pour finir!

Et, pour finir, une bonne tranche de gâteau! // And, to finish, a good slice of cake!

The final Inktober prompt is "slice". Well, it was fun.

The cat looks pleased. He got himself a good-sized slice of chocolate cake to celebrate.

Chocolate cakes on shutterstock

Ne pas en ficher une secousse

Ne pas en ficher une secousse // Be very lazy, don't do anything, don't stir

I thought today's Inktober prompt "jolt" will give me trouble.

Fortunately, Larousse dictionary gives an idiomatic expression with its French equivalent "secousse" - "Ne pas en ficher une secousse" which means "do nothing, be very lazy".

The cat, of course, is very good at doing nothing.

double vision

double vision au carré // double vision squared

Make it double. And then double it again.

Un cadeau non ouvert

Un cadeau non ouvert est un plaisir retardé // An unopened gift is a delayed pleasure

Now, a delay might be positive and negative thing. Judging by his expression, the cat considers it something positive.

Le tonnerre

La nuit dernière, j'ai été réveillé par le tonnerre. // Last night i was woken up by thunder.

Inktober prompt "thunder" is sort of tricky.

Have nothing else to add.

Stretch!

Ces exercices servent à améliorer ou à maintenir votre souplesse // These exercises are used to improve or maintain your flexibility

Today's Inktober prompt is "stretch", and here is the cat doing a side stretch exercise.

I am not sure he needs it though. He is pretty supple already. And he seems to be in imminent danger of falling.

Toutes les parties sont épineux

Toutes les parties de la plante sont épineux // All parts of the plant are prickly

With today's Inktober prompt we find ourselves on Gran Canaria. Not that there are no prickly plants in Finland, of course. But, after a few years living in Canaries, for me the word "prickly" is firmly linked to "pear". What we get when we put them together is the dreaded opuntia, the enemy of hikers.

Poor poor cat. He just touched it accidentally, and now  look at his paw.

I'm a lumberjack and I'm OK

J'aime couper du bois. C'est ma manière préférée de méditation physique // I like chopping wood. It is my preferred way of physical meditation

Today's Inktober prompt is "chop". We are still on Finnish streak, I think. 

Unfortunately, the provided french equivalent of the prompt - verb "hacher" - doesn't seem to be applicable to wood.

Almost unrelated note: Timur just pointed out that "can you help me to cut down that tree?" is a very Finnish neighborly request for a favor. Ok, maybe it is pan-Scandinavian, maybe Canada will fit too, and a few other places, but we didn't live there, so we can't vouch.

Really muddy

C'est très boueux aujourd'hui // It is very muddy today

Today's Inktober prompt is "muddy". So, here is the cat, looking surprisingly happy standing in the mud in his coveralls.

While some of the prompts in the beginning of the month, like "roasted" or "drooling" were probably written by someone hungry, last batch - "drain", "expensive", "muddy" - rather puts me in mind of Finland, perhaps unfairly.

So, what the cat is wearing is properly called "haalaripuku," (thanks, Heikki) and standing under a brolly like that he looks even more Totoro-esque than usual. It also looks like Snorlax (thanks, Timur).

And it doesn't work

Sa voiture d'or est très cher, très chiс et ne fonctionne pas // His golden car is very expensive, very chiс and doesn't work.

Inktober prompt: "expensive".

I know it is not good grammar to miss "it", but let's say the whole "doesn't work" bit functions as an adjective.

non-draining drains

Quand les drains ne drainent pas // when drains don't drain

We had a lot of rain two days ago. As usual, the drainage system didn't quite manage to take it all away fast enough. So we had shallow rivers running along the streets.

Unfortunately, the water in these rivers was nowhere as blue as in the pic.

Handle with care

Manipuler avec soin.// Handle with care.

Day 20 Inktober prompt was "breakable".

I am not sure what is in the box. Maybe the cat just got his new doomsday device in the mail. The old one stopped doomsdaying properly.

smells scorched

ça sent le roussi // I am in trouble

Literally "Ça sent le roussi" means "it smells scorched", but it is an idiom, meaning there is a trouble brewing.

I am not sure why he is ironing shirts at all, he doesn't wear them. Maybe it is his meditation method. 

Bouteille à la mer

Une bouteille à la mer est un moyen de communication // A message in a bottle is a form of communication

Here, the cat is doing snorkeling.

Well, strictly speaking,  he is doing freediving, plongée libre. Because you see, he does have a snorkel, but he doesn't have a mouth.

Ma patte est gonflée

Ma patte est gonflée. Je ne suis pas sûr que vous puissiez le voir // My paw is swollen. I am not sure you can see it.

Just that.

Atteindre la perfection

évolution de la forme du corps: de angulaire à parfaite // body shape evolution : from angular to perfect

Once again, I found today's prompt (angular) difficult to implement in a picture, but well. Here you are. The term "catwalk" takes on a whole new meaning.

Croquis drawn according to a Skillshare class by Danielle Meder (more or less). The Cat is drawn as he wanted to be drawn.

