FRENCH WORD-A-DAY

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.

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

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).

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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 !!!

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.

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

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

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.

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.....

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!