Je suis passé à la banque

Je suis passé à la banque pour retirer de l'argent. //

I went to the bank to withdraw some money

Partially the pic is explained by my frustration with pretty much everybody (banks including) wanting you to install their app on your phone.

As if your phone didn't know enough about you already. Feels like not only putting all eggs in one basket, but also collapsing said basket to convenient, easy-lo-lose size.

Consider this pic is a possible, albeit partial, solution to the lost phone problem.

Fiddle fiddle

La maîtresse laisse les enfants tripatouiller la pâte à modeler de manière à ce qu'ils découvrent les formes et les couleurs. // The teacher lets the kids knead the modeling clay so that they discover shapes and colors.

Funny word - tripatouiller.

Do you remember your surprise at the physics lessons when they told you that all colors combined give white - and even demonstrated it with a rotating wheel of all colors? *

Our teacher didn't go into all that additive/subtractive business, so the lesson left me somewhat puzzled. 


For I knew perfectly well that when you mix all the paints together you get mud.

And if  we are talking modelling clay (or plasticine), the shapes you will probably get will be  sort of partial exoskeletons for everybody involved.

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* - I know it is not necessarily universal, but I discovered to my delight that Timur got exactly the same demonstration as me - in a different country and one generation later.

C'est une offre plutôt alléchante, j'hésite vraiment à refuser // It's a quite tempting offer; I'm really hesitant to refuse

I am not sure why he wants to refuse it, but well. Maybe he suddenly decided he wants to go on a diet or something

Dans le jardin

Les oiseaux dans le jardin se régalent des miettes que je leur ai laissées. //

The birds in the garden are feasting on the crumbs I left for them.

It is an ambush, it seems. But don't worry, the borbs are perfectly safe. The cat doesn't even have a mouth, as you might have noticed already. He is just being silly.

Nous devrions reprendre le problème

J'ai réfléchi à la situation, et d'après moi nous devrions reprendre le problème depuis le début // I have thought about the situation, and in my opinion we should go back to the beginning of the problem

Poor cat. But not to worry, somebody will rescue him soon. Probably saying many more new french words while they are at it.

Phrase from French Word of the Day again.

Le niveau d'orthographe

Les dictées permettent aux professeurs d'évaluer le niveau d'orthographe de leurs élèves //

Dictations allow the teachers to test the level of their pupils' spelling skills

The cat doesn't seem to be very pleased with the level of his pupil's skill, don't you think?

In case you are wondering what is it the owl is writing, allow me to refer you to the original.

Well, actually, of course, he is saying ‘A Very Happy Birthday with love from Pooh.’

Ses œuvres

Ce jeune artiste sculpte dans du béton ; ses œuvres sont très particulières // This young artist sculpts in concrete; his works are very distinctive

Well now. I am not sure if the cat can be classed as "young", I always thought of him as ageless. But I am sure he is a true artist.

Sentence courtesy of Transparent Language.

Je dois avouer ...

Je dois avouer que je suis assez grognon si je ne dors pas assez // I must confess that I am rather grumpy if I don't get enough sleep

He has another confession to make.

Why am I not surprised.

un peu chétif

Depuis sa plus tendre enfance il n'a pas grand appétit, ce qui explique pourquoi il est un peu chétif // Since he was a very young, he has not had a big appetite, which explains why he is a bit puny

After a long break here is another picture. French word of the day once again brought along a phrase which I felt I must illustrate.

Same as with "a bit whiny" the phrase asks to be said with an apologetic intonation.

It seems that the chronic lack of appetite affects the size, but not the shape of these guys though.

Un peu pleurnichard

Mon neveu est un peu pleurnichard ce soir, mais c'est parce qu'il est très fatigué // My nephew is a bit whiny tonight, but it's because he is very tired.

Another phrase from Transparent Language. I am reasonably sure that neveu (nephew) in question was meant to be a kid, possibly a baby, but somehow an image of a marathon runner immediately after a race popped into my head.

I can't even explain why - all the runners known to me are decidedly cheerful, non-whiny bunch. And tend to feel relieved, and not a bit whiny, after a marathon.

Go figure.

Timur tells me his number is "37".

Tous les fruits

Tous les fruits servis au déjeuner viennent du verger de mon voisin //
All the fruits served for lunch come from my neighbor’s orchard

As all the recent phrases, this one comes from French Word of the Day.

No, I don’t know how the cat gets the fruit from behind the barbed wire (fil de fer barbelé). Cats are ingenious though so I am sure he manages admirably.

One type of fruit from the neighbor’s garden deserves our special attention. Curiously, it seems to be the famous «развесистая клюква», a plant from the same universe where bears roam the streets of Moscow. Wikipedia only has this article in Russian, but you can get the idea from here.

Pictures related to cats, fruit and orchard @ Shutterstock.

Certains jours

Certains jours exigent plus de café que d'autres // Some days require more coffee than others

Once again, French Word of the Day to the rescue, since I have no lessons now.
So. Some days require more coffee than others, and the cat is having one of those days (le chat a un de ces jours).
Pictures related to cats and coffee @ Shutterstock.

Ma nouvelle crête iroquoise

Que t’est-il arrivé? Tu as les cheveux en bataille! — C’est ma nouvelle crête iroquoise. //
What happened? Your hair is a mess! — It is my new mohawk.

French Word of the Day brought me another useful expression “en bataille” — messy. But literally it means “in (a) battle”, so it made me think of military hairstyles, exact opposite of messy.
First I wanted to give the second cat a crew cut — but then I discovered that it is not military by origin, as I always thought. According to Wikipedia, it comes from short practical haircut worn by members of the rowing (crew) teams of American Universities.
So, I went with something completely different.
Green war paint is associated with harmony, and zigzag adds power and speed (allegedly).
Pictures related to cats and hairdo @ Shutterstock.