Une petite chose fragile

 Je ne suis pas une petite chose fragile. Et je ne souhaite pas en être une // I am not a weak little thing. And I do not wish to be one.

Today's Inktober prompt is "weak", or, according to the French variant, "fragile". However hard I thought, I just couldn't think of a way to apply either of these words to the cat.

So I went for a negation.

On dirait des souris qui grignotent le temps

Le tic-tac des horloges, on dirait des souris qui grignotent le temps // The ticking of the clocks, it's like mice nibbling time (Alphonse Allais)

Today's Inktober prompt is "clock" or "l'horloge".

Judging by the look he is giving the mouse, the cat is one of those very well fed cats who have no idea that mice can be food.

well guarded palace

C'est un palais bien protégé // It is a well guarded palace

Don't know why, but I always thought that those guys were called "Beefeaters". Even the pic on Beefeater gin label, which I saw many times, didn't help.

Today I finally realized they were grenadiers.

I discover all sort of things in the course of Inktober.

Les chats n'aiment pas l'eau.

Les chats n'aiment pas l'eau // Cats don't like water

No sir they don't. So, what possessed the cat? Why did he got on an inflatable whale? (baleine gonflable).

I can't be sure, but in might have something to do with today's inktober prompt.

cruel and unusual

C'est cruel de manger une glace devant lui alors qu'il n'a pas le droit d'en manger // It's cruel to eat ice cream in front of him when he can't have any.

What a cruel world, eh?

Inktober prompts are not food or hunger related any more, it's me who can't get off the theme.

The flow of the river is ceaseless and its water is never the same

Le cours de la rivière qui va jamais ne s'interrompt, et pourtant ce n'est déjà plus la même eau (Kamo no Chomei)

Today's Inktober prompt is "flowing", i.e. "écoulement". 

My preciousssss

Mon précieux // My precious

Today's prompt is "precious", and here is a rather obvious interpretation of it.

Although it is not clear to me what the cat is going to do with the ring of power, him having no fingers and all.

il est très modeste

Il est très modeste, bien qu'il soit une vraie star // He is very modest, although he is a real star

Well, I know for sure he is not that modest, but he is an actor, after all.

Another note - cat version of Oscar figurine looks like a golden Batman.

Fourbu

C'est dimanche, pourquoi suis-je si épuisé? // It's Sunday, why am I so exhausted?

I know I already drew something very similar before, but he is a cat, he often feels exhausted. Or pretends to. And today's inktober prompt suits him very well.

Drooling

Le bouledogue est une bonne race. Il y a juste un problème // The bulldog is a good breed. There is just one problem

Today's Inktober prompt is "drooling" which kinda confirms my hungry prompter theory.

Drooling is "baver" in French, if you are interested.

When pigs fly

Quand les poules auront des dents // Never

Day 5 of Inktober gives us "chicken" as a prompt. That comes two days after "roasted", I guess someone was hungry.

Anyhow, here is a lovely french idiom "Quand les poules auront des dents" - "When chickens have teeth", meaning never. Or, as it were, when pigs fly.

And here is a chicken, all ready for a Halloween party, looking rather splendid in his Dracula costume.

École de magie appliquée

Excusez moi, quelle est l'orthographe de "Abracadabra"? // Excuse me, what is the spelling of "Abracadabra"?

Unlike yesterday, today's Inktober prompt "spell" does speak to me :)

Two notes - first, I missed a couple of letters in "orthographe" on the pic. I guess I have to refresh my spelling skills. And second - you mustn't ever distract your companion when he is at the point of blowing up the school, especially when it is a school of applied magic.

C'est une mauvaise chose à dire, mais ...

C'est un vrai cancre ; le professeur le met toujours au fond de la classe //

He's a real dunce; the teacher always puts him in the back of the classroom

Since today's Inktoner prompt ("roasted") doesn't really speak to me, I decided to take one from Transparent Language French Word of the Day again.

What a mean thing to say though. He is not slow or stupid, he is just dreamy. Look at him there, everybody is already gone and he is just sitting there looking at the last leaves of autumn.

Which reminds me of a lovely Spanish idiom "estar pensando en las musarañas" - to be distracted, dreamy, absent, but literally "to be thinking about the shrews". Why the shrews? Well, they are cute.

Tranquillité

Tranquillité: esprit vide, haute conscience //  Tranquility: empty mind, high awareness

Today's Inktober prompt is "tranquil". By a happy coincidence, today my chi kung classes start, and wikipedia tells me that tranquility is one of the advanced goals of chi kung.

By another happy coincidence, the cat is already tranquil as anything (he found inner peace, remember?).

However, what he cannot do is all that "paw above your head, palm up" nonsense. Not that he needs it, of course.

Comprendre les choses littéralement

Les chats ont tendance à comprendre les choses littéralement // Cats tend to understand things literally

Well, today is the first day of Inktober and the prompt for the day is "poisonous", so here is a bottle of Poison.

I am not sure I can do all 31 days but I will have a go.