The Spring is dressing Winter's nakedness, rejuvenating shrubs and flowers, every bud carries the promise of summer's glorious palette.
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| cherry trees |
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| Japanese quince |
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| unknown |
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| Peony |
I've finished the raised potager structures ... made with reclaimed timber slabs from the tip.
Inelegant but functional (hopefully).
Another project on the go is the restoration of this decrepit garden bench.
They are very expensive to buy new.
I'm hoping it will turn out nicely. Post-restoration pictures coming in a couple of weeks.
Tony, to an American eye the unknown small tree could be a Crabapple (Pommetier décoratif), to my French eye, it is some kind of Prunus. Un prunus à fleurs doubles? One belongs to the Apple family, the other to the Cherry family.
ReplyDeleteA DIY restored bench is so much more comfortable than a new one, innit?
Hi Charles Henry. The unknown tree bears small hard red fruit, so I think you might be right with Prunus. I found the garden bench in a small village brocante shop ... one of those sprawling, rambling, both-sides of the road, full of outdoor junk places, with rusty gates and weary statues and myriad bric a brac owned by a dishevelled, laconic character with a cigarette permanently in his mouth.
DeleteHi, Tony. Since you've been taking French lessons, I'm sure you won't mind a few tips to make your French perfect.
DeleteFirst, I must ride my hobby horse which is the hyphen. The hyphen is, in French, an extremely important critical mark because it make new words from an assemblage of different ones.
Unfortunately, the hyphen in French is completely misunderstood by foreigners, even by natives as well who think that since there is no hyphen usage in English to speak of, why use it in their own language?
The first example is dear to my heart, since it is my own first name. It is neither Charles nor Henry, but a combination of the two which makes a new first name with the use of the hyphen. So my first name is Charles-Henry!
Double first names are commonplace in my homeland. If you know French literature, you've certainly heard of Jean-Jacques Rousseau! When I became a U.S. citizen, I decided to change my first name to Charles H. because I knew for sure people over here would not understand my real first name.
Enough about me. But I'm not through with the hyphen. In your comment above you mention a bric a brac. Neither bric nor brac are French words I know of, but their reunion with hyphens makes it a complete word meaning a collection of disparate things! Bric-à-brac. (Perhaps two onomatopoeical words!)
The same goes with towns which have been named after people. If you read Ken's blog you'll know he lives at Mareuil-sur-Cher near Saint-Aignan, a town named after a holy man, saint Aignan (notice the lower case S for the man, and the upper case S for the town with the hyphen). So, Saint-Aignan and saint Aignan are two completely different entities!
Thank you, Tony, for reading this long rant to the end!
P.S. I must add I have been for many years a French editor for a U.S. Government's magazine, published in English and French, aimed at an African audience, mainly.
Dear Charles-Henry, thank you for putting me right on French hyphens. I appreciate your guidance and acknowledge my errors. I will try to never repeat them. I do so enjoy reading your responses to my blog. Kind regards.
DeleteErrors are not errors if you don't know, but they are if you do! Greetings to you, Tony.
DeleteTony, I must add that Prunus' leaves are usually purple.
ReplyDelete