FRENCH WORD-A-DAY

Hi Kristin,

When I first read the word "marsouin" in your post, I didn't think of an animal, but of a soldier:

""Troupes de marine soldiers are known in French as marsouins ("Harbour porpoise"), allegedly because, like porpoises, they accompany ships without really being part of the crew."" (from Wikipedia, in english, about Troupes de marine.)

The first (and only?) "marsouin" I heard about and saw on TV, a long long time ago, was singer Johnny Hallyday, when he had to do his Military Service, in 1964, in Germany. He became Sergent.

Thank you for reminding me the real meaning of french words... which I tend to forget too easily.

Wishing you and your family a lovely summer,
Fran.

Kristi,

Le jardin est tres beaux. I didn't realize that your jardin was so extensive. Enjoy the fruits of your labor.

Kathleen

Stunning stonework in the garden!

love love love your garden! You are so lucky to live in a climate that accomodates it! Here in Maine, each year is a challenge; when to plant, or pot (and finding enough of them to make it worthwhile) so that the tomatoes, sprouts, cukes, etc can grow, while there is still enough daylight hours to help them... yes, fava beans, kale, chard, lettuce, all of these can do well without bright sun or hot weather--BUT---with all the rain/cool temps we usually receive in spring/summer....the slugs eat very well!!! ACK!!

Salut!

These posts always make my day. I love how your garden turned out. Well, I envy how your garden turned out :-), but I surely don't begrudge you the results of all your hard work. Thank you for sharing!

I am wondering about the . . . Would you call them petits annonces? I would LOVE to show this photo to my students. Your work here and in your book is irreplaceable to me in my personal AND professional life and I tell people about it all the time. While the family/marriage/daily stuff is my favorite, you can imagine that my students prefer stuff that reflects their own lives--or differs from it. While we do have baby-sitting offers, I've never seen a student in my area offer to do household chores :-). I don't need a translation, but I need a bit of help filling in the French, if you have time--or if any reader can see it better than I can . . . [?Clémentine?] jeune fille dynamique et motivée, veut [va? veux?] offre ses [mes?] services pour faire le ménage chez vous. Disponible à partir de 15 heures tous les jours. Je suis [something] au . . .
Et
Jeune étudiante sérieuse en droit (serious young law student?) recherche des heures de ménage et de baby sitting. Je suis expérimentée, dynamique, et responsable. Disponible tous les jours à partir de 15 heures 30. Contactez-moi au . . .

I love your eye for things. After living there so long, some people wouldn't "see" things anymore that would be interesting or different for us. We are so lucky to have you!

--Lorraine Poirier, PA, USA . . .

Who did all that work to make such a beautiful garden? The stonework must have been done by a professional. I am contemplating a raised-bed garden, and am now wondering whether stone would be better than wood for the retaining walls - maybe a combination of both.

What a lovely garden! I like how the neatness of the beds contrasts with the melange of what grows in them. Gardens should be like that.

Bonjour Kristin: I love your garden. Truly wonderful. And surely you have someone to help with some of the work! Everything is so neat and organized ... just lovely. I want to add one raised bed to my garden but alas there are few stone walls in La Nouvelle Orleans.
Enjoy the fruits of your labor and keep the photos and letters coming. Meanwhile I will continue to garden in the heat and humidity while writing and painting. Not too bad a gig when one looks at it!
Priscilla

Lorraine, j'ai ajouté les mots qui vous manquent : Clémentine, jeune fille dynamique et motivée, vous offre ses services pour faire le ménage chez vous. Disponible à partir de 15 heures tous les jours... Je suis joignable au . . . Moi aussi, je trouve ses annonces très intéressantes. Kristin, que le potager est beau !

A beautiful garden, the stonework is really lovely, what a great idea for a raised bed.

I'm jealous! ;) gorgeous garden!! :)

Love your new garden! I'm jealous! It's just beautiful! My first experience with moursin was when I was a newlywed on vacation in Sanibel Island, FL. We charted a little boat and had a guy take us to deserted islands to do shell hunting. The marsouin followed alongside our boat. Then when my children were abt 6 and 9, we went on a cruise to the Bahamas on the Big Red Boat and did a Caribbean marsouin experience. We were able to get in the water and swim with them a little. It was unforgettable.

Votre jardin est si beau!

Bonjour Kristin,

I love your garden. It is so neat & beautiful. But, bien sur, Smokey is the star of this post. He looks so content and peaceful.

I can't wait to read more adventures with Jules & Smokey.

Stay well!

Kristin:
Merci for the lovely garden tour!
When I worked at a university aquarium hereon the Georgia coast we had a visit from a diverse group of environmentalists including Flipper's trainer. They were trying to save a sick pregnant dolphin who had beached herself on one of the nearby islands. She was put in a sling in a pool on the University property and a concerted effort was made by many to save her. The group was ready to helicopter her to a wild life preserve. Unfortunately she didn't survive which was a shame, but by the time she was found she was too ill.
Sometimes when these animals get infections they become disoriented and beach themselves. We also worked with wounded sea turtles and a number of them survived and were released back into the wind.

Edie from Savannah

Like Françoise when I saw the word "marsouin" I immediately thought of the French Marines. They and the Foreign Legion formed the bulk of the professional Army troups in the days of conscription, which only ended officially in 2001.

Although it started life as a nickname, Marsouin is actually the official title of a Private Soldier in the Marines.

Unlike the British Royal Marines which are part of the Royal Navy, or the US Marines, which are a separate Corps, the French Marines are part of the Army.

I am very concerned about Braise! They are usually together but not today! Have missed some of your postings. I hope she was napping in the shade!

Oh my gosh, i'm not sure if i was more blown away by the rock work or the TOMATOES!!! they hang like grapes on that plant! I just planted mine last week! i am tomato-green with envy.

and rock work like that has always been such a marvel to me. i guess it's a life lesson in many ways--make all the little pieces and parts fit together organically to build something solid and strong and connected. that rocks. (no pun intended--well, maybe it was.)

Well done!! That took lots of labor from the body and soul. So true, what you and Smokie say about our bees. We must all be vigilant in an effort to repopulate.

Did you raise your beds to save your back, for formal order, or for another reason? They are just lovely!

Absolutely Beautiful!
Le jardin est tout à fait beau!

Love that garden - you laid it out beautifully so it's practical & most attractive. More of Smokey Dokey please.

Hi Kristin,
Great garden! I love all the stone work. Don't you wonder about the people who put up the ancient stone wall? Smokey looks like he enjoys checking things out!

First, you have my DREAM garden! This is exactly what I’d imagined. I just love it! I chose to use rock as it was local and more convenient. I do love the tidiness of the bed design allowing for the free-flowing of the flowers and plants. Now, as mine is still a work-in-progress, what did you use for the groundcover around your raised beds? Great work, Kristi and Jean-Marc! How pleasing to have created a garden so beautiful and productive!

Secondly, and certainly not in order of importance, Mr. Smokey you have given us the most enjoyable tour today. Thank you for sharing your sweet loveliness with us.

Kristin,
Funny that you bring up Porpoise today. We actually saw 3 on the drive home from work, circling around bait fish in Tampa Bay. It is one of the pleasures of having to take the bring from Tampa to St. Pete Florida twice a day. Pelicans flying along side the car and porpoise jumping in the water.

Your garden looks fantastic.
I assumed you used raised beds to get good drainage and the best soil for the edible plants. Plus you added the good straw mulch. Jealous, I am.

Was all that gravel present already? Did you have to cart it in to make the pathways?

The old stone wall is magnificent. I recall mentions of before but did not imagine it as lovely and strong as it is.

Marigolds benefit beneath the soil. A tried and true method with scientific verification. This article from the University of Rhode Island has many ways to use interplanting and companion planting for the home garden with explanations of why it works. http://www.uri.edu/ce/factsheets/sheets/compplant.html

Yes, my poor tomatoe plants have not even set flowers yet, boding ill once again for no fresh tomatoes here. Yours look fantastic.

What an absolutely beautiful garden and so functional. You will appreciate that you don't have to bend so far and you can control both soil and water. Besides it is tidy and organized. Love it. Can't wait to see what you do with it over the coming years. You have become quite the gardener and it is fun watching you learn and use your exceptional creativity to make something so beautiful. The old stone wall is a treasure - no matter who discovered it. Do you have a drip water system set up yet? It is the best way to water and also saves lots of water and is easy for you once it is in. You can even put it on a timer so it is never forgotten and you can go away if you want to.

Kristin et le beau Smokey, votre potager est merveilleux!

How wonderful to see such a beautiful and porpoiseful (well I had to try to go with the fun) garden and you have not even been there a year yet! Clearly you and Jean Marc have extraordinary green thumbs what with grapes (past and future) and all those veggies and flowers!
We just returned to Northern CA after six weeks away to find our tomatoes plants producing young fruit in various sizes and garlic ready to pick! Peaches, too, from our miniature peach tree planted in a pot.
Thanks to Smokey for such a fun tour!

@Leslie,

Merci bien!!

--Lorraine

Sigh... I wish I could take our herb group, the Queensland Herb Society on a tour of your garden... Such a wondrous potager.
Here in Brisbane, I have to hand pollinate the cucurbits.
The native insects are interested in other plants!

Such a beautiful pooch! Huggable beyond imagination. In Hong Kong, I met Goldberg, a Golden Retriever. Handsome with broad head like a bear's and somewhat large for a GC. Loved to swim. Alas, HK's warm damp climate was not like Scotland's where his breed began. At length this skin infection made him miserable and consumed him.

Who did yr garden's stunning stone work? Looks like the results of some long extinct Inca civilization.

Languages, dogs, and construction are some of my faves.

That garden is incredible. And those squash blossoms have my name on them....stuffed with goat cheese and deep fried. Do you have asparagas?artichoke? Both would grow quite well there. Does the straw keep the moisture in the soil?
I have seen many marsouin when out whale watching, but the best was one day on Carmel Beach and there were about 6 playing in close to shore. I walked out and was within about 10 feet of them and wanted to just dive in and swim out, but alas our water temp is made for wetsuits. I have a hard time accepting those that you can swim with at resorts(as much as I might like to) because if any animal was born to be free in the ocean it is the porpoise.

Hi Kristin,

I loved looking at your garden. Your vegetables are so much ahead of mine. It must be your sunny weather. Here on the northwest coast of North America, we are just getting into the good weather.

It is interesting that you are growing kale. My gardening enthusiast friend says its very difficult to find kale seeds in France. Maybe its just in her part of France. I brought her some on my last visit and she was quite enthused about growing her own kale.

Happy gardening!
Bette

I meant to comment when I first received the post - I am so impressed with the obviously hard work you and your family have put in to achieve such a beautiful garden. I look forward to hearing more about the hidden treasures you uncover as you explore the property.

Beautiful gardens and landscaping Kristi! Thanks for sharing them with us Smokey-we've always known what a talented member of the family you are! Include your Mama Braise in the next story as we love her too!