FRENCH WORD-A-DAY

What a pretty pretty photo! And yes two beauties ~

It's strange I would have been tempted by the pile of magazines because I don't buy them either..But my daughters have some and they always leave me feeling older:)

How can anyone's skin look like that?
Only babies and small children and maybe young women up to 40 ish:)IMHO)
Maybe that's why I fancy Home/Food magazines more. and seldom buy those too..The internet has opened up a whole new world!
Beauty is grace.

I have to add ,and most sincerely..
You and your mom are 2 beauties too.Exceptionally so.:)

Oops. Last line should start "Even though…"

Merci du Bénabar! Je m'en servirai à la rentrée.

Thanks for the translation. I really couldn't figure it out, though like the melody. Kristi-you are one of those women who will be beautiful (inside and outside) your whole life.

You are so correct on this decision .
False needs are wasting out lives, not just money .
After all, is not " time the stuff of life " Ken

Hooray for you Kristin! The fleeting fashion gods leave only disappointment in their wake as they wash over our lives.

Here's a thought to consider from the wisest man in the world:
"Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised." Proverbs 31:30

I do the exact same thing everytime I stand at the grocer's counter or see the free pile of magazines in the lounge at work. Nope...don't intend to get caught in this game. I recall reading some of these in my teens and so many years later, the articles are still the same! Nothing has changed! Now, I am not implying that I don't try to look presentable but NON, Nein, Merci, NOPE, and heck no to trying to look x years younger.
What a pretty furry papillon. Looks like he is wearing a fur coat.

xo

Nice translation, Bill. I'll pick up where you left off since I don't have to go to work today. (I'd translate videur as bouncer: If you belt the bouncer, you'd better run fast.)
Then, the afternoon tryst, followed by a head butt from her husband. If your nose hurts, it's the butterfly effect - that's only natural, you shouldn't have tripped up.
On the other hand, if it's your forehead that hurts, it's you who are the deceived husband.

They make lipstick and face lotion for girls from whale oil. When you buy these cosmetics, you are putting on your makeup with a harpoon.

If you spend the evening bar-hopping, you know you are going to have trouble tomorrow morning at 8, getting your license back from the police station.

It's the butterfly effect, little causes, big consequences. Although it's a pretty phrase, small things, big damages.

The butterfly flies away.
The butterfly flies away
In a beating of wings.

Enjoying this photo and story before going through the newsletters I missed recently.

Very attractive photo!

Spots forming an arch on the underwing,
edgeband of the wings so daintly fringed ...
It's a chalkhill blue butterfly (Lysandra coridon) - brown wings, so it's a female - having a great time on a wild and friendly knapweed.

I assume the flower is a 'greater knapweed', a wild flower that might be une “centaurée scabieuse” in French, although the colour on the photo is pale blue and the flower I was thinking about is mauve.

Kristin, I could just imagine you, ... leaving your laundry basket on one side and discretely getting your camera, thinking "faut pas râter l'occasion"! (musn't miss the opportunity)! Bless you for kneeling down quietly and patiently in front of this exquisite little scene.

“La fleur sauvage et le papillon volage” are perfect examples of natural harmony and beauty.

PS What about the pile of glossy magazines with vain and flashy 'celebrities'? Did I miss your story? No... but..., as my movements are limited, "le papillon volage & la fleur sauvage" got all my attention and became my priority.

I love all the the pictures you take. It is really beautiful over there.

I am having a little problem with growing old. I know it's a fact of life, I still look younger than my 41 years despite the age my teenagers have imposed, but still, things change after 40. I work in a job where I have to stay fit. Being a Firefighter/ Paramedic can challenge the body at times. I think that is what keeps me youthful; that and good face care. Will never understand the measures women take to stay young the artificial way. Who wants to look like plastic?

If the flower is spiky like thistle - it looks like Eryngeum or Miss Wilmott's Ghost as it is known in UK. She was a keen Victorian gardener who lived and is buried in my former town of Brentwood Essex. It got this alternative name because she used to harvest and sow the seeds 'par hazard' wherever she went.

HI Kristin,
I just love your blog, I have a busy life, but i always find a moment to sit down with a cup of coffee and " visit you". Love your humour, your view on life. You have a great family. Je vous trouve une famme extraodinaire.( tres tres jolie).
God bless. Have great week/

Love your Beauty and the Buck story.
Well written and tré agreable.
You were seventeen and i'm on the wrong side of sixty-seven, but i can still emphasize with your feelings and the ironie of it all.
Keep up the good work.

Kristin : Vous etes tres sage...
Vous serez toujours belle du moment que vous sentez bien dans votre peau ! J'aime beaucoup votre rubrique... Jeanine

Bravo! Well said!

Thanks, Leslie, for finishing my start on the translation. I saw that videur could mean bouncer, doorman, or porter. I chose porter since it sounded more French, but seeing the rest of the translation bouncer makes more sense, especially if you're going bar-hopping.

(Where was my editor?) That should say: " a pause...then thunk".

Kristin -

Great photo. There is such beauty in nature and the camera lens focuses so well on details that that our human eye could not otherwise behold.

On the topic of the cost of a priceless piece of mind: NEVER purchase a super-magnifying make-up mirror. (enough said)

I smiled at the image of you - amidst drab recycling receptacles - being lured by the splash of glossy sophistication emitted from those magazines. You wouldn't be you if you weren't tuned into those details of your day.

I LOVE what Gretel's art teacher wrote - that "beautiful people create themselves." Thanks for sharing that, Gretel. I will be using it. Kristin, my grandmother also said "Don't gild the lily"! It's so simply perfect and I believe that it is taken from Shakespeare - so - on that note, since we're waxing poetic with this post, here's another for you:

"Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?"

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance, or nature's changing course, untrimm'd;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou growest;
So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

William Shaksepeare

My Dearest Kristi,

I am now spending more time in your 'comments' section than I am in your word posts. I am facisinated (sp?) with your readers and their posts. I must admit I am addicted, they are the icing (sp?) on your cake. What a great story, and one I know is right on the mark regarding your thought process. I am so blessed to have a daughter that shares her thoughts, the most private of doors, I stand in awe.

XOXO

MOM

Ah - what a perfect presentation. A gorgeous photo (and who doesn't love Butterflies), a well written story WITH a moral, a thought provoking quote from Monsieur Lorenz, a beautiful and catchy French song - and the lyrics, to boot. This is a most tasty first rate five course meal for the mind. I am well fed for the day - thanks. Kristin - you are really good.

Kristi-I had the pleasure of a visit from some cousins from another state this past Friday and when I sat next to my cousin Virginia,I marveled at the fact that she is 91 years old (or should I say "jeune"?). She attributes her ability to keep in good health to exercise and attends a class twice a week. She has a lovely figure and was wearing some pretty white summer shorts (knee length) which were very feminine, along with an equally lovely top and overblouse. Her weight hasn't changed in years (she never overeats!!!). I don't know if she's ever read the popular glamour magazines, perhaps when she was young, but her eyes sparkle, her hair is a becoming light strawberry blond and she's just a true beauty. Age has nothing to do with beauty. Beauty is certainly in the eye of the beholder, but is also a product of one's state of mind, philosophy, personality. She told me, as she does each time she sees me or sends me a card, that she prays for me and my husband. I think God created the butterfly, along with Andersen's "Ugly Duckling", to show us that we should not judge someone or something because we never know what the final result will be. And there is a type of beauty in everyone and everything. And the song tells me that we are truly interconnected worldwide so that everything we do may have some effect on others. There is a lot of controversy in Georgia and Florida right now about sharing water from the Chattahoochee and St. John's River, since those who live near the sources are concerned that they would not have enough if some is given to other areas. It's hard to share natural resources now that we know they are not going to last forever. The butterfly doesn't last long but gives so much pleasure while it's here. Thank you for sharing your photo, thoughts and experiences. You will always be a lovely person.

Kristin, you are a poetic and poignant writer, as seen here. Not to mention your eye for butterflies. And other things you see through your lens.

Newforest: thank you for putting a wonderfully exotic name, l'azuré de l'ajonc, to this lovely creature. I am afraid that, like the butterfly, I am looping in and out of comments and email -- reading each and every one, but not able to respond as I would like to at this time.

I just want to say un grand merci, to everyone here, and to repeat myself when I say that I learn so much from all that you share.

I have just been on the phone with Jules, in Mexico, who appreciates everything she reads here, too. So "gracias amigos" on her behalf (and please excuse my Spanish mistakes. Andrea L., did I do okay?).

Amicalement,
Kristin