller au place qu'il y a pas des lumieres, dont c'est possilbe de voire le "Milky Way".

After reading Mme Greer's comments about the "dream cot" and the second floor view, I can understand from where Kristin received her gift of expressing herself so beautifully. La description de la vue et des étoiles - c'est très jolie. Orion is very brillant right now in the winter skies of Montana.

p.s. I'm glad it was so easy to transfer over to your new site - thanks for making the transition easy on some of us who are nulle regarding technologie.

We cannot see any 'bears' in our sky here in Australia!
Orion is here- but he's upside down (is that dessus dessous?)
Bob Sydney

En lisant le mot du jour, j'en ai eu un moment de confusion. Le mot Ours et masculin mais la frase indique une Ourse (feminine.) Je crois que la frase correcte et "La Grande Ourse".
My interpretation of the phrase:
We give the name "Bear" to two constellations in the Northern sky, one of which is named the Big Bear and the other the Little Bear.

Thank you and keep up the excellent work.

It's WAY too cold for star-gazing tonight, but perfect gumbo weather. In Louisiana, the poule d'eau is widely hunted, partly because it needs a running start to get airborne (and thus makes a relatively easy target), but mainly because the birds can be made into a delicious gumbo. Poule d'eaus are called "coot" by english-speaking people in Louisiana. Check out a recipe for just such a gumbo at the following web-site:

This recipe is a lot like the one my father used after a hunt. My job was to clean the birds (and help eat the gumbo). I was pretty good at the latter...still am.

Louis

In Britain, the Big Dipper is called the Plough (or for the American spellers, the Plow).

la grande ourse -- with an e at the end of ours; un ours, une ourse; that ol' masculine-feminine thing that gets in the way for us native English speakers! love the new site and keep up the wonderful work!

Ahhh... but we do have "The Saucepan" which is part of Orion's belt and one of the first constellations I leanrt about...very famous this little group of stars seem to be!
Your photo today speaks of light and freshness with windows flung open to a brand new day and busy day ... perfect for a new start to your french lessons of life!
Thank you Mama Jules for your lovely description of your own encounters of the world through Kristin's ( and now Max's) little office window!!
Good luck with your renovations!!

The plough, or 'great bear', in English English, which leads me to think about the word 'great' rather than 'big' or 'large' as a translation of the French 'grand(e)' - in the north of England they also say 'that's grand' where southerners and Americans would say 'that's great'. But 'great hair' is not the same as 'big hair'!!

I love that bottom window in the picture today! The curtains sont tres belles, and I thought it was interesting how the shade is on the outside of the window, between the window and the shutters. It looks like a beautiful day! Only 33 days until Spring!

If indeed those three tiny arched openings forming a triangle are bird houses, how clever and considerate of the French to build one directly into a wall. Never seen anything like that. Of course early morning singing could be a problem if a bedroom is behind the wall. They DO start early, don't they.

Kathryn a dit: "Mais j'amie aller au place qu'il y a pas des lumieres, dont c'est possilbe de voire le "Milky Way"."

Toujours, c'est amazement voir Le Milky Way, qui je (hardly ever) peux le voir. Merci pour le comment...Il me donne l'idee pour conduire the Blue Ridge Parkway (a Virginia), là où il n'y a pas des lumières to see it again. A bientot